-
Strategies for Learning from Failure
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleMany executives believe that all failure is bad (although it usually provides lessons)-and that learning from it is pretty straightforward. The author,... -
Kodak’s Downfall Wasn’t About Technology
Disruptive innovation Digital ArticleWhat it missed was the business model. -
Why Start-ups Fail
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleIf you're launching a business, the odds are against you: Two-thirds of start-ups never show a positive return. Unnerved by that statistic, a professor... -
Upside of Falling Flat
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleThe failed McDonald's hotel project is a good example of a "real option"--a set investment for an uncertain but potentially high return--and shows that... -
A Study of More Than 250 Platforms Reveals Why Most Fail, Chinese Version
Communication Digital ArticleIt's hard to succeed if you don't earn users' trust. -
The Overvaluation Trap
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleIn 2007, Chuck Prince, then the CEO of Citigroup, made a notorious comment about the subprime mortgage market: "As long as the music's playing, you've... -
Why So Many High-Profile Digital Transformations Fail
Business models Digital ArticleThe graveyard includes GE, Ford, Burberry, Nike, Lego, and P&G. -
Finding Your Company's Second Act
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleAccelerating technological improvements have changed the speed with which new innovations penetrate markets. Graphed over time, the market adoption of... -
The Case for Investing in Underdogs
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleDon't undervalue the overlooked. -
Startups Need Relationships Before They Ask for Money
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleIt's a better long-term strategy. -
Selection Bias and the Perils of Benchmarking
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleTo find the secrets of business success, what could be more natural than studying successful businesses? In fact, nothing could be more dangerous, warns... -
What Every CEO Should Know About Creating New Businesses
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleA Harvard Business School professor distills decades of research into the 10 most important insights that should guide every corporate venturer. -
Why Leaders Struggle Today
Joseph L. Badaracco, professor at Harvard Business School, describes responsible leadership as a good struggle. -
The Positive Power of Failure
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleThis post is part of HBR's special issue on failure. This post was written with Mark Sebell and Jay Terwilliger, managing partners at Creative Realities,... -
The Scary Truth About Corporate Survival
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleNew research shows that companies really are failing faster than they used to: In particular, digital companies are far more vulnerable to quick imitation... -
Why Haven Healthcare Failed
Business and society Digital ArticleDespite being backed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase, the company is disbanding less than three years after its launch. -
Use Failure as an Opportunity to Reflect on Your Strengths
Difficult conversations Digital ArticleRejection hurts — but it isn’t the end. -
Why Hard-Nosed Executives Should Care About Management Theory
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleTheory often gets a bum rap among managers because it's associated with the word "theoretical," which connotes "impractical." But it shouldn't. Because... -
The Worst Failure of All Is Wasting a Failure
Innovation & Leadership Digital ArticleThis blog is co-authored with Jay F. Terwilliger (jay@creativerealities.com) and Mark H. Sebell (mark@creativerealities.com), who are managing partners... -
One Reason Mergers Fail: The Two Cultures Aren't Compatible
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleWhen tight and loose cultures merge, they often clash.
-
Dating Ring
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details In 2015, the co-founders of Dating Ring, an online dating startup that relied on human matchmakers to arrange dates between its members, were deciding... -
Into the Raging Sea: Final Voyage of the SS El Faro
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95View Details Captain Michael Davidson of the container ship SS El Faro was determined to make his planned shipping trip on time-but a hurricane was approaching his... -
Deepa Bachu (B): Insights and Experiments at Pensaar Design
Management Case Study5.00View Details In this case, set in June 2019 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Deepa Bachu of Pensaar Design and her team work with client ITC Ltd. to use design thinking... -
W.R. Grace & Co: Dealing with Asbestos Torts
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details A manufacturer of building products and specialty chemicals, W. R. Grace & Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 in response to a flood of lawsuits... -
The Sinking of Swiber: 'Cause No Harm'?
