Publications

July 2024
Case

Negotiating in a Hurricane: John Branca and the Michael Jackson Estate

By: James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

When the "King of Pop," Michael Jackson, unexpectedly died in 2009, he left behind an estate that was over $500 million in debt, with largely illiquid assets, and legions of creditors poised to begin to seize assets in as soon as 60 days. The task of managing Jackson’s... View Details

Keywords: Bargaining; Dispute Resolution; Negotiation; Entertainment; Financial Management; Financial Condition; Assets; Music Industry

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Value Maximization and Stakeholder Theory

"Every organization attempting to accomplish something has to ask and answer the following question," writes HBS professor Michael C. Jensen in the introduction to his recent working paper: "What are we trying to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

August 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Sian Flowers: Fresher by Sea?

By: Willy C. Shih, Michael W. Toffel and Pippa Tubman Armerding

The setting for this case is the Sian Flowers, a company headquartered in Kitengela, Kenya that exports roses to predominantly Europe. Because cut flowers have a limited shelf life and consumers want them to retain their appearance for as long as possible, Sian or its... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Supply Chains; Sustainability; Sustainable Agriculture; Sustainability Reporting; Carbon Emissions; Supply Chain Management; Quality; Ship Transportation; Cost Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Kenya; Netherlands; Europe

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Strategy and the Internet

If average profitability is under pressure in many industries influenced by the Internet, it becomes all the more important for individual companies to set themselves apart from the pack—to be more profitable than the average performer.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter

March 2013
Teaching Note

Local Motors: Designed by the Crowd, Built by the Customer (TN)

By: Michael Norton

September 2012
Other Article

An Interview with Michael Porter: Social Entrepreneurship and the Transformation of Capitalism

By: Michaela Driver and Michael E. Porter

In this interview Michael Porter explores social entrepreneurship in the context of a larger transformation of capitalism. He suggests that social entrepreneurship is an important transitional vehicle toward the creation of shared value and a capitalist system in which... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Economic Systems; Social Entrepreneurship; Transformation

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26 Nov 2001
Op-Ed

Why Corporate Budgeting Needs To Be Fixed

international heavy-equipment manufacturer, managers were so set on hitting their quarterly revenue target that they shipped unfinished products from their plant in England all the way to a warehouse in the Netherlands, near the customer, for final assembly. View Details

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

17 Dec 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Integrity: Without It Nothing Works

Keywords: by Michael C. Jensen

05 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

Radical Change, Entrepreneurial Opportunity

Mary Tripsas, Assistant Professor in the Entrepreneurial Management unit at Harvard Business School, is interested in how radical technological change transforms industries, and how such change affects established firms and creates entrepreneurial opportunities. Senior... View Details

Keywords: by Michael J. Roberts; Technology

December 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Supplement

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2011, Michael Ku became Pfizer’s Vice President of Global Clinical Supply (GCS) after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. As Ku and his new leadership team set out to build a proactive, end-to-end, digital and physical clinical... View Details

Keywords: Digital Technology; Customer-centricity; Innovation; Customer Focus; Talent; Talent Management; Leadership; Innovation and Invention; Transformation; Organizational Culture; Customer Focus and Relationships; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Supply Chain; Mission and Purpose

July 2023
Teaching Note

Sian Flowers: Fresher by Sea?

By: Willy C. Shih and Michael W. Toffel

05 Jun 2006
Research & Ideas

Using Competition to Reform Healthcare

Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results, Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg take a systemic approach to healthcare reform. Today's system is dysfunctional, they argue, rewarding participants who redirect costs and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter; Health

30 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Your Crisis Response Plan: The Ten Effective Elements

preset communication protocols to convene the crisis-response team and warn staff. Leaders should be able to pull combinations of pre-set response "modules" off the shelf. — Michael Watkins 4. A designated chain of command. One... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins

May 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Allison J. Wigen and Emily Tedards

Michael Ku joined Pfizer in 2011, after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. His mission was to drive the digital transformation of the company’s clinical supply chain, but he knew he had to start with the culture. Over the next eight... View Details

March 1999
Article

Discussion of "Engineering Bureaucracy: The Genesis of Formal Policies, Positions, and Structures in High-Technology Firms" by James N. Baron, M. Diane Burton, and Michael T. Hannan

By: Josh Lerner

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Engineering; Technology Industry

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spring 1986
Book Review

Book Review of No Free Lunch: Food and Revolution in Cuba Today, edited by Medea Benjamin, Joseph Collins, and Michael Scott in Calories Count in Cuba

By: James E. Austin

Keywords: Food; Government and Politics; Cuba