Publications

January 1990 (Revised May 1991)
Case

Hoechst and the German Chemical Industry

Describes the rise of the German chemical industry and the specific country-based factors that contributed to the rise. Focuses on the German firm Hoechst: its history, its position after World War II, and its subsequent internationalization. Set in 1986 when Hoechst... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Competitive Advantage; Acquisition; Chemical Industry; Germany; United States

January 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Background Note

The Great Moderation, Dead or Alive?

By: Diego A. Comin

The Great Moderation is a significant decline in the volatility of fluctuations in most macroeconomic variables that the United States and other developed and developing economies have experienced at least since the mid-1980s. This case describes the basic facts,... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Business Cycles; Macroeconomics; United States

August 2005 (Revised April 2015)
Background Note

Employment At Will: A Legal Perspective

By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher M. Bruner

Provides a brief overview of the employment-at-will doctrine, an important concept unique to the U.S. legal system and business landscape. Briefly surveys the history and development of this doctrine and certain limitations and exceptions to it, as well as some of the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Resignation and Termination; Employment; Common Law; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; United States

28 Dec 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Tech Clusters

Keywords: by William R. Kerr and Frederic Robert-Nicoud

29 Nov 2012
News

What Washington must do now

August–September 2012
Article

The Future of Boards: Meeting the Governance Challenges of the 21st Century

By: Jay W. Lorsch

Predicting the challenges boards will face in the years ahead requires an understanding of how they and the governance they have provided has evolved in past years, as well as the challenges they face in the years ahead. Since I have been serving on and doing research... View Details

Keywords: Boards Of Directors; Corporate Governance; Governance; Succession; Compensation; Governing and Advisory Boards

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December 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

NewSchools Venture Fund in 2004: At a Crossroads

By: Stacey M. Childress and Caroline Joan King

Founded as one of the first venture philanthropy organizations in the United States in 1998, NewSchools Venture Fund brought new investors and new ideas to public education reform. By 2004, the organization and its founder were reassessing their model and their role in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Education; Social Entrepreneurship; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; United States

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2016
Working Paper

Delaying Firearm Purchases Reduces Gun Violence

By: Michael Luca, Deepak Malhotra and Christopher Poliquin

Handgun waiting periods are laws that impose a two to seven-day delay between the purchase and delivery of a firearm. While states might institute waiting periods for different reasons (e.g., to allow for background checks), these delays also create a “cooling off”... View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Safety; Rights; Laws and Statutes; United States

December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Nestle and Alcon--The Value of a Listing

By: Mihir A. Desai, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman

In response to a perceived undervaluation by the capital markets, Nestle is considering divesting a part of its ophthalmology subsidiary, Alcon, and must decide on a listing location. In the process, students are challenged to wrestle with the valuation of a... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; International Finance; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Markets; Taxation; Business Subsidiaries; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; Europe; United States

October 1991
Supplement

Philips' Compact Disc Introduction (B)

Updates students to 1982. Asks students to consider Philips' best strategy for investing in disc-pressing capacity dedicated to the United States market. The analysis draws on game theoretic techniques (in normal form with subgame perfection as the governing... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Competition; Game Theory; Technology Industry

Brian Trelstad is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School in the General Management Unit and the Faculty Chair of the Advanced Leadership Initiative. He teaches elective courses on Social Entrepreneurship and Systems... View Details

Keywords: education industry; health care; service industry; emerging market private equity; private equity (other); venture capital industry

06 Sep 2018
Cold Call Podcast

Should US Companies Still Care About the Paris Climate Change Agreement?

Keywords: Re: Vincent Pons; Manufacturing; Mining

Video

Julio Cedeno (MBA 2020) Talks the Case Method and Work-Life Balance

August 1986 (Revised June 1987)
Case

Lotus Development Corporation: Entering International Markets

By: David B. Yoffie and John J. Coleman

Lotus 1-2-3 exploded on the American market in the spring of 1983. Nine months later Jim Manzi, vice president of marketing, hired Chuck Digate to develop an international strategy for Lotus. Case explores Lotus' rapid rise to the top of the software market in the... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Applications and Software; Global Strategy; Management Teams; Information Technology Industry; United States

July 1981
Background Note

Competitive Status of the U.S. Automobile Industry--1981: Crisis and Transition

By: Kim B. Clark

Examines the competitive status of the U.S. auto industry in 1979-80. Provides information on the historical background of the current crisis using data on the United States and Japan. Discusses the competitive position of the U.S. industry in terms of productivity,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Auto Industry

31 Oct 2022
Video

Health Minute: Krys Mroczkowski

January–February 2014
Other Article

Barriers to Health Care Innovation: Regina Herzlinger Warns That Innovators Need to Know What Obstacles They Face and How to Overcome Them

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Health care in the United States and in most other developed countries is ailing, says Regina E. Herzlinger. A chaired professor of business administration specializing in health care at Harvard Business School, Herzlinger says that although the world has witnessed... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Healthcare IT; Innovation; Health Care and Treatment; Health; Information Technology; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States

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August 1997
Case

Orbital Sciences Corporation: ORBCOMM

By: Das Narayandas and John A. Quelch

In late 1993, Orbital Communications Corp. (OCC), a subsidiary of Orbital Sciences Corp., is developing a global two-way wireless data communications system, called "ORBCOMM," based on a 26-satellite constellation in low earth orbit. Service is scheduled to begin in... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Business Model; Business Startups; Price; Global Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Salesforce Management; Telecommunications Industry

January 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Microfinance International Corporation: No, Not Another Microfinance Case

CEO and founder Atsumasa Tochisako (52) sat in his Washington D.C. headquarters, looking with pride at the copy of a press release that would announce the latest in a broadening line of financial services that Washington D.C.-based Microfinance International... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Social Entrepreneurship; Microfinance; Globalized Firms and Management; Financial Services Industry