Publications

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April 2009
Article

Sovereign Wealth in Abu Dhabi

By: Rawi Abdelal

By the turn of the century, oil had already made the tiny emirate of Abu Dhabi rich beyond anyone's wildest dreams. A sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), has invested extra oil revenues abroad for more than thirty years and amassed a... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Financial Management; Investment Funds; Sovereign Finance; Wealth; Diversification; Abu Dhabi

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Miaomiao Zhang is a doctoral candidate at the Technology & Operations Management Unit at Harvard Business School. Miaomiao received a B.S. in Applied Mathematics & Statistics and Economics from Emory University. She worked at the Strategy Unit at Harvard... View Details

01 Sep 2020
News

Action Plan: Finding Fluency

Photo courtesy of Cammie Dunaway Photo courtesy of Cammie Dunaway Every day of 2020, Cammie Dunaway (MBA 1990) has practiced her French using the Duolingo app. “It is something positive I can do for myself,” Dunaway says of the hobby she has maintained throughout... View Details

Keywords: April White; foreign language; education and technology; digital marketing; change management; COVID-19; Educational Services

Video

Dr. R.S. Sodhi

Dr. R.S. Sodhi, former Managing Director of GCMMF (Amul), discusses the organization's strategies to build a unique reputation with both farmers and consumers. View Details

April 2011
Supplement

Designs by Kate: The Power of Direct Sales, Faculty Spreadsheet (Brief Case)

By: John A. Deighton and Sarah Abbott

Keywords: Direct Sales; Consumer Marketing; Marketing Management; Personal Selling; Sales Compensation; Sales Organization; Marketing Strategy; Sales

December 1998 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Tele-Communications, Inc.: Accelerating Digital Deployment

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

The top management team at Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), the largest U.S. cable company, conceived and implemented a dramatic operational turnaround and a radical new technology strategy over an 18-month period beginning in late 1996. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Value Creation; Operations; Information Management; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States

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September 2014
Case

Landmark Facility Solutions

By: William Fruhan and Wei Wang

Landmark Facility Solutions presents a situation in which a medium-sized facility management company assesses whether to acquire a larger facility management company that is known for its high-quality services and technical expertise. The acquirer believes the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Valuation; Acquisition; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance

April 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

KPMG Peat Marwick U.S.: One Giant Brain

Demonstrates how organizations can move toward creation of processes and information technology infrastructures for effective knowledge management in order to enhance performance and productivity. More specifically, describes the knowledge management strategy of KPMG... View Details

Keywords: Internet; Information Technology; Knowledge Management; Service Industry; Consulting Industry; United States

April 2019
Case

American Ballet Theatre

By: Anita Elberse, Tsubasa Nakajima and Melissa Rodman

Kara Medoff Barnett, executive director of American Ballet Theatre (ABT), widely regarded as one of the world’s premier ballet companies, faces several challenges. It is June 2018. Despite its prestige, the company’s $45 million annual budget and $22 million endowment... View Details

Keywords: Performing Arts; Superstars; Talent; Talent Development; Non-profit; Contracts; Labor Economics; General Management; Arts; Entertainment; Media; Talent and Talent Management; Nonprofit Organizations; Marketing; Strategy

Leila Doumi is a PhD Candidate in the Strategy Unit and an affiliate of the Digital Data and Design (D^3) Institute at Harvard. She conducts research on technology adoption, corporate strategy, and the future of work with a focus... View Details

February 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Anette Mikes

The case, in a non-profit project-oriented setting, introduces fundamental risk management principles and processes that are easily applicable to private sector settings. Gentry Lee, senior systems engineer and de-facto chief risk officer, is applying a new... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Governance; Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Management Systems; Risk Management; Projects; Aerospace Industry; United States

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

27 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Hard Work Isn't Enough: How to Find Your Edge

strategies to give it headwinds and tailwinds,” she says. “That’s when you’re unstoppable.” About the Author Dina Gerdeman is senior writer at Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. HBS Digital Media Producer Amelia Kunhardt produced... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

August 2002 (Revised November 2016)
Background Note

Customer Profitability and Lifetime Value

By: Elie Ofek

Introduces the central concepts involved in determining customer lifetime value, with detailed analysis and examples from the realm of direct marketing. Implications for marketing strategy and customer relationship management are briefly discussed. View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Relationship Management; Customization and Personalization; Product Marketing; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Consumer Products Industry

Recognizing the importance of teaching managers to lead across lines of difference, this article presents a set of interrelated strategies for business educators to navigate topics of diversity and inclusion in the classroom. The authors advocate embedding principles... View Details

2013
Working Paper

The Appeal of the Appropriate: Accounting, Risk Management, and the Competition for the Supply of Control Systems

By: Anette Mikes

How do certain risk measurements in organizations come to be seen as more reliable and acceptable than others? Taking a multiple-control perspective, I investigate the aftermath of a control debacle at a financial services company (MultiBank), focusing on its insurance... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Multiple Control Systems; Interactive Control Systems; Performance Measurement; Risk Measurement; Financialization Of Accounting; Institutional Logics; Banking; Risk Management; Fair Value Accounting; Insurance; Financial Services Industry

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June 2014 (Revised March 2016)
Teaching Note

Starbucks Coffee Company: Transformation and Renewal

By: Nancy F. Koehn

September 2022
Case

ROI vs. ROI: The Grupo Baobá Family Office

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Jiawei Ye and Grace Headinger

Fernando Scodro, a third-generation member of his family, mulled over the next step in integrating an ESG strategy into his family office’s investment portfolio. While his family office, Grupo Baobá, had made excellent progress in incorporating his family’s values into... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; ESG; Green Building; Family; Partnership; Latin America; Brazil; Buildings and Facilities; Green Buildings; Family Business; Family and Family Relationships; Financial Management; Partners and Partnerships; Financial Services Industry; Brazil; Latin America

October 1984
Case

NIKE (F): The Apparel Division

Deals with challenges confronting a new divisional manager of Nike's apparel division, David Chang. The teaching plan would focus on a diagnosis of the division's current strategy and what future strategic moves might be considered. View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Business Divisions; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry