Publications

Find at Harvard

06 Apr 2017
Blog Post

3 Lessons I Learned as a Social Enterprise Summer Fellow

I came to HBS with an interest in social impact but without any specific career convictions. Over the past year, the Social Enterprise Initiative (SEI) has been especially influential in guiding my career... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

11 Jan 2017
Blog Post

Leadership and Diversity at HBS

After working in financial services for nearly six years, I realized that the skills needed to succeed for the next 20 years of my career were likely to be different than the ones required at the junior ranks. It was important that I... View Details

09 Jan 2024
Blog Post

Insights From Harvard Business School’s Peek Program

Peek is an annual online program for current undergraduate students that provides an opportunity to try out the HBS case method of study, join a leadership development discussion, gain an understanding of the career flexibility and... View Details

April 2009 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Dr. Benjamin Hooks and Children's Health Forum

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Charles J. Ogletree Jr, Howard Koh, Abbye Atkinson, Carmel Salhi and Aldo Sesia

"Dr. Benjamin Hooks and Children's Health Forum" charts the many different career paths of Hooks, a civil rights activist and pioneer. Hooks' positions ranged from lawyer, judge, preacher, entrepreneur to the first African American commissioner of the Federal... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Care and Treatment; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Personal Development and Career; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Issues

October 2024
Case

Reed Group and Succession in a Family Business: An Impossible Job to Fill?

By: Lauren H. Cohen and Tonia Labruyere

James Reed had taken over Reed Group, the recruitment and career services company his father had founded and built, in 1994. He was now reflecting on succession planning and other challenges that lay ahead: with no obvious choice among his family members, he needed to... View Details

Keywords: Charity; Succession Planning; Family Business; Values and Beliefs; Management Succession; Mission and Purpose; Family Ownership; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Family and Family Relationships; Recruitment; AI and Machine Learning; Employment Industry; United Kingdom; London

July 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Carol Brewer's Investments

By: Richard S. Ruback and Julia Stevens

Following her husband's death in 1994, Carol Brewer took over the management of her family's investments. This case describes the decisions Brewer made during this process, including her choice to seek active account management, her selection of an investment firm, and... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Retirement; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Management; Personal Finance; Investment Banking; Investment Return

Profile

Debora Lehrer

realization hit that if I wanted to advance my career in sports at a fairly steady pace, an MBA would be the best way to prepare for the management roles I had in mind. After deciding to get an advanced degree, the View Details

Keywords: Entertainment / Media

Career Coach

Troy Peterson

pursue, to making choices about different opportunities or redefining priorities. Troy started his career as an Infantry & Special Operations officer in the US Army, including deployments in Afghanistan,... View Details

October 2004 (Revised February 2005)
Case

John Moran and the Orthopedics Industry

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Reviews John Moran's 25-year career in the orthopedic industry and his current decision whether to start a hand and foot surgery company. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

15 Dec 2015
First Look

December 15, 2015

regimes. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50186 Are the 'Best and Brightest' Going into Finance? Skill Development and Career Choice of MIT Graduates By: Shu, Pian... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Career Coach

Michele Biamonte

Michele (HGSE, Adult Development '05) combines her professional experience in finance, talent management and higher ed admin to help students and alumni optimize their self-assessment, career exploration and personal branding process. She... View Details

Keywords: Education; Commercial Banking; Financial Services (All); Investment Banking; Financial Services (All); Investment Management; Financial Services (All)

10 Sep 2024
Blog Post

Leading with Creative Problem Solving: Ron Kurtz (MBA 1967)

journey has not always been easy and positive, no career journey is. I’ve learned I prefer to stay away from workplace politics, a discovery that has impacted the choices I’ve made and paths I’ve taken.... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

September 2017
Case

Dr. William Carson— Intrapreneurial Innovation in the Pharmaceutical Industry

By: Steven Rogers and Alyssa Haywoode

Dr. William Carson, an African-American alum of Harvard University became the President and CEO of a multi billion dollar division of Otsuka, a Japan based pharmaceutical company. His ascension to this leadership position followed a thriving career in academic medicine... View Details

Keywords: Dr. Williams Carson; Otsuka America Pharmaceutical; Harvard; Abilify; Aripiprazole; Health Testing and Trials; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry; Japan

March 2016 (Revised January 2023)
Teaching Note

Carla Ann Harris at Morgan Stanley

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan

This case follows Carla Ann Harris, an African-American executive on Wall Street, from her childhood to the eve of her 20th year at Morgan Stanley. In addition to her professional identity as an investment banker, Harris is also an accomplished gospel singer, an... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Identity; Personal Development and Career; Success; Values and Beliefs; Social Entrepreneurship; Financial Services Industry

19 Sep 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Say Again? Uncommon Advice for Common Business Problems

showed, adopting radical simplicity can be the best approach to team creativity. Perhaps the best way to bolster innovation in employees is to draw a curtain around them, literally. It could well be that the best career decision you ever... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2001 (Revised December 2007)
Case

Katharine Graham

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Lisa M. Gunther and Dina R. Pradel

Details the career of Katharine Graham of the Washington Post Co., a pioneer in her field and one of the first high-profile women to lead a major public company. Her story is a unique example of how power and expertise are built over time, and differs from those of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Values and Beliefs; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Journalism and News Industry

01 Nov 2012
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: Judgment Calls

bear. Written by Harvard Business School Visiting Professor Thomas H. Davenport and independent consultant Brook Manville, the book shares the tales of organizations that made successful choices through team-led decisions. This excerpt... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas H. Davenport & Brook Manville; Consumer Products

April 2023
Case

Ryan Serhant: Time Management for Repeatable Success (A)

By: Ashley Whillans and Hawken Lord

From an open-concept 90’s-style stone and wood cabin in Dublin, New Hampshire, Ryan Serhant reflected on his career as a real estate broker. As Ryan stared into the fireplace that featured prominently in the center of the house, he wondered whether the period of... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Time Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Real Estate Industry

July 1996
Case

Craig Parks (A)

By: David A. Thomas and Lisa J. Chadderdon

Craig Parks is a 1992 HBS graduate who, without much deliberation, returns to work for his former employer, Taylor Burton on Wall Street. The choice proves to be a poor fit for Craig. The case documents his decision-making process, personal history, and the dilemma he... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions; Problems and Challenges