General Management

General Management

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    • August 2026
    • Case

    Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman at HP: Two Misses and a Hit

    By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Adam Benzaari

    In 1999, facing competition from younger technology companies and slowing revenue growth, the board of Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Valley’s original start-up, hired its first outsider CEO: Carly Fiorina, the first woman to lead a Fortune 50 company. She was well known for her successes at Lucent Technologies, and HP’s board wanted a leader with the experience and skills to drive a transformation. After consistent cost-cutting, a controversial $25 billion acquisition of Compaq, and strategy disagreements, HP's board ousted Fiorina in 2005. In 2011, after two additional CEO departures, the board of directors hired another outsider, Meg Whitman, eBay’s former CEO. Investors and analysts were skeptical that the once-venerable hardware company, known for the HP Way, a founders’ culture of collegiality, trust in employees, and decentralization, could be turned around.

    • August 2026
    • Case

    Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman at HP: Two Misses and a Hit

    By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Adam Benzaari

    In 1999, facing competition from younger technology companies and slowing revenue growth, the board of Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Valley’s original start-up, hired its first outsider CEO: Carly Fiorina, the first woman to lead a Fortune 50 company. She was well known for her successes at Lucent Technologies, and HP’s board wanted a leader with the...

    • August 2026
    • Case

    Marvin AI: Behavioral Health by Clinicians, for Clinicians

    By: Regina E. Herzlinger

    More than one third of Americans were said to suffer some type of behavioral health ailment at some point in their lifetime, with many people requiring chronic therapy or intervention. Despite significant clinical needs, access to reliable treatment has been difficult due to shortage of providers, stigma, and poor reimbursement, especially for medical clinicians who were placed under enormous stress during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic and whose professional culture does not encourage acknowledgement of mental health pressure. Marvin’s primary offering was online teletherapy via video chat with licensed mental health professionals, including psychologists, psychiatrists, and licensed clinical social workers. One major draw for providers was Marvin’s handling all scheduling and rescheduling, saving providers’ time. Their main priority was to build and implement machine learning (ML) tools to offer more targeted, personalized mental health care to physicians. They were building a ML matching algorithm that could classify users’ moods based on their facial expressions and other data, such as vocal, chat, and text interactions. Marvin could use this algorithm to track users’ moods and suggest targeted exercises (e.g., meditations). Marvin’s primary offering was online teletherapy via video chat to medical clinicians. Its founders hoped to bring Marvin’s solution to a wider audience and thought that the race belonged to the swift. As they considered the market opportunity and the complex landscape of digital mental health, they wondered what to do next?

    • August 2026
    • Case

    Marvin AI: Behavioral Health by Clinicians, for Clinicians

    By: Regina E. Herzlinger

    More than one third of Americans were said to suffer some type of behavioral health ailment at some point in their lifetime, with many people requiring chronic therapy or intervention. Despite significant clinical needs, access to reliable treatment has been difficult due to shortage of providers, stigma, and poor reimbursement, especially for...

    • August 2026
    • Case

    Boeing 737 Max Crashes: Restoring Lost Trust

    By: Sandra J. Sucher and Tom Quinn

    In 2024, Kelly Ortberg took over as CEO of Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company. Long considered a model for quality engineering, Boeing had suffered a reputational and financial blow when two of its 737 Max planes crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and grounding much of its customers’ fleets globally for nearly two years. The crashes had raised difficult questions about Boeing’s quality control and governance, and continued high-profile issues contradicted executives’ assertions that they had fixed the problems and improved the culture. The case covers the development of the 737 Max and the responses to its problems from Boeing executives, regulators, and the public.

    • August 2026
    • Case

    Boeing 737 Max Crashes: Restoring Lost Trust

    By: Sandra J. Sucher and Tom Quinn

    In 2024, Kelly Ortberg took over as CEO of Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company. Long considered a model for quality engineering, Boeing had suffered a reputational and financial blow when two of its 737 Max planes crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and grounding much of its customers’ fleets globally for nearly two years. The...

About the Unit

The General Management Unit is concerned with the leadership and management of the enterprise as a whole. This concern encompasses:

  • the personal values and qualities of effective general managers and enterprise leaders;
  • the philosophies, values, and strategies that inform successful enterprises; and
  • the relation of enterprise to the broader community and other external constituencies.

