Publications

18 Feb 2019
Book

What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology

entrepreneurs are more deliberate than this, beginning by analyzing the existing model in their industry and then layering their own innovation on top. But they still proceed largely by feeling their way, reacting opportunistically to... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Beauty & Cosmetics; Insurance; Service; Retail

Web

Launching Tech Ventures | HBS Online

Leader Determine which startups to invest in by understanding the key metrics that dictate whether a venture has achieved product-market fit and is ready for scaling. “The course is useful for startupland citizens—founders, investors, and joiners—to get complete,... View Details

24 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

Boards and Corporate Governance: A Balanced Scorecard Approach

requirements and other rules, and boards and managers comply. Economies with good governance structures perform better than those lacking such systems. · A board's key functions are overseeing a company's strategy and leadership,... View Details

Keywords: Re: Robert S. Kaplan & Krishna G. Palepu

15 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

Remembering Alfred Chandler

great-grandfather, the business editor and analyst Henry Varnum Poor, to 2 recent volumes, published while he was in his 80s: Inventing the Electronic Century: The Epic Story of the Consumer Electronics and Computer Industries and Shaping... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Esas Group: Investing Together, Staying Together

By: Christina R. Wing and Alpana Thapar

This case opens in June 2022, after Esas Group, one of Turkey’s largest family-owned investment firms, implements a series of changes to professionalize the business and help transition family members from operators to responsible investors. In December 2019, the Group... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Transition; Business or Company Management; Organizational Structure; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governance; Financial Services Industry; Turkey

07 Nov 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Sir Alex Ferguson--Managing Manchester United

the heart of his long-run success” Ferguson's career indeed is an impressive feat. Look around for leading executives in any industry who have managed to succeed with the same firm at the highest levels for nearly three decades.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation

12 Nov 2021
News

Alumni Business Leaders on Confronting the Climate Change Challenge

process solutions has become clear. And it is driving new business creation, as well as traditional business adaptation, at far higher than previous rates. With the evolution of our great industrial and financial base, we may at last be... View Details

01 Mar 2004
News

Derek Ferguson

structure in place so these ventures can be financed,” he explains. Sean John Clothing has quickly grown to sales of $200 million and one hundred employees since it was launched five years ago. “It’s our most profitable area,” says... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries

October 2022
Case

An Heir with No Spare: The Deitch Family Office

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Joe and Matt Deitch, father and son, knew it was time to start their own family office. Matthew had recently joined his father at the family’s three enterprises, and they both realized that their family’s needs had grown increasingly complex over the years. In search... View Details

27 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

Want a Happy Customer? Coordinate Sales and Marketing

Financial performance is the result of operating performance. Operating performance includes all the things that a company must do to win the competitive battle in its industry to attract, retain, and profitably serve customers. It varies... View Details

Keywords: by Benson Shapiro

01 Sep 2006
What Do You Think?

Are We Ready for Self-Management?

as to skills in selecting people. Next, as Debbie Lee suggests, " there has to be a great deal of training." Again, high-performance organizations train for skills, not attitude. Nari Kannan points out two other critical components of a self-management... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

October 2000 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Vyaderm Pharmaceuticals: The EVA Decision

By: Robert Simons and Indra A. Reinbergs

In 2016, the new CEO of Vyaderm Pharmaceuticals introduces an Economic Value Added (EVA) program to focus the company on long-term shareholder value. The EVA program consists of three elements: EVA centers (business units), EVA drivers (operational practices that... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Economic Growth; Economic Systems; Management; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Performance Evaluation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry; Washington (state, US)

January 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Capital Allocation at HCA

By: W. Carl Kester and Emily R. McComb

In early 2017, HCA Holdings, an investor-owned hospital management company, faced a strategically important capital allocation decision. After the exit of its private equity sponsors in 2016, HCA had to determine how best to allocate its substantial annual free cash... View Details

Keywords: Capital Allocation; Cash Distribution Policy; Dividends; Share Repurchases; Growth Strategy And Execution; Growth Investing; Capital Expenditures; Debt Management; Debt Reduction; Debt Policy; Hospital Management; Investor-owned Hospital Chains; Capital Budgeting; Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Corporate Finance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Industry; United States

June 2014 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Molycorp: Financing the Production of Rare Earth Minerals (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expenditure project in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. Yet it had just reported lower... View Details

February 2012
Case

Kent Chemical: Organizing for International Growth

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Laura Winig

In July 2008, Luis Morales, president of Kent Chemical International, is proposing a third reorganization effort after two failed attempts to better align his business with its U.S.-based parent company. With a global expansion strategy placing increasing demands on... View Details

Keywords: International Business; Organizational Change; Multinational Corporations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Design; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Culture; Global Strategy; Chemical Industry; United States

August 1983 (Revised June 1986)
Case

Johnson & Johnson (A)

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes the Johnson & Johnson culture and the corporate systems, structures, and procedures which reflect and promote it. The principal teaching objectives are to gain an understanding of the impact a strong culture can have on strategic decisions and to consider how... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Management Systems; Organizational Structure; Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Strategy; Growth Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry