Publications

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16 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

The Outside-In Approach to Customer Service

the fourth level, but it does provide a road map of the steps along the way that firms may either traverse or stop at. Level 1: Companies at level 1 are very product focused and have an "if I build it, they will buy it" mindset.... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products

March 1988 (Revised September 1993)
Case

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)

Under the leadership of Robert F. McDermott, USAA has been transformed from a property and casualty insurance company with $200 million in assets in the late 1960s to a $11 billion financial services empire in 1988. The case illustrates the value of having a CEO drive... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Leadership; Information Technology; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

05 Sep 2024
Blog Post

District Heating in Denmark: How Fjernvarme Fyn fuels an integrated and sustainable future

its optionality and efficiency. At Fjernvarme Fyn, the system is equipped to produce heat and power using a combination of waste, wood chips, and... View Details

August 2002 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Australia-Japan Cable: Structuring the Project Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Carrie Ferman

In late September 1999, representatives from Telstri, Japan Telecom, and Teleglobe met to discuss the structure of the Australia-Japan Cable (AJC) project, a $520 million submarine cable system that would run from Australia to Japan. The sponsors, excited by the... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Cooperative Ownership; Organizational Structure; Investment; Ownership; Capital; Corporate Governance; Management Teams; Communication Technology; Projects; Compensation and Benefits; Corporate Finance; Telecommunications Industry; Australia; Japan

2012
Chapter

IP Modularity in Software Ecosystems: How SugarCRM's IP and Business Model Shape Its Product Architecture

By: Josef Waltl, Joachim Henkel and Carliss Y. Baldwin

Keywords: Business Model; Digital Platforms; Open Source Distribution; Complexity; Applications and Software; Intellectual Property

February 2024
Case

Best Buy Health: Enabling Care at Home

By: Robert S. Huckman, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Antonio Moreno, Bradley Staats and Sarah Mehta

This case explores retailer Best Buy’s decision to enter health care. Best Buy Health aims to enable care at home across three prongs: consumer health, active aging, and virtual care. A key pillar of Best Buy Health's strategy is leveraging the Geek Squad—the company's... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Business Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Electronics Industry; Health Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Minnesota

30 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Racial Bias Might Be Infecting Patient Portals. Can AI Help?

registered nurses. The statistical evidence suggests that medical teams tended to prioritize messages from white patients, says Ariel Stern, a visiting professor at Harvard Business School and one of the study’s authors. As mobile... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Health

06 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

18 Tips Managers Can Use to Lead Through COVID's Rising Waters

Again Rohit Deshpande, Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing. ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN Tip: Use technology to scale your organization to current conditions An old canard applies to today's environment:... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Thomas R. Eisenmann

Thomas R. Eisenmann is the Howard H. Stevenson Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School; Peter O. Crisp Faculty Chair, Harvard Innovation Labs; and Unit Head of the HBS Entrepreneurial... View Details

March 1990 (Revised November 2004)
Case

O.M. Scott & Sons Co. Leveraged Buyout

By: George P. Baker III and Karen Wruck

Documents the organizational changes that took place at O.M. Scott & Sons Co. in response to their leveraged buyout. Provides the opportunity for students to discuss the effects of high leverage on management decision making, and the differences between operating as a... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Capital Structure; Borrowing and Debt; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management; Business Conglomerates; Cost of Capital; Financial Services Industry

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

What’s the best way to run a company? The question has bedeviled economists as long as companies have existed. How, after all, do you measure something as soft as management style across the range of different types and sizes of companies... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Web

Women and the MBA: 6 Important Aspects of the HBS Program - MBA

viewpoints. Here are the six most important things they thought you should know about being a woman at HBS. 1. You’ll find support and resources for women on campus “The resources and the size View Details

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: David S. Scharfstein

I teach an MBA course in the elective curriculum called Managing and Innovating in Financial Services. I focus on key functions of the financial system including credit, liquidity, insurance and payments provided by a variety of financial intermediaries including... View Details

Web

The Power of DEI: Harnessing Talent and Opportunity for Enduring Success - Course Catalog

What role does confronting this discrepancy and thus working to align talent and opportunity more closely play in creating a more prosperous economy? In the larger quest to build a more just society? How do... View Details

January 1990 (Revised February 1990)
Case

MSA: The Software Company--Planning the AMAPs Product Line

By: Robert J. Dolan

MSA has commissioned a major market research study to assess demand potential for a computer software system designed for aerospace and defense contractors. Students must evaluate the results of the study (including a conjoint analysis) to assess whether MSA should... View Details

Keywords: Product; Marketing; Mathematical Methods; Software