The Unit's work is conceived and carried out principally in four interest groups, each of which has its own leadership, research agenda, and teaching programs:

  • Management Policy and Process
  • Management Information Systems
  • Society and Enterprise
  • Leadership, Values, and Corporate Responsibility

Recent Publications

Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman at HP: Two Misses and a Hit

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Adam Benzaari
  • August 2026 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
In 1999, facing competition from younger technology companies and slowing revenue growth, the board of Hewlett-Packard, Silicon Valley’s original start-up, hired its first outsider CEO: Carly Fiorina, the first woman to lead a Fortune 50 company. She was well known for her successes at Lucent Technologies, and HP’s board wanted a leader with the experience and skills to drive a transformation. After consistent cost-cutting, a controversial $25 billion acquisition of Compaq, and strategy disagreements, HP's board ousted Fiorina in 2005. In 2011, after two additional CEO departures, the board of directors hired another outsider, Meg Whitman, eBay’s former CEO. Investors and analysts were skeptical that the once-venerable hardware company, known for the HP Way, a founders’ culture of collegiality, trust in employees, and decentralization, could be turned around.
Keywords: Technology; CEO; Turnover; Hewlett Packard; Startup; Silicon Valley; Board Of Directors; Company Culture; Leadership; Transformation; Strategy; Technology Industry; United States
Related

Marvin AI: Behavioral Health by Clinicians, for Clinicians

By: Regina E. Herzlinger
  • August 2026 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
More than one third of Americans were said to suffer some type of behavioral health ailment at some point in their lifetime, with many people requiring chronic therapy or intervention. Despite significant clinical needs, access to reliable treatment has been difficult due to shortage of providers, stigma, and poor reimbursement, especially for medical clinicians who were placed under enormous stress during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic and whose professional culture does not encourage acknowledgement of mental health pressure. Marvin’s primary offering was online teletherapy via video chat with licensed mental health professionals, including psychologists, psychiatrists, and licensed clinical social workers. One major draw for providers was Marvin’s handling all scheduling and rescheduling, saving providers’ time. Their main priority was to build and implement machine learning (ML) tools to offer more targeted, personalized mental health care to physicians. They were building a ML matching algorithm that could classify users’ moods based on their facial expressions and other data, such as vocal, chat, and text interactions. Marvin could use this algorithm to track users’ moods and suggest targeted exercises (e.g., meditations). Marvin’s primary offering was online teletherapy via video chat to medical clinicians. Its founders hoped to bring Marvin’s solution to a wider audience and thought that the race belonged to the swift. As they considered the market opportunity and the complex landscape of digital mental health, they wondered what to do next?
Keywords: Mental Health; Applications; Startup Management; Telehealth; Health Care Entrepreneurship; Health ＆ Wellness; Health Care; Health Care and Treatment; Customization and Personalization; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Applications and Software
Related

Boeing 737 Max Crashes: Restoring Lost Trust

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Tom Quinn
  • August 2026 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
In 2024, Kelly Ortberg took over as CEO of Boeing, the world’s largest aerospace company. Long considered a model for quality engineering, Boeing had suffered a reputational and financial blow when two of its 737 Max planes crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and grounding much of its customers’ fleets globally for nearly two years. The crashes had raised difficult questions about Boeing’s quality control and governance, and continued high-profile issues contradicted executives’ assertions that they had fixed the problems and improved the culture. The case covers the development of the 737 Max and the responses to its problems from Boeing executives, regulators, and the public.
Keywords: Communication Strategy; Crime and Corruption; Values and Beliefs; Global Strategy; Corporate Accountability; Legal Liability; Failure; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry; United States; Washington; Indonesia; Ethiopia
Related

teamLab: International Art Collective

By: Rohit Deshpande and Akiko Kanno
  • August 2026 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
Supplement to the (A) Case, HBS No. 326-081.
Related

Surest: When Consumers Can Shop for Health Care, Who Wins?

