Publications

Find at Harvard

2020
Book

Hidden Truths: What Leaders Need to Hear But Are Rarely Told

By: David G. Fubini

Hidden Truths delivers profound and rarely discussed insights about C-suite jobs that provide aspiring leaders with practical, new skills that will equip them for the immense challenges of their desired jobs. Through 14 illuminating chapters, accomplished... View Details

Keywords: Executive Development; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Competency and Skills

July 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Work is Good: Branding the Employ+Ability Mission

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Monica Higgins and Susan Saltrick

Employ+Ability, a small company employing developmentally disabled adults, finds itself competing with low-cost producers of its core products-therapeutic hot and cold packs. How might an innovative branding campaign, centered on the company's core value of "Work Is... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Brands and Branding; Competition

Find at Harvard

June 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Teaching Note

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Teaching Note

By: Feng Zhu

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 623-092. Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complimentary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides—consumers and those providing applications or services—need access... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategy; Customer Acquisition; Technology Platform; Competitive Strategy; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Management Skills

Web

Improving the Local & Regional Business Environment - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Three Levels of CSV Reconceiving Products & Markets Redefining Productivity in the Value Chain Improving the Local & Regional Business Environment Improving the Local & Re... Improving the Local & Regional Business Environment Working individually View Details

March 1993 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Crown Cork & Seal in 1989

By: Stephen P. Bradley

Describes the structure and recent trends of the metal container industry, Crown's successful strategy for competing in the industry, and John Connelly's leadership over more than 20 years. In 1989, William Avery succeeded Connelly as CEO and is forced to consider new... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Five Forces Framework; Management Succession; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy

April 2000 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Capital One Financial Corporation

By: Bharat N. Anand, Michael G. Rukstad and Christopher Paige

Designed to explore the structure, implementation, and sustainability of an information-based strategy (IBS) undertaken by Capital One during the 1990s. Particular issues of interest are the impact of mass customization on industry structure, the ability to transfer... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Industry Structures; Internet and the Web; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Financial Services Industry; United States

March 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

LooksRare: The Decentralized, Tokenized, NFT Marketplace

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Shai Bernstein and George Gonzalez

LooksRare launched a decentralized and anonymous organization to compete against NFT marketplace leader OpenSea. By launching its own cryptocurrency, LooksRare attempted to lure users with a digital rewards program. The nature of the organization and its business... View Details

Keywords: NFTs; Alternative Assets; Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Customer Relationship Management; Market Entry and Exit; Business Model; Marketing

01 Apr 2001
News

New Ventures New Gains

you have about the business is the main way an investor figures out whether or not you have the people skills to actually make a plan happen.” The judges’ rankings are unveiled at an awards ceremony in late April. Each of the four teams... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna and Susan Young; Martin Dubilier (MBA 1952); Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

15 Apr 2016
News

First African American Woman to Receive Harvard MBA Talks Power of Persistence, Resilience, and Courage

(Image: Cathy Walsh) (Image: Cathy Walsh) The first African American woman to earn an MBA at Harvard Business School, Lillian Lincoln Lambert (MBA 1969) attended the School at a time when women weren’t allowed to live on campus. Instead, she View Details

Keywords: Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises

January 1998 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Staples (A)

By: Myra M. Hart, Marco Iansiti and Barbara Feinberg

Chronicles development of a new business concept. Starts with Stemberg's search for a new employment opportunity, then provides details of his decision to launch a new venture concept through careful matching of personal capabilities and experience against a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Management Skills; Retail Industry

01 Nov 2012
HBS Seminar

Bill Kerr, Harvard Business School

08 Jun 2018
News

My First Job: Selling Shoes, Surviving Black Monday, and Shaped by Chicken Lenses

learned how to go find value. I learned how to bring people with you as you're turning something around. Today I'm a founder. I've founded several companies. And those are the skills that never leave you.... View Details

14 May 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Do Experts Listen to Other Experts? Field Experimental Evidence from Scientific Peer Review

Keywords: by Misha Teplitskiy, Hardeep Ranu, Gary Gray, Michael Menietti, Eva Guinan, and Karim R. Lakhani

Executive Education in the Digital Matrix: The Disruption of the Supply Landscape

Even as the demand for managerial skills continues to grow, executive education worldwide has entered a period of disruption caused by the digitalization of content, connectivity, and communication. The current offerings of many executive education program providers... View Details

May 2022
Article

Variance Analysis: New Insights from Health Care Applications

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Susanna Gallani

We use a health care application to illustrate how variance analysis can be used to benchmark costs across similar service delivery sites. Variances for personnel costs, typically the largest cost component in service organizations, are calculated for price, quantity,... View Details

Keywords: Variance Analysis; Benchmarking; Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Health Care; Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Service Industry