Publications

Article

Transparency as a Solution for the Hospital Capacity Problem

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

COVID dramatically clarified a shortcoming in our great healthcare system, but like everything in the world, it has its shortcomings. What we see through the apex of COVID is that many hospitals in hotspot areas cannot provide an adequate supply of beds. Although the... View Details

Keywords: Hospital Capacity; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Capacity; Planning; Cooperation

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February 2004
Article

Launching a World-Class Joint Venture

By: James Bamford, David Ernst and David G. Fubini

More than 5,000 joint ventures, and many more contractual alliances, have been launched worldwide in the past five years. Companies are realizing that JVs and alliances can be lucrative vehicles for developing new products, moving into new markets, and increasing... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Strategic Alliances; Joint Ventures; Alliances; Organizational Structure; Alignment; Mergers and Acquisitions

July–September 2012
Article

The (Un)Hidden Turmoil of Language in Global Collaboration

By: Tsedal Neeley, Pamela J. Hinds and Catherine D. Cramton

Companies are increasingly relying on a lingua franca, or common language (usually English), to facilitate cross-border collaboration. Despite the numerous benefits of a lingua franca, our research reveals myriad challenges that disrupt collaboration and contribute to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Loss; Spoken Communication; Performance Productivity; Research; Global Range; Problems and Challenges; Diversity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

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June 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

The Expansion of Ping An

By: Robert C. Pozen and Nina Yang

In June 2010, Mingzhe Ma, chairman and chief executive officer of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China ("Ping An" or "the Company"), sat down with Sun Jianyi, vice chief executive officer and executive vice president at Ping An, to discuss the future direction of... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Conglomerates; Conferences; Banks and Banking; Financial Strategy; Insurance; Global Strategy; Leadership Style; Strategic Planning; Opportunities; Diversification; Expansion; China

April 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)

By: Fabrizio Ferri, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber

Two activist investors, one a founder and one a hedge-fund manager, seek to improve board oversight at a chain restaurant company. Prestley Blake founded Friendly Ice Cream in 1935 with his brother, and the two created a chain of full-service restaurants. In 1979 they... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict of Interests; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

June 2006
Case

Riding with the Blackhorse (A)

By: John R. Wells, Sean Hazlett and Niladri Mukhopadhyay

Colonel Moore reflects on his command of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment and its preparation of the United States Army for 21st century adversaries. During his command, Colonel Moore had transformed the regiment from a unit focused on providing conventional... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Competency and Skills; Training; Strategic Planning; Adaptation; Alignment; Public Administration Industry; United States

16 Feb 2023
HBS Case

ESG Activists Met the Moment at ExxonMobil, But Did They Succeed?

The impact-investment hedge fund Engine No. 1 made a big splash in May 2021 when it managed to get three nominees elected to the ExxonMobil board of directors. It was an open effort to prod the oil giant toward renewable energy and test whether activist investing could... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Financial Services

Web

Executive Education | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Institute for Racial Reconciliation "I have a small cohort of colleagues and friends from the program. We meet virtually every other month to encourage one another to complete our stated goals (developed before completing the program),... View Details

27 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

These Management Practices, Like Certain Technologies, Boost Company Performance

the shop floor. The second concerned the ways in which firms used that data in meetings and how they set targets, from upper management to frontline workers. The third had to do with human resources, looking at how workers were hired,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

23 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

The Strategy-Focused Organization

compensation systems linked to the scorecard and revising the planning and budgeting processes to support the strategy. They also reinforced the strategy and the scorecard at every opportunity, especially in their face-to-face meetings... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

Web

Loan Assistance | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Program is a financial aid award for loan repayment assistance, and is given to alumni who meet certain eligibility requirements. The loan assistance award is not a formal support or endorsement of an organization, and should not be... View Details

07 Dec 2021
Op-Ed

Want to Build Better Leaders? Focus on Mindset, Skills, Knowledge

deliver, but whether that delivery meets the moment for the organization depends on the work done in the mindset and skills tiers. To further explore the knowledge tier with your leaders, ask questions that allow them to make connections... View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson and Shawnette Rochelle

Forthcoming
Article

Confronting the Limits of Symbolic Actions: How Entrepreneurs Narrow the Presentation-Performance Gap

By: Rebecca Karp and Siobhan O'Mahony

Entrepreneurs often skillfully leverage symbolic actions to manage impressions and gain acceptance for their innovations. Impression management can generate interest, but also heighten expectations beyond an innovation’s capabilities, creating a gap between... View Details

Keywords: Digital Innovation; Integration Strategy; Impression Management; Innovation Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Health Industry; Technology Industry

October 2022
Case

EducationSuperHighway 2.0

By: William A. Sahlman, Allison M. Ciechanover and Emily Grandjean

In 2012, Evan Marwell launched EducationSuperHighway (ESH) to address a major problem: though most public K-12 schools in the US had access to the Internet, only roughly 30% had true broadband access that would enable every student to have high speed connectivity. ... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Social Entrepreneurship; Social Issues; Leading Change; Early Childhood Education; Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Telecommunications Industry; Education Industry; Technology Industry; United States; San Francisco

Article

Use of Crowd Innovation to Develop an Artificial Intelligence-Based Solution for Radiation Therapy Targeting

By: Raymond H. Mak, Michael G. Endres, Jin Hyun Paik, Rinat A. Sergeev, Hugo Aerts, Christopher L. Williams, Karim R. Lakhani and Eva C. Guinan

Importance: Radiation therapy (RT) is a critical cancer treatment, but the existing radiation oncologist work force does not meet growing global demand. One key physician task in RT planning involves tumor segmentation for targeting, which requires substantial... View Details

Keywords: Crowdsourcing; AI Algorithms; Health Care and Treatment; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; AI and Machine Learning