Publications

April 1990 (Revised March 1992)
Case

Oakland A's: Baseball's Great Transformation

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

The Oakland A's baseball team underwent a major turnaround during the 1980s, both on the field and in the business office. One of the most significant improvements came in the area of customer service. The A's management believed that if they took care of their fans,... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Sports; Sports Industry; California

October 1984
Case

NIKE (E1): The Announcement

Details changes in the senior management roster at Nike, focusing on the appointment of Robert Woodell as the company's new president. View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Management Teams; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

October 1984 (Revised April 2002)
Case

NIKE (C)

Explores the president of Nike's leadership, and focuses on his general management style, his personal philosophy, and his pattern of working with key members of management. View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Leadership Style; Management Teams; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

23 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research: May 23, 2017

substantial variation exists across organizations with regard to management, suggesting frictions in the broader diffusion of management knowledge. We argue that peer networks may allow for the diffusion of productive View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

July 2014
Article

Project Complexity and Systems Integration: Constructing the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games

By: Andrew Davies and Ian Mackenzie

Our study of the London Olympics 2012 construction programme showed that systems integration is one of the major challenges involved in delivery of a complex "system of systems"—or array—project. Organizations cope with complexity by decomposing a project into... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Construction; Complexity; Sports; Projects; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; London

Find at Harvard

February 2023
Supplement

Peloton Interactive (B)

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Lynn S. Paine and David Lane

Supplements “Peloton Interactive (A)” (HBS No. 323-005), describing company restructuring and changes to management and the board of directors between February 8 and early October 2022. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Growth Management; Investment Activism; Leadership; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; United States

12 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Operations and the Competitive Edge

Obstacles facing companies in today's hyper-competitive global markets are seemingly more complex than ever, to the point that managers must rethink many of the basic principles of good operations management, says Robert Hayes. In a new... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 1984 (Revised March 1999)
Case

NIKE (E)

Provides the background for a discussion of Nike (E1), (E2), and (E3). Outlines Nike's senior management group's early program to deal with the company's increasingly difficult competitive circumstance. View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Competition; Situation or Environment; Management Teams; Sports Industry; Sports Industry

10 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

Become a Value Creator

good at what they do and are creating value. This creates very different levels of anxiety. It's much safer to be a team player." Others will like you, and ultimately you'll be happier. People who are bad sports in the business world... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

14 Oct 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Reversing the Queue: Performance, Legitimacy, and Minority Hiring

Keywords: by Andrew Hill & David Thomas; Sports

27 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 27, 2009

Alejandro Ruzzier Abstract It is often argued that competition forces managers to make better choices, thus favoring managerial autonomy in decision making. I formalize and challenge this idea. Suppose that View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2024
Case

Deion Sanders: The Prime Effect

By: Hise O. Gibson, Nicole Gilmore and Alicia Dadlani

In 2023, Deion Sanders, known as “Coach Prime,” became head football coach of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). Sanders was tasked with leading CU’s struggling football program, which had only achieved one winning season in the last 15 years, back to glory. Many... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Leading Change; Management Style; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Sports; Experience and Expertise; Sports Industry; United States; Colorado

February 2010 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Arup: Building the Water Cube

By: Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson and Dilyana Karadzhova

Arup, an engineering firm, collaborated with PTW Architects and China Construction Design Institute to develop a design for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Aquatics Center design competition. Their winning concept for the Water Cube combined elements of Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Environmental Sustainability; Design; Construction; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Projects; Groups and Teams; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Beijing; Sydney

October 1984
Case

NIKE (F): The Apparel Division

Deals with challenges confronting a new divisional manager of Nike's apparel division, David Chang. The teaching plan would focus on a diagnosis of the division's current strategy and what future strategic moves might be considered. View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Business Divisions; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Sports Industry; Sports Industry