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What Founders Get Wrong about Sales and Marketing

Re: Mark N. Roberge

Which sales candidate is a startup’s ideal first hire? What marketing channels are best to invest in? How aggressively should an executive team align sales with customer success? Senior Lecturer Mark Roberge discusses how early-stage founders, sales leaders, and marketing executives can address these challenges as they grow their ventures in the case, “Entrepreneurial Sales and Marketing Vignettes.”

Tommy Hilfiger’s Adaptive Clothing Line: Making Fashion Inclusive

Re: Elizabeth A. Keenan

In 2017, Tommy Hilfiger launched its adaptive fashion line to provide fashion apparel that aims to make dressing easier. By 2020, it was still a relatively unknown line in the U.S. and the Tommy Hilfiger team was continuing to learn more about how to serve these new customers. Should the team make adaptive clothing available beyond the U.S., or is a global expansion premature? Assistant Professor Elizabeth Keenan discusses the opportunities and challenges that accompanied the introduction of a new product line that effectively serves an entirely new customer while simultaneously starting a movement to provide fashion for all in the case, “Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive: Fashion for All.”

Are Virtual Tours Still Worth It in Real Estate? Evidence from 75,000 Home Sales

by Rachel Layne

Many real estate listings still feature videos and interactive tools that simulate the experience of walking through properties. But do they help homes sell faster? Research by Isamar Troncoso probes the post-pandemic value of virtual home tours.

Voting Democrat or Republican? The Critical Childhood Influence That's Tough to Shake

by Ben Rand

Candidates might fixate on red, blue, or swing states, but the neighborhoods where voters spend their teen years play a key role in shaping their political outlook, says research by Vincent Pons. What do the findings mean for the upcoming US elections?

Cold Call: Building a More Equitable Culture at Delta Air Lines

Re: Linda A. Hill

In December 2020 Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian and his leadership team were reviewing the decision to join the OneTen coalition, where he and 36 other CEOs committed to recruiting, hiring, training, and advancing one million Black Americans over the next ten years into family-sustaining jobs. But, how do you ensure everyone has equal access to opportunity within an organization? Professor Linda Hill discusses Delta’s decision and its progress in embedding a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion in her case, “OneTen at Delta Air Lines: Catalyzing Family-Sustaining Careers for Black Talent.”

The Beauty Industry: Products for a Healthy Glow or a Compact for Harm?

by Geoffrey Jones

Many cosmetics and skincare companies present an image of social consciousness and transformative potential, while profiting from insecurity and excluding broad swaths of people. Geoffrey Jones examines the unsightly reality of the beauty industry.

How the United States Air Force Accelerated AI Adoption

Re: Maria P. Roche

In August 2022, the Pentagon tasked U.S. Air Force Captain Victor Lopez with launching a new Air Force innovation unit that leveraged commercial developers and military talent to acquire advanced technologies. Having been granted flexibility in the setup of the office, Lopez pondered the complexities of his assignment and the decisions around organizational design he would have to make. It’s often believed that only small start-up organizations can innovate, but a lot of innovation happens in big organizations, including government. Harvard Business School assistant professor Maria Roche is joined by Major Lopez to discuss the challenges of digital transformation in a large bureaucratic organization and the specific choices the U.S. Air Force needed to make when launching its AI Accelerator in her case, "Accelerating AI Adoption in the United States Air Force."

Advancing Black Talent: From the Flight Ramp to 'Family-Sustaining' Careers at Delta

by Lane Lambert

By emphasizing skills and expanding professional development opportunities, the airline is making strides toward recruiting and advancing Black employees. Case studies by Linda Hill offer an inside look at how Delta CEO Ed Bastian is creating a more equitable company and a stronger talent pipeline.

Scaling Two Businesses Against the Odds: Wendy Estrella’s Founder’s Journey

Re: Jeffrey J. Bussgang

Entrepreneur Wendy Estrella is attempting to simultaneously scale her law practice, as well as her property management and development company. What strategy will benefit both businesses, and is there a downside to scaling them together, rather than focusing on each one separately? Harvard Business School senior lecturer Jeffrey Bussgang and Estrella discuss her unique founder’s journey – from immigrating to the U.S. to building both of her businesses in Lawrence, Massachusetts despite the specific challenges she faced as a minority entrepreneur. The related case is “Wendy Estrella: Scaling Multiple Businesses.”

In Empowering Black Voters, Did a Landmark Law Stir White Angst?

by Rachel Layne

The Voting Rights Act dramatically increased Black participation in US elections—until worried white Americans mobilized in response. Research by Marco Tabellini illustrates the power of a political backlash.

Working Moms Are Mostly Thriving Again. Can We Finally Achieve Gender Parity?

by Kara Baskin

The pandemic didn't destroy the workplace advancements moms had achieved. However, not all of the positive changes forced by the crisis and remote work have stuck, says research by Kathleen McGinn and Alexandra Feldberg.

Can Remote Surgeries Digitally Transform Operating Rooms?

