個案總覽

This case is set in November 2020. Despite COVID-19, Ray of Hope (ROH), a crowdfunding charity in Singapore had grown crowdfunded donations for their clients (individuals requiring financial assistance) six-fold from S$500,000 (US$400,000) in 2019 to S$3 million (US$2.2 million) in the period April to September 2020, without an increase in headcount. The nationwide circuit breaker - Singapore's version of a lockdown, further hampered the work at ROH as no face-to-face meetings could be held with its clients in the two-month period from 7 April 2020 to 1 June 2020. Tan En, ROH's General Manager, was quick to pivot ROH's strategy from focusing on fundraising campaigns that helped individual clients directly (individual campaigns) to serving as the intermediary that raised and administered public donations for the volunteer groups (group campaigns). What were the reasons why ROH could pivot so quickly?

As the chairman of a publicly traded multinational corporation, it's difficult to contemplate replacing a charismatic, visionary CEO who tripled your organization's revenue, increased its net income sixfold, and grew the company from $30 billion in market capitalization to $300 billion during his 10-year tenure. As a chief executive, it's perhaps even harder to think about how to replace yourself with someone who you believe will do the job better than you could over the next decade. But Mastercard found a way to approach its most recent CEO transition thoughtfully and systematically by sticking to several rules: It cast a wide net, considering more than 40 internal employees and a handful of standout externals. It committed to inclusivity in decision-making, asking the entire board to participate. It insisted on solving for tomorrow's problems, not today's, in clarifying what type of new leader was needed. It focused on developing and retaining all its current and future stars--not just filling the top job. Finally, the authors pledged to keep their minds open and their personal opinions to themselves--while discouraging early preferences and groupthink among the directors--until one final candid and decisive debate.

Agile methodology, created to fast-track software development, is now being used throughout organizations by teams that want to execute projects quickly. But those efforts often don't pan out, say Babson's Rob Cross and Alia Crocker and Harvard Law School's Heidi K. Gardner. Their research reveals that many large agile initiatives not only miss their goals but also cause organizational disruption--including staff burnout, the loss of key talent, and infighting among teams. What's going wrong? With the help of organizational network analysis--a methodology for mapping how people collaborate--the authors have identified where unforeseen barriers undermine agile initiatives. The main problem they found: Traditional practices for executing agile projects are ineffective. Companies err by staffing agile teams only with stars, isolating them from the main business, and dedicating members 100% to teams. In this article, they offer alternative approaches: tapping "hidden stars," who will be less overloaded, for agile initiatives, and then identifying and reaching out to highly connected potential resources who can bring in expertise as needed.

For decades now, venture capitalists have played a crucial role in the economy by financing high-growth start-ups. While the companies they've backed--Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and more--are constantly in the headlines, very little is known about what VCs actually do and how they create value. To pull the curtain back, Paul Gompers of Harvard Business School, Will Gornall of the UBC Sauder School of Business, Steven N. Kaplan of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and Ilya A. Strebulaev of Stanford Business School conducted what is perhaps the most comprehensive survey of VC firms to date. In this article, they share their findings, offering details on how VCs hunt for deals, assess and winnow down opportunities, add value to portfolio companies, structure agreements with founders, and operate their own firms. These insights into VC practices can be helpful to entrepreneurs who want to raise capital, corporate investment arms that want to emulate venture capitalists' success, and policy makers who seek to build entrepreneurial ecosystems in their communities.

Senior leaders, particularly CEOs, confront a central paradox in their work: They generally have access to more lines of communication than anybody else, but the information that flows to them is suspect and compromised. Warning signals are tamped down. Key facts are omitted. Data sets are given a positive spin. All of it isolates leaders in a dangerous information bubble. But they can escape that bubble, the authors argue, by working actively to create a more expansive "listening ecosystem." They first have to learn how to listen actively themselves, without distraction or judgment, purely for comprehension; then they have to create systems and processes all around them that elevate listening to a constant state of hypervigilance. This sort of sustained attention to listening allows leaders to pick up on early signs of both danger and opportunity--and that, in turn, allows them to do their jobs and serve their organizations better. The authors conclude this piece by sharing advice--gleaned from interviews and personal experience--about how leaders can learn to listen better.

