Publications
Publications
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- Faculty Publications (436)
- June 2014
- Teaching Note
Steve Carpenter at Cake Financial
After investing $9 million of venture capital, Cake Financial had failed to reach critical mass. In early 2010 Cake's assets were sold and the company was dissolved. Founded in 2006, the San Francisco-based Internet company allowed users to monitor their investments... View Details
- February 2014 (Revised April 2015)
- Case
Go Beyond Investing
By: Lynda Applegate, Vincent Dessain, Emilie Billaud and Daniela Beyersdorfer
In 2013, Brigitte Baumann, founder of the Pan-European angel investing provider Go Beyond Investing, reflected on the evolution of her venture and the way forward. Her company, which offered deal flow and training to novice and experienced angel investors and ran... View Details
- January 2014
- Case
Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)
Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users... View Details
- 10 Oct 2013
- Interview
Why U.S. Business is Stalling: Professor Michael Porter in an interview with David Wessel
In an interview with WSJ's David Wessel, Michael Porter from Harvard Business School talks about the challenges business in the U.S. is facing, including political gridlock in Washington and an ever-deepening skills shortage. View Details
- October 2013
- Article
Ferguson's Formula
By: Anita Elberse and Sir Alex Ferguson
When Alex Ferguson took over as manager of the English football team Manchester United, the club was in dire straits: It hadn't won a league title in nearly 20 years and faced a very real threat of being relegated to a lower division. In 26 seasons under Ferguson,... View Details
- September 2013 (Revised June 2016)
- Case
The Morning Star Company: Self-Management at Work
By: Francesca Gino, Bradley R. Staats, Brian J. Hall and Tiffany Y. Chang
Morning Star, a collection of affiliated companies, had grown steadily since 1970 when Chris Rufer, president and founder, started the business hauling tomatoes to processing plants in a truck. The company's main products continued to be tomato-based, including a... View Details
- September 2013 (Revised May 2014)
- Case
OdontoPrev
By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Matthew Lingenbrink, Joshua Turnbull and Ricardo Reisen De Pinho
Brazil's largest dental insurer, a successful and innovative firm, has saturated the corporate market and faces stiffer competition. It must decide whether to enter a new market in Brazil or to expand into other parts of Central and South America. View Details
- June 2013 (Revised October 2013)
- Case
Tim Blanchard at Jones Mendel & Co. (Abridged)
By: Jay W. Lorsch and John Gabarro
Tim Blanchard struggles to balance all the demands facing him as a partner of a consulting firm. He must decide how to serve clients, mentor his people, provide strategy and direction to the high-tech group, and spend time with family. View Details
- June 2013 (Revised March 2014)
- Case
Kvadrat: Leading for Innovation
By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott
In 2013, Anders Byriel, CEO of the family-owned Danish textiles company, Kvadrat, considered the firm's strategic plan. In 2000, Byriel and Mette Bendix, Kvadrat's Product Director, had taken over management of the company from their fathers, who had founded Kvadrat... View Details
- December 2012
- Teaching Note
The Paris Opera Hotel (TN)
By: Arthur I Segel
This case provides an introduction to hotel investment, development and management from the perspective of a short term oriented investor group. Students learn that hotels are a unique real estate property type, with performance often tied to the broader economy, and... View Details
- August 2012 (Revised May 2013)
- Case
Milwaukee (A): Making of a World Water Hub
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird
Starting in 2007 Milwaukee leaders from different areas (large established companies, civic organizations, public sector, academia, and entrepreneurs) negotiated a path for converting the region into a global water hub to address economic and environmental concerns.... View Details
- June 2012 (Revised September 2015)
- Case
The Paris Opera Hotel
By: Arthur I. Segel and Chad M. Carr
Real estate investor Javier Faus invests in a luxury hotel development in central Paris, and must select a management company. View Details
- December 2011 (Revised March 2013)
- Background Note
The Business Development Manager
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Sarah Dillard, Katharine Nevins and Puja Ramani
Describes the role of business development (BD) managers in technology companies, detailing: 1) BD managers' key responsibilities at each step in the process of creating a partnership agreement; 2) how the nature of the BD function evolves as a technology startup... View Details
- December 2011
- Article
Platform Envelopment
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Geoffrey Parker and Marshall Van Alstyne
Due to network effects and switching costs in platform markets, entrants generally must offer revolutionary functionality. We explore a second entry path that does not rely upon Schumpeterian innovation: platform envelopment. Through envelopment, a provider in one... View Details
- Article
The Learning Effects of Monitoring
By: Dennis Campbell, Marc Epstein and F. Asis Martinez-Jerez
This paper investigates the relationship between monitoring, decision making, and learning among lower-level employees. We exploit a field-research setting in which business units vary in the "tightness" with which they monitor employee decisions. We find that tighter... View Details
- September 2011 (Revised July 2012)
- Case
Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Gain Liquidity
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld and Evan Richardson
Samir Kaul, a Partner at Khosla Ventures, looked out his office window. It was late June, 2011, and like almost every day in Menlo Park, the sun was shining. Kaul was reflecting on what had been a very positive 10 months in the venture capital business. Over that span,... View Details
- 2011
- Book
The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work
By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steve J. Kramer
The most effective managers have the ability to build a cadre of employees who have great inner work lives-consistently positive emotions; strong motivation; and favorable perceptions of the organization, their work, and their colleagues. The worst managers undermine... View Details
Keywords: Creativity; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Groups and Teams; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Working Conditions; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Performance Productivity; Attitudes; Behavior; Happiness; Perception; Trust; Time Management; Resource Allocation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Managerial Roles
- June 2011
- Case
Leaders Who Make a Difference: Sam Palmisano's Smarter IBM: Day 1
By: Joseph L. Bower and Sonja Ellingson Hout
Sam Palmisano explains the moves he made to transform IBM into a faster-growing, more profitable company focused on IT solutions to the problems of companies, cities, and nations. View Details
- May 2011
- Article
The Power of Small Wins
By: Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer
What is the best way to motivate employees to do creative work? Help them take a step forward every day. In an analysis of knowledge workers' diaries, the authors found that nothing contributed more to a positive inner work life (the mix of emotions, motivations, and... View Details
Keywords: Creativity; Interpersonal Communication; Employee Relationship Management; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Groups and Teams; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Working Conditions; Management Practices and Processes; Management Skills; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Performance Productivity; Attitudes; Behavior; Happiness; Perception; Trust; Time Management; Resource Allocation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Managerial Roles
- February 2011 (Revised July 2013)
- Case
A123 Systems: Power. Safety. Life.
A123 Systems, the largest manufacturer of lithium ion batteries in North America, is producing and selling batteries for electric vehicles in China and electric buses in Europe and America. It just opened two plants in Michigan, partially funded by a grant from... View Details