Publications

March 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Teach For America 2005

On November 17, 2004, as Teach for America's (TFA) national board meeting adjourned, Chief Operating Officer Jerry Hauser considered the opportunity before the organization. The board had just given the go ahead to move forward with development of a new strategic plan... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Education; Education Industry; United States

January 2011 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Executive Compensation at Talent Partners

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Talent Partners' CEO was very successful at growing the business and establishing its leadership position. He was compensated with a mix of salary and options and he did not own any equity in the company. The options were set so that if Talent Partners achieved its... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Stock Options; Compensation and Benefits

April 1991
Background Note

Implementing Change: Note

Highlights the challenges of implementing major change in an organization. It first describes the common pitfalls so that implementors will be "forewarned." Next, it characterizes the guidelines for successful implementation as the "ten commandments", while offering a... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Change Management

October 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Sonoco Products Company (A): Building a World-Class HR Organization

By: David A. Thomas, Boris Groysberg and Cate Reavis

Describes the steps the vice-president of human resources takes in revamping an HR function that was noncooperative and, at times, competitive and introducing the company to the notion of HR as a strategic business partner. Explores changes made to the company's... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Compensation and Benefits; Management Succession; Measurement and Metrics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy

18 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Looking in the Mirror: Questions Every Leader Must Ask

The book discusses several key areas of inquiry that can help leaders improve the success of their companies and nonprofit organizations including: vision and priorities, managing your time, giving and getting feedback, View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

08 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Seven Negotiation Lessons from Amazon's HQ Disaster in Queens

As Amazon’s stunning pullout from New York fades into the news archives, its potent lessons for business negotiators risk being lost. Highly promising deals in diffuse multiparty settings with many potential spoilers, like Amazon’s View Details

Keywords: by James K. Sebenius; Real Estate; Construction

25 Oct 2010
HBS Case

Tesco’s Stumble into the US Market

States is an unusually competitive and cluttered market. It is tough to succeed without a clear and sustainable point of differentiation. While successful grocery retailers are expanding internationally, the odds are long. Both... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company

address any one of these challenges can cause the restructuring to fail. Having A Business Purpose Restructuring is more likely to be successful when managers first understand the fundamental business/strategic problem or opportunity that... View Details

Keywords: by Stuart C. Gilson

22 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution

their planning processes and make smart choices. Here's an excerpt outlining the seven questions every manager should ask. 1. Who Is Your Primary Customer? The first imperative—and the heart of every View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

January 2004
Case

Bob Holgrom and the Buyout of the Carlson Division

By: Thomas R. Piper

The head of the Carlson Division stands to benefit substantially in financial terms if a private equity firm wins the bid for the division. The division is in the early stages of a performance turnaround, with only three quarters of profit improvement and no audited... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Corporate Disclosure; Ethics; Financial Reporting; Laws and Statutes; Performance Improvement

Find at Harvard

May 2015 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Philips Healthcare: Marketing the HealthSuite Digital Platform

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In June 2014, leading healthcare and consumer technology company, Royal Philips ("Philips"), announced its HealthSuite Digital Platform to house healthcare data and enable applications used by physicians and patients. Philips had strong equity in the healthcare... View Details

Keywords: Health; Healthcare; Digital; Platform; Ecosystem; Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Product Development; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Netherlands; United States

March 2019
Supplement

KITEA (F): Expanding in Africa

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

he case opens in 2018 after KITEA has recorded two years of double-digit sales growth following IKEA’s entry into the Moroccan market. It then traces the factors that contributed to KITEA’s success and that led Tana Africa Capital Limited to acquire a minority stake in... View Details

March 2013
Case

Robin Ash and Printzhof Press

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Lynda St. Clair

Robin Ash has just been promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Printzhof Press and Vice President of its parent company, Education and Entertainment Holdings, Inc. Her first objective is to create an action plan that will achieve two seemingly contradictory corporate... View Details

Keywords: United States; Organizational Change; Management Styles; General Management; Change Management; Morale; Communication; Human Resource Management; Book Publishing; Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Conflict Management; Leading Change; Competitive Strategy; Organizational Culture; Planning; Education Industry; Publishing Industry

May 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Harlem Children's Zone, The: Driving Performance with Measurement and Evaluation

By: Allen S. Grossman and Daniel F. Curran

Geoffrey Canada, CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone, wanted his organization to grow dramatically to reach thousands of poor and underserved children in Harlem. The agency ran a variety of successful social service programs throughout New York City that were separately... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Measurement and Metrics; Organizational Structure; Performance Evaluation; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Nonprofit Organizations; Expansion; Valuation

March 2006 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Banco Hipotecario S.A.

By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Arthur I Segel and Alexandra de Royere

In 2003, the chairwoman and controlling shareholder of Argentina's leading residential mortgage lender are considering how to bring the bank's restructuring to a successful conclusion as the country's economy continues to suffer from the impact of the 2001-2002... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Currency; Banks and Banking; Mortgages; Crisis Management; Competition; Argentina

February 2003 (Revised March 2003)
Case

The Nature Conservancy

By: Allen S. Grossman and Jane Wei-Skillern

Almost immediately upon being appointed CEO of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Steve McCormick undertakes a radical reorganization of this global institution. TNC is the largest and, by most measures, the most successful environment organization in the world, with... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Natural Environment; Nonprofit Organizations; United States

May–June 2018
Article

Layoffs That Don't Break Your Company: Better Approaches to Workforce Transition

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

Today layoffs have become companies’ default response to the challenges created by advances in technology and global competition. Yet research shows that job cuts rarely help senior leaders achieve their goals. Too often, they’re done for short-term gain, but the cost... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employees; Transition; Strategic Planning