Publications

September 2021
Case

Worldreader: Helping Readers Build a Better World

By: Marco Bertini, Elie Ofek and Julia Kelley

Founded in 2010, Worldreader was an international nonprofit organization that promoted reading to children around the world. For many years, Worldreader distributed e-readers to under-resourced communities and funded its operations primarily through philanthropic... View Details

June 2020
Supplement

Shellye Archambeau: Becoming a CEO (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley and Briana Richardson

With the economy in a freefall, MetricStream is losing customers, hemorrhaging cash and struggling to make payroll. Several board members are threatening to quit. Others are pressing to sell the company even at dismally low valuations. It’s 2008 and lightning has... View Details

Keywords: Race; Gender; Leadership Style; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; California

November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 7: Designing Asset Allocation Systems

By: Robert Simons

This module reading provides tools and analyses for acquiring and allocating resources. The module begins by reviewing the importance of setting strategic boundaries as a basis for asset acquisitions. Next, a distinction is made between new assets acquired to meet... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Asset Allocation Systems; Payback; Discounted Cash Flow; Internal Rate Of Return; Strategic Investments; Analyzing Acquisitions; Strategy; Capital Budgeting

September 2014
Case

FormPrint Ortho500

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Alisa Zalosh

The Senior Vice President of FormPrint's Medical Products business unit is considering issues raised by the upcoming introduction of a new 3D printing system, the Ortho500, which could print custom exoskeletal orthopedic splints, braces, and casts that conformed to a... View Details

Keywords: B2B Marketing; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

March 2010 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Community Health Workers in Zambia: Incentive Design and Management

By: Nava Ashraf and Natalie Kindred

This case examines the various considerations relevant to selecting and compensating workers in a context where their work involves a pro-social component. This is relevant to not only health care in Zambia, but to NGO and public sector workers who are both motivated... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Training; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Mission and Purpose; Non-Governmental Organizations; Motivation and Incentives; Health Industry; Zambia

Research Summary

Overview

I study how people collaborate with each other as they define, change, and solve problems while working on creativity and innovation projects in organizations.

Conference Proceedings:
Cromwell, J. & Gardner, H. 2017. High-stakes innovation: When... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Startups; Decision Choice And Uncertainty; Teams; Team Process

01 Dec 2023
News

Wide Horizon

persuade researchers and funders by meeting with them directly or publishing articles in the media. “But that only gets you so far. Serious funders and their researcher advisors are convinced by high quality, published research.” So the... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; Photos by Sarah Wilson

Web

HBS Fund - Alumni

Investors Society recognizes leadership annual donors. Learn More Highlights from fiscal year 2024 7,748 HBS Fund donors $ 250 HBS Fund median gift $ 1M 4,725 gifts under $1,000 “ The HBS Fund provides the flexibility required to foster innovation, View Details

13 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 13, 2009

apparatus of the organizations. Many of the concepts and ideas in this traditional model are shaped by a long history of governance failure and organizational pathology. It suffices as a solution to the challenge of meeting legal... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Governing the Family-Run Business

enterprise systems can be governed by a few structures, shown in Figure 2: Top management group; Board of directors or board of advisors; Family assembly and/or family council, and; Shareholders meeting and/or shareholder council. Figure... View Details

16 Nov 2021
HBS Case

How a Company Made Employees So Miserable, They Killed Themselves

use the word “if”: “If we shut down the service” or “If we transfer you to a new role,” the case says. Officials also encouraged managers to move workers who weren’t meeting expectations to new workspaces or even remove their office... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Web

HBS - The year in Review

will serve as chief of staff of BrightUp, a seed-stage Boston-based fintech company focused on democratizing wealth building and well-being. Announcement Press Release Recipient Press Release Dean’s Regional Events Resumed Dean Srikant Datar traveled around the world... View Details

01 Dec 2023
News

Endless Possibilities

group sessions peel back the layers of experience with the app,” she explains. “You get to see that moment of fun and delight when someone gets a match. When I asked my seven-year-old daughter what she thinks I do for work, she said, ‘You help people find love.’” How... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

05 Oct 2023

HBS Information Session in Cape Town

Join us for an in-person information session about the Harvard Business School MBA Program. This event is designed for prospective applicants to learn more about the MBA Program and life at HBS. The event will include an admissions presentation and the opportunity to... View Details

Web

Leadership Fellows

Fellow position that meets the program goals of access, impact and leadership. Fellows will have the opportunity to gain exposure and insight to work being done at the highest levels of the organization as a function of the work assigned.... View Details

October 2024
Teaching Plan

Teamworks: Tackling a Forecasting Fumble

By: Lou Shipley and Stacy Straaberg

In late March 2018, Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides learned Q1 2018 sales were at risk for a large forecasting miss. Founded in 2004, Teamworks’s software application assisted support staff in messaging, scheduling, and sharing documents with collegiate and professional... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication Strategy; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Technological Innovation; Sports; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; United States; North Carolina

October 2024
Article

Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective

By: Sanaz Mobasseri, William A. Kahn and Robin J. Ely

This paper uses systems psychodynamic concepts to develop theory about the persistence of racial inequality in U.S. organizations and to inform an approach for disrupting it. We treat White men as the dominant group and Black people as the archetypal subordinate group... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Organizational Culture; Gender; Power and Influence; Employees; Attitudes

Find at Harvard

February 2023
Case

Seemore Meats & Veggies

By: Lou Shipley, Patricia Favreau and Mel Martin

Cara Nicoletti was an emerging food entrepreneur that had recently launched her first product, a sustainably sourced, vegetable-infused meat sausage. Brooklyn, New York City-based Seemore Meats & Veggies had seen promising signs of success in local markets and pockets... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Food; Logistics; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States