Publications

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12 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 12, 2007

with their political, economic, and social environment. They address issues of central concern to researchers in management studies and business administration, as well as economics, sociology and political science, and to historians.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

27 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 27, 2007

Working PapersFrom Manufacturing to Design: An Essay on the Work of Kim B. Clark Authors:Sylvain Lenfle and Carliss Y. Baldwin Abstract Kim Clark occupies a unique place in management scholarship. As a member of the Technology and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2007 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Esquel Group: Integrating Business Strategy and Corporate Social Responsibility

By: F. Warren McFarlan, William C. Kirby and Tracy Manty

Focuses on the experience of China's largest shirt manufacturer in managing various aspects of government relations in China. Identifies a wide variety of social initiatives it has undertaken. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China

03 Nov 2009
First Look

First Look: Nov. 3

had grown both in revenues and profitability. Part of his secret was his decentralized and empowering management style. In 2008, in the midst of the economic downturn following the credit crunch crisis, Polet learned that after four years... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2024
Case

Teamworks: Tackling a Forecasting Fumble (A)

By: N. Louis Shipley and Stacy Straaberg

In late March 2018, Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides learned Q1 2018 sales were at risk for a large forecasting miss. Founded in 2004, Teamworks’s software application assisted support staff in messaging, scheduling, and sharing documents with collegiate and professional... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication Strategy; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Technological Innovation; Sports; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; United States; North Carolina

21 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

Don’t Get Buried in Customer Data—Use It

With the advent of customer relationship management (CRM) in the late 1990s, companies came to believe that by using technology to tailor their offerings to individual consumers' needs, customer loyalty—and company profits—would... View Details

Keywords: by Jean Ayers

November 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Richmond Events

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Kristin Lieb

The managers of British business forum planner, Richmond Events, are struggling to expand their conference offerings into new territories. At the same time, they are trying to decide how product managers, who are critical to event success, should be hired, trained,... View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Innovation and Management; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Conflict Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Marketing; Service Industry; United Kingdom; Asia

March 2008
Case

Novartis AG: Science-Based Business

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

Novartis is a science-based drug company, which has important implications for its business strategy. It is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world with over $38B in sales in 2007. Pharmaceuticals account for slightly over $24B of that total. In 2007,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Resource Allocation; Product Development; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Pharmaceutical Industry

17 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 17

Markets Authors:Charles Dhanaraj and Tarun Khanna Publication:Academy of Management Learning & Education 10, no. 4 (December 2011) Abstract Economic growth in the Western world increasingly depends on... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, June 13

Stanford Social Innovation Review Selecting the Right Growth Metrics: Fewer but Better By: Schlesinger, Leonard A. Abstract—No abstract available. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52742 Minimizing Justified... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

Anglo-Dutch twin Royal Dutch Shell formed major elements in the historically large Dutch FDI in the United States. 2 However, the fact that all dividends were remitted to N.V. in the Netherlands did not mean that the head office in Rotterdam exclusively View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

September 2006 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Empemex

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Regina Garcia-Cuellar

Studies an entrepreneurial venture in Mexico City. The protagonists, two MBAs from HBS, started a pawn shop chain funded from their private equity office after finishing business school. This is timed at a point where the protagonists have to decide how to grow the... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Mexico City; United States

February 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Big Spaceship: Ready to Go Big?

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Big Spaceship, a digital marketing agency, faced a rather big challenge: How to scale the distinctive culture that was essential to its competitive strategy? Renowned for the cutting-edge websites that it developed to market major Hollywood movies and leading consumer... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Human Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Groups and Teams; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation

February 2025
Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A) (Abridged)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).... View Details

2019
Working Paper

The Customer May Not Always Be Right: Customer Compatibility and Service Performance

By: Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper investigates the impact of customer compatibility – the degree of fit between the needs of customers and the capabilities of the operations serving them – on customer experiences and firm performance. We use a variance decomposition analysis to quantify the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Compatibility; Satisfaction; Profitability; Customer Relationship Management; Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Banking Industry; Retail Industry

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November 2008 (Revised March 2011)
Case

a-connect: In Search of Talent Partners (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Dilyana Karadzhova

a-connect was started in 2002 by three former McKinsey partners who wanted to develop an alternative business model consulting firm, which they have positioned as a high-end staffing company. The company has been very successful, growing to revenues of CHF 30 million... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Initial Public Offering; Selection and Staffing; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketplace Matching; Expansion; Consulting Industry

December 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

i2 Technologies, Inc.

By: Ananth Raman and Jasjit Singh

Describes the emergence and growth of i2 Technologies and the supply chain planning software industry. In December 1998, i2's market capitalization was in excess of $2 billion; the supply chain planning software industry had annual sales of approximately $1 billion and... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Applications and Software; Supply Chain Management; Production; Forecasting and Prediction; Information Technology Industry

March 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Supplement

a-connect: In Search of Talent Partners (B)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Penelope Rossano

The a-connect: In Search of Talent Partners (B) case updates company changes since the (A) case. Key updates include leadership and management appointments and organizational changes. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Consulting Industry