Publications

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January 2014 (Revised June 2014)
Case

23andMe: Genetic Testing for Consumers (A)

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

On November 22, 2013, the direct-to-consumer genetic testing provider, 23andMe, received a letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordering the company to halt the sale and promotion of its genetic testing kit. The FDA stated that the product was... View Details

Keywords: Public Health; Genome Testing; Health Care; Ancestry; 23andMe; Marketing; Product Launch; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Genetics; Strategy; Health Industry; United States

The Covid-19 epidemic response has shown that the U.S. is blessed with heroic physicians and other health care providers, researchers, and facilities. But it has also revealed a health care system that was woefully unprepared for the surge of pandemic patients. In the... View Details

September 2014 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Fresno's Social Impact Bond for Asthma

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In 2014, Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) were quickly gaining popularity as an investment vehicle which joined together private investors and nonprofits to tackle social issues. Although numerous SIB projects and proposals had cropped up across the U.S. following the launch... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Health Care; Marketing; Bonds; Financing; Asthma; Air Pollution; Air Quality; Chronic Disease; Public Health; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Finance; Health Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

Article

Assessing the Food and Drug Administration's Risk-Based Framework for Software Precertification with Top Health Apps in the United States: Quality Improvement Study

By: Noy Alon, Ariel Dora Stern and John Torous

BACKGROUND: As the development of mobile health apps continues to accelerate, the need to implement a framework that can standardize categorizing these apps to allow for efficient, yet robust regulation grows. However, regulators and researchers are faced with numerous... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Health; Smartphone; Food And Drug Administration; Risk-based Framework; Health Care and Treatment; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Framework

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February 24, 2022
Article

Want to Prevent the Next Hospital Bed Crisis? Enlist the SEC

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Richard Boxer

During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, many U.S. hospitals could not provide enough beds to meet demand. Solving the problem of inadequate capacity is of utmost importance in the “new normal,” which requires recognizing the ongoing need for hospital-based... View Details

Keywords: COVID; COVID-19 Pandemic; Hospital Capacity; SEC Regulation; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management; Performance Capacity; Planning

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Research Summary

Fairness and Efficiency in Resource Allocation

In studying the relationship of fairness and efficiency, Professor Trichakis takes the novel approach of looking at varied industries for unifying factors, and he pays special attention to inequities by incorporating both quantitative work in social welfare and the... View Details

25 Jul 2009
News

Some Inconvenient Truths About Medicare and the New 'Public Plan'

December 2017 (Revised April 2018)
Case

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Network Strategy 2016

By: Michael E. Porter, Thomas W. Feeley and Toyin J. Okanlawon

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) began as a stand-alone hospital in the heart of downtown Philadelphia in 1855. By 2016 the CHOP Care Network stretched across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the New York metropolitan area, providing a wide range of services... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Organizational Structure; Networks; Integration; Strategy; Health Industry; Philadelphia

02 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating in Three Dimensions

"interests," or what each side really cares about. Failure to uncover interests often leads to mistakes in our second dimension, deal design, such as treating potentially more cooperative... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

August 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Public Health Insurance Exchanges: The Massachusetts Experience

By: Regina Herzlinger and Jordan Bazinsky

The CEO of Tufts Health Plan, James Roosevelt, is wondering whether to offer insurance products on the Massachusetts Connector, the first U.S. exchange. He wonders if he should enter these uncharted waters at all. And, if yes, with a broad network or a narrow network... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance Exchange; Healthcare Reform; Public Health Insurance Exchange; Decision Making; Market Entry and Exit; Emerging Markets; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

June 2018
Teaching Note

Sandra Brown Goes Digital

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

As a middle manager at a biotechnology company, Sandra Brown harnessed digital tools and social media to engage others and build campaigns for change in the company. This Teaching Note presents strategies for teaching the Sandra Brown case series, which follows Brown's... View Details

Keywords: Change Leadership; Change Management; Digital; Engagement; Stakeholder Engagement; Grassroots Movement; Health Care Industry; Career Path; Innovation; Leading Change; Management; Innovation and Management; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Quality

March 2021 (Revised January 2023)
Case

The Trouble with TCE

By: Vincent Pons, Rafael Di Tella and Galit Goldstein

Trichloroethylene, or TCE, was a chemical used by tens of thousands of businesses in the United States. It was an affordable tool for many. Yet, TCE had been associated with important health risks, including cancer and autoimmune disease. TCE potentially posed other... View Details

Keywords: Trichloroethylene; Toxicity; Lobbying; Chemicals; Health Disorders; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Ethics; Business and Government Relations; Chemical Industry; United States

September 2014 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (A)

By: John A. Quelch and James Weber

In 2014, Pfizer proposed a friendly acquisition of AstraZeneca, but the AstraZeneca board resisted over price and strategy concerns. Was this good for pharmaceutical consumers? Pfizer, like pharmaceutical companies in general, faced difficulties in growing sales due to... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Policy; Mergers And Acquisitions; Marketing; Government Relations; Crisis Management; Decision Making; Growth and Development; Management; Markets; Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United Kingdom; United States

March 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

The Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy: Settling the Opioid Crisis

By: Kristin Mugford, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Susan Pinckney

How to get to a fair outcome for claimants in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy given its significant role in the U.S. opioid crisis. View Details

07 Jun 2016
First Look

June 7, 2016

strategic, financial, and operational objectives. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51110 May 2016 Oncology How the Affordable Care Act Has Affected View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2001 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Estee Lauder and the Market for Prestige Cosmetics

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Opens with a brief history of the U.S. cosmetics market and its rapid development in the 1920s. Also recounts Lauder's initial involvement in the sector, making skin care products and selling them in Manhattan beauty parlors during the Great Depression. Pays particular... View Details

Keywords: Fluctuation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Luxury; Business Strategy; Society; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

November 2018
Case

The National Hockey League

By: Robert F. Higgins, John Masko and James Weber

In 2015, National Hockey League (NHL) commissioner Gary Bettman was weighing two major decisions: whether to expand the league to a new city, and whether to conclude a digital media rights deal with Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM). Expansion required a... View Details

Keywords: NHL Expansion; Digital Media Rights; Sports; Expansion; Media; Decisions; Sports Industry; Canada