Publications

November 2010
Supplement

Esquel Group: Building a Sustainable Partnership with Cotton Farmers in Xinjiang (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Jason Cheng Qian

Details and evaluates results in Esquel's 2002 initiative to negotiate long-term partnerships with often-exploited farmers in Xinjiang (western China) to procure a superior cotton variety. View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Outcome or Result; Leasing; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Hong Kong; Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu

March 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

eFrenzy, Inc. (A)

By: Marco Iansiti and Nicole Tempest

Details how to design, launch, and scale a rapidly growing Internet venture. Focuses on the challenges and opportunities involved in leveraging a network of partners. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Internet and the Web; Product Development; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Information Technology Industry; United States

August 1998 (Revised November 1998)
Case

General Motors Corp. (A), The : Overview

By: Peter Tufano

The first in a four-part series, this case details the financial policies and practices at General Motors from 1990 to 1996. This part provides a brief introduction to the company. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Auto Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

June 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

ACCION International

By: John A. Quelch

ACCION International is a major nonprofit player in microfinance. Reviews the organization's history and evolution, details current activities and relationships within its network, and assesses the organization's challenges moving forward. View Details

Keywords: Networks; Nonprofit Organizations; Microfinance

Video

Mostafa Terrab

Mostafa Terrab, Chairman and CEO of Morocco-based OCP Group, details the company’s strategies to significantly expand the African fertilizer market through the development of fertilizers specifically adapted to local conditions. View Details

April 2000 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Family Feud (B): Andersen versus Andersen

By: Ashish Nanda

Arbitration proceedings have been initiated between Andersen Consulting and Arthur Andersen. The case details developments during 1999 and 2000, as the arbitration nears a decision. View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Service Industry; Consulting Industry; United States

October 2001
Background Note

A Note on Team Process

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

When tasks are highly complex, demand a diversity of skills, or require a commitment from the involved parties, teams are usually the most effective way to approach them. But a group of people working together does not automatically equally a team, and groups are often... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Decision Making; Management; Business Processes; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Efficiency; Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution

March 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Matching Markets for Googlers

By: Bo Cowgill and Rembrand Koning

This case describes how Google designed and launched an internal matching market to assign individual workers with projects and managers. The case evaluates how marketplace design considerations—and several alternative staffing models—could affect the company’s goals... View Details

Keywords: People Analytics; Google; Labor Market; Staffing; Market Design; Marketplace Matching; Selection and Staffing; Goals and Objectives; Technology Industry; United States

January 2014
Supplement

Ford Asia Pacific & Africa: The E-coating Facility Decision in Gujarat, India (B)

By: Juan Alcacer and Nancy Hua Dai

The case reveals that Ford decided to open its own e-coating plant in Gujarat, India, and details how the decision was made at different organizational levels. View Details

Keywords: Foreign Investment; Organizational Alignment; Strategic Decision Making; Motivation and Incentives; Communication; Organizational Structure; Decision Making; Business Processes; Foreign Direct Investment; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Gujarat

10 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Why We Blab Our Intimate Secrets on Facebook

targeted advertising for the same reason: they didn't want anyone tracking their behavior. On the other hand, millions of people routinely share the most intimate details of their lives via various social media sites. With a series of... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

November 1997 (Revised October 2001)
Background Note

Note on Strategic Alliances, A

By: Paul A. Gompers and Alexander Tsai

Presents an overview of strategic alliance. Discusses the academic literature and its implications for the structure of strategic alliances. Also details the types of strategic alliances utilized by small, growing firms. View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Strategy

Your guide--using the compelling stories of changemakers and the tools of economics--to the transformation and future possibilities of the business and economics of space. Harvard Business Review Press, 2025. View Details

May 2019
Teaching Note

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

By: William R. Kerr and Jordan Bach-Lombardo

Teaching Note for HBS No. 819-042. It provides a detailed lesson plan for the case study discussion, including assignment questions and sample board and slide plans. View Details

Keywords: Walmart; Omnichannel; Strategy; Transformation

08 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

The Immigrants Who Built America’s Financial System

establishing the struggling young country's financial system. In The Founders and Finance: How Hamilton, Gallatin, and Other Immigrants Forged a New Economy, Thomas McCraw, the Isidor Straus Professor of Business History Emeritus at Harvard Business School, lays out in... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services; Banking

March 1990 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Turner Construction Company: Project Management Control Systems

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

After providing a brief overview of Turner Construction Co.'s structure and project work, the case gives a detailed description of its project management control system, the IOR system. In addition to explaining the mechanics of the IOR system, the case identifies the... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Cost Management; Performance Evaluation; Risk Management; Strategic Planning; Planning; Management Systems; Management Teams; Construction Industry

September 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Wal-Mart Stores in 2003

By: Pankaj Ghemawat, Stephen P. Bradley and Ken Mark

Examines Wal-Mart's development over three decades and provides financial and descriptive detail of its domestic operations. In 2003, Wal-Mart's Supercenter business has surpassed its domestic business as the largest generator of revenues. Its international operation... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Fairness; Corporate Strategy; Operations; Labor Unions; Problems and Challenges; Gender; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry; United States

The case discusses the events leading up to the massive data breach at Equifax, one of the three U.S. credit reporting companies, the organizational and governance issues that contributed to the breach, and the consequences of the breach. The case supplement... View Details

July 2024
Technical Note

What Is AI?

By: Michael Parzen and Jo Ellery

This note discusses definitions of artificial intelligence and covers the broad types of learning used in training AI, as well as explaining in detail how neural networks are built, trained, and used. View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning