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In Praise of Uncertainty
Decision making and problem solving Magazine ArticleThe information technology explosion was set off by visionaries who thrive on uncertainty. Today that innovation-fueling uncertainty is in danger, a victim of its own success and excess. IT producers have historically built platforms that are useless standing alone, inviting others to parlay them into a variety of useful applications. The first PC makers shipped […] -
The Tempting of Rajat Gupta
Business ethics Digital ArticleAs anyone with the slightest interest in the consulting business knows by now, the SEC has brought civil charges against Rajat Gupta in the Galleon insider-trading case. What makes the matter fascinating to industry watchers, approximately their equivalent of the Charlie Sheen supernova, is that Gupta served three terms as managing director of McKinsey & […] -
Crap Circles
Analytics and data science Magazine ArticleThe most dubious business plan can look solid—even smart—if it’s cast as a virtuous circle. “See, we invest our profits in innovation to create delightful products that customers buy—which generate profits that we invest in innovation!” Who could argue with that? Indeed, the merit of self-reinforcing systems seems so obvious that businesspeople instinctively describe their […] -
The Strategic Power of Saying No
Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleThe hardest part of being an entrepreneur can be learning to turn down business. It is also the only way to survive—and grow. -
What Makes People Follow Reluctant Leaders
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleA new study finds three traits that help people rise to the top. -
How to Buy/Sell Professional Services
Managing people Magazine ArticleIn recent years, there has been a marked increase in the buying of professional services by management. This is true for a broad range of advisory activities, such as financial, economic, public relations, advertising, legal, personnel, research, and many others. By the same token, there has been a marked growth in the firms selling these […] -
Who Has the D?: How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance
Decision making and problem solving Magazine ArticleYour organization can become more decisive—and can implement strategy more quickly—if you know where the bottlenecks are and who’s empowered to break through them. -
Making Time Off Predictable—and Required
Organizational culture Magazine ArticleProfessional services firms typically have a 24/7 on-call culture. But one management consulting company is getting better results by experimenting with downtime—even in this economy. -
Biogen Unchained
Marketing Magazine ArticleWhen the biotech pioneer had to get a blockbuster drug to market fast, it didn’t lock itself into a rigid supply chain. It joined with partners to become a virtual manufacturer. -
What Writing a Book Taught This Consultant
Business communication Digital ArticleReaders and clients have some things in common. -
What Today's Rainmakers Do Differently
Sales & Marketing Magazine ArticleAs "doer-sellers," professional services partners are responsible for not just delivering services but also the entire business-development process. As... -
Getting Your Team to Buy into a Big Change
Change management Digital ArticleResearchers studied backlash to change at five elite law firms — and how leadership eventually won the skeptics over. -
A Simpler Way to Pay
Boards Magazine ArticleRewarding individual performance is the way of the business world, but there are rare exceptions. At executive search firm Egon Zehnder International, seniority and companywide results determine pay. The company’s founder explains how this unconventional compensation system works—and why. -
A Consultant’s Guide to Difficult Client Feedback
Business communication Digital ArticleGet it right and you win more work; get it wrong and the relationship is over. -
Taking the Bias Out of Bean Counting
Accounting Magazine ArticleProposed changes by the SEC don’t go far enough to guarantee impartial audits by the accounting profession. -
Getting 360-Degree Feedback Right
Motivating people Magazine Article360-degree feedback is all the rage in companies big and small. But it is frequently bureaucratic, politically charged, and agonizing. The good news is that by understanding four paradoxes inherent to peer appraisal, managers can take some of the pain out of the process—and get better results in. -
The Rise of the Supertemp
Career transitions Magazine ArticleThe best executive and professional jobs may no longer be full-time gigs. -
Read a Plant—Fast
Workspaces design Magazine ArticleTo the trained eye, even a quick plant tour can reveal a lot about a company. Here’s how to tell if a factory is truly lean—in as little as 30 minutes. -
Reckoning with the Pension Fund Revolution
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleFifteen years after it was first chronicled, the “unseen revolution” transforming corporate ownership in the United States is now visible to all. The 20 largest pension funds (13 of them funds of state, municipal, or nonprofit employees) hold around one-tenth of the equity capital of America’s publicly owned companies. All told, institutional investors—that is, primarily […] -
Cane Mutiny: Managing a Graying Workforce (HBR Case Study and Commentary)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleFrank Heberer, a human resources manager at Medignostics, has proposed a long-term HR strategy for the German midsize pharmaceutical company. All his...
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Findasense (B): A New Path for Scaling Up
Management Case Study5.00View Details Global digital and omnichannel customer experience company headquartered in Spain with revenues of 17.4 million euros. An ever-expanding company for the... -
Delwarca Software Remote Support Unit
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95View Details Delwarca Software provides business software to large corporate clients around the world. The firm serves customers who prefer to assemble corporate solutions... -
Balancing the Yin and Yang of Organizational Ambidexterity at XRM Vision: Tug-of-war over Exploration-Exploitation Practices
Management Case Study11.95View Details The case presents the real-life situation of XRM Vision, an SME IT consulting firm specializing in the design and implementation of CRM solutions. Like... -
Agilus Work Solutions: Back to the Office?
Management Case Study11.95View Details In April 2022, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Agilus Work Solutions (Agilus) was considering how to handle the future of work at the company. With... -
Customer Relationship Management at Capital One (UK), Condensed
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Capital One, a credit card company, has built its business on a strategy with a clear customer focus: The company systematically gathers and analyses... -
Kids & Company: Entering the U.S.
