Publications

February 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Managing Blackout at Aluminum Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) (A)

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Gamze Yücaoğlu and Youssef Abdel Aal

The case opens in 2017 as Tim Murray, CEO of Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), the largest single-site aluminum smelter in the world outside China and a major contributor to the Bahraini economy, was contemplating the recovery options as the company was facing the most severe... View Details

Keywords: Aluminum; General Management; Cultural Change; Change Management; Crisis Management; Decision Making; Organizational Culture; Safety; Leadership; Emerging Markets; Bahrain; Middle East

30 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Your Crisis Response Plan: The Ten Effective Elements

location that can be rapidly converted to be used by the crisis response team. Requirements include the ability to rapidly connect many lines of communication, to have access to external media (TV coverage), to provide access to View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins

10 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty Views on Debt Crisis

United States is no exception. So rather than focus on whether S&P called the downgrade a little too soon, let's focus more on figuring out how to get the US fiscal house in order. robert Steven Kaplan, Professor Of Management... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

September–October 1991
Article

Knee-Deep and Rising: America's Recycling Crisis

By: George C. Lodge and Jeffrey F. Rayport

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Crisis Management

28 Oct 2020
News

How to Lead in a Crisis

January 2021
Case

Aster DM Healthcare: Budgeting for a Crisis

By: V.G. Narayanan and Amy Klopfenstein

In April 2020, Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director of Aster DM Healthcare, a network of clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies in the Middle East and India, must create her company’s budget for the 2021 fiscal year in light of the onset of Covid-19. The pandemic had... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Judgments; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost vs Benefits; Budgets and Budgeting; Health Pandemics; Health Industry; Asia; India; United Arab Emirates; Dubai

October 2011 (Revised March 2015)
Case

SKS and the AP Microfinance Crisis

By: Shawn Cole and Yannick Saleman

SKS, India's leading microfinance firm, is challenged when politicians declaim microfinance as exploitation of the poor and severely restrict business practices. View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Government Administration; Policy; Capital Markets; Crisis Management; Poverty; Financial Services Industry; India

February 2020
Supplement

Managing Blackout at Aluminum Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) (B)

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Gamze Yücaoğlu and Youssef Abdel Aal

The case opens in 2017 as Tim Murray, CEO of Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), the largest single-site aluminum smelter in the world outside China and a major contributor to the Bahraini economy, was contemplating the recovery options as the company was facing the most severe... View Details

Keywords: Aluminum Industry; General Management; Cultural Change; Change Management; Crisis Management; Decision Making; Organizational Culture; Safety; Leadership; Emerging Markets; Bahrain; Middle East

2020
Other Unpublished Work

An Operating Model for the Next Normal: Lessons from Agile Organizations in the Crisis

By: Christopher Handscomb, Deepak Mahadevan, Lars Schor, Marcus Sieberer, Euvin Naidoo and Suraj Srinivasan

Companies with agile practices embedded in their operating models have managed the impact of the COVID-19 crisis better than their peers. Here’s what helped them cope. View Details

Keywords: Operating Model; Agile Practices; Health Pandemics; Business Model; Crisis Management

Read Now

February 2018
Article

Structural GARCH: The Volatility-Leverage Connection

By: Robert F. Engle and Emil N. Siriwardane

During the financial crisis, financial firm leverage and volatility both rose dramatically. Consequently, institutions are being asked to reduce leverage in order to reduce risk, though the effectiveness depends upon the role of capital structure in volatility. To... View Details

Keywords: Leverage; Credit Risk; Crisis Management; Equity; Volatility; Credit; Risk Management; Financial Crisis

September 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Harvard Management Company (2010)

By: Andre F. Perold and Erik Stafford

In February 2010, Jane Mendillo, CEO of Harvard Management Company, was reflecting on the list of issues facing Harvard University's endowment in preparation for the upcoming board meeting. The recent financial crisis had vividly highlighted several key issues... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Higher Education; Asset Management; Financial Liquidity; Investment Portfolio; Risk Management; Education Industry; Financial Services Industry; Massachusetts

April 2003
Case

Captain Crisis in the United States Army, The

From 1989 to 1999, the Army watched as captain attrition rose from a planned and acceptable 6.7% to a staggering 10.6%. At the beginning of a new century, the Army leadership is concerned that current and projected staffing levels for junior officers are insufficient... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; Retention; Government and Politics; Public Administration Industry

24 Apr 2020
News

Navigating the Crisis & Beyond: Perspectives for Leaders in South Asia

24 Apr 2014
News

Leading the way in times of crisis

Joe Lhota (MBA 1980) is the kind of courageous, steady presence you want at your side when crisis hits. Consider Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, when New York City’s streets, tunnels, and subway lines were flooded, and power was cut to... View Details

November 2007
Article

Solve the Succession Crisis by Growing Inside-Outside Leaders

By: Joseph L. Bower

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. In his interviews and data analysis, Harvard Business School professor Bower found... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Leadership Development; Management Practices and Processes; Management Succession; Planning