Publications

February 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Jieliang Phone Home! (A)

By: Willy Shih, Ethan Bernstein and Nina Bilimoria

At Precision Electro-Tek's mobile phone manufacturing facility in southern China, thousands of operators—bright and capable young men and (mostly) women like Jieliang Hao—are motivated to improve line productivity through small innovations for faster assembly and have... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Job Design and Levels; Business Processes; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Manufacturing Industry; China

September 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Congressional Candidate Dan Silver and KNP Communications

By: Amy J.C. Cuddy and Nithyasri Sharma

In the 2006 election cycle, Ron Klein was running for the U.S. Congressional seat from Florida's 22nd District. He was up against Rep. Clay Shaw, a popular 26-year incumbent with significant name recognition in the district. Leading up to the election, Klein's campaign... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Competency and Skills; Political Elections; Personal Characteristics; Public Administration Industry; Florida

June 2009 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (A)

By: Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan, Wesley Yin and Marc Shotland

Green Bank of the Philippines was known for its product innovation and its ability to bring new products to market. In 2002, Green Bank designed an untested commitment savings product that both gave individuals access to formal savings and helped them commit to... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Innovation and Invention; Measurement and Metrics; Product Design; Success; Performance Evaluation; Banking Industry; Philippines

July 2011
Case

Shifting the Diversity Climate: The Sodexo Solution

By: David A. Thomas and Stephanie J. Creary

This case profiles the evolution of Sodexo's diversity initiative. Diversity became a key priority for Sodexo, North America in 2001 after a class-action lawsuit was filed and certified in Washington, D.C. against Sodexo Marriot Services, Inc., the food services... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Business Strategy; Globalization; Management Teams; Gender; Race; Ethnicity; Age; Food and Beverage Industry; North America; Washington (state, US)

December 1993 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Marriott Corporation (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Charles A. Nichols

Marriott Corp.'s chairman and CEO must decide whether to recommend a restructuring of the company to the board of directors. The proposal he is considering would split the Marriott Corp., a premier hotel developer, owner, and manager, into two separate companies by a... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Restructuring; Governing and Advisory Boards; Decision Making; Ethics; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations; Accommodations Industry

March 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Pakistan Rising: Bazaar's Growth Story (A)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in September 2021 as Hamza Jawaid and Saad Jangda, co-founders of Bazaar technologies (Bazaar), the Pakistani high growth B2B e-commerce marketplace, are contemplating whether the year-and-a half old startup should also venture into offering financing to... View Details

Keywords: B2B; Business Model; Emerging Markets; For-Profit Firms; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Pakistan

April 2019
Case

Barber Cardiosystems

By: Ranjay Gulati and Paul S. Myers

Barber Cardiosystems, based in Melbourne, Australia, designs and manufactures therapeutic devices used for treatment of coronary conditions. Over four decades, it has grown to be among the top 200 medical device companies in the world. It competes against much larger... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Strategic Alignment; Cost Management; Performance Productivity; Organizational Culture; Motivation and Incentives; Organizational Design; Strategy; Leadership; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Australia

11 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating When the Rules Suddenly Change

formulating negotiation strategy, strive to view the landscape as other parties see it. Returning to our hockey example, the NHL general managers had to work on at least three different levels as they raced to sign players. They had to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler; Sports

December 2019
Case

WeWork Files for an IPO

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

For the board of The We Company—better known as WeWork—August 14, 2019, promised to be a pivotal day. It was then that WeWork’s IPO prospectus, known as an S-1 filing, would be made public, giving potential investors, the media, and the general public a window into the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Leadership; Management; Private Equity; Valuation; Venture Capital; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; United States

Web

Faculty & Advisors | MBA

Technology Chris leads MPM Capital’s public market investing as portfolio manager for BioImpact Equities (formerly known as Burrage Capital) and the Oncology Impact Funds. Previously, Chris was a health care analyst at Fidelity... View Details

12 PM – 1 PM EST, 23 Feb 2016
Webinars: Career

How to Make Your Boss (& Teams) Love You

How do you stand out, add value to your teams and make your boss, your clients, and your colleagues love you? Jodi Glickman, president and founder of Great on the Job and regular blogger for Harvard Business Review, will unwrap the GIFT of Great on the Job... View Details

October 2022 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Lyra Health: Transforming Mental Health

By: Rembrand Koning and Nicole Keller

In January 2022, Lyra Health was deciding between several different alternatives to grow the business. Founded in 2015, Lyra Health was a digital mental health platform that combined technology with human therapists and coaches to deliver high quality mental health... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Health Care and Treatment; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Customer Value and Value Chain; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Health Industry; Technology Industry; San Francisco

20 Dec 2018
Blog Post

A Time For Opportunity In Food and Agriculture

food and agribusiness is growing among MBAs at Harvard Business School. In the past couple of years, for example, membership in the student Food, Agriculture, and Water (FAW) Club has nearly doubled. To help meet that interest, on October 18, the HBS Business &... View Details

21 Aug 2023
Book

You’re More Than Your Job: 3 Tips for a Healthier Work-Life Balance

framework for managers (and aspiring managers) to work in a more balanced, self-fulfilling way in this changing landscape, based on three core tenets. You’re more than your job This is the era of reinvention. Wallace warns against... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

August 2000 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Cox Communications, Inc., 1999

This case focuses on how much external financing a firm needs and what securities the firm should issue to raise this financing. Cox Communications is a major player in the cable industry, which is consolidating due to technological changes/capabilities brought about... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Telecommunications Industry

July 2024
Case

Living up to Purpose and Performance at Parker Hannifin

By: Hubert Joly, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

In 2019, Parker Hannifin, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of motion and control technologies, did something unusual for an industrial company: it created a purpose statement. Even though it already had a clear business strategy and longstanding culture of... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Health Pandemics; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Communication Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Cleveland; Ohio; United States

September 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Hearthside Homes

By: Jason R. Barro, Brian J. Hall and Aaron Zimmerman

Investigates the "controllability problem" inherent in bonus systems. Ideally, an incentive system accurately measures performance in areas that the individual can control. But most measures are either too broad, including factors outside the influence of the employee,... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Housing; Performance Evaluation; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Real Estate Industry

October 2000 (Revised November 2018)
Exercise

Web-Based Beer Game Exercise

By: Janice H. Hammond

The Web-based beer game is an exercise that demonstrates supply channel dynamics. Simulates the flow of material and information in a simplified channel of beer production and distribution, focusing on the linkages between a beer manufacturer, its distributors, a... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Production