Re: Ariel D. Stern

Launched in 2016, Proximie was a platform that enabled clinicians, proctors, and medical device company personnel to be virtually present in operating rooms, where they would use mixed reality and digital audio and visual tools to communicate with, mentor, assist, and observe those performing medical procedures. The goal was to improve patient outcomes. The company had grown quickly, and its technology had been used in tens of thousands of procedures in more than 50 countries and 500 hospitals. It had raised close to $50 million in equity financing and was now entering strategic partnerships to broaden its reach. Nadine Hachach-Haram, founder and CEO of Proximie, aspired for Proximie to become a platform that powered every operating room in the world, but she had to carefully consider the company’s partnership and data strategies in order to scale. What approach would position the company best for the next stage of growth? Harvard Business School associate professor Ariel Stern discusses creating value in health care through a digital transformation of operating rooms in her case, “Proximie: Using XR Technology to Create Borderless Operating Rooms.”

Ryan Serhant: How to Manage Your Time for Happiness

Re: Ashley V. Whillans & Gerardine  Doyle

Real estate entrepreneur, television star, husband, and father Ryan Serhant is incredibly busy and successful. He starts his days at 4:00 am and often doesn’t end them until 11:00 pm. But, it wasn’t always like that. In 2020, just a few months after the US began to shut down in order to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus, Serhant had time to reflect on his career as a real estate broker in New York City, wondering if the period of selling real estate at record highs was over. He considered whether he should stay at his current real estate brokerage or launch his own brokerage during a pandemic? Each option had very different implications for his time and flexibility. Professor Ashley Whillans and her co-author Hawken Lord (MBA 2023) discuss Serhant’s time management techniques and consider the lessons we can all learn about making time our most valuable commodity in the case, “Ryan Serhant: Time Management for Repeatable Success.”

Part-Time Employees Want More Hours. Can Companies Tap This ‘Hidden’ Talent Pool?

by Kara Baskin

Businesses need more staff and employees need more work, so what's standing in the way? A report by Joseph Fuller and colleagues shows how algorithms and inflexibility prevent companies from accessing valuable talent in a long-term shortage.

Will Global Demand for Oil Peak This Decade?

by Alvin Powell, Harvard Gazette

The International Energy Agency expects the world's oil demand to start to ebb in the coming years. However, Joseph Lassiter and Lauren Cohen say the outlook will likely be more complex, especially as poor and fast-growing regions seek energy sources for their economies.

Money Isn’t Everything: The Dos and Don’ts of Motivating Employees

by Avery Forman

Dangling bonuses to checked-out employees might only be a Band-Aid solution. Brian Hall shares four research-based incentive strategies—and three perils to avoid—for leaders trying to engage the post-pandemic workforce.

Want to Leave a Lasting Impression on Customers? Don't Forget the (Proverbial) Fireworks

by Michael Blanding

Some of the most successful customer experiences end with a bang. Julian De Freitas provides three tips to help businesses invest in the kind of memorable moments that will keep customers coming back.

Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover: Lessons in Strategic Change

Re: Andy Wu

In late October 2022, Elon Musk officially took Twitter private and became the company’s majority shareholder, finally ending a months-long acquisition saga. He appointed himself CEO and brought in his own team to clean house. Musk needed to take decisive steps to succeed against the major opposition to his leadership from both inside and outside the company. Twitter employees circulated an open letter protesting expected layoffs, advertising agencies advised their clients to pause spending on Twitter, and EU officials considered a broader Twitter ban. What short-term actions should Musk take to stabilize the situation, and how should he approach long-term strategy to turn around Twitter? Harvard Business School assistant professor Andy Wu and co-author Goran Calic, associate professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business, discuss Twitter as a microcosm for the future of media and information in their case, “Twitter Turnaround and Elon Musk.”

Four Steps to Building the Psychological Safety That High-Performing Teams Need Today

by Kara Baskin

Struggling to spark strategic risk-taking and creative thinking? In the post-pandemic workplace, teams need psychological safety more than ever, and a new analysis by Amy Edmondson highlights the best ways to nurture it.

The Opioid Crisis, CEO Pay, and Shareholder Activism

Re: Suraj Srinivasan

In 2020, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, a Fortune 50 company in the drug distribution industry, agreed to settle thousands of lawsuits filed nationwide against the company for its opioid distribution practices, which critics alleged had contributed to the opioid crisis in the US. The $6.6 billion global settlement caused a net loss larger than the cumulative net income earned during the tenure of the company’s CEO, which began in 2011. In addition, AmerisourceBergen’s legal and financial troubles were accompanied by shareholder demands aimed at driving corporate governance changes in companies in the opioid supply chain. Determined to hold the company’s leadership accountable, the shareholders launched a campaign in early 2021 to reject the pay packages of executives. Should the board reduce the executives’ pay, as of means of improving accountability? Or does punishing the AmerisourceBergen executives for paying the settlement ignore the larger issue of a business’s responsibility to society? Harvard Business School professor Suraj Srinivasan discusses executive compensation and shareholder activism in the context of the US opioid crisis in his case, “The Opioid Settlement and Controversy Over CEO Pay at AmerisourceBergen.”