Publications

Find at Harvard

Read Now

March 2018
Teaching Note

ISRO: Explore Space or Exploit CubeSats?

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury

ISRO, India’s space agency, established to address domestic challenges with space technology, is one of the six largest space agencies in the world. Through its 59 missions, ISRO has launched numerous satellites for communication, disaster management, navigation,... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Decision Choices and Conditions; Operations; Management; Aerospace Industry; India

August, 2024
Article

Absenteeism, Productivity, and Relational Contracts Inside the Firm

By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Jean-François Gauthier, Anant Nyshadham and Jorge Tamayo

We study relational contracts among managers using a unique dataset that tracks transfers of workers across teams in Indian ready-made garment factories. We focus on how relational contracts help managers cope with worker absenteeism shocks, which are frequent, often... View Details

Keywords: Implicit Contracts; Productivity; Misallocation; Absenteeism; Supervisors; Readymade Garments; Performance Productivity; Employees; Relationships; Fashion Industry; India

11 Jan 2011
First Look

First Look: Jan. 11

supervisor, peers, and customers. You're constantly fighting fires. You're mired in office politics. You end each day exhausted and discouraged, wondering what, if anything, you've accomplished. You're not alone. As Linda Hill and Kent Lineback reveal in Being the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Employment Data Trends

12% 10% 11% Brand Management <1% <1% 2% <1% 1% General Marketing 2% 3% <1% <1% <1% Product Management 9% 7% 10% 8% 8% Sales 1% <1% <1% <1% <1% Other Marketing <1% 0% 0% <1% 1% Strategic Planning 7% 10% 8% 7%... View Details

June 2010 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Zensar: The Future of Vision Communities (A)

By: David A. Garvin and Rachna Tahilyani

Zensar is a rapidly growing, mid-sized Indian IT services company with a collaborative management philosophy and innovative HR policies. One of its practices, Vision Communities, is an inclusive forum for innovation and strategy formulation. As the company grows,... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Cooperation; Information Technology Industry; India

07 Jul 2019
HBS Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

private employer in the United States, with 1.5 million workers (2.2 million worldwide). But that size and dominance doesn’t make Walmart immune to pressures faced by any other retail operation. In the second-year Harvard Business School course View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

Teaching Interest

Cities, Structures, and Climate Shocks

By: John D. Macomber

This course is about building sustainable and resilient cities, future proofing real estate and infrastructure assets, and examining how businesses and investors find opportunities in climate adaptation.

The world faces substantial challenges in the face of... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Economic Development; Climate Finance; Migration; Climate Change; Adaptation; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Insurance Industry; Banking Industry

31 Oct 2014
Op-Ed

Ebola’s Call To Arms About Disaster Preparedness

desperate need of that slack. With public health, however, efficiency should not be the chief goal. Rather, the goal should be to optimize to mitigate catastrophes while managing routine concerns without interruption. That way, when View Details

Keywords: by Gautam Mukunda; Health

August 2000
Case

Belmont Industries, Inc. (A)

By: Joseph L. Bower

A new general manager has to propose a salary structure for the top 20 managers. His task is complicated as he learns about past performance, ambitions, interpersonal relations, and market conditions. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Goals and Objectives; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits

Web

Measure Outcomes & Cost for Every Patient - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

time required for each process. Overhead functions such as billing, information technology, and human resource management should be attributed to the condition based on View Details

June 2017 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Goodbye IMF Conditions, Hello Chinese Capital: Zambia's Copper Industry and Africa's Break with Its Colonial Past

By: Rafael Di Tella, Vincent Pons, Sarah Mehta and David Lane

Over the past several decades, rapid growth in Chinese investment and trade has created for Africa a new development partner. China represents an alternative to U.S. and European nations whose past imperialism, resource avarice, and economic dictates—through the... View Details

Keywords: Copper; Imperialism; IMF; World Bank; ODA; Debt Relief; Growth and Development; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Labor and Management Relations; History; Development Economics; China; Zambia; Africa

2022
Case

Mandalay Homes: Building Sustainable Innovation in Residential Construction

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Mandalay Homes, a home builder based in northern Arizona, is a market leader in energy efficiency based construction. The company is now at a crossroads for developing a strategy for the future. Internal leadership is in agreement that quality is better than quantity... View Details

Keywords: Green Building; Renewable Energy; Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Construction Industry

08 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

A Manager’s Guide to International Strategy

In the new book International Strategy: Context, Concepts, and Implications, Harvard Business School Adjunct Professor David J. Collis presents a comprehensive guide to a topic of ever-increasing relevance for managers across all sectors... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

05 Feb 2009
What Do You Think?

Why Can’t We Figure Out How to Select Leaders?

excellence does (not always) breed excellence because some of the best leaders may still not be the best selectors." Dick Meza suggested that "The issue here may be the degree to which senior management cares about... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

January 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial (RJF) currently sells financial services through two channels. It is considering adding a third in the "middle" of the other two. The current strategy has one channel with employees and another with independent contractors. These attract very... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Salesforce Management; Marketing; Distribution Channels; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry; Service Industry

14 Jun 2016
First Look

June 14, 2016

forthcoming Harvard Business Review Press Managing in the Gray: Five Timeless Questions for Resolving Your Toughest Problems at Work By: Badaracco, Joseph L. Abstract—Part of a manager's job is making tough calls, and the hardest... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2005 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Financial Reporting Problems at Molex, Inc. (A)

By: Paul M. Healy

Following an accounting problem at Molex, the firm's auditors request changes in management. The board of directors has to decide whether the auditors' concerns have merit or whether, as management argues, the accounting issue is immaterial. View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Governing and Advisory Boards; Financial Reporting; Relationships; Resignation and Termination; Accounting Audits

October 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

3PLex.com

By: Myra M. Hart and Judith Marie Dror

A start-up team is faced with the challenge of building a senior management team with relevant industry experience. The marriage of e-commerce and the transportation logistics industry creates unusual problems in blending "old economy" employees and employee practices... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Executive Compensation; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Organizational Culture; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Technology Adoption; Transportation Industry