Publications

March 1995 (Revised December 1995)
Case

Dividend Policy at FPL Group, Inc. (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Craig F Schreiber

A Wall Street analyst has just learned that FPL (the holding company for Florida's largest electric utility) may cut its dividend in several days despite a 47-year streak of consecutive dividend increases. In response to the deregulation of the electric utility... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Corporate Strategy; Policy; Competitive Strategy; Financial Strategy; Fluctuation; Energy Sources; Emerging Markets; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; Florida

Program

Leading in the Digital Era

business models Particularly appropriate for: Executives responsible for implementing the company's strategy or digital transformation, as well as those considering or currently running innovation labs, incubators and View Details

February 2022
Case

Paul Polman

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Youngme Moon and Susie Ma

Over his 40-year career, Paul Polman had led some of the world’s largest consumer goods companies, making his biggest mark as CEO of Unilever—a multi-national corporation that produced everything from soap to soup. Polman was also well-regarded as a leader in corporate... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Leadership; Corporate Accountability; Personal Development and Career; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

Web

Faculty & Research

field of negotiation, shows you how to negotiate successfully today by adapting proven negotiation principles and strategies to the challenging new contexts you face—from negotiating across cultural and political differences to trying to... View Details

29 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Uber Is Worth Saving and How To Do It

year, a video of the CEO yelling at an Uber driver went viral. "I want Uber to succeed. It’s too important a concept to let it fail" Strictly in terms of numbers, Uber’s steamroller strategy has paid off. Founded in 2009, Uber... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Transportation

October 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Perelson Weiner LLP

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Das Narayandas

Perelson Weiner LLP, a successful accounting firm in New York City, is re-evaluating its incentive strategy as it makes plans to grow its business. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Growth and Development; Compensation and Benefits; Management; Planning; Sales; Motivation and Incentives; Corporate Strategy; Accounting Industry; New York (city, NY)

October 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Augusta National Golf Club Controversy, The (A)

By: Herman B. Leonard, Marc J. Epstein and Melissa Tritter

The prestigious Augusta National Golf Club's secret membership is widely believed to exclude women. When feminist advocate Martha Burk receives a mysterious list of "members," she must decide how best to use this information in her efforts to crack the glass ceiling.... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Attitudes; Decision Making; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Gender; Non-Governmental Organizations; Communication Strategy; Sports Industry

Web

Curriculum | MBA

Joint Course SPRING TERM Business, Government, and the International Economy (BGIE) Harvard Business School The Entrepreneurial Manager Harvard Business School FIELD Immersion Harvard Business School Finance II Harvard Business School Leadership and View Details

November 1999
Case

Seminis Inc.

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Jonathan West, Carin-Isabel Knoop and David Benedict Pearcy

Seminis became the world leader in vegetable seeds through a series of acquisitions. This case describes the Seminis strategy toward capturing value, biotechnology, and international operations. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Acquisition; Profit; Global Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Valuation; Value Creation; Biotechnology Industry

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2016
Book

Negotiating the Impossible: How to Break Deadlocks and Resolve Ugly Conflicts (without Money or Muscle)

By: Deepak Malhotra

Some negotiations are easy. Others are more difficult. And then there are situations that seem completely hopeless. Conflict is escalating, people are getting aggressive, and no one is willing to back down. And, to top it off, you have little power or other resources... View Details

Keywords: Dealmaking; Diplomacy; Conflict; Dispute Resolution; Strategy; Conflict Management; Negotiation

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20 Mar 2018
News

Despite The PR Nightmares, People Keep Flying United

May 2010 (Revised June 2012)
Case

From Imitation to Innovation: Zongshen Industrial Group

By: Willy Shih and Nancy Hua Dai

As Zuo Zongshen drove the transformation of the Zongshen Industrial Group from an early imitator in the motorcycle business to a company that increasingly focused on innovation as a way to get out of the hyper-competitive commodity business, he continually faced new... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Learning; Investment; Disruptive Innovation; Knowledge Acquisition; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Motorcycle Industry; China

Reza Satchu is a Senior Lecturer in the Entrepreneurship Management Unit at the Harvard Business School where he teaches The Entrepreneurial Manager, The Founder Mindset and Founder Launch. He is also the Founder, Managing Partner and majority shareholder of... View Details

Career Coach

Vincent Dessain

Vincent (HBS MBA’87) draws on more than 25 years of experience as a higher education senior executive at HBS and INSEAD and in the corporate world both in the US and in Europe to counsel students and alumni as they evaluate, prepare for... View Details

Article

How Much Does Industry Matter, Really?

By: A. M. McGahan and M. E. Porter

In this paper, we examine the importance of year, industry, corporate-parent, and business-specific effects on the profitability of U.S. public corporations within specific 4-digit SIC categories. Our results indicate that year, industry, corporate-parent, and... View Details

Keywords: Supply and Industry; Strategy

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Read Now

Jerry R. Green

David A. Wells Professor of Political Economy

John Leverett Professor in the University

Harvard University

Jerry Green is the John Leverett Professor in the University and the David A. Wells... View Details

Keywords: aerospace; education industry; insurance industry; professional services

28 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Making the Decision to Franchise (or not)

markets. In the third part of their study, they investigated how 53 chains that don't franchise manage operations across multiple markets. They found evidence that chains serving more diverse markets decentralize their operations by employing fewer View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

February 2008 (Revised May 2008)
Supplement

Lincoln Financial Group (C)

LFG reorganizes its business in order to improve customer intimacy. However, to implement the strategy, they need to effect significant changes in the skills of their salespeople. This case series straddles human resource management, corporate strategy, and sales... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Salesforce Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Financial Services Industry