Publications

08 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way To Hire a Sales Team

Cespedes explains a strategic process for hiring and managing an effective salesforce: book excerpt Build your Team: Recruitment And Selection From Aligning Strategy and Sales By Frank Cespedes Putting the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

August 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Exercise

People Management

By: Boris Groysberg and David Lane

Highlights critical gaps between research and practice in the field of strategic human resources management. Also, aims to debunk some myths and preconceptions that general managers bring to their HR decisions. Before class, participants fill out a true-or-false... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Management; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Performance Evaluation

04 Sep 2013
What Do You Think?

How Relevant is Long-Range Strategic Planning?

Summing Up How Can Strategic Planning be Adapted to Changing Needs? Strategic planning concepts and the notion of long-range planning will continue to be integral parts of responsible management. But they... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Benetton Group S.p.A., 2000

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2000, Benetton was one of the leading mass fashion competitors in the world with approximately $1.9 billion in sales across 5,500 stores in 120 countries. But the company's fortunes seemed to be on the wane. Operating profits had fallen 9% from the prior year to... View Details

Keywords: Fashion; Strategic Change; Strategic Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Performance Consistency; Management Teams; Strategy; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Italy

2014
Book

Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World

By: John P. Kotter

Based on the award-winning article in Harvard Business Review, from global leadership expert John Kotter. It's a familiar scene in organizations today: a new competitive threat or a big opportunity emerges. You quickly create a strategic initiative in response and... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Organizational Structure

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Web

Strategic Plan | Information Technology

Strategic Plan Our strategic priorities and initiatives. Our North Star The Harvard Business School (HBS) IT three-year strategic plan (FY24–FY26) is organized around HBS IT’s... View Details

2012
Article

Demand and Capacity Management in Air Transportation

This paper summarizes research trends and opportunities in the area of managing air transportation demand and capacity. Capacity constraints and resulting congestion and low schedule reliability currently impose large costs on airlines and their passengers. Significant... View Details

Keywords: Demand Management; Capacity Management; Mathematical Modeling; Congestion And Delays; Trends And Opportunities; Demand and Consumers; Air Transportation; Mathematical Methods; Performance Capacity; Air Transportation Industry

The goal of MANAGEMENT: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH, 2nd Edition, is to prepare students for leadership positions in 21st century companies by addressing the many facets involved in answering one key question: How are leaders successfully managing competitive... View Details

Research Summary

A Strategic Rationale for Having Overconfident Managers, 2004

We analyze whether it might be desirable for a firm to hire an overconfident manager for strategic reasons. We analyze a tournament type version of Bertrand competition and a linear demand Cournot model. In each case there is an R&D stage where firms can invest in cost... View Details

February 1993 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (A) (Updated)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

The setting is a food manufacturing company that has stumbled in terms of its historic growth and profit achievements. In trying to recapture momentum, the president has used information technology as one element in his program of transition. The case focuses on the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Transition; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry

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10 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt--‘Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World’

book excerpt Management Is Not Leadership From Chapter 4, Accelerate: Building Strategic Agility for a Faster-Moving World By John Kotter Listen to how most people talk in everyday conversation, and you'll... View Details

Keywords: Re: John P. Kotter

01 Sep 2016
News

Making Progress on Strategic Priorities

The Harvard Business School Campaign has played a critical role in advancing the School’s mission through the “Five I” strategic priorities. Selected highlights of new activities made possible by generous support from alumni and friends... View Details

January 2018
Case

Ak Gıda: IPO or Strategic Sale

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Eren Kuzucu

In 2015, Yıldiz Holding, one of the world’s largest producer of confections, biscuits and crackers, was at the end of its divestiture process from Ak Gida, one of the leading dairy companies in Turkey. The company had adopted a dual track process, pursuing an initial... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Model; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Growth and Development Strategy; Value Creation; Decision Making; Growth Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Initial Public Offering; Business Conglomerates; Business Exit or Shutdown; Family Business; Joint Ventures; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey

November 2006 (Revised August 2012)
Background Note

A Strategic Perspective on Bankruptcy

By: Bill George, Jim Sharpe and Andrew N. McLean

An overview of bankruptcy procedures in U.S. courts, recent filing data and a framework for evaluating a reorganization with creditors or considering opening a court-supervised reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. View Details

Keywords: Bankruptcy; Financial Distress; Turnarounds; Legal Aspects Of Business; Liquidation; Boards Of Directors; Hedge Funds; Strategy; Law; Governing and Advisory Boards; Negotiation; Crisis Management; Policy; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Credit; Financial Crisis; United States

Web

25 Years of Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

June 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Siemens Medical Solutions: Strategic Turnaround

By: D. Quinn Mills and Julian Kurz

Describes how Siemens Medical Solutions (MED) accomplished a remarkable turnaround from a money-losing operation to one of Siemens' most profitable divisions. By late 1996, a challenging market environment in the health care industry as well as inefficiencies in the... View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Globalized Firms and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

TeachingInterests

Investment Management Workshop

By: Luis M. Viceira

Investing and Strategic Decision-Making for Principals, Portfolio Managers, and Executives of Asset Management Firms

For nearly 50 years, the Investment Management Workshop (IMW) has convened the world's top principals, portfolio managers, and... View Details

April 1994 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (1987-1989)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Describes the actions taken by the new CEO to return the company to profitability, to clarify the vision, and then to build the infrastructure (human, capital, and information) needed to support the long-term change in strategy and organization. Ends with senior... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

April 1994 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (1990-1992)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Describes the changes in structure, management systems, people, and processes instituted by the company. Provides students with an opportunity to explore the nature of "IT-enabled" organizational change and the process through which it is implemented. Also enables a... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Business Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry