Publications

October 2018
Case

Recipe for Success: Growth and Evolution at Cafe Cupcake

By: Anthony Mayo and Heather Beckham

Café Cupcake (CC) is a fast-casual restaurant chain that offers artisan cupcakes and light fare throughout the southeastern United States and Texas. This case chronicles the growth and evolution of Café Cupcake. It also considers the specific human resource challenges... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Human Resources; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Food and Beverage Industry

July 1987
Case

Altoona Corp.: Computer Products Division

By: Roger E. Bohn and Robert H. Hayes

A relatively small manufacturer of computer memory disks has achieved a major market position through the use of its statistical quality control (SQC) program. It is now expanding the production of a new line of disks and is encountering problems getting the process... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Volatility; Performance Consistency; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Quality; Mathematical Methods; Hardware; Manufacturing Industry

Find at Harvard

03 Jun 2021
Blog Post

HBS Pilots First Impact Investing Fund

This year, HBS piloted its first student-run Impact Investing Fund, focused on investing in BIPOC-led and owned small businesses in the Massachusetts area. Since launching, the fund has raised $200k, completed diligence on eight... View Details

28 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 28, 2007

management style on the performance of her team. In the spring of 2005, Leslie must decide whether to re-design the firm and/or change her management style in order to address... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Research Summary

"Creating Competitive Advantage Through Knowledge Management" (with Elie Ofek)

This project explores how the concept of Knowledge Management (KM) is likely to impact competition among professional services firms (e.g. Consultants, Accounting Firms and Advertising Agencies). Assuming that the "KM technology" exhibits economies of scale, first we... View Details

April 2018
Article

Effective Sales Training: What Are the Foundational Elements?

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Across industries, turnover in sales positions averages about 25–30% annually. This means that, at many firms, the equivalent of the entire sales force must be replaced and trained every four years or so. No other function has an ongoing talent management task of that... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Training

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March 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Brocade: Launching the Multiprotocol Router

By: Elie Ofek and Mamoon Hamid

Brocade management is preparing for the launch of a new technology for data storage. The multiprotocol router improves on existing technology and has the potential to change the way firms design their data storage networks. Students must determine the target market for... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Price; Product Launch; Partners and Partnerships; Segmentation; Information Infrastructure; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry

12 Sep 2023
What Do You Think?

Who Gets the Loudest Voice in DEI Decisions?

profitability than those in the bottom quartile. A 2016 study of 21,980 firms in 91 countries found that companies with mixed gender boards outperformed those with all-male boards. Of course, you are aware of controversies surrounding... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

November 2008
Case

Eden McCallum

By: Heidi K. Gardner and Robert G. Eccles

This case illustrates the leadership and management challenges of starting a new firm based on a new business model and how success creates pressures that challenge the work/life balance which was one of the original goals of its two founders. The case also raises... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Work-Life Balance

Research Summary

US-China Relations

By: Meg Rithmire

Economic interdependence between the US and China was imagined years ago to be a source of security and prosperity for both countries, but is now the site of concerns about risk and national security on both sides. My work has examined how that shift has come about,... View Details

2024
Working Paper

Hidden Alpha

By: Manuel Amman, Alexander Cochardt, Lauren Cohen and Stephan Heller

This paper documents the central role of hidden connections between fund managers and firm officers in financial markets, drawing on an extensive dataset of over 100 thousand manually identified Facebook profiles and their 35 million Facebook friends. Our findings... View Details

Keywords: Returns; Investment Return; Networks

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02 Jun 2022
News

Guild Education Reaches $4.4 Billion Valuation As Labor Market Demands Continue—And A Downturn Threat Rises

08 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Managers' Cultural Background and Disclosure Attributes

Keywords: by Francois Brochet, Gregory S. Miller, Patricia Naranjo, and Gwen Yu

December 2002 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Matt Leeds (A)

By: Linda A. Hill

A new associate in a consulting firm attempts to navigate his way through the norms and culture of a new setting and to manage his relationships with his superiors and peers, which got off to a poor start.

PLEASE NOTE: This case was revised in January 2014.... View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; Rank and Position; Organizational Culture; Consulting Industry

Malcolm Baker is the Robert G. Kirby Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, where he teaches the required course in finance and a short immersive program on investing in life sciences.

His research is in the... View Details

Keywords: asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management

22 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution

Business leaders can't develop and execute effective strategy without first gathering the right information, says Harvard Business School professor Robert Simons. In his new book, Seven Strategy Questions: A Simple Approach for Better Execution, Simons explains how... View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

2017
Working Paper

The Need for Speed: Effects of Uncertainty Reduction in Patenting

By: Mike Horia Teodorescu

Patents are essential in commerce to establish property rights for ideas and to give equal protection to firms that develop new technologies. Young firms especially depend on the protection of intellectual property to bring a product from concept to market. However,... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Natural Language Processing; Machine Learning; Patents; Business Startups; Risk and Uncertainty; Outcome or Result; Green Technology Industry

08 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

Decision Rights: Who Gives the Green Light?

the organization various types of decisions are being made and whether those particular points are still the most efficient. Keith Leslie, a partner at McKinsey and Company's London office, says his firm recently advised one client to... View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

June 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Focus Financial Partners and the U.S. RIA Industry in 2014

By: Luis Viceira and Emily A. Chien

In the Spring of 2014, Rudy Adolf, CEO and founder of Focus Financial, and the two other co-founders of the firm are considering alternative growth strategies to solidify Focus Financial's position as a leading aggregator of independent wealth management firms in the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Financial Services Industry