Despite the high rate of churn in the labor market today, many companies pay scant attention to offboarding employees. That's a mistake, say the authors, who argue that offboarding is an increasingly vital part of talent management--and an opportunity to create long-term value. Drawing on their scholarly research and interviews with HR professionals, the authors recommend a number of best practices. One is to plan well in advance for employees' departures: Because few people stay at one company for their whole career, it's important to have frank conversations throughout their tenure about their goals and prospects for advancement. When employees do choose to leave or get laid off, managers should acknowledge their contributions, provide resources to support them through the transition, and use exit interviews as an opportunity for mutual learning. Companies should also create formal alumni programs to keep former workers connected to the organization. Together, these offboarding practices can create a cadre of ex-employees who become valuable customers, suppliers, boomerang employees, mentors to current workers, and ambassadors for the firm.

During economic slowdowns, consulting, law, and accounting firms often start offering services and taking on clients they really shouldn't, just to keep the lights on. This path is perilous. If a firm's practices have a diffuse mix of clients and unclear strategic positioning, it will weaken the firm's market profile and lead to internal conflicts, especially about the organization's future direction. This article presents two tools that professional service firms can use to manage their client mix and optimize their strategic position. The first is the practice spectrum. All practices fall on a continuum of sophistication that ranges from "commodity" to "rocket science." Any position on this spectrum can be profitable, though the forces driving profits change as you move along it--as do the capabilities and skills required. Successful practices understand their true position on the spectrum and know which performance levers to pull. The second tool is the client portfolio matrix, which separates clients into four categories on the basis of cost to serve and willingness to pay. Rather than spreading clients across all four, firms should target their acquisition efforts and follow different relationship strategies for each type of client.

The pandemic has placed a new spotlight on working conditions in factories that supply global companies. To avert problems, firms often impose codes of conduct on their suppliers and perform audits to assess compliance. Do these measures help identify unethical suppliers and lead to improvements? After an unsatisfactory audit, what are the chances the supplier will remedy matters? To answer these questions, the authors studied code-of-conduct audits of thousands of factories around the world. They found that suppliers are more likely to improve conditions if they do one or more of five things: certify compliance with management system standards, adopt lean management, use union workers, avoid piece-rate pay, and serve once-tarnished buyers. The research also identified monitoring methods that can boost the odds of improvement and uncovered several factors that result in more-accurate audit reports. Managing working conditions in global supply chains is an ongoing challenge. The authors' findings can empower managers to better predict which factories are likely to improve working conditions and to design monitoring programs that will foster improvement and accurately track performance.

The natural experiment forced on the world by the coronavirus demonstrates that the academics and tech visionaries who have been talking since the 1980s about the possibilities of remote work were not exaggerating. After months of working remotely, we have all learned that most tasks are accomplished and most meetings go just fine without the office. But that, the authors warn, doesn't mean companies should suddenly abandon their workplaces. Going to the office, they argue, has never been just about work. And technology won't make socializing less dependent on direct interpersonal contact anytime soon. In this article they describe the important social functions of an office: It's where people build trust through personal interaction, learn the nuances of their job, and build and maintain organizational culture. And it's through random in-person encounters between people from different functions and cultures that many of the most innovative business ideas are born. The authors conclude by showing how design, technology, and management practices can be used to make tomorrow's offices more effective as social, learning, and innovation spaces.

Climate change is a pressing concern for Bill Gates, who has just published a new book on the subject. He spoke with HBR's editor-in-chief about the need to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050--and the difficulty of that undertaking. It will require new government policies, changes in corporate and individual behavior, and, above all, more R&D funding and innovation to create cleaner technologies and green products. Gates is optimistic that we can succeed but clear-eyed about what lies ahead if we don't: rising temperatures, the disappearance of ecosystems, disastrous crop failures, economic pain, and massive loss of life.

We live in an age of polarization. Many of us may be asking ourselves how, when people disagree with or discount us, we can persuade them to rethink their positions. The author, an organizational psychologist, has spent time with a number of people who succeeded in motivating the notoriously self-confident Steve Jobs to change his mind and has analyzed the science behind their techniques. Some leaders are so sure of themselves that they reject good opinions and ideas from others and refuse to abandon their own bad ones. But, he writes, "it is possible to get even the most overconfident, stubborn, narcissistic, and disagreeable people to open their minds." He offers some approaches that can help you encourage a know-it-all to recognize when there's something to be learned, a stubborn colleague to make a U-turn, a narcissist to show humility, and a disagreeable boss to agree with you.

