Publications

Marlous van Waijenburg is an Assistant Professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy Unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor van Waijenburg’s main... View Details

25 Oct 2017
News

Demanding a Bachelor’s Degree for a Middle-Skill Job Is Just Plain Dumb

August 1988 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Dunkin' Donuts (E): 1988 Distribution Strategies

Dunkin' Donuts is exploring various methods of increasing distribution. Possibilities involving new outlets include area development contracts, subfranchising, regional rollout strategies, and an increase in company owned stores. Possibilities focusing on existing... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Franchise Ownership; Distribution Channels; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

04 Feb 2020
Video

Gülsüm Azeri

Gülsüm Azeri, head of Şişecam, an industrial group in Turkey that produces glass and chemicals, describes how she chose to close down an outdated glassmaking factory because legal regulations prevented its modernization and her subsequent discussions with labor unions... View Details

November 1990 (Revised June 1991)
Case

Final Voyage of the Challenger

Provides a summary of technical and organizational details that led to the decision to launch the Challenger Space Shuttle, and to the ensuing accident. Details of design and testing milestones of the Space Shuttle, with a focus on the Solid Rocket Booster, offer... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Risk Management; Ethics; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Processes; Aerospace Industry; United States

2002
Chapter

Bridging the Gap: How Improved Information Can Help Companies Integrate Shareholder Value and Environmental Quality

By: Forest Reinhardt

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Shareholder Relations; Information; Environmental Sustainability

Find at Harvard

Charles C.Y. Wang is the Tandon Family Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He is a research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and an associate editor of Management Science and Journal of Accounting Research,... View Details

06 Mar 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: Sustainability in Action: Inside Hindustan Unilever’s Public Sanitation and Plastic Recycling Facilities

climate change. In Dharavi, lack of proper sanitation amplifies the impacts of flooding, heatwaves, water contamination, and increased health burdens. Similarly, improper plastic waste management contributes... View Details

Web

Improve Decision-Making in Hiring: Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them - Recruiting

not limited to venture capital but also expand to goods and service-based businesses. Addressing Unconscious Bias in Recruiting There are excellent resources to help train your managers View Details

12 Aug 2021
Video

Ouided Bouchamaoui

Ouided Bouchamaoui, the Nobel Prize winning co-founder of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet and CEO of Hédi Bouchamaoui Group, explains how she was able to improve the relationship between the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade, and Handicrafts and the... View Details

September 2002
Case

Seattle Public Schools, 1995-2002 (B): The Performance Agenda

Describes the implementation in Seattle Public Schools, under the direction of Superintendent Joseph Olchefske, of a systemwide standards and accountability scheme, known as the Performance Agenda. The Performance Agenda set academic standards for students and defined... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Education Industry; Seattle

March 1987 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Au Bon Pain: The French Bakery Cafe, The Partner/Manager Program

By: W. Earl Sasser

In recent years, Au Bon Pain (ABP), a chain of upscale French bakeries/sandwich cafes based in Boston, confronted a set of human resource problems endemic to the fast food industry (i.e., a labor shortage which made it difficult to attract and maintain quality crew... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Managerial Roles; Retention; Employees; Performance Improvement; Recruitment; Problems and Challenges; Compensation and Benefits; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston

February 1997 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Jim Sharpe: Extrusion Technology, Inc. (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Barbara Feinberg

Jim Sharpe, 11 years after receiving his MBA from Harvard and working for others, has finally become his own boss and 100% owner of manufacturer of aluminum extrusions. After 10 months of an unfunded search, he acquires the business in an LBO and prepares to face his... View Details

Keywords: Acquisitions; Search Funds; Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurs; Turnarounds; Bank Loan; Manufacturing; Metals Processing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Leveraged Buyouts; Labor Unions; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Experience and Expertise; Borrowing and Debt; Manufacturing Industry

January 2003 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Sun Hydraulics: Leading in Tough Times (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Jennifer Suesse

Sun Hydraulics, 32-year-old global hydraulics engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, confronts tough choices due to the economic downturn in 2001. The company leadership debates how to maintain profitability and reduce labor costs... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Mission and Purpose; Financial Crisis; Crisis Management; Manufacturing Industry; Florida

Herman B. ("Dutch") Leonard is Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and the George F. Baker, Jr. Professor of Public Sector Management at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. In... View Details

Keywords: education industry; federal government; health care; nonprofit industry; state government

03 Oct 2005
What Do You Think?

What’s the Future of Globally Organized Labor?

competency and its ability to move up the value chain that will allow it to share the positive gains. If labor tries the old tactic of strikes, management will just outsource... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 1994
Case

China (B): Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd.

By: Debora L. Spar

Examines the experience of Polaroid of Shanghai Ltd. (PSL), a joint venture between the U.S.-based Polaroid Corp. and the Shanghai Motion Picture Industry Co., within the framework of China's foreign investment climate. Discusses the evolution of foreign investment in... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Foreign Direct Investment; China; United States

September 1983 (Revised December 1988)
Case

Cleveland Twist Drill (A)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Deals with the problems of implementing strategy in a declining industry and the negotiation of strategy with external constituencies, particularly labor unions. Traces Jim Bartlett's first nine months as president and asks for a plan of action. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Style; Negotiation Tactics; Labor and Management Relations; Corporate Strategy

November–December 2024
Article

Why Employees Quit

By: Ethan Bernstein, Michael B. Horn and Bob Moesta

The so-called war for talent is still raging. But in that fight, employers continue to rely on the same hiring and retention strategies they’ve been using for decades. Why? Because they’ve been so focused on challenges such as poaching by industry rivals, competing in... View Details

Keywords: Retention; Recruitment; Talent and Talent Management; Employee Relationship Management; Motivation and Incentives