Streamlining HBR Citations: Using Et Al. for Multi-Author Cases

Many business students assume that citing a Harvard Business Review case study follows the exact same rules as citing a standard academic journal article. You might think that because your professor assigned the case through a university library portal, you need to list every single author in your first in-text citation before you can shorten the list. This assumption often leads to cluttered, over-formatted paragraphs that disrupt the flow of your strategic analysis. The reality is that under the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th edition guidelines, the rules for citing sources with three or more authors are much simpler than they used to be in older editions. You do not need to write out a long list of names the first time you reference a multi-author case study. Instead, you use a streamlined format from the very first mention. Understanding how this rule applies specifically to Harvard Business Review materials will save you valuable words in your Strategic Management papers and keep your writing sharp and professional.

The Core Rule for Three or More Authors in APA 7th Edition

When you cite a Harvard Business Review case study, article, or chapter written by three or more authors, APA 7th edition requires you to use the name of the first author followed by "et al." and the year of publication in every single in-text citation. This rule applies to both your first citation of the source and all subsequent citations throughout your case analysis. This is a major departure from the older APA 6th edition, which required writers to list up to five authors in the first citation and only use "et al." in later citations. If you are looking at older student papers or outdated online citation generators, you will likely see those long, cumbersome lists of names. Ignore them. Under current APA guidelines, the process is streamlined to keep your parenthetical citations from distracting the reader. The term "et al." is an abbreviation for the Latin phrase "et alii," which translates to "and others." Because "al." is the abbreviated word, the period must always follow "al" and never "et". Here is how this looks in practice for a fictional Harvard Business Review case study written by Chen, Rodriguez, Patel, and Smith published in 2023:

• Parenthetical citation: The company's rapid expansion into Southeast Asia failed because local distribution networks were severely underestimated (Chen et al., 2023).
• Narrative citation: Chen et al. (2023) argued that the company's rapid expansion failed due to a fundamental misunderstanding of local distribution networks.

In both styles of citation, the punctuation remains consistent. The period follows "al", and a comma separates the abbreviation from the year in parenthetical citations. In narrative citations, where the authors' names are part of your sentence, the year goes in parentheses immediately following "et al."

Applying the Rule to Harvard Business Review Case Studies

Harvard Business Review publishes different types of documents, and students often confuse HBR magazine articles with HBR case studies. Case studies are typically longer, field-research-based documents with a specific product number. Regardless of whether you are citing a brief article from the magazine or a 15-page case study from Harvard Business Publishing, the author rules remain identical. If your Strategic Management case study has three, four, or even eight authors, you still only list the first author's surname followed by "et al." You do not need to look up the total number of authors to decide whether to shorten the list; three is the magic number where the shortening begins immediately. Let us look at a concrete example of how this applies to a real-world writing scenario in a Strategic Management paper. Imagine you are analyzing a case study written by three authors: Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton, and Bjarne Ruggeberg, published in 2010.

"Implementing a balanced scorecard requires alignment across all organizational levels, particularly when integrating regional offices with corporate headquarters (Kaplan et al., 2010). This alignment ensures that local managers prioritize corporate strategic objectives over short-term regional gains."

In this example, even though it is the very first time the case is mentioned in the paper, Kaplan is the only author named. Norton and Ruggeberg are represented by "et al."

Formatting Variations and Common Pitfalls to Avoid

While the rule is straightforward, applying it under the pressure of a deadline can lead to minor formatting errors that cost you easy points on your rubric. One common mistake is placing a comma in the wrong spot or forgetting the period after "al". Another frequent issue arises when students use narrative citations. When you bring the authors into the flow of your sentence, you must ensure your verb agreement matches the plural nature of "et al." Because "et al." means "and others," your verb must be plural.

• Incorrect: Kaplan et al. (2010) argues that organizational alignment is critical.
• Correct: Kaplan et al. (2010) argue that organizational alignment is critical.

In the correct example, "argue" is plural because you are referring to Kaplan and his co-authors. This is a subtle grammatical point that academic editors and business professors look for when grading upper-level analysis papers. Additionally, you must ensure that your in-text citation matches your reference list at the end of the document. While your in-text citation uses "et al." for three or more authors, your reference list must list the surnames and initials of up to 20 authors. Do not use "et al." in your reference list unless the source has more than 20 authors.

Handling Special Cases and Ambiguity

Occasionally, you might run into a situation where you are using two different sources published in the same year by first authors who share the same last name, or even the exact same first author with different co-authors. If you shorten both to "Smith et al., 2022," your reader will not know which source you are referencing. APA 7th edition has a specific solution for this to avoid ambiguity. If two references shorten to the same form, you must write out as many names as necessary to distinguish the two sources, followed by "et al." For example, suppose you are using these two case studies in your Strategic Management paper:

• Alvarez, Gomez, and Chen (2021)
• Alvarez, Patel, and Wong (2021)

If you used the standard rule, both would cite as (Alvarez et al., 2021). To avoid this confusion, you must format your in-text citations like this:

• First source: (Alvarez, Gomez, et al., 2021)
• Second source: (Alvarez, Patel, et al., 2021)

You only list as many authors as needed to clear up the confusion, and then add "et al." right after the distinguishing name. The single most important truth to keep in mind when writing your case analysis is that APA 7th edition prioritizes readability and clarity for the reader. By immediately shortening sources with three or more authors to the first author's name and "et al.", you keep your strategic arguments front and center, preventing your citations from cluttering your prose.