Publications

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December 2012
Case

Blink Booking

By: William R. Kerr, Magnus Thor Torfason and Alexis Brownell

Rebeca Minguela hopes to create an arbitrage platform, similar to Rocket Internet, that can bring start-up ideas and opportunities to Spain. However, Blink Booking, her first venture and proof of concept, is rocked by a co-founder's breach of confidence and departure.... View Details

Keywords: Clones; Cloning; Rocket Internet; Start-up; Equity Split; Arbitrage; Incubator; Mobile App; Expansion; Spain; Europe; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry; Accommodations Industry; Travel Industry; Spain; Europe

03 Jul 2018
News

What George Washington Can Teach Us On July 4

29 Oct 2021
News

Ask Help Desk: How Remote Workers Can Separate Work and Home Lives

March 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Wal-Mart in 2002

By: David B. Yoffie and Yusi Wang

In its first quarter of 2002, Wal-Mart became the largest company on the globe (by sales) and expanded into Japan. Was the giant retailer unstoppable? This case explores Wal-Mart's top issues in fueling top- and bottom-line growth: diversification into groceries, new... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Expansion; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Global Strategy; Retail Industry; Japan; United States

06 Jan 2016
What Do You Think?

Why Do Leaders Get Their Timing Wrong?

bias toward short-term results, as well as any hubris on their part, and to discover blind spots, top management should cultivate and rely on its strategy team, including employees, board members and... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Auto; Fashion

November 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Bayer Crop Science

By: David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin, Natalie Kindred and James Barnett

In mid-2019, a year after German conglomerate Bayer Group closed its acquisition of U.S.-based seeds giant Monsanto, the leadership of Bayer’s Crop Science division (which absorbed Monsanto) is reflecting on the opportunities ahead. Some observers have questioned... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consolidation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Change Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Germany

2013
Book

Beyond the Idea: How to Execute Innovation in Any Organization

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble

By offering specific action steps, Beyond the Idea extends the elegant conceptual insights from How Stella Saved the Farm, Govindarajan and Trimble's parable. Beyond the Idea shows exactly how to: - Build a team with a very particular structure, one... View Details

04 Nov 2013
News

A Harvard Professor Knows Why the Bloated Blockbuster Will Never Die

March 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Background Note

Seeing What's on Red Auerbach's Mind

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and John T. Gourville

Analysis of an interview with Red Auerbach, HBR No. 87201. Alan M. Webber, who conducted the interview, probed for the lessons that Auerbach has learned from a long and productive career coaching and managing the Boston Celtics, a professional basketball team in the... View Details

Keywords: Markets; Research; Sports; Product Development; Communication Intention and Meaning; Sports Industry

December 1996 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Parker's Biscuits, Inc.: Venturing into China

Carol Wittenberg's first major task as president of the Asia/Pacific business for Parker's Biscuits is to set up a joint venture to manufacture biscuits in China. The team that Wittenberg has put together to find a joint venture partner has narrowed the choice down to... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decision Choices and Conditions; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China

October 1998 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Always Russia

P&G has rapidly gained market leadership in Russia with the Always feminine protection brand. The distinctive emerging market strategies employed by P&G are discussed. In planning further market development, the management team faces three decisions: 1) whether to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Emerging Markets; Planning; Consumer Products Industry; Russia

December 2013 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Paul Levy: Confronting a 'Corporate Campaign' (A)

By: James K. Sebenius

Hospital CEO Paul Levy confronts an SEIU unionization drive via a "corporate campaign" aimed at undercutting the hospital's relationships with key internal and external constituencies. Having shepherded one of Boston's top teaching hospitals much of the way through a... View Details

Keywords: Dispute Resolution; Corporate Campaign; Negotiating Campaign; Bargaining; Health Care; Hospitals; Unions; Health Care and Treatment; Negotiation; Strategy; Negotiation Process; Labor Unions; Health Industry; Boston

13 May 2018
News

Executives learn how to lead digital disruption

18 Jul 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Diversity and Inclusion at Mars Petcare: Translating Awareness into Action

Keywords: Re: Katherine B. Coffman; Food & Beverage; Health

October 2003
Case

Storm King Mountain

Describes the Colorado fire tragedy that resulted in 12 deaths. Examines leadership, decision making, and team dynamics in a high-stress, crisis situation. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Decision Making; Crisis Management; Colorado

June 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Case

COFCO Xinjiang Tunhe Co., Ltd.

By: David E. Bell and Aldo Sesia

In 2005, COFCO Ltd., one of China's largest and most successful companies, acquired Xinjiang Tunhe, a tomato processing firm, which had been, in recent years, poorly managed. COFCO changed Tunhe's management team and set out to create a culture of professionalism and... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Customer Relationship Management; Rural Scope; Supply Chain Management; Performance Consistency; Safety; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China

Keywords: Professor Amy C. Edmonson; Professor Boris Groysberg; Professor Josh Lerner; Teaching Fellow Ann Leamon; Professor Leslie A. Perlow; Professor of Management Practice Felda Hardymon;; social media; Finance

01 Jun 2012
News

Faculty Books

Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy by Amy C. Edmondson (Jossey-Bass) The Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Edmondson says that organizations thrive, or fail to thrive, based on how well their View Details

Program

Competing in the Age of AI—Virtual

the creation of algorithms, software infrastructure, data pipelines, and experimentation platforms Guide your organization in the development of sophisticated data platforms and artificial intelligence capabilities and enable higher levels of automation Ensure an... View Details

March 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

UBS: Towards the Integrated Firm

By: Rajiv Lal, Nitin Nohria and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In late June 2005, UBS Group CEO Peter Wuffli--anointed "Master of Zurich" by the financial press--was returning to Zurich from the firm's latest three-day Senior Leadership Conference (SLC). Tapping 600 top managers, this SLC featured an outdoor event at a former... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Programs; Leadership; Talent and Talent Management; Trust