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Skip to Main Content Cold Call A podcast featuring faculty discussing cases they've written and the lessons they impart. Subscribe on iTunes 29 Sep...
- September 2020
- Case
Uber at a Crossroads (2017)
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman
This case describes the history of Uber, its business model—including the ways it differed from that of the traditional taxi industry—and its competition with Lyft. The case is set in 2017, a year in which Uber was plagued by even more scandals than usual, though its...
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Keywords:
Business Startups;
Business Model;
Customer Satisfaction;
Fairness;
Values and Beliefs;
Price;
Profit;
Revenue;
Investment;
Government Legislation;
Business History;
Compensation and Benefits;
Resignation and Termination;
Employment;
Wages;
Lawfulness;
Leadership Style;
Leading Change;
Management Style;
Market Entry and Exit;
Two-Sided Platforms;
Product Design;
Organizational Culture;
Problems and Challenges;
Attitudes;
Strategy;
Competitive Strategy;
Expansion;
Transportation Networks;
Mobile Technology;
Technology Platform;
Valuation;
Transportation Industry;
Technology Industry;
United States
- June 2020 (Revised October 2020)
- Case
What Went Wrong with Boeing's 737 Max?
By: William W. George and Amram Migdal
This case describes the development of the Boeing 737 Max airplane model and the events leading up to two tragic plane crashes, in which a total of 346 people died: the crash of Lion Air flight 610 on October 29, 2018, in Indonesia, and the crash of Ethiopian Airlines...
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Keywords:
Communication;
Communication Intention and Meaning;
Communication Strategy;
Forms of Communication;
Announcements;
Decision Making;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Judgments;
Ethics;
Moral Sensibility;
Values and Beliefs;
Globalization;
Global Strategy;
Governance;
Corporate Accountability;
Governance Controls;
Human Resources;
Resignation and Termination;
Leadership;
Leadership Style;
Management;
Business or Company Management;
Crisis Management;
Management Practices and Processes;
Management Skills;
Management Style;
Management Systems;
Risk Management;
Time Management;
Markets;
Demand and Consumers;
Market Platforms;
Supply and Industry;
Duopoly and Oligopoly;
Industry Structures;
Operations;
Product Development;
Organizations;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Organizational Culture;
Outcome or Result;
Failure;
Success;
Planning;
Strategic Planning;
Problems and Challenges;
Relationships;
Business and Community Relations;
Business and Government Relations;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Safety;
Strategy;
Transportation;
Air Transportation;
Aerospace Industry;
Air Transportation Industry;
Africa;
Ethiopia;
Asia;
Indonesia;
North and Central America;
United States;
Seattle;
Chicago
- March 2020 (Revised August 2020)
- Case
Culture at Google
By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Amy Klopfenstein and Sarah Mehta
Beginning in 2017, technology (tech) company Google faced a series of employee-relations issues that threatened its unique culture of innovation and open communication. Issues included protests surrounding Google’s contracts with the U.S. government, restrictions of...
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Keywords:
Human Resources;
Employee Relationship Management;
Recruitment;
Retention;
Resignation and Termination;
Labor;
Working Conditions;
Employment;
Labor Unions;
Wages;
Law;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Rights;
Ethics;
Values and Beliefs;
Fairness;
Organizations;
Organizational Culture;
Mission and Purpose;
Social Psychology;
Attitudes;
Behavior;
Conflict Management;
Trust;
Motivation and Incentives;
Prejudice and Bias;
Power and Influence;
Technology;
Search Technology;
Web;
Hardware;
Society;
Social Issues;
Culture;
Civil Society or Community;
Demographics;
Diversity;
Ethnicity;
Gender;
Race;
Technology Industry;
North and Central America;
United States;
California
- September 2019
- Exercise
Difficult Conversations (A)
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai
The exercises can be used as a follow-up to the Yesware (A) case (#816-039), or in conjunction with any case that involves replacing a founding team member (and/or providing feedback to a top executive). This is a role-playing exercise, and has been carried out in the...
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- September 2019
- Exercise
Difficult Conversations (B)
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai
The exercises can be used as a follow-up to the Yesware (A) case (#816-039), or in conjunction with any case that involves replacing a founding team member (and/or providing feedback to a top executive). This is a role-playing exercise, and has been carried out in the...
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- December 2018
- Article
Ideological Misfit? Political Affiliation and Employee Departure in the Private-Equity Industry
By: Y. Sekou Bermiss and Rory McDonald
Though organizations are increasingly active participants in the political realm, little research has investigated how an organization’s heightened focus on political ideology impacts employees. We address this gap by exploring how an individual’s political ideological...
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- October 2018 (Revised March 2019)
- Background Note
Note on Managing Workforce Reductions
By: Ethan Bernstein and Carin-Isabel Knoop
Each individual who enters an organization will, at some point, leave. And yet most future leaders spend significantly more effort learning about recruiting than departures, despite the sensitivity and challenges associated with the latter. This note is intended to...
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- November 2017
- Teaching Note
Amazon.com, 2016
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402.
