by Tom Quinn - Publications - Faculty & Research

08 Sep 2011
What Do You Think?

What’s Apple’s Biggest Challenge: Replacing Steve or Wall Street?

Summing Up The first impression I get from respondents to this month's column is that Steve Jobs can't be replaced as CEO of Apple by just one person. Rather the succession must include at least a head of design (according to Yadeed Lobo)... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer

06 Jan 2010
What Do You Think?

Is a Stringent Climate Change Agreement a Pot of Gold?

causing global warming and turn that energy and resources into actually improving our way of life with limited impact on our world." Tom Dolembo questioned whether agreements are necessary. He believes that change driven View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Energy; Utilities

03 Apr 2009
What Do You Think?

How Much Obsolescence Can Business and Society Absorb?

Summing Up To remain sane and relevant, must we smell the flowers as well as the ozone? This month's question of how much obsolescence business and society (and by implication, we as managers) can absorb brought out both the poets and the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Publishing; Journalism & News

27 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

A Politician's Investment Portfolio Might Tip Off Corruption Potential

The risk taken in a politician’s private investment portfolio is a strong indicator of whether that person will cross legal or ethical lines in office. The riskier the portfolio, the more likely the lawmaker will be involved in at least one scandal, according to new... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

01 Aug 2012
What Do You Think?

Should CEOs Worry About ‘Too Big to Succeed?’

Summing Up Is There a "Right Size" for a Company? This month's question of whether "too big to succeed" should be a larger worry of CEOs than "too big to fail" as usual produced more questions than answers (or agreement). View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Financial Services

07 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

Negotiation and All That Jazz

directly to negotiations," says Wheeler, whose own background is in law and policy analysis. "I'm not speaking metaphorically. By emulating what jazz masters do, we all can become better negotiators." Indeed, the late diplomat Richard... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

17 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

Advertising Symbiosis: The Key to Viral Videos

YouTube views. By contrast, Nestlé's self-explanatory "From Maine Water Springs to You: The Journey of Poland Springs Water" has barely cracked 500 views. So why did one water commercial sparkle on YouTube, while the other fizzled? The... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

21 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The New Math of Customer Relationships

links between satisfied employees and satisfied customers have on practitioners? Jim Heskett: While we don't spend any time tracking the impact, Earl and I (as well as our coauthors who, over the years, have included Chris Hart, Len Schlesinger, Gary Loveman, View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

02 Apr 2014
What Do You Think?

Has the Post-Capitalist Economy Finally Arrived?

era of capitalism will bring. Tom Dolembo commented that "the revolution that is occurring is a shift of cost from production of product to delivery of experiences Capitalism requires a belief that wealth is exclusively for a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service

08 Oct 2010
What Do You Think?

Will Transparency in CEO Compensation Have Unintended Consequences?

Kamal Gupta put it this way: "Investors care two hoots about it as long as the company is doing well and rewarding them well." There was concern that the legislation might actually have the opposite effect of what was intended. View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

17 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

A Litmus Test for Entrepreneurs

In 1999, Tom Herman and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, best friends since childhood, quit their comfortable jobs to start govWorks, with millions of VC dollars to back them up. Their goal was nothing if not grandiose: to use Internet payment... View Details

Keywords: by Walter Kuemmerle

14 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

Blockbuster! Why Star Power Works

cannot afford not to do so. I present several case studies, such as on basketball's LeBron James and actor Tom Cruise, that vividly illustrate the ongoing tug-of-war between stars and entertainment companies, with each party vying for a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Entertainment & Recreation

08 Jun 2009
Research & Ideas

The Return of the Salesman

began to appear in the 1990s, with French historian Laurence Fontaine's Histoire du colportage en Europe: XVe-XIXe siècle, a work translated into English and published by Duke University Press as History of Pedlars in Europe in 1996. This... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

09 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

Uncompromising Leadership in Tough Times

Economic difficulties need not mean that we lower our standards for leadership. If anything, we should raise our sights. New work by HBS professor Michael Beer and colleagues shows that there is still a place for what they term... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 1993 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Jack Thomas

By: John P. Kotter and Andrew P. Burtis

This redisguised version of an earlier case, Tom Levick, provides an updated setting but does not change the teaching objectives. Chronicles the first six weeks of experience on the job for a recent business school graduate. Emphasis is on managing... View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; Behavior; Leadership Style; Strategy; Rank and Position; Publishing Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

Edward McFowland III is an Assistant Professor in the Technology and Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches the first-year TOM course in the required curriculum.

Professor McFowland’s research interests – which lie at the... View Details

October 2012 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Kleiner-Perkins and Genentech: When Venture Capital Met Science

By: Felda Hardymon and Tom Nicholas

Genentech is a rare success story in the biotechnology industry. Hundreds of billions of dollars of venture capital have been invested without the expected transformational effects. Established in 1976, Genentech was to develop the new science of recombinant DNA into... View Details

Keywords: Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Science; Biotechnology Industry; United States

Citation

Educators

Purchase

September 2010
Supplement

Compass Maritime Services, LLC: Valuing Ships (CW)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Albert W. Sheen

Tom Roberts, a founding partner of Compass Maritime Services, a New Jersey-based shipping research and consulting firm, has been asked by a new potential customer in May 2008 for advice on purchasing a capesize bulk carrier. After identifying a suitable ship with his... View Details