Publications

October 1984
Case

NIKE (D): Leisure Shoes

Focusing on middle manager Harry Leidboldt, this case presents a clear-cut strategic issue--should Nike move into the leisure shoe business? The teaching objective is to first view the decision as a business problem--can Nike succeed in this business? and secondly, to... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Expansion; Marketing Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Management Teams; Product Development; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry

09 Feb 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Sustainable Cities: Oxymoron or the Shape of the Future?

Keywords: by Annissa Alusi, Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson & Tiona Zuzul

Program

Authentic Leader Development

eligible for the Certificate of Management Excellence. Learn More Key Benefits Based on leadership visionary Bill George's groundbreaking book, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, this program immerses you in a profoundly... View Details

Crystal Guo

Crystal Guo is a doctoral student in the Health Policy Management PhD program at Harvard. Prior to pursuing her PhD, Crystal received her B.A. in English and Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2019 and completed her Health Policy and Management,... View Details

Keywords: health care

2011
Working Paper

The First Deal: The Division of Founder Equity in New Ventures

By: Thomas F. Hellmann and Noam Wasserman

This paper examines the division of founder shares in entrepreneurial ventures, focusing on the decision of whether or not to divide the shares equally among all founders. To motivate the empirical analysis we develop a simple theory of costly bargaining, where... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Fairness; Equity; Managerial Roles; Negotiation Deal; Ownership Stake; Value

Read Now

04 Aug 2011
Working Paper Summaries

A Dynamic Perspective on Ambidexterity: Structural Differentiation and Boundary Activities

Keywords: by Sebastian Raisch & Michael L. Tushman

March 2025 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Xfund and Sam Altman: Finding Harvard's Best Generative AI Founders

By: Suraj Srinivasan

On May 1, 2024, Xfund Managing Partners Patrick Chung and Brandon Farwell, hosted a high-stakes venture pitch session designed to select one startup for a minimum $100,000 investment. This “Xperiment Stake” competition, dedicated to startups in the Generative AI... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Venture Capital; Innovation Leadership; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Competition; Technology Industry; United States

2022
Case

Charting a Course for Boston: Organizing for Change

By: Lisa C. Cox, Mitchell B. Weiss and Jorrit De Jong

Michelle Wu had been elected on the promise of systemic change, but four days after her November 2021 election and just eleven days before taking office as mayor of Boston, she was still considering how best to staff and manage a range of over-arching priorities.... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Selection and Staffing; City; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Boston

Read Now

14 Jun 2013
News

Auto-Repair Shops Tend to Overcharge Women, Except When They Don't

Program

Private Equity and Venture Capital

Summary Tax reforms, regulatory uncertainty, and global market volatility are creating a more complex investment environment, but the outlook for private equity remains strong. This investment management course provides the frameworks you... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Finance

Program

Leadership for Senior Executives

Attend Senior executives and executive team members with significant management responsibilities and at least 20 years of experience in large established organizations Particularly appropriate for: Chief... View Details

June 2023
Exercise

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Instructions

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

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 to the same platform to interact. A... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategies; Technology Platform; Customer Acquisition; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Strategy

July 1997 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Chattanooga Ice Cream Division,The

By: Carl S. Sloane

Senior functional officers (marketing, manufacturing, research & development, control, and human resources) clash over alternative ideas for turning around a business in decline. The general manager is faced not only with choosing between competing ideas, but also... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Management Teams; Groups and Teams; Managerial Roles; Conflict Management; Decisions; Performance

29 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

Pride Goeth Before a Profit

At General Motors' Car Assembly Plant in Wilmington, DE, there is a film that managers like to show when times get tough. Dating to 1991, the film opens with a GM executive saying that the plant will be closed in three years. There is no... View Details

Keywords: by Theodore Kinni

May 2024
Case

LinkedIn Corporation, 2024

By: David B. Yoffie, George Gonzalez and Emily Grandjean

By 2024, the LinkedIn profile was well established as the professional identity of record on the Internet. Following a multi-year effort to expand the platform’s user base, as well as a period of rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, LinkedIn’s membership had... View Details

Keywords: Platform; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Social Media; Network Effects; Growth and Development Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Technology Industry; Employment Industry; Sunnyvale

February 2023 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Moleskine Foundation: Can Creativity Change the World?

By: Ryan Raffaelli, Alexandra C. Feldberg and Sarah Gulick

The Italy-based Moleskine Foundation worked with young adults in Africa and Europe to inspire social change through art and creative projects. Adama Sanneh, the newly appointed CEO of the Moleskine Foundation, faced several challenges: First, he had to make his own... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Social Enterprise; Leadership; Identity; Strategy; Education Industry; Italy; Africa; Europe; United States