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace
  • August 2026 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Surest is a health insurance policy that enables consumer-driven cost control. Enrollees who need care shop among a variety of provider bundles, each with its own price and quality metrics and a fixed copayment. For example, they could contemplate orthopedic surgery in an ambulatory surgery center, which will carry a different price, copayment, and quality ratings from the same procedure conducted in an academic medical center. Most insurance plans, in contrast, attempt to control cost growth by placing hurdles in front of the enrollee: obscure out-of-pocket payments, narrow provider networks, and daunting prior authorization requirements. Surest is relying on a sufficient number of consumer shoppers to select the more cost-effective sites and, thus, control the costs of care. It is consumer-driven, rather than payer-driven, for cost and quality control. Its sponsor, with ~$500 billion in annual revenues, United needs an innovation after a dramatic reduction in profits from 2024-2025. But is Surest the answer? It carries strategic, marketing, operational, and regulatory risks. Surest packs a pedagogical one-two punch. Punch one: Introduction to the structure and dynamics of the U.S. commercial health care insurance sector. Health insurance presents a sizeable innovation target at $1.8 trillion in 2025 revenues and an inability to control costs or significantly affect quality of care to date. Surest differs because it relies on users to control costs and improve quality. It presents them with a price, fixed copay, and quality metrics for each provider they are considering. The model relies on consumers selecting the most effective choice, i.e. their controlling costs and quality. Punch two: Are the risks greater than the opportunities? After all, the buyers (HR) are typically conservative. Insurance plans are sold through intermediaries, brokers, and TPA (see case) who may not welcome a lower priced plan, which could lower their commissions. And can Surest price these care bundles accurately? After all, as shown in Exhibit 6, the firm’s profits dropped sharply in 2025 while revenues increased, likely due to product mispricing.
Keywords: Health Insurance; Health Insurance Sector; Consumer-driven Health Insurance; New Product Strategy; Competition In Health Insurance Sector; Consumer-driven Cost Control; Employer-sponsored Insurance; Business Model; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Cost Management; Insurance; Price; Policy; Innovation Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Commercialization; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; United States
Related

Who Owns the Future? Debating the Ownership of Artificial Intelligence Models

By: Ethan Rouen, Nien-he Hsieh and Tony Guidotti
  • August 2026 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
Keywords: Private Ownership; Private Sector; Employment; United States
Related

Xiaomi's Leap Into Electric Vehicles

By: William C. Kirby, Daniel Fu and Ken Lin
  • August 2026 |
  • Case |
  • Faculty Research
By 2026, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun had steered his company into China’s fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) industry, viewing it as both a major strategic opportunity and a hedge against geopolitical risks to its smartphone business. Launched in March 2024, Xiaomi’s SU7 quickly became China’s best-selling midsize electric sedan and surpassed 100,000 sales within eight months- far faster than many established competitors. By the third quarter of 2025, Xiaomi’s EV and AI division achieved profitability, breaking even just 19 months after launch. Despite this strong debut, Xiaomi faced intensifying price wars, industry consolidation, and overcapacity in China. Seeking growth abroad, the company targeted a European launch by 2027, where it would confront entrenched incumbents and established Chinese rivals. The key challenge for Lei Jun now was turning early success into a sustainable global EV business amid fierce competition and shifting geopolitical and market dynamics.
Keywords: Electric Motors; Batteries; Electric Vehicle; Smartphones; China; US-China Trade War; U.S. Competitiveness; Chinese Dream; Chinese Manufacturing; China's Political Economy
Related

Reimagining Ashley Stewart? (B)

By: Rebecca Henderson and Jack Brookes
  • August 2026 |
  • Supplement |
  • Faculty Research
This is the story of an extraordinary turnaround, built on the belief that employees given dignity, respect, and autonomy can achieve extraordinary things. In August of 2013, James Rhee — a private equity executive — became CEO of Ashley Stewart, a retailer serving lower-income Black women that had already survived one bankruptcy and that seemed headed for liquidation. Despite James’s best efforts, six months later the firm entered bankruptcy again, as every investor Rhee approached turned him down. Undeterred, he raised the capital himself and rebuilt the firm around "kindness and math," selling it three years later for nearly six times investors' capital — transforming not only the business and its employees but also himself.
Related
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General Management Unit
Harvard Business School
Morgan Hall
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