Publications

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May 2009
Case

Ceres Gardening Company: Funding Growth in Organic Products

By: John H. McArthur and Sunru Yong

Ceres is a leading player in the growing organic gardening industry, selling seeds, small plants, and related items. Their distribution depends heavily on retail sales through independent nurseries and garden centers. Because these small dealers are unable to finance... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Procedures; Marketing; Business Growth; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Marketing Strategy; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Marketing Channels; Credit; Financial Statements; Sales; Retail Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

20 May 2014
News

Collective Genius

March 2002 (Revised April 2002)
Background Note

A Note on Pre-Money and Post-Money Valuation (B)

A brief introduction to the calculations inherent in pre-money and post-money valuations at multiple stages of financing. Relies on one example to illustrate that valuations can be calculated in a variety of ways, depending on the information provided. A rewritten... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Financing and Loans

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September 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Supplement

Merck & Co., Inc. (C)

Discusses the 1989 modified performance appraisal program by adding performance gradations and allowing for differences in employee rating distributions depending on the division performance for the year. The objective is to have students discuss the revisions in the... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Change; Pharmaceutical Industry

2009
Chapter

The Principles of Embedded Liberalism: Social Legitimacy and Global Capitalism

By: Rawi Abdelal and John G. Ruggie

In this essay we revisit the principles of “embedded liberalism” and argue for their relevance to the contemporary global economy. The most essential principle is the need for markets to enjoy social legitimacy, because their political sustainability ultimately depends... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Ethics; International Finance; Globalization; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Labor

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October 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Masayoshi Son and the Vision Fund

By: Tom Nicholas, Ramana Nanda and Benjamin N. Roth

In October 2016, SoftBank Group Corp., the Japanese conglomerate giant caused a significant shock to the worldwide market for venture capital and private equity by announcing the Vision Fund, the largest tech investment fund in the world at close to $100 billion. The... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy

07 Oct 2013
News

Open brainstorming is the way to go

July 1985 (Revised March 1994)
Background Note

Exposure and Hedging

By: David E. Bell

Describes the concept of exposure; the dependence of a goal on an uncertain external event. Describes in detail how hedges may be constructed to eliminate exposure, including the algebra of cross-hedging and hedge ratios. The relevance of regression analysis is... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Finance

14 Feb 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Capturing Value from IP in a Global Environment

Keywords: by Juan Alcácer, Karin Beukel, and Bruno Cassiman

28 Apr 2020
News

The Role of the Board Chair During a Crisis

2011
Working Paper

Quantity vs. Quality: Exclusion by Platforms with Network Effects

By: Andrei Hagiu

This paper provides a simple model of platforms with direct network effects, in which users value not just the quantity (i.e., number) of other users who join, but also their average quality in some dimension. A monopoly platform is more likely to exclude low-quality... View Details

Keywords: Multi-sided Platforms; Exclusion; Quality And Quantity; Cost; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Network Effects; Market Participation; Digital Platforms; Monopoly; Quality; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy

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13 Jun 2013
News

The Crucial Edge That Makes A Board Exceptional

November 2023
Case

Apple Inc. in 2023

By: David B. Yoffie and Sarah von Bargen

Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple became the first trillion dollar market cap company, the first two trillion dollar company, and the first three trillion dollar company. Since the COVID pandemic, Apple gained over 20% of the world smartphone market and 50% of the U.S. market,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Emerging Markets; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Revenue; Technology Industry

2023
Working Paper

Global Supply Chains: The Looming 'Great Reallocation'

By: Laura Alfaro and Davin Chor

Global supply chains have come under unprecedented stress as a result of U.S.-China trade tensions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and geopolitical shocks. We document shifts in the pattern of U.S. participation in global value chains over the last four decades, in terms of... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; International Relations; Trade; Globalized Markets and Industries

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02 Aug 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Machine Learning Methods for Strategy Research

Keywords: by Mike Horia Teodorescu

04 Nov 2012
News

A Capitalist's Dilemma, Whoever Wins on Tuesday

February 2004
Case

The Making of Verizon

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Douglas A Raymond and Ryan Raffaelli

Through a series of mergers, Ivan Seidenberg, Verizon chairman and CEO, successfully shared the co-CEO title twice while building the largest telecom company in the United States. The strong and complementary cultures of the companies that Seidenberg and a key group of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Change Management; Transition; Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Risk Management; Telecommunications Industry; United States

January 2000 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Dressen

By: Thomas R. Piper and Jeremy Cott

Divisional management must decide whether to support a leveraged buyout by a private equity group and, if so, what percent of ownership should go to the various partners involved. The appropriateness of the financing structure and the value of the equity depend on the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Capital Structure; Valuation; Ownership Stake; Forecasting and Prediction