Publications

June 2018
Case

Meridian Systems

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Michael J. Roberts

The Meridian Systems case focuses on a start-up in the restaurant point of sale (POS) systems market. In early 2018, Meridian is getting ready to roll out a POS system based on a new technology—a tablet-based, Wi-Fi-enabled POS system (the "tablet" system, or... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Sales; Strategy; Salesforce Management; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy

2007
Working Paper

The Impact of Component Modularity on Design Evolution: Evidence from the Software Industry

By: Alan MacCormack, John Rusnak and Carliss Y. Baldwin

Much academic work asserts a relationship between the design of a complex system and the manner in which this system evolves over time. In particular, designs which are modular in nature are argued to be more "evolvable," in that these designs facilitate making... View Details

Keywords: Product Design; Adaptation; Software; Information Technology Industry

Read Now

Research Summary

Job Market Paper

When to Take the Leap:
The Antecedents and Consequences of Leapfrog CEOs

Much of the prior research on CEO successions focuses on differences between CEOs appointed from within the firm and those appointed from outside;... View Details

June 2020 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Time Out: The Evolution from Media to Markets

By: Kate Barasz and Eva Ascarza

In February 2020, Time Out’s chief executive officer Julio Bruno is evaluating the strategic direction of the company. Over the span of five decades, Time Out — the global media and entertainment brand — had gone from a self-published counterculture publication in... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Media Businesses; Hospitality; Hospitality Industry; Digital; Brands and Branding; Media; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom; United States

Article

Management Practices, Relational Contracts and the Decline of General Motors

By: Susan Helper and Rebecca Henderson

General Motors was once regarded as one of the best managed and most successful firms in the world, but between 1980 and 2009 its share of the U.S. market fell from 62.6% to 19.8%, and in 2009 the firm went bankrupt. In this paper we argue that the conventional... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Management Practices and Processes; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

06 Jan 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Mechanisms of Technology Re-Emergence and Identity Change in a Mature Field: Swiss Watchmaking, 1970-2008

Keywords: by Ryan Raffaelli; Consumer Products; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion

29 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Beyond Goals: David Beckham's Playbook for Mobilizing Star Talent

biggest sports stage to cementing a legacy as a businessman, entrepreneur, and club owner. What’s the best way to build a team around a top performer? How do you value the asset of a star to the broader organization? And, how can an... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

March 2023
Case

Between Two Minds: The Staglin Family

By: Lauren Cohen, Ronnie Stangler and Grace Headinger

Garen Staglin, Founder and Chairman of One Mind, reflected on his life’s work in brain health. As he contemplated stepping down in the next few years, he weighed how to pass along this legacy to his son, Brandon Staglin, the impetus behind and next generation of the... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Well-being; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Mission and Purpose; Health Industry

October 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Supplement

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (C)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

This case is the third installment in a series about the 10-year cultural and digital transformation of Pfizer’s Global Clinical Supply organization. In 2011, Michael Ku became Pfizer’s Vice President of Global Clinical Supply (GCS) after the company had undergone... View Details

Keywords: Clinical Supply Chain; COVID-19; Vaccine; Agile; Innovation and Invention; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Transformation; Leadership; Corporate Strategy; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management; Mission and Purpose; Health Care and Treatment; Supply Chain Management; Digital Transformation

2022
Chapter

State-Formation, Statist Islam, and Regime Instability: Evidence from Turkey

By: Kristin Fabbe

Religion, and particularly the forces of political Islam and state secularism, have been central to discussions of regime stability in the Turkish case. Intense polarization, political instability, and military interventions have propelled Turkey into crisis about once... View Details

Keywords: Ottoman Empire; Regime; State Secularism; Political Islam; Democracy; Autocracy; Religion; Government and Politics; Turkey

Register to Read

16 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

The Messy Link Between Slave Owners and Modern Management

companies to become more aware of the complicated legacy of today's business practices and the origins of some their day-to-day management practices. "I got into this because I followed my sources," Rosenthal says. "I... View Details

Keywords: by Katie Johnston

Research Summary

The American Chief Executive from 1850 to 2000

By: Richard S. Tedlow

Richard S. Tedlow's research explores changes in the leadership strategies, styles, and backgrounds of corporate chief executive officers in the United States over the past century and a half. This project has both a qualitative and a quantitative component. The... View Details

03 Oct 2023
Research Event

Build the Life You Want: Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey Share Happiness Tips

push that out into the world? And if the world is 20 people, 20,000 people, 20 million people as it was with me every day, it does not matter. Because what really matters is that you're building legacy. And this is the greatest definition of View Details

Keywords: by HBS Staff

01 May 2024
What Do You Think?

Have You Had Enough?

many. We’ve asked what many leaders should do, among them Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, YouTube’s Susan Wojcicki, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Disney’s Susan Arnold. We’ve explored the leadership legacy of, among others,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

February 2022
Case

NFX Capital and Moov Technologies

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Nicole Tempest Keller

In July 2019, James Currier, a general partner at San Francisco-based NFX Ventures, was considering a seed stage investment of $1.5 million in Moov Technologies, a B2B marketplace for used industrial equipment. NFX was a venture capital firm focused on seed-stage... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Network Effects; Marketplace Matching; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Applications and Software; Semiconductor Industry; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco

24 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Four Keys of Enduring Success: How High Achievers Win

asked. If you're deeply content all the time, what happens to your achievement?— Howard Stevenson Happiness, significance, and a legacy are similarly complicated. "If you're deeply content all the time, what happens to your... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

2008
Article

Industrial Specialization and Regional Clusters in the Ten New EU Member States

By: Orjan Solvell, Christian H.M. Ketels and Goran Lindqvist

Purpose—The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of regional concentration patterns within ten new European Union (EU) member states, EU10, and make comparisons with EU15 and the US economy.
Design/methodology/approach—Industrial... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Policy; Employment; Industry Clusters; Industry Structures; European Union; United States

Find at Harvard