Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,027)
- Faculty Publications (211)
- February 2003
- Background Note
Leading Teams
This note which describes the architecture and processes that characterize effective teams, begins by detailing the steps involved in designing a team, from diagnosing the complexity, interdependence, and objectives of the task to harnessing the key resources teams... View Details
- February 2003 (Revised October 2003)
- Case
Cable Data Systems
By: Paul W. Marshall and Todd H Thedinga
Describes the operating challenges of Cable Data Systems (CDS), a minority-owned cable installation company with a dual mission of maximizing profits and providing employment opportunities to minorities in urban markets. Following the merger of two cable installation... View Details
- September 2002 (Revised January 2003)
- Case
A-Rod: Signing the Best Player in Baseball
This case analyzes a large investment decision considered by the Texas Rangers in 2000: whether to spend $252 million for the services of shortstop Alex Rodriguez. The signing was probably the most controversial sports contract of the past decade. View Details
- August 2002 (Revised August 2003)
- Case
Electronic Arts Introduces The Sims Online
By: Youngme E. Moon
Electronic Arts (EA), the world's largest independent game publisher, is preparing to launch an online, subscription-based version of the most popular PC game in history: The Sims. The new game is called "The Sims Online" and it differs from the original game in two... View Details
- May 2002 (Revised January 2006)
- Case
SG Cowen: New Recruits
By: Thomas J. DeLong and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan
Chip Rae, director of recruiting at SG Cowen, must decide which recruits to keep after the final interview process for new outside associate hires. Along with team captains assigned to each school, he reviews the criteria used to make hiring decisions. Their new... View Details
- April 2001 (Revised November 2001)
- Case
AvantGo
By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman
Richard Owen, CEO of AvantGo, is preparing for a meeting in which he will set the human resource policy for the firm going forward. It has been three months since the company's IPO, and given the tremendous cramp in hiring over the six months prior to the IPO, he knows... View Details
- April 2001 (Revised July 2001)
- Case
Zaplet, Inc.
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey
Start-up Zaplet, Inc., has radical software, prestigious venture capital funding, and a multitude of business opportunities. New CEO Alan Baratz must select a strategy and redesign the organization to deliver. This case describes the roles and philosophies of the... View Details
- January 2001
- Case
Valuing Project Achieve
By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs
Project Achieve is a start-up providing information management solutions for schools. Its founders see a need for software both to manage the volumes of information necessary to administer a school and to connect parents, teachers, and students in a more effective way.... View Details
- October 2000
- Case
Tree Values
By: Richard S. Ruback and Kathleen Luchs
Describes two alternative tree cutting strategies. The first is to cut all trees that are at least 12 inches in diameter at breast height. The second is to thin the forest by cutting less desirable trees immediately and harvesting the crop trees later. The case... View Details
- September 2000 (Revised September 2005)
- Case
New Beetle, The
By: Rajiv Lal and Nilanjana R. Pal
Volkswagen of America introduced the New Beetle at the Detroit auto show in January 1998 to rave reviews from the automobile press and industry gurus. Elisabeth Vanzura, marketing director of Volkswagen American had the challenging task of converting this enthusiasm to... View Details
- December 1998 (Revised June 1999)
- Case
STT Aerospace
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Jeremy Dann
Experienced entrepreneur Charles Damon conducted a "roll-up" from 1987-1994 within the commercial airliner interior products industry. Damon's company, STT Aerospace, took advantage of an industry-wide recession in the early 1990s by buying when asset prices were low.... View Details
- December 1997 (Revised October 2006)
- Case
Merck Sharp & Dohme Argentina, Inc. (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Hal Hogan
Describes the efforts of the new managing director of Merck's subsidiary for Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay to transform the organization and its culture. Focuses on a critical decision: whether to offer the son of a high-ranking official in the government's national... View Details
- May 1994
- Background Note
Designing Channels of Distribution
Presents a framework and a method for addressing the new product channel choice decision. Offers a six-step method that involves: 1) disaggregating and prioritizing a distribution channel by customers' channel function requirements; 2) obtaining and combining... View Details
- July 1993 (Revised November 1993)
- Case
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Marketing Strategy for the Debut Bond Offering
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the first supranational financial institution of the post-Cold War era, is planning its debut in the international capital markets through a bond issuance of $500 million. The bank must determine its marketing... View Details
- March 1993 (Revised September 1993)
- Case
Praxair: Creating a Board (A)
By: Jay W. Lorsch
Discusses the process a CEO/chairman goes through in creating a new board. Specifically, follows a CEO's decision-making process in selecting board members. Also includes decisions about the selection process for board members and the structure and process of board... View Details
- December 1992 (Revised November 1994)
- Case
Becton Dickinson Division: Marketing Organization
The marketing director for the largest division of a health care products company is reviewing the structure and staffing of the division's marketing organization. The division has authorization to hire an additional marketing manager. Hence, the immediate case... View Details
- October 1992 (Revised October 1993)
- Case
MCI Communications Corporation: National Accounts Program (Condensed)
Concerns the early stages of a major-account program at MCI, a telecommunications firm seeking to penetrate the corporate-account market. Among the issues are: 1) coordination of field sales efforts with national account selling efforts; 2) sales strategy for major... View Details
- March 1992 (Revised October 1994)
- Case
AT&T Consumer Products
Describes the factors AT&T Consumer Products managers considered in deciding whether to locate a new plant for telephone answering machines in the United States, Asia, or Mexico. Describes in depth the restructuring of AT&T during the 1980s, the competition facing its... View Details
- March 1992 (Revised June 1992)
- Case
AT&T Productos de Consumo de Mexico
Describes in detail the decisions AT&T made in designing and staffing their Mexican telephone answering machine plant. Allows students to evaluate a company's detailed implementation decisions on a plant in a developed country--involving wages, benefits, waste... View Details
- January 1987 (Revised January 2002)
- Case
Baker Precision Instruments, Inc.
By: Ramchandran Jaikumar, Roy Shapiro, Donald Rosenfield and Kathryn E. Stecke
A rapidly growing machine parts manufacturer is trying to decide whether to acquire an advanced Flexible Manufacturing System or Systems. The selection decisions must address the impact of new technology, the effect of setup times on production planning and capacity,... View Details