In this fictional case, a customer experience manager is torn between loyalty to her family and to her employer after she gets inside information from her cousin suggesting that one of the company's suppliers might not be able to make good on its contractual obligations. If she shares what she's learned with her manager, her company might elect not to renew its contract with the supplier. But passing along the information would mean betraying a promise to her cousin and might put her cousin's job at risk. This fictional case study by Joseph L. Badaracco features expert commentary by Stacey Peck and Mita Mallick.

Remote working seems like it's here to stay, even after the pandemic ends. Employees enjoy the flexibility, and research shows that they can be more productive. But what do we lose when we never see our coworkers in person? The author explores several new books on the topic.

The contemporary artist on how he went from being a lonely, unpopular geek to commercial success and critical acclaim.

In this fictional case, a customer experience manager is torn between loyalty to her family and to her employer after she gets inside information from her cousin suggesting that one of the company's suppliers might not be able to make good on its contractual obligations. If she shares what she's learned with her manager, her company might elect not to renew its contract with the supplier. But passing along the information would mean betraying a promise to her cousin and might put her cousin's job at risk. This fictional case study by Joseph L. Badaracco features expert commentary by Stacey Peck and Mita Mallick.

In this fictional case, a customer experience manager is torn between loyalty to her family and to her employer after she gets inside information from her cousin suggesting that one of the company's suppliers might not be able to make good on its contractual obligations. If she shares what she's learned with her manager, her company might elect not to renew its contract with the supplier. But passing along the information would mean betraying a promise to her cousin and might put her cousin's job at risk. This fictional case study by Joseph L. Badaracco features expert commentary by Stacey Peck and Mita Mallick.

Since the young age of 15, Andre Giraud, the owner-chef of Lux, a 1 Michelin-star French restaurant located in Hong Kong, had devoted his life to cooking. After 17 years of working for top chefs in Europe, he decided that it was time to bring his talent to Asia. Andre and his wife decided to invest their life savings to open Lux, a 35-seater at the heart of Hong Kong's central business district. Having never been involved in the business side of running a restaurant, Andre needed his business partner Brandon to evaluate and manage the restaurant's finance, marketing and operations. In 2017, Lux was awarded 2 Michelin stars. However, the following year, it suffered a demotion, resulting in a massive drop in restaurant reservations that left him with only three months of runway. Andre contemplated closing the doors to his restaurant, as he had no idea about what needed to be improved. However, the local food guides and his social media feeds seemed to indicate he was doing great things in the kitchen. He suffered from depression as a result of the unexplainable loss of the Michelin star, and decided to reach out to Pierre E., a long-time friend and a former Michelin inspector, to find out more about the criteria the guide adopts in reviewing an establishment.

Susan, a first-year analyst at a trading firm, is the only woman among a tight-knit group of 30 analysts, now that Paulette has just been promoted to associate from third-year analyst. She and the rest of the analysts are summoned to an HR meeting because one of the male analysts has been putting Post-It Notes with drawings of penises in Paulette's workspace. All the analysts know who the offender is, but no one, including Susan, identifies him. After the meeting, Susan realizes that what she had considered a joke is actually harassment that could be hurting Paulette. The B case follows Susan's decision and ensuing actions.

Susan, a first-year analyst at a trading firm, is the only woman among a tight-knit group of 30 analysts, now that Paulette has just been promoted to associate from third-year analyst. She and the rest of the analysts are summoned to an HR meeting because one of the male analysts has been putting Post-It Notes with drawings of penises in Paulette's workspace. All the analysts know who the offender is, but no one, including Susan, identifies him. After the meeting, Susan realizes that what she had considered a joke is actually harassment that could be hurting Paulette. This B case follows Susan's decision and ensuing actions.

Ant Group (螞蟻集團) was on course to raise HKD273bn in a dual offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange's (SSE) STAR Market. Pre-IPO, Ant's value as a fintech was estimated at HKD2.43tn. As investors were subscribing en masse, China's central bank and finance regulators published a new draft legislation to regulate "micro-lending business operated by internet." What would have been the largest IPO in history was cancelled just two days before its scheduled listing on 5 November 2020. Ant spun off from its parent, Alibaba. It owns Alipay, one of the two largest digital payment systems in China. Ant diversified into a fintech business that included lending, wealth management, and insurance business lines among others. Ant's lucrative lending business, explosive growth, and business model disrupted the Chinese traditional finance industry. After the new legislation came into effect, Ant's capital reserve ratio for its CreditTech business would have to increase from the current 2% to 30%. This was expected to impact the size and growth of its lending business and therefore its value.