On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and...
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Keywords:
Strategic Analysis;
Retail;
E-commerce;
Amazon;
Amazon.com;
Amazonfresh;
Jeff Bezos;
Cloud Computing;
Marketplaces;
Streaming;
E-reader Market;
Digital Media;
Mobile App;
Online Retail;
Shipping;
Database;
Tablet;
Kindle;
Kindle Fire;
Smartphone;
Delivery;
Market Platforms;
Two-Sided Platforms;
Competition;
Internet;
Corporate Strategy;
Online Advertising;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Business Model;
Business Organization;
For-Profit Firms;
Film Entertainment;
Games, Gaming, and Gambling;
Music Entertainment;
Television Entertainment;
Profit;
Revenue;
Global Strategy;
Multinational Firms and Management;
Taxation;
Business History;
Human Resources;
Resignation and Termination;
Books;
Human Capital;
Working Conditions;
Business or Company Management;
Goals and Objectives;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Growth Management;
Management Practices and Processes;
Industry Growth;
Industry Structures;
Media;
Distribution;
Distribution Channels;
Order Taking and Fulfillment;
Infrastructure;
Logistics;
Product Development;
Supply Chain;
Supply Chain Management;
Organizational Culture;
Public Ownership;
Work-Life Balance;
Problems and Challenges;
Labor and Management Relations;
Strategy;
Adaptation;
Business Strategy;
Competitive Strategy;
Diversification;
Expansion;
Integration;
Horizontal Integration;
Vertical Integration;
Hardware;
Information Technology;
Mobile Technology;
Online Technology;
Technology Networks;
Technology Platform;
Web;
Web Sites;
Price;
Software;
Marketing;
Marketing Strategy;
Working Capital;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Customer Value and Value Chain;
Retail Industry;
Advertising Industry;
Distribution Industry;
Electronics Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Information Technology Industry;
Manufacturing Industry;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry;
Music Industry;
Publishing Industry;
Shipping Industry;
Technology Industry;
Video Game Industry;
Web Services Industry;
United States;
Washington (state, US);
Seattle
- September 2017 (Revised March 2018)
- Case
Chai Point: Disrupting Chai
By: Shikhar Ghosh, Ramana Nanda and Rachna Tahilyani
Chai Point is India’s largest organized chai retailer. It has missed its target for retail store openings by approximately 25%, goals that are very important to its investors who are also board members. However, it has developed an exciting new internet-based tea...
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Keywords:
Strategy;
Venture Capital;
Stock;
Business Model;
Technological Innovation;
Marketing;
Marketing Strategy;
Internet;
Mobile Technology;
Food;
Selection and Staffing;
Employee Stock Ownership Plan;
Resignation and Termination;
Compensation and Benefits;
Resource Allocation;
Product Positioning;
Distribution Channels;
Product Design;
Supply Chain;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Retail Industry;
Asia;
India;
Karnataka;
Bangalore
- June 2017
- Case
Sales Misconduct at Wells Fargo Community Bank
Set in early 2017, this case examines widespread sales misconduct at Wells Fargo Community Bank. Wells Fargo's governance and controls are described in the lead up to the September 2016 announcement that Wells Fargo had settled with regulators for $185 million in...
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Keywords:
Corporate Governance;
Governance Controls;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Executive Compensation;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Crisis Management;
Mission and Purpose;
Organizational Design;
Business and Community Relations;
Business and Government Relations;
Crime and Corruption;
Business Organization;
Business Model;
Ethics;
Corporate Accountability;
Governance Compliance;
Policy;
Compensation and Benefits;
Resignation and Termination;
Laws and Statutes;
Legal Liability;
Business or Company Management;
Risk Management;
Business Processes;
Organizational Culture;
Organizational Structure;
Failure;
Agency Theory;
Business and Shareholder Relations;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Salesforce Management;
Public Opinion;
Banking Industry;
North and Central America
- October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
- Supplement
Bally Total Fitness (B): The Fall, 2005–2016
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness clubs to 24 Hour Fitness in 2014 and disappeared from the industry top 100 rankings. After Bally was bedeviled by accounting...
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Keywords:
Bally Total Fitness;
Accounting;
Accounting Audits;
Accrual Accounting;
Business Earnings;
Revenue Recognition;
Financial Statements;
Acquisition;
Business Exit or Shutdown;
For-Profit Firms;
Crime and Corruption;
Borrowing and Debt;
Capital;
Capital Structure;
Cash;
Cash Flow;
Public Equity;
Financial Condition;
Insolvency and Bankruptcy;
Financing and Loans;
Investment Activism;
Profit;
Revenue;
Geographic Scope;
Business History;
Executive Compensation;
Resignation and Termination;
Annual Reports;
Contracts;
Lawsuits and Litigation;
Business or Company Management;
Marketing;
Market Entry and Exit;
Private Ownership;
Public Ownership;
Problems and Challenges;
Strategy;
Business Strategy;
Competition;
Corporate Strategy;
Health Industry;
Accounting Industry;
United States;
Illinois;
Chicago
- Article
Making Exit Interviews Count
By: Everett Spain and Boris Groysberg
In the knowledge economy, skilled employees are the assets that drive organizational success. Thus companies must learn from them—why they stay, why they leave, and how the organization needs to change. A thoughtful exit interview—whether it be a face-to-face...
