Publications

April 2015 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Bankruptcy in the City of Detroit

By: Stuart Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Annelena Lobb

The June 2013 bankruptcy of the city of Detroit, Michigan was, at the time, the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Detroit had struggled for years with a weakening tax base, high unemployment, a heavy debt load and increasing retiree costs. These... View Details

September 2017
Supplement

Taj Hotels: Leading Change, Driving Profitability (B)

By: Krishna Palepu, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

The Taj Group financial in March 2017 reflects a turnaround in performance. The new branding strategy is described. View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Hospitality Industry; Leading Change; Leadership; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Strategy; Globalization; Performance Improvement; Accommodations Industry; India

24 Jan 2024
Op-Ed

Why Boeing’s Problems with the 737 MAX Began More Than 25 Years Ago

Business School, and former Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Medtronic. He doesn't hold a financial stake in Boeing, its competitors, or any airlines. You Might Also Like: What Went Wrong with the Boeing 737 Max? Courage: The Defining... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Air Transportation; Transportation; Aerospace

Joseph L. Bower

JOSEPH L. BOWER, Donald K. David Professor Emeritus, has been a leader in general management at Harvard Business School for 51 years. He also served on the faculty of the Harvard Kennedy School during its first decade. He has served in many administrative roles... View Details

Keywords: financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services

February 1998
Case

Creating the International Trade Organization

By: David A. Moss, George R. Appling and Andrew D Archer

In the late 1940s, officials at the U.S. State Department began campaigning for the creation of an International Trade Organization (ITO). This new organization would oversee global negotiations on trade liberalization, foreign direct investment, cartels, and commodity... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Globalized Economies and Regions; Agreements and Arrangements; Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Systems; International Relations

12 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Facing the New World Order

Published since 1979 by the World Economic Forum, the Global Competitiveness Report ranks seventy-five countries and measures the comparative strengths and weaknesses of their economies. At a press conference announcing publication of the... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

May 1986 (Revised October 1993)
Case

Moet-Hennessy Group

By: Malcolm S. Salter

Presents the strategic and organizational problems of a venerable French firm pursuing product and financial diversification in an international context. View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Product Marketing; Organizations; Diversification; France

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30 Nov 2018
What Do You Think?

What’s the Best Administrative Approach to Climate Change?

Summing Up: Should a 'Montreal Protocol' for Administering Global Warming Be Pursued? Climate change and how to manage it is a daunting subject. Nevertheless, several readers of this month’s column were willing to venture a model or two for administering a system... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Energy

April 2023
Case

Strive Asset Management

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Lynn S. Paine and Aldo Sesia

Strive Asset Management, which launched in 2022, was actively targeting several leading U.S. companies in the upcoming 2023 proxy voting season to stop acquiescing to those large asset managers and other institutional shareholders who were pressing those companies to... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Shareholder Activism; Asset Management; Investment Funds; Corporate Governance; Risk Management; Climate Change; Diversity; Equity; Financial Services Industry; United States

April 1991 (Revised July 1994)
Case

Southland Corp. (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback

Examines Southland's financial difficulties following the LBO in 1987 up to the first restructuring plan in July 1990. The teaching objectives are: to explore the complexities of a failed leverage buyout and the operating restrictions that result from financial... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financing and Loans; Crisis Management

December 2010 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Silver Lake

By: David J. Collis and Elizabeth A. Kind

Dave Roux, co-founder and chairman of Silver Lake, a private equity (PE) firm specializing in technology investments, was meeting with the firm's investment committee via video conference to discuss options for Silver Lake's future growth. While the private equity... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Private Equity; Expansion; Global Range; Financial Services Industry

February 1997 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Mexico (B): Escaping from the Debt Crisis?

By: Huw Pill

Describes the response of the Mexican authorities and the international community to the "Third World Debt Crisis" that came to the forefront of global economic concerns in the early 1980s. Focuses on the respective roles of the private sector, governments (Mexican and... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Economies and Regions; Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Mexico

March 2022
Teaching Note

Supreme: Remaining Cool While Pursuing Growth

By: Jill Avery and Sandrine Crener

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 522-006. Following VF Corporation’s acquisition of cult streetwear brand Supreme, consumers and industry pundits were nervous that becoming part of a large, public corporation would put an end to Supreme’s slow and careful growth... View Details

Keywords: Cultural Branding; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Growth Management; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; United States

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Rob Markey

Managing Service Operations - MBA Elective Curriculum

World-class service organizations deeply understand the needs and behaviors of their customers, and design, manage, and improve their operating models accordingly. This course... View Details

Keywords: Customer Lifetime Value; Customer Centric Initiative; Customer Engagement; Service Management; Service Profit Chain; Service Design; Service Models; Service Excellence; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Service Delivery; Service Operations

October 2005
Case

Saskatchewan Wheat Pool 2005

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman

CEO Mayo Schmidt had just guided his firm through five difficult years. Survival had come with the difficult decision to change the 80-year-old agricultural cooperative into a Canadian business corporation. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP) now faced the future with a... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Capital; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Expansion; Technology Adoption; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada

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11 May 2020
Op-Ed

Immigration Policies Threaten American Competitiveness

It is no secret that immigration has reshaped American innovation. Immigrants are the backbone of America’s most innovative industries, provide a quarter of our patent applications, and are numerous among our science and engineering superstars. Taken from World... View Details

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

August 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

The Dow Acquisition of Rohm and Haas (C)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton

The global economy entered a crippling recession in the fourth quarter of 2008 and Dow lost its primary source of funding for its planned acquisition of Rohm and Haas. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Financing and Loans; Chemical Industry