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In April 2017, Victoria Sopik and Jennifer Nashmi, CEO and CFO (respectively) of Kids & Company, a Canadian childcare provider that they had co-founded... -
Kids & Company in 2018
Strategy & Execution Case Study5.00View Details This case reveals to readers what has transpired at Kids & Company in the year following the decision point presented in Kids & Company: Entering the... -
Trend Micro (A)
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The founder and CEO of Trend Micro is seeking to develop an effective decision-making process for the company's multicultural executive team as part of... -
Garanti Payment Systems: Digital Transformation Strategy (A)
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Işıl Akdemir Evlioğlu, executive vice president of marketing at Garanti Payment Systems (GPS), a subsidiary of Garanti Bank, is grappling with three questions.... -
Proposing to Redesign a Global Investment Bank
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details A major, NYC-based, global investment bank is looking to rethink its Systems strategy amid a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Your firm has served... -
Building a Positive Future for Children with Disabilities through Strategic Partnerships
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The Executive Director (ED) of a not-for-profit that provided family-centered services to children with disabilities was concerned about the organization's... -
Playing With Fire at Sittercity (B)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study5.00View Details To help her finance her aggressive expansion plans, Genevieve Thiers plans to raise venture capital for the first time. She has spent the last six long... -
Rebranding at Oliver Wyman Group
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details In 2007, the individual consulting firms loosely held under the name Mercer Specialty Consulting came together more closely to form the $1.5 billion strategy... -
AccelleWell: Surviving a Toxic CEO
Management Case Study11.95View Details By September 2022, Elizabeth Hooper had been working for 100 days as chief human resources officer at AccelleWell, a contract development and manufacturing... -
Gray Security: Building a South African Services Firm
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Describes Gray Security Services, an entrepreneurial South African firm that has recently gone through a financial restructuring with the help of Brait... -
Ginzel et al vs. Kolcraft Enterprises et al (A)
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Examines the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of an infant who died after a portable crib collapsed. The manufacturer, Kolcraft, licensed... -
Vignettes on Professional Service Firm Governance
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The two vignettes within "Vignettes on Professional Service Firm Governance" (HBS No. 122-024) present various issues relating to governance in professional... -
Dozier Industries
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Dozier Industries was a U.S. manufacturer of electronic security systems. In 1994, it received a large order from the United Kingdom, which stipulated... -
Simplyk: From Volunteering to Fundraising for NPOs - Part B - Business Model II: Fundraising for NPOs
Management Case Study5.00View Details This two-part case examines the major challenges faced by Simplyk, a start-up with a social mission related to volunteering and the non-profit ecosystem.... -
TexCarp Consulting: Tying Oneself up into Knots?
Management Case Study11.95View Details In May 2022, Rohan Jain, the second-generation entrepreneur of an Indian family-managed carpet design firm, TexCarp Consulting, had to decide whether...
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Findasense (B): A New Path for Scaling Up
Management Case Study5.00View Details Global digital and omnichannel customer experience company headquartered in Spain with revenues of 17.4 million euros. An ever-expanding company for the... -
In Praise of Uncertainty
Decision making and problem solving Magazine ArticleThe information technology explosion was set off by visionaries who thrive on uncertainty. Today that innovation-fueling uncertainty is in danger, a victim of its own success and excess. IT producers have historically built platforms that are useless standing alone, inviting others to parlay them into a variety of useful applications. The first PC makers shipped […] -
The Tempting of Rajat Gupta
Business ethics Digital ArticleAs anyone with the slightest interest in the consulting business knows by now, the SEC has brought civil charges against Rajat Gupta in the Galleon insider-trading case. What makes the matter fascinating to industry watchers, approximately their equivalent of the Charlie Sheen supernova, is that Gupta served three terms as managing director of McKinsey & […] -
Crap Circles
Analytics and data science Magazine ArticleThe most dubious business plan can look solid—even smart—if it’s cast as a virtuous circle. “See, we invest our profits in innovation to create delightful products that customers buy—which generate profits that we invest in innovation!” Who could argue with that? Indeed, the merit of self-reinforcing systems seems so obvious that businesspeople instinctively describe their […] -
The Strategic Power of Saying No
Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleThe hardest part of being an entrepreneur can be learning to turn down business. It is also the only way to survive—and grow. -
Delwarca Software Remote Support Unit
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95View Details Delwarca Software provides business software to large corporate clients around the world. The firm serves customers who prefer to assemble corporate solutions... -
What Makes People Follow Reluctant Leaders
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleA new study finds three traits that help people rise to the top. -
How to Buy/Sell Professional Services
Managing people Magazine ArticleIn recent years, there has been a marked increase in the buying of professional services by management. This is true for a broad range of advisory activities, such as financial, economic, public relations, advertising, legal, personnel, research, and many others. By the same token, there has been a marked growth in the firms selling these […] -
Who Has the D?: How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance
Decision making and problem solving Magazine ArticleYour organization can become more decisive—and can implement strategy more quickly—if you know where the bottlenecks are and who’s empowered to break through them. -
Balancing the Yin and Yang of Organizational Ambidexterity at XRM Vision: Tug-of-war over Exploration-Exploitation Practices
Management Case Study11.95View Details The case presents the real-life situation of XRM Vision, an SME IT consulting firm specializing in the design and implementation of CRM solutions. Like...