Publications

15 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Black Swans and Big Trends Can Ruin Anyone's Internet Prediction

of the internet involves deciphering a complicated landscape. Source: Wavebreakmedia With the benefit of fifteen years worth of hindsight, it is evident that Speed Trap, when looking ahead, had a profound status quo bias. The book did... View Details

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann; Technology

Blog

Emerging from the Pandemic: Insights from South Asia and ASEAN

While HBS delivers the majority of its Executive Education programs in Boston, we conduct research and deliver global leadership programs to serve the needs of executives from all over the world. In her role as regional director of client... View Details

January 2017
Case

The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco... View Details

October 2005 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Sales Force Integration at FedEx (A)

By: David B. Godes

Federal Express' (FedEx) recent acquisition of RPS--a ground delivery firm--gave the firm the potential to offer a single source for a client's delivery needs. However, to deliver on this potential, the firm needed to deliver the integrated solution through a single... View Details

Keywords: Horizontal Integration; Salesforce Management; Transportation; Compensation and Benefits; Transportation Industry

November 2008 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Teena Lerner: Dividing the Pie at Rx Capital (Abridged)

By: Boris Groysberg, Victoria Winston and Robin Abrahams

Teena Lerner, the CEO of Rx Capital, had a problem. Her three-year-old hedge fund was highly profitable, but in 2004, one of her four equities analysts lost a lot of money for the firm. If Lerner followed her existing compensation system, designed to reward teamwork,... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Performance Evaluation; Groups and Teams; Financial Services Industry

November 1999
Case

Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma: Negotiating the Job Search

By: James K. Sebenius

MBA student Doyle Williams searches for his ideal job in a private equity group and uses his negotiation skills to try to attain the best possible compensation package. View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Job Interviews; Job Search; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics

Find at Harvard

1986
Chapter

Investing in the Defense Workforce: The Debt and Structure of Military Pensions

By: Dutch Leonard

Keywords: Human Capital; Compensation and Benefits; Borrowing and Debt; Sovereign Finance; National Security

Find at Harvard

19 Mar 2021
Blog Post

Celebrating Black History: Elevating the Voices of Our Student and Alumni Communities

during her time as a White House intern (Fall 2010), Camille and her sister Rachel founded Healthy Girls Save The World (HGSW) on August 8th, 2011. HGSW seeks to provide "transformational experiences and... View Details

June 1991 (Revised September 1996)
Case

Human Resource Management at American Airlines

American Airlines' strategy calls for continued growth, improvements in customer service, and cost reduction. This case examines the Human Resource Management system at American Airlines and its role in the airline's past and continued success. May be used with... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Management Systems; Human Resources; Business Strategy; Air Transportation Industry; United States

July 2005 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Eureka Forbes Ltd.: Managing the Selling Effort (A)

By: Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

The CEO of EFL (India), a direct sales organization, must decide which changes to the sales compensation systems would better motivate his sales reps and improve their sales performance. View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Management; Performance Improvement; Sales; Motivation and Incentives; India

March 1997 (Revised August 2017)
Case

Compagnie du Froid, S.A.

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Dávila

The owner of an ice cream company must evaluate the performance of three regional businesses. To do the analysis, students must flex the budget by seasonal temperature; calculate revenue, volume, price, and efficiency variances; analyze the effects of transfer prices;... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Investment Return; Performance Evaluation; Revenue; Budgets and Budgeting; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe; France; Spain; Italy

25 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Politics is Failing America, and What Business Can Do To Help

get businesses to understand the kind of corrosive effects that this is having on our entire economy" While competition between the two parties looks fiercer than ever, in reality, the study suggests, both Democrats and Republicans... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

December 2012 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Rodan + Fields Dermatologists

By: Das Narayandas, Michael Roberts and Liz Kind

The case focuses on issues involved in managing the direct multilevel marketing sales consultants who sell R+F skin care products. The company is trying to better manage the inconsistent and highly variable recruitment behavior of the sales force i.e., the degree to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Salesforce Management; Recruitment; Compensation and Benefits; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; California

22 Feb 2022
News

New Urban Order

surface, a green roof, or supporting solar panels or wind turbines when possible,” Carty says. “And building wastewater can be treated and reused for flushing toilets and watering plants, for example, which... View Details

20 Mar 2000
Research & Ideas

No Place Like Home: America’s Housing Crisis and Its Impact on Business

affordable housing is the low-income housing tax credit, part of the Tax Reform Act of 1986," she says. "In essence, it provides a tax benefit to private investors — typically banks and insurance... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Construction; Real Estate

23 Jul 2024
In Practice

The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities

under aggregate data but constitutes legitimate economic activity. Businesses hoping to hedge against policy risks may also benefit from extra due diligence for their suppliers to establish whether they have Chinese ownership stakes or... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing; Retail; Fashion; Industrial Products; Consumer Products; Steel; Transportation; Telecommunications

01 Apr 2001
News

New Ventures New Gains

is whether or not the students can use this experience to get to where they want to be in ten or fifteen years. In the end, the most significant benefit any MBA experience can give students is a better idea of who they are View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna and Susan Young; Martin Dubilier (MBA 1952); Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

14 Dec 2007
Op-Ed

When Your Product Becomes a Commodity

lose market share but improve profitability. 2. Compensate your salesforce on profit margin, not sales revenues. A volume-based salesforce will sign up any customer, regardless of profitability. That's OK early in the product life cycle... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

February 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Catherine Zhang

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm, started in January 2006, is a rapidly growing law firm in China's burgeoning legal services market. In addition to the usual challenges facing all professional service firms (picking and retaining talent and building a desired client... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Legal Services Industry; China