Publications

Feb 2014
Case

Flying High, Landing Low: Strengths and Challenges for U.S. Air Transportation

The U.S. air transportation system flies high on some indicators, mostly involving capacity to take to the air, but lands low on others, mostly involving ground facilities and processes. This note provides an overview of the history and... View Details

02 Nov 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Organizational Response to Environmental Demands: Opening the Black Box

Keywords: by Magali A. Delmas & Michael W. Toffel

January 1991 (Revised October 1993)
Background Note

Note on Bank Loans

Describes traditional bank lending product, the role of the lending officer, credit evaluation, and the structuring of credit facilities and loan agreements. View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

March 2022
Case

Unilever: Remote Work in Manufacturing

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Susie L. Ma

In December 2021, Unilever—one of the world’s largest producers of consumer goods—was in the midst of a pilot project to digitize its manufacturing facilities and enable remote work for factory employees. This was possible because of an earlier project to retrofit a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Globalization; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Human Resources; Jobs and Positions; Operations; Education; Training; Manufacturing Industry

11 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

When Business Competition Harms Society

area and $11 elsewhere in the state. Because these facilities don't have the option of competing for business on the basis of price, they compete solely on the basis of quality. "With vehicle emissions testing, high-quality service... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Auto

When a Pandemic Collides with a Leveraged Global Economy

This essay was submitted as comments in connection with the Federal Reserve Board’s corporate loan purchase facilities collectively called the Main Street Lending Program (“MSLP”.)

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August 2010 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Vitalia Franchise

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Beatriz Munoz-Seca

Cathy Hoffmann has rapidly grown her novel facilities for day care therapy for elders with mild cognitive and physical problems. But she needs to decide whether to franchise or own the next expansion. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Ownership Stake; Franchise Ownership; Expansion; Health Industry; Spain

October 2022
Case

Cost Plus Drugs

By: Alexander MacKay and James Barnett

In September 2022, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company CEO Alex Oshmyansky considered the future of the company. Cost Plus Drugs was a retailer for more than 340 generic oral medications, selling their drugs at significantly lower prices than typical pharmacies.... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Health; Markets; Social Enterprise; Society; Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Business Divisions; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; Texas

08 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Building Effective R&D Capabilities Abroad

Xerox also identified potential laboratory leaders. The company chose Grenoble on the basis of its demonstrated scientific excellence and hired as the initial laboratory leader a highly regarded French scientist with good connections to local universities. Xerox... View Details

Keywords: by Walter Kuemmerle

March 1999 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Crunch

By: Paul W. Marshall and Jeremy Dann

Entrepreneur Doug Levine runs a fitness company with an incredibly powerful brand. His company leverages the brand to expand, both in terms of facilities and lines of business. But he may need to make significant organizational changes in order to continue the growth. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Brands and Branding; Service Industry; Health Industry

June 2024
Article

The Monitoring Role of Social Media

By: Jonas Heese and Joseph Pacelli

In this study, we examine whether social media activity can reduce corporate misconduct. We use the staggered introduction of 3G mobile broadband access across the United States to identify exogenous increases in social media activity and test whether access to 3G... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Misconduct; Twitter; Corporate Accountability; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Social and Collaborative Networks

Article

When the Local Newspaper Leaves Town: The Effects of Local Newspaper Closures on Corporate Misconduct

By: Jonas Heese, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Caspar David Peter

We examine whether the local press is an effective monitor of corporate misconduct. Specifically, we study the effects of local newspaper closures on violations by local facilities of publicly listed firms. After a local newspaper closure, local facilities increase... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Misconduct; Local Newspapers; Media Coverage; Firm Monitoring; Newspapers

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June 1999
Case

PDQ Manufacturing, Inc.

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A small manufacturer of car wash facilities has been unable to develop management systems because of rapid growth. Now size dictates the need for such systems because the current personal management style is proving inadequate. View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Personal Development and Career; Growth Management; Manufacturing Industry

March 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Case

EyeControl: Inspiring Communication

By: Paul A. Gompers and Danielle Golan

Eye-controlled communication device startup EyeControl was founded in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2016 by cofounders with a shared personal connection to locked-in syndrome—a neurological disorder that left sufferers cognitively sound, yet paralyzed, with the exception of eye... View Details

Keywords: Health Disorders; Communication Technology; Business Startups; Expansion; Finance; Decision Making; Social Enterprise; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

October 2002 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Aspen Aerogels

By: William A. Sahlman and Taslim Pirmohamed

Describes a newly formed manufacturer of insulation materials. The company has developed and patented a new insulation material that can be used in a wide range of markets. Capital must be raised to finance building a manufacturing facility and fund early market... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Patents; Production; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry

October 2013 (Revised February 2019)
Teaching Note

Red Hen Baking Company

By: Richard Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Lisa Paige

The case explores the decision to expand in a small business setting. In 2007, the Red Hen Baking Company (RHB) was deciding whether to move from its cramped and inefficient Duxbury, Vermont facility to a new facility in nearby Middlesex, Vermont. It had been in... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Capital; Risk Management; Expansion

14 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Mapping Polluters, Encouraging Protectors

in their industry across the country—but just as important, monitor what mitigating steps facility managers are taking. Toffel and his colleagues also developed MapEcos as a mechanism to support their academic research. "Often public... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Manufacturing; Chemical

November 2017
Case

The Digital Factory – Siemens: Electronic Works Amberg

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott F. Johnson

The Electronic Works Amberg (EWA) was Siemens' most advanced factory. The plant built industrial automation equipment using state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. Siemens was considering creating a consulting business for its manufacturing clients. Given the EWA's... View Details

Keywords: Siemens; Internet Of Things; Industrie 4.0; Manufacturing; Consulting; Digital Factory; Ewa; Amberg; Electronic Works Amberg; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Technology Industry; Germany

December 2002 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Williams, 2002

By: Joshua Coval, Robin Greenwood and Peter Tufano

Williams, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based firm in various energy businesses, must decide whether to accept a financing package offered by Berkshire Hathaway and Lehman Brothers. The proposed one-year credit facility would provide the firm with financial resources in a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Crisis Management; Credit; Capital Structure; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Financial Instruments; Energy Industry; United States