Publications

2004
Teaching Note

Compensation Reform at Denver Public Schools, Teaching Note

By: Allen Grossman and Jennifer Suesse

Keywords: Education; Urban Scope; Compensation and Benefits; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Colorado

January 2004
Article

Corporate Venturing: The Origins of Unilever's Pregnancy Test

By: Geoffrey Jones and Alison Kraft

The relative ability of different sizes of firm and organisational designs to develop and sustain dynamic capabilities in innovation and create new businesses remains a matter of contention. While Chandler among many others has emphasised the pre-eminent role of large... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Organizational Design; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Brands and Branding; Multinational Firms and Management; Product Development; Product Launch; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Great Britain

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2004
Article

Do Firms Change Capabilities by Hiring New People? A Study of the Adoption of Science-based Drug Discovery

By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Nicola Lacetera and Iain Cockburn

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Change; Science; Health; Information

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January 2004
Supplement

Jack Welch General Electric-The People Factory at work: Picking My Successor at GE

By: Joseph L. Bower

Jack Welch describes the process by which Jeff Immelt was chosen. In doing so, he describes General Electric's People Factory. View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Leadership Development; Management; Management Succession

December 2003 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Sears Auto Centers (A) (Abridged)

By: Lynn S. Paine

In the early 1990s Sears faced and allegations by the California Department of Consumer Affairs that the company's auto repair centers had been overbilling customers and making unnecessary repairs. Top management must evaluate the problem and come up with a plan to... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Corporate Accountability; Ethics; Organizational Culture; Compensation and Benefits; Management Teams; Employees; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Performance Improvement; Auto Industry

December 2003 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Circon (A) (Abridged)

By: Brian J. Hall, Christopher Rose and Guhan Subramanian

In 1996, U.S. Surgical launched a hostile takeover bid against Circon Corp. CEO Richard Auhll recruited an old HBS friend, George Cloutier, to the Circon board to help him defend the company. Circon's primary defenses include a "poison pill" and a staggered board and... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Trust; Relationships; Acquisition; Business and Shareholder Relations; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

December 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Managing Segway's Early Development

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and David Kiron

Describes the early development of the Segway Human Transporter and focuses on the organizational issues that arise between the parent company and the new company that is being spun out to produce and market the Segway. Key issues are the distribution of bonuses and... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Business Startups; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Resource Allocation; Organizational Design; Technology Adoption

December 2003 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Malden Mills (A)

By: Nitin Nohria, Thomas R. Piper and Bridget Gurtler

CEO Aaron Feuerstein of Malden Mills decided to pay idled workers after a massive fire at his mill in 1995. Focuses on the decisions made post-fire and the rebuilding process and eventual bankruptcy of the company. Also outlines creditors' struggle to decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Situation or Environment; Ethics; Financing and Loans; Resignation and Termination; Employees; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Manufacturing Industry; Massachusetts

November 2003 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A)

By: Boris Groysberg and Laura Morgan Roberts

Reviews Josie Esquivel's career history, detailing how, through her personal attributes, skills, experiences, and organizational practices she has developed into a star analyst. Should Esquivel accept an offer to leave Lehman Brothers for Morgan Stanley? To make this... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Decision Choices and Conditions; Resignation and Termination; Job Offer; Franchise Ownership; Performance; Personal Development and Career; Personal Characteristics; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage

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

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Dewberry Capital

By: William J. Poorvu

In 2003, key executives of Dewberry Capital, a fast-growing, Atlanta-based real estate company, are evaluating their growth strategy and the resultant organizational issues. John Dewberry, the entrepreneurial founder of the firm, has developed a portfolio of... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Selection and Staffing; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Real Estate Industry; Atlanta

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November 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation

By: Robert S. Kaplan

First Commonwealth Financial Corp., a financial institution in central and southwestern Pennsylvania, implemented the Balanced Scorecard for describing and implementing its new customer-focused strategy. Its founder and chairman decided that the Balanced Scorecard also... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Corporate Strategy; Customers; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Customer Relationship Management; Executive Compensation; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry; Pennsylvania

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Supplement

GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

CEO Jeff Immelt, ex-CEO Jack Welch, and HR Chief Bill Conaty discuss how GE has made talent development a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Immelt describes GE's deeply embedded philosophy around its people and how it has allowed the company to add value... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Business or Company Management; Performance Capacity; Performance Effectiveness; Competitive Advantage; System; Value

October 2003 (Revised November 2006)
Case

GE's Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Andrew N. McLean

GE believes its ability to develop management talent is a core competency that represents a source of sustainable competitive advantage. This case traces the development of GE's rich system of human resource policies and practices under five CEOs in the post-war era,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Capital; Selection and Staffing; Leadership Development; Management Succession; Corporate Strategy

October 2003
Case

Henry Tam and the MGI Team

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Ingrid Vargas and Hillary Anger Elfenbein

Within a short time frame, seven diverse team members assemble to write a business plan for a new company and struggle to define their roles, make decisions together, and resolve conflict. Henry Tam, a second-year Harvard MBA student, who joins an aspiring start-up... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Business Plan; Groups and Teams; Decision Making; Jobs and Positions; Leadership Style; Human Resources; Management Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Diversity

October 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Teaching Note

Electric Maze Exercise, The (TN)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Teaching Note for (9-604-046). View Details

Keywords: Learning; Problems and Challenges; Social Psychology; Employees

October 2003 (Revised November 2004)
Case

Joe Bachelder: Executive Pay Negotiator

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

Joe Bachelder was the leading executive pay negotiator in the United States, securing generous contracts for CEOs and executives at Fortune 500 companies. The CEO of Victor Sports Co. resigned, and the board offered the job to Charles Suarez, a star executive from a... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Participants; Executive Compensation; Retail Industry; Sports Industry

October 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Burberry

By: Youngme E. Moon, Erika Kussmann, Emma Penick, Susan Wojewoda and Kerry Herman

In 2003, Rose Marie Bravo, Burberry's CEO, is debating how to maintain the currency and cachet of the brand across its broad customer base, while entering new product categories and expanding distribution. In the past five years, the brand has become one of the hottest... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Management Teams; Luxury; Product Launch; Distribution; Product Positioning; Advertising; Market Entry and Exit; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United Kingdom

September 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Yale University Investments Office: June 2003

By: Josh Lerner

The Yale Investments Office must decide whether to continue to allocate the bulk of the university's endowment to illiquid investments--hedge funds, private equity, real estate, and so forth. Considers the risks and benefits of a different asset allocation strategy.... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Assets; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment Funds; Resource Allocation; Partners and Partnerships; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy; Education Industry