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- August 2015 (Revised October 2015)
- Case
Clover Food Lab: Building Out the Team
By: Shikhar Ghosh, Christopher Payton and Ali Huberlie
- August 2015 (Revised March 2021)
- Case
Amazon.com, 2021
By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin
In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all...
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Keywords:
Strategic Analysis;
Retail;
E-commerce;
Amazon;
Amazon.com;
Amazonfresh;
Jeff Bezos;
Cloud Computing;
Marketplaces;
Streaming;
E-reader Market;
Digital Media;
Mobile App;
Online Retail;
Shipping;
Database;
Tablet;
Kindle;
Kindle Fire;
Smartphone;
Delivery;
Market Platforms;
Two-Sided Platforms;
Competition;
Internet;
Corporate Strategy;
Online Advertising;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Business Model;
Business Organization;
For-Profit Firms;
Film Entertainment;
Games, Gaming, and Gambling;
Music Entertainment;
Television Entertainment;
Profit;
Revenue;
Global Strategy;
Multinational Firms and Management;
Taxation;
Business History;
Human Resources;
Resignation and Termination;
Books;
Human Capital;
Working Conditions;
Business or Company Management;
Goals and Objectives;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Growth Management;
Management Practices and Processes;
Industry Growth;
Industry Structures;
Media;
Distribution;
Distribution Channels;
Order Taking and Fulfillment;
Infrastructure;
Logistics;
Product Development;
Supply Chain;
Supply Chain Management;
Organizational Culture;
Public Ownership;
Work-Life Balance;
Problems and Challenges;
Labor and Management Relations;
Strategy;
Adaptation;
Business Strategy;
Competitive Strategy;
Diversification;
Expansion;
Integration;
Horizontal Integration;
Vertical Integration;
Hardware;
Information Technology;
Mobile Technology;
Online Technology;
Technology Networks;
Technology Platform;
Web;
Web Sites;
Price;
Software;
Marketing;
Marketing Strategy;
Working Capital;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Customer Value and Value Chain;
Retail Industry;
Advertising Industry;
Distribution Industry;
Electronics Industry;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Information Technology Industry;
Manufacturing Industry;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry;
Music Industry;
Publishing Industry;
Shipping Industry;
Technology Industry;
Video Game Industry;
Web Services Industry;
United States;
Washington (state, US);
Seattle
- February 2014
- Article
Governance and CEO Turnover: Do Something or Do the Right Thing?
By: Ray Fisman, Rakesh Khurana, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Soojin Yim
We study how corporate governance affects firm value through the decision of whether to fire or retain the CEO. We present a model in which weak governance—which prevents shareholders from controlling the board—protects inferior CEOs from dismissal, while at the same...
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- June 2013
- Case
Ron Ventura at Mitchell Memorial Hospital
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Heide Abelli
Mitchell Memorial Hospital is a 750-bed regional academic medical center in Ohio. Andy Prescott, Chief of the Cardiovascular Center, is reviewing the performance evaluations of his star vascular surgeon Ron Ventura. The evaluations, the result of a 360-degree...
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- March 2013 (Revised July 2014)
- Case
Bay Partners (A)
By: Josh Lerner and Lauren Barley
In April 2010, Salil Deshpande has recently resigned from Palo Alto, California-based Bay Partners (Bay) where he had been a general partner. Although Deshpande had built a successful track record at the venture firm, he resigned with two other Bay general partners as...
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- January 2013 (Revised March 2017)
- Case
CloudFlare, Inc.: Running Hot?
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alex Godden
In July 2012, the cofounders of CloudFlare, a Silicon Valley startup that protects websites and accelerates their traffic, are considering the implications of five employees' resignations over the prior three months. Was this natural attrition for a high-tech venture...
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Keywords:
Management Practices and Processes;
Employee Relationship Management;
Organizational Structure;
Organizational Culture;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Growth Management;
Web Sites;
Entrepreneurship;
Resignation and Termination;
Business Startups;
Information Technology Industry;
Web Services Industry;
California
- October 2012
- Case
Global Diversity and Inclusion at Royal Dutch Shell (A)
By: Sandra J. Sucher and Elena Corsi
Royal Dutch Shell has been among the early players to implement diversity and inclusion policies in the 1990s, first in the U.S. and then globally. In May 2009, Peter Voser, CFO and soon-to-be CEO, wants to adjust the company's business, headcount, and cost levels to...
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- August 2012
- Supplement
William Jeffrey: Departing Bay Colony (C)
By: Lena G. Goldberg
The decision-making process, policies and procedures, and legal obligations of the Board, the company's inside counsel and the company's outside counsel are explored in connection with on-boarding, investigating alleged misconduct of, and terminating a company's CEO,...
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