Publications

April 2020 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Unilever's Response to the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr, Emilie Billaud and Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej

In February 2020, Nick Dalton, executive vice president HR business transformation at Unilever, reflected on the changing nature of work marked by rapid advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation. Launched in 2016, Unilever’s Future of Work... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Human Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Transformation; Human Resources; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

24 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

Boards and Corporate Governance: A Balanced Scorecard Approach

requirements and other rules, and boards and managers comply. Economies with good governance structures perform better than those lacking such systems. · A board's key functions are overseeing a company's strategy and leadership,... View Details

Keywords: Re: Robert S. Kaplan & Krishna G. Palepu

01 Sep 2006
What Do You Think?

Are We Ready for Self-Management?

as to skills in selecting people. Next, as Debbie Lee suggests, " there has to be a great deal of training." Again, high-performance organizations train for skills, not attitude. Nari Kannan points out two other critical components of a self-management... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Web

Launching Tech Ventures | HBS Online

in by understanding the key metrics that dictate whether a venture has achieved product-market fit and is ready for scaling. “The course is useful for startupland citizens—founders, investors, and joiners—to get complete, honest insights about the View Details

12 Nov 2021
News

Alumni Business Leaders on Confronting the Climate Change Challenge

process solutions has become clear. And it is driving new business creation, as well as traditional business adaptation, at far higher than previous rates. With the evolution of our great industrial and financial base, we may at last be... View Details

30 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

Real Estate: The Most Imperfect Asset

my course is about risk mitigation. I hope they will be able to answer the following question after a term in my course: How does one use all the tools learned at HBS to successfully structure deals and companies around the risks in this... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston; Construction; Real Estate

Article

The Business Case for Investing in Physician Well-Being

By: Tait D. Shanafelt, Joel Goh and Christine A. Sinsky

Importance: Widespread burnout among physicians has been recognized for more than two decades. Extensive evidence indicates that physician burnout has important personal and professional consequences.
Observations: A lack of awareness regarding... View Details

Keywords: Physicians; Well-being; ROI; Health; Welfare or Wellbeing; Ethics; Investment Return; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

15 Jul 2019
Book

Many Executives Are Afraid of Finance. Here's How They Can Gain Confidence

it’s a forward-looking, subjective, creative exercise that requires a lot of imagination. Think about valuing Facebook today. It requires predicting the future of privacy policies around the world, the actions of Google and Amazon in the advertising market, the future... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Web

Teaching Quantitative Material - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

an answer do we need? What range would you expect given the industry or circumstance? What would happen if we changed the variables or assumptions in a particular way? How would the numbers change if situation y manifested itself? Why do... View Details

29 Feb 2024
Blog Post

African American Student Union Spotlight on Social Enterprise

their journeys before and during the MBA program. Sandra Tsikor (MBA 2025) Where is your hometown? I was raised in Tema, Ghana and moved to New York City when I was 8 years old. What was your pre-MBA industry and role? Prior to HBS, I... View Details

September 1988 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Mrs. Fields Cookies

By: James I. Cash Jr.

Mrs. Fields Cookies is a small company selling freshly baked goods through privately owned specialty stores (each store sells only Mrs. Fields products). The company has about 8,000 employees worldwide and less than 150 information systems people for a unique leverage... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Information Management; Organizational Structure; Customer Relationship Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Networks; Internet and the Web; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

22 Feb 2022
News

New Urban Order

standardization has been a failure mode for innovation and productivity until recently,” he observes. Yang has spent much of his career in the cleantech industry and is founder and CEO of Liatris, an eco-friendly insulation startup. He... View Details

Keywords: Kathleen Fu, Deborah Blagg, Julia Hanna, and Maureen Harmon; illustrations by; energy; environment; sustainability; entrepreneurship; Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation; Transportation; Water, Sewage and Supply Systems; Utilities; Construction of Buildings; Construction; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Corporate Services

18 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Looking in the Mirror: Questions Every Leader Must Ask

enjoy and which would you prefer not to do yourself? What you delegate, how you structure your job, whether or not you are in the right job-all of this should flow from and be influenced by a realistic understanding of your likes and... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

September 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Esas Group: Investing Together, Staying Together

By: Christina R. Wing and Alpana Thapar

This case opens in June 2022, after Esas Group, one of Turkey’s largest family-owned investment firms, implements a series of changes to professionalize the business and help transition family members from operators to responsible investors. In December 2019, the Group... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Transition; Business or Company Management; Organizational Structure; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governance; Financial Services Industry; Turkey

04 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Maersk’s Journey to Decarbonize Shipping

listened to speakers at Maersk’s HQ, it was clear that they felt this was a transitory windfall as shipping rates have already largely fallen to near pre-COVID levels. However, due to Maersk’s unique structure as run by the AP Moller... View Details

Web

Electricity - Business & Environment

Manager, Strategy & Business Development Distributed Generation, NextEra Energy Resources Tanuj Deora HBS MBA 2006 Vice President, Market Development and Regulatory Affairs, Uplight “I'm addressing climate change by helping transform energy from a dirty, brittle,... View Details

July 2005 (Revised September 2016)
Case

24 Hour Fitness (A): The Rise, 1983–2004

By: John R. Wells, Elizabeth A. Raabe and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2004, Mark S. Mastrov, CEO of 24 Hour Fitness, reflected on how far his company had come in just over 20 years. From humble beginnings in 1983 in San Leandro, California, 24 Hour Fitness had grown to become the largest privately-owned health-club chain in... View Details

Keywords: 24 Hour Fitness; Mark Mastrov; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Weight Loss; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Sales Force Compensation; Incentive Systems; Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Private Equity; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Nutrition; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Operations; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Capital Structure; Performance; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

June 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Strategic Innovation at the United Nations: A Network of Ecosystems

By: Frank Nagle, Elizabeth J. Altman and Amy Klopfenstein

In 2021, Gina Lucarelli, leader of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Accelerator Labs, prepared for a meeting with UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. The two planned to discuss the future of the Accelerator Labs, a network of social innovation labs located... View Details

Keywords: Change; Disruption; Transformation; Change Management; Education; Learning; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Local Range; Geopolitical Units; Country; Human Resources; Recruitment; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Information Technology; Information Management; Innovation and Invention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Dissemination; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Social Enterprise; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Psychology; Social and Collaborative Networks; Society; Social Issues; Welfare; Strategy; Cooperation; Adaptation; Public Administration Industry; North and Central America