Publications

January 2018
Case

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Quits President Trump's Advisory Council

By: Andy Zelleke and Brian Tilley

In the first six months of Donald Trump’s presidency, Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier appeared alongside Trump at least three times at press events, one of which commemorated the first and only meeting of the president’s Manufacturing Job Initiative (better known at the... View Details

Keywords: CEO Role; Politics; Corporate Governance; Moral Sensibility; Managerial Roles; United States

June 2009 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Microfin

By: Michael Chu and Enrique Kramer

The case presents the management dilemmas of a new institution in an undeveloped microfinance market in Latin America. Supported by a globally recognized industry player, it is the result of the efforts of two fledgling local entrepreneurs with a business model they... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Developing Countries and Economies; Social Entrepreneurship; Microfinance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Industry Structures; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Latin America

September 2008
Case

Adobe Systems: Working Towards a "Suite" Release (A)

By: David A. Thomas and Lauren Barley

The case examines the tools a manager can use to keep her project on track and manage conflict and tension as Adobe prepares to launch Creative Suite 3, the biggest software release in the company's 25-year history. The protagonist, Yvonne Murray, is a group program... View Details

Keywords: Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Product Launch; Projects; Groups and Teams; Conflict Management; Power and Influence

October 2001
Exercise

Liability Problems

By: Robert S. Kaplan

This case provides three examples of the recognition and measurement of liabilities. The first focuses on recognizing when employees have rendered services for which future period benefits have been earned, that is, whether unused vacation, sick, and personal days at... View Details

Keywords: Cash; Annuities; Interest Rates; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Wages; Problems and Challenges; Value

January 1994 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Judo Economics

The early 1990s saw a new wave of start-ups in the U.S. airline business. One entrant, Kiwi International Air Lines, took to the skies in September 1992 with a strategy of attracting small-business travelers looking to save money but lacking the flexibility to book in... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Advantage; Business Startups; Air Transportation Industry; Financial Services Industry

04 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

How a Juicy Brand Came Back to Life

My point here is not to disparage discipline or, indeed, the marketing professionals of Quaker Oats. Their failure with Snapple wasn't a matter of ineptitude or a bureaucratic tin ear. Nor do I think it was a View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Food & Beverage

Research Summary

Overview

Over the last decade, technology companies like Amazon, Google, and Netflix have pioneered data-driven research and development processes centered on massive experimentation. However, as companies increase the breadth and scale of their experiments to millions of... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

By: Rebecca M. Henderson

My work focuses on two tightly related topics. I explore why purpose or mission driven firms might be significantly more productive and creative than their more conventional rivals, focusing particularly on the role of trust in building path dependent relational... View Details

November 2015 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Air Products' Pursuit of Airgas (A)

By: Charles C.Y. Wang, Paul M. Healy, Penelope Rossano and Kyle Thomas

This case centers around the Air Products' hostile takeover attempt of Airgas in 2010. Air Products argued that its offer of a 38% premium is generous given Airgas' poor performance, which Air Products attributed to underperforming and entrenched managers at Airgas. On... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business and Shareholder Relations; Industrial Products Industry; Energy Industry; Chemical Industry

September 2009
Case

Intel NBI: Image Components Organization

By: Willy C. Shih and Thomas Thurston

The Image Components Organization (ICO) was an internal venture that was part of Intel's New Business Initiatives. It sought to initially develop and sell a high performance integrated CMOS image sensor module for cellular phones. ICO's opening assumptions were that it... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Development; Production; Failure; Diversification; Semiconductor Industry

16 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 16, 2007

Working Papers"Don'ts" And "Do's": Insights from Experience In Mitigating Risks Of Western Investors In Post-Communist Countries Authors:Charalambos A. Vlachoutsicos and Paul R. Lawrence Abstract No abstract available. Download View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Competitions & Challenges - Health Care

Student Activities Competitions & Challenges Business plan challenges and case competitions offer an engaging way to collaborate with students from within HBS and from other schools to develop presentation/pitch skills, work with faculty,... View Details

Web

4 Tips for MBA Students with Families - MBA

Blog Blog MBA Voices Filter Results Arrow Down Arrow Up Read posts from Author Alumni Author Career and Professional Development Staff Author HBS Community Author HBS Faculty Author MBA Admissions Author MBA Students Topics Topics 1st Year (RC) 2+2 Program 2nd Year... View Details

2007
Book

Carbon Strategies: How Leading Companies Are Reducing Their Climate Change Footprint

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Carbon Strategies describes specific steps any business can take to implement sound, practical, climate-related corporate policies. Based on Andrew J. Hoffman’s widely praised report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and significantly revised in light of... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Business Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Policy

October 2008
Case

Financial Crisis in Asia: 1997-1998 (Abridged)

By: Huw Pill, Rafael M. Di Tella and Jonathan Schlefer

What caused the 1997-98 Asia Crisis: Asian nations' poor economic management, international financial contagion, close "crony" relations between local politicians and capitalists? This case examines how the crisis erupted in Thailand and spread in a chain of events... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Ethics; Financial Institutions; Financial Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Asia

December 2007 (Revised July 2008)
Supplement

MINI USA: Finding a New Advertising Agency (B)

Selling an intangible like advertising services is a difficult task. The first step is to understand how brands buy these services. What are they looking for? What do they need to learn? How do they go about assessing things like creativity, trust, and loyalty? This... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Acquisition; Service Operations; Sales; Strategy; Advertising Industry

July 2005 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Recall 2000: Bridgestone Corp. (A) (Abridged)

By: Lynn S. Paine

In September 2000, the president of Bridgestone-Firestone, the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Bridgestone Corp., was invited to appear before a U.S. congressional subcommittee investigating the August 2000 recall of more than 6.5 million tires made by the subsidiary. The... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Product; Trade; Organizational Culture; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Auto Industry; United States; Japan