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details On 27 July 2016, Swiber Holdings Limited, a Singapore Exchange-listed provider of offshore engineering, procurement, installation and construction services... -
Aptera: The First Time Around (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details Aptera is on its second life. It originally began as a VC-backed electric car company in the 1990s. But that first life ended badly, as the company could... -
Katerra (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details In April 2020, Katerra executives struggled with a series of decisions that would determine the fate of one of the best-funded construction startups in... -
Ron Johnson: A Career in Retail, Chinese Version
Sales & Marketing Case Study15.05View Details In April 2013, Ron Johnson (HBS '84) stepped down after just 18 months as CEO of J.C. Penney. In his brief tenure, Johnson, an acclaimed retailer respected... -
Anthony Soohoo at Dot & Bo: Bringing Storytelling to Furniture E-Commerce
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details An examination of the first few years of San Franciso-based, fast-growing furniture and home accessory e-commerce startup, Dot & Bo. -
Deloitte & Touche (A): A Hole in the Pipeline, Spanish Version
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details Deloitte & Touche was losing talented women, and CEO Mike Cook wanted to stop the loss, especially as the accounting and consulting fields became more... -
Restructuring JAL
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details Hideo Seto, the recently appointed chairman of the investment committee of the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation, must decide whether to push... -
Walmart Goes Global (A)
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details -
Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (A)
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95View Details This case covers the rise and fall of Theranos, the company founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2004 to revolutionize the blood testing industry by creating... -
Managing a Public Image: Rob Thomas, Japanese Version
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details Rob Thomas describes some of the challenges he has faced as a white, middle-aged man who is managing director of a mid-size consulting firm where he is... -
Breaking Bad (the Rules): Argentina Defaults, Inflates (and Grows), 1997-2015
Global Business Case Study8.95View Details In late October 2011, after losing 1 billion of dollar reserves in one month, the Argentine government began imposing a series of currency controls, limiting... -
Quibi: The Failure of Hollywood's "Next Big Thing"
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details Following its official launch on April 6, 2020, Quibi, a mobile-only short-form video streaming platform that had raised over $1.7 billion had failed... -
Baroo (B)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study5.00View Details Baroo CEO Lindsay Hyde must secure venture capital funding if she wants to save her pet services startup. If she is unable to finance a series A, she... -
Fabricato: The phoenix of Colombian textile industry, Spanish Version
Finance & Accounting Case Study8.95View Details In March 2013, Alberto Silva, president of the newly appointed Board of Directors of Fabricato, one of Colombia's oldest textile companies, met with representatives... -
Bankruptcy in the City of Detroit
Organizational Development Case Study8.95View Details The June 2013 bankruptcy of the city of Detroit, Michigan was, at the time, the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Detroit had struggled... -
Ransomware Attack at Springhill Medical Center, Spanish Version
Management Case Study15.05View Details In July, 2019, Springhill Medical Center ("SMC") in Mobile, Alabama fell prey to a malicious ransomware attack that crippled the hospital's internal network...
-
Strategies for Learning from Failure
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleMany executives believe that all failure is bad (although it usually provides lessons)-and that learning from it is pretty straightforward. The author,... -
Kodak’s Downfall Wasn’t About Technology
Disruptive innovation Digital ArticleWhat it missed was the business model. -
Why Start-ups Fail
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleIf you're launching a business, the odds are against you: Two-thirds of start-ups never show a positive return. Unnerved by that statistic, a professor... -
Dating Ring
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study8.95View Details In 2015, the co-founders of Dating Ring, an online dating startup that relied on human matchmakers to arrange dates between its members, were deciding... -
Into the Raging Sea: Final Voyage of the SS El Faro
Technology & Operations Case Study8.95View Details Captain Michael Davidson of the container ship SS El Faro was determined to make his planned shipping trip on time-but a hurricane was approaching his... -
Deepa Bachu (B): Insights and Experiments at Pensaar Design
Management Case Study5.00View Details In this case, set in June 2019 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Deepa Bachu of Pensaar Design and her team work with client ITC Ltd. to use design thinking... -
Harvard Business Review, December 2016
Organizational Development Magazine Issue16.95View Details Harvard Business Review publishes new and authoritative ideas for improving the practice of management. Written by leading business thinkers and executives,... -
Tuplastibog: Is it Worth Continuing?, Teaching Note
Management Digital ArticleTeaching note for case AN0147. -
How Good Data Leads to Bad Decisions
Leadership & Managing People Other Article4.50View Details Why do many leaders base present decisions on past situations that seem analogous? Because they misremember. Making a decision based on historical precedent... -
Aptera, Teaching Note
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleTeaching Note for Case B5999