Publications

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September 2021 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Community Solutions

By: Brian Trelstad and Tom Quinn

Community Solutions was an anti-homelessness nonprofit founded in 2011 after protagonist Rosanne Haggerty grew frustrated with the limited impact of traditional housing and outreach strategies. It set an ambitious goal, reached in some partner communities, of ending... View Details

Keywords: Change; Change Management; Disruption; Transformation; Communication; Communication Strategy; Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Social Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Capital Budgeting; Capital Markets; Country; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Housing; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Mission and Purpose; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Opportunities; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Human Needs; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Societal Protocols; Poverty; Welfare; Well-being; System; Equality and Inequality; Consulting Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; New York (city, NY); Florida; Texas

15 May 2017
Blog Post

Exploring Career Options at HBS

While working in investment banking and e-commerce roles, I realized the importance of interpersonal and leadership skills in successfully growing an organization. My decision... View Details

June 2024
Case

SnapTravel: Betting on 'Super.com'

By: Reza Satchu and Tom Quinn

This case explores SnapTravel, a travel startup offering discounted hotel rooms, and its founders’ desire to pivot to a “super app” that saved customers money across many different purchase types. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hussein Fazal and Henry Shi saw SnapTravel... View Details

03 Sep 2014
What Do You Think?

Who Should Choose Your Boss?

duties, it is wise, as part of its selection process, to seek inputs from those who will 'live' daily with the next leader." Mike Flanagan commented: "The more buy-in from a broader range of people the better (the) choice View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Food & Beverage

September 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Supplement

Serving Bud Moore (B)

By: David G. Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

In only his third year at a Leading Strategy Consulting firm (LSC), Gregory Davis has been assigned to a select group tasked with advising General Motors (GM), one of the largest companies in the world by revenue, on how to reorganize their entire North American... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Relationships; Outcome or Result; Groups and Teams; Management Skills; Restructuring

September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (A)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan

Acumen Fund is a global venture capital firm with a dual purpose: it looks for a return on its investments, and it also seeks entrepreneurial solutions to global poverty. This case examines Acumen's new projects in Kenya. The organization's investment committee and its... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Risk Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Social Enterprise; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

January 2021
Case

The FIRE Savings Calculator

By: Michael Parzen and Paul Hamilton

This case follows Carol Muñoz, a member of the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) lifestyle movement. At the age of 45, Carol is considering retiring and living off the $1 million she has accumulated. Using Monte Carlo simulation, Carol forecasts the... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Investment Return; Personal Finance; Saving; Risk and Uncertainty; Diversification; Theory; Personal Development and Career; Financial Services Industry

29 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 29, 2007

surgeons who perform hip and knee arthroplasties and patients who were scheduled to have hip or knee arthro-plasty. Respondents were asked for their opinions of and experiences... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Supplement

Martha Goldberg Aronson: Challenges at Mid-Career (B)

By: William W. George

Martha Goldberg Aronson of Medtronic is trying to decide whether to accept the offer from Medtronic CEO Bill Hawkins to become senior vice president and chief talent officer. Aronson returned from an executive role in Europe just 18 months before as vice president,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Job Design and Levels; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Work-Life Balance

November 2022
Supplement

Arcos Dorados’ Quest for the Digitalization of Last-Mile Delivery in Colombia (B)

By: Jorge Tamayo, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

In 2020, Francisco Staton, president of Arcos Dorados’ Caribbean Division, and Héctor Orozco, Managing Director of Arcos Dorados Colombia, were looking into Arcos Dorados’ options to consolidate its food delivery service in Colombia. This time the matter at hand hinged... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Global Strategy; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Agreements and Arrangements; Negotiation Tactics; Logistics; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Latin America; South America; Colombia

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

02 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Stuck in Gear: Why Managers Don’t Act

that a success formula may frequently go stale or, as he puts it, "harden," for a complex set of reasons that are, in fact, surprisingly predictable—though not easy to avoid. "To succeed in business, every manager must make View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

17 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 17

shareholders as a category are not well positioned to guide corporate decisions or to discipline management. They also discuss problems in two other roles shareholders play with respect to corporations, as a source of funds View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2007
Case

Leadership Forum: Building Great Careers - Video

By: D. Quinn Mills and Carole Winkler

Leadership: Can I learn it, how do I do it, and how can I use it to advance my career? How is today's world different from the one our teachers entered years ago, and how does that affect me? The two videos on this DVD address these and other questions typically asked... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Work-Life Balance; Leadership Development; Talent and Talent Management; Leadership Style; Knowledge Dissemination; Teaching; Executive Education; Decision Choices and Conditions; Management Style; Education Industry

01 Mar 2018
News

Research Brief: A Path to Moral Management

Eugene Soltes (photo by Russ Campbell) Eugene Soltes (photo by Russ Campbell) Making ethical and moral decisions in business can be murky and is difficult to teach in the... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers

October 1992 (Revised October 1993)
Case

MCI Communications Corporation: National Accounts Program (Condensed)

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Concerns the early stages of a major-account program at MCI, a telecommunications firm seeking to penetrate the corporate-account market. Among the issues are: 1) coordination of field sales efforts with national account selling efforts; 2) sales strategy for major... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Training; Compensation and Benefits; Management Practices and Processes; Marketing Strategy; Groups and Teams; Sales

Find at Harvard

1997
Chapter

The Power of Alternatives or the Limits to Negotiation

By: James K. Sebenius and David Lax

Keywords: Negotiation; Decision Choices and Conditions

January 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

CrossBoundary Energy

By: John Macomber

Almost 500 million people are without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and public utilities are challenged to bring generation and distribution to most of them. Considerable promise exists in “off-grid” or “mini-grid” technologies, notably using renewable... View Details

Keywords: Energy Investing; Economic Development; Renewable Energy; Business Growth and Maturation; Developing Countries and Economies; Project Finance; Emerging Markets; Industry Structures; Infrastructure; Segmentation; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Africa; Tanzania; Ghana

March 1986 (Revised November 1990)
Case

Valerie Morgan

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Presents interviews and conversations with a woman who recently started a publishing house. Primarily concerns her immediate future regarding harvesting options: IPO, sell out, step up to chairman, venture capital, etc. Also deals with the excitement and thrill of... View Details

Keywords: Interactive Communication; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Cash; Initial Public Offering; Business or Company Management; Strategic Planning; Publishing Industry