Publications

Research Summary

Global Strategic and Management Challenges

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Michael Y. Yoshino is conducting an exploratory study designed to identify, and develop an understanding of, the strategic and management challenges facing major corporations located in the ASEAN countries as they achieve rapid growth and global expansion. He is also... View Details

March 1990 (Revised November 1999)
Case

MCI Communications: Planning for the 1990s

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

Concentrates on the evolution of MCI's strategy-setting process following a period of dramatic growth. Opportunistic strategies during MCI's early years have given top managers a dislike of formal strategic planning and a strongly-held belief in top down strategy... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Growth and Development; Planning; Strategic Planning; Growth Management; Business or Company Management; Competition; Alignment; Communications Industry

01 Jun 2020
News

Meal Plan

restaurant investor Lena Goldberg; visiting lecturer and restaurant veteran Michael Kaufman; Christian Charnaux (MBA 2006), chief growth officer at Inspire Brands, with more than 11,100 Arby’s, Buffalo Wild... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; restaurants; COVID-19; pandemic; recovery; Food Services and Drinking Places; Food Services and Drinking Places; Food Services and Drinking Places; Food Services and Drinking Places

September 2024
Case

Xendit: Hiring for Growth

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Steve Castano, Quoc Anh Nguyen and Claire Wu

In 2019, Xendit, a growth-stage Southeast Asia (SEA) fintech venture based in Jakarta, was looking to hire a Head of Sales and Head of Product to lead its next phase of growth. Founded by Moses Lo and Tessa Wijaya, Xendit provided payment infrastructure, modeling... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Financing and Loans; Entrepreneurship; Jobs and Positions; Sales; Product; Growth and Development; Selection and Staffing; Organizational Culture; Expansion; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Southeast Asia; Indonesia; Philippines

01 Jun 2013
News

Lesson Plans

example of what can push the system to a new approach. Another example, which I plan to visit, is Rocketship Education, a charter school system where students spend the first few hours of the morning in a computer learning lab View Details

Keywords: Elementary and Secondary Schools; Elementary and Secondary Schools; Elementary and Secondary Schools; Elementary and Secondary Schools

01 Jun 2020
News

Lesson Plans

which will help erode the stigma that still exists around online education. In addition, the way that hiring managers perceive online education will change. We tend to be biased toward what we know, and a... View Details

Keywords: Jen Mele

1989
Book

Planning and Power in Iran: Ebtehaj and Economic Development under the Shah

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book provides a biography of Abol Hassan Ebtehaj, who headed Iran's central bank and Plan Organization during the 1940s and 1950s. It provides a wide-ranging survey of the problems of modernization and economic planning in Iran. Ebtehaj was at the center of... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Decision Making; Economics; Central Banking; Policy; Political History; Resignation and Termination; Biography; Books; Surveys; Growth and Development Strategy; Planning; Iran

Find at Harvard

July–August 2023
Article

Investing in Growth Through Uncertainty

By: Ranjay Gulati

When faced with disruptions and downturns, many leaders and companies instinctively focus on cutting costs to maintain profitability. But some identify opportunities and then take thoughtful action to emerge from crisis even stronger. That means not only planning for... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Strategic Planning

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

August 2006 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Duane Morris: Balancing Growth and Culture at a Law Firm

By: Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

After nearly 100 years as a mid-size regional law firm, Duane Morris entered a period of spectacular growth led by CEO Sheldon Bonovitz. Originally founded by Quakers, the firm had a distinct organizational culture featuring a number of unique or unusual business... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Competitive Advantage; San Francisco

July 1991 (Revised March 1992)
Background Note

Integrity and Management

By: Joseph L. Badaracco

Describes the role that issues of personal integrity play in managers' decisions. Defines personal integrity, the factors that influence it, the situations in which it becomes particularly relevant to company decisions, and ways of overcoming the blind spots that can... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Moral Sensibility; Planning; Situation or Environment; Trust; Value

2025
Working Paper

Bank Capital and the Growth of Private Credit

By: Sergey Chernenko, Robert Ialenti and David Scharfstein

We show that business development companies (BDCs), a significant source of private credit, are very well capitalized according to bank capital frameworks. These types of private credit funds have median risk-based capital ratios of about 36%, which is 26 percentage... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Capital; Credit; Financial Institutions

SSRN

September 2021
Supplement

The Boston Beer Company (B): Growth and Uncertainty

By: Christina R. Wing and John Masko

The first three years of CEO Dave Burwick’s tenure were tumultuous for the Boston Beer Company. The company’s hard seltzer products continued to grow unexpectedly quickly, eclipsing the company’s legacy Samuel Adams beer products. Meanwhile, a polarizing political... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Strategy; Growth Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston; United States

Article

Reflections: Toward a Normative and Actionable Theory of Planned Organizational Change and Development

By: Michael Beer

A normative and actionable theory of planned organizational change and development is proposed based on fifty years of engagement by the author as a scholar-consultant. Five principles are central features of the theory and practice proposed: 1) Organizations are... View Details

Keywords: Consultant; Process; Systems; Silence; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Learning; Management Teams

Register to Read

March 1991 (Revised January 1996)
Case

The General Mills Board and Strategic Planning

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Examines the General Mills Board of Directors' role in the General Mills joint venture with Nestle S.A. to sell cereals outside of North America. It raises the more general question of the appropriate role for the board of directors in strategy formulation. View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Trade; Corporate Governance; Managerial Roles; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry; North America

18 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

Breaking Through a Growth Stall

increases," write the authors of How to Identify the Best Customers for Your Business, published in the Winter 2013 issue of the MIT Sloan Management Review. “Ineffective opportunity management... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

November 1976 (Revised January 1984)
Case

Norton Co.: Strategic Planning for Diversified Business Operations

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes an elaborate approach to strategic planning for diversified business operations. Includes the use of the BCG experience curve and growth share matrices and of PIMS profit-factor data. (Both sets of ideas are described in appendices to the case.) Also... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Diversification; Operations; Business Growth and Maturation; Business or Company Management; Resource Allocation

2011
Book

Dirección estratégica en países emergentes: Elementos fundamentales para plantear el crecimiento de las empresas latinoamericanas [Strategic management in emerging countries: Fundamental tools to plan the growth of Latin American firms]

By: Roberto Vassolo and Luciana Silvestri

This book seeks to help managers in emerging economies formulate and implement strategy, design their organizational structure, and nurture their organization's identity as part of an integrated, holistic process. Chapters cover classic topics such as industry analysis... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Identity; Organizational Alignment; Emerging Economies; Strategy; Business or Company Management; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Developing Countries and Economies

August 2016 (Revised November 2019)
Supplement

eSig: Growth Analysis

By: Mark N. Roberge and Thomas R. Eisenmann

eSig, an early-stage startup, offers an electronic signature application as a "freemium" product, i.e., users can upgrade from a free basic version to a premium version by paying a subscription fee. Using 9 months of data from 50,000 user activations, available as a... View Details

Keywords: Esignature; Computer Software; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Management; Marketing Channels; Applications and Software; Computer Industry; United States