Publications

March 1978
Case

Lincoln Electric Co. (B)

Reaction of a recent MBA to the climate, motivational systems, and management practices of the Lincoln Electric Company. View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture

September 2020
Case

Blackstone: Crocs Investment

By: Victoria Ivashina, John D. Dionne and Terrence Shu

This case follows Prakash Melwani (HBS MBA '86), CIO of Blackstone's Private Equity Group, and his teams’ investment in the footwear company Crocs. Instead of a traditional secondary offering, Crocs opted for a unique deal structure by taking Blackstone's cash in a... View Details

Keywords: Private Investment In Public Equity; PIPE Deal; Investment; Brands and Branding; Strategy

December 1989
Background Note

Action Planning in Human Resource Management

Lays out a framework for action planning in human resource management. Prepared for use in the first year MBA HRM course. View Details

Keywords: Management; Human Resources; Planning

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December 1981 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Eric Weiss

Eric Weiss, Harvard MBA '77, was fired only three months after joining the company. To be used with Eric Weiss (B). View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Resignation and Termination

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2023
Book

How the Harvard Business School Changed the Way We View Organizations

By: Jay W. Lorsch

The story of the field of organizational behavior (which overlaps considerably with the origin story of Harvard Business School) and how it created the “medical model” of systems thinking—anchored in the practices of listening, observing, testing, and only then... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Systems Thinking; Medical Model; Organizations; Behavior; System; History

August 2005 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots (A)

By: John R. Wells and Travis Haglock

What happens when an MBA buys a football team and hires a bunch of MBAs and a coach with an economics degree to run it? In this case, a historic three Super Bowls in five years. The end run Bob Kraft (HBS '65) used to acquire the New England Patriots. Why Kraft ignored... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Leading Change; Management Practices and Processes; Leadership Style; Sports; Management Teams; Sports Industry; United States

July 2001 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Enspire Learning

An MBA student founds an e-education business and must decide which customers to target and which products/services to produce. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Education; Business Startups; Planning; Web Services Industry; Education Industry

2007
Book

Management Control Systems

By: Robert N. Anthony and Vijay Govindarajan

Management Control Systems, now in its 13th edition, builds on strengths from prior editions by offering a rich diversity of cases balanced with current material. The primary market for Management Control Systems is an MBA level elective in control systems. The... View Details

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Teaching Interest

Overview

I served as a Teaching Fellow for the Applied Business Analytics second-year MBA course. This course sought to teach MBA students how businesses can improve their strategic decisions using statistics and machine learning techniques. (e.g., regression models, random... View Details

Keywords: Analytics; Machine Learning; Statistics

09 Mar 2016
Lessons from the Classroom

In This Classroom, Beer Can Improve Your Grade

In a large circular classroom called The Hives, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell is roaming the floors this week as he oversees the second running of Strategic Brew, a computerized business simulation designed for first-year MBA students at... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Education; Food & Beverage

June 2018
Case

Burton Sensors, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan and Wei Wang

Burton Sensors presents a realistic situation where a small, rapidly growing, and profitable temperature sensor original equipment manufacturer (OEM) reaches its debt capacity and seeks equity financing to sustain high growth. The president of the company must decide... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Acquisition; Investment; Financial Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions

June 2002 (Revised April 2003)
Course Overview Note

Business Marketing: Course Overview Note for Instructors

By: Das Narayandas

Details the structure and execution of the Business Marketing course taught in the elective curriculum of the MBA program at HBS. View Details

Keywords: Marketing

November 1996
Background Note

Some Thoughts on Business Plans

By: William A. Sahlman

A framework for assessing new business opportunities and the business plans used to describe them is developed. Useful for aspiring entrepreneurs in MBA programs. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Entrepreneurship; Framework; Opportunities

January 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Background Note

Power Dynamics in Organizations

By: Linda A. Hill

Designed to introduce the concepts of power and power dynamics to students in the MBA second-year elective course Power and Influence. Defines "power" and "influence," and explores the role of power dynamics in managerial work and in the life of organizations. Combats... View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; Organizations; Conflict and Resolution

Teaching Interest

Overview

Through the Tuck School's MBA and executive education programs, VG offers cutting-edge ideas for people who are leading organizations and those who are preparing to do so. VG's stimulating, thought-provoking style has helped to make Tuck one of the top business schools... View Details

27 Apr 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi: Transforming Lives with Access to Credit

Keywords: Re: Caroline M. Elkins; Banking; Financial Services

February 2018 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Nykaa.com: A Passion for Beauty

By: Paul Gompers, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

Being an entrepreneur was a childhood dream for Falguni Nayar. The opportunity to build Nykaa.com, a woman-centered business, with a multi-brand retail format in the beauty and wellness space, and the fact that she was doing it with her daughter Adwaita (HBS MBA 2013)... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Information Technology; Human Resources; Brands and Branding; Operations; Marketing; Decision Making