Publications

Fall 2012
Article

The Flattening Firm—Not As Advertised

By: Julie Wulf

For decades, management consultants and the popular business press have urged large firms to flatten their hierarchies. Flattening (or delayering, as it is also known) typically refers to the elimination of layers in a firm's organizational hierarchy and the broadening... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Governance Controls; Decision Making

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20 Jan 2014
Research & Ideas

Language Wars Divide Global Companies

language problems but also what managers can do to overcome them. Neeley explores language and its connection to power dynamics on global teams in Language as a Lightning Rod: Power Contests, Emotion... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard

April 2007 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Corrections Corporation of America

This case illustrates a comprehensive valuation of a publicly traded firm specializing in building and managing prisons. Students must assess the firm's strategy and risks, evaluate key financial reports, derive forecasts of future performance, and use these forecasts... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Buildings and Facilities; For-Profit Firms; Crime and Corruption; Forecasting and Prediction; Risk Management; Valuation; Construction Industry; Public Administration Industry; Service Industry

July 2001 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Lehman Brothers (C): Decline of the Equity Research Department

By: Ashish Nanda and Boris Groysberg

This case tracks the rapid decline of Lehman Brothers' equity research department from August 1992, when, beset by declining ranking, low morale, and high turnover, firm management decides to clean house and reinvest in building the department. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Leadership; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry

Research Summary

Overview

My research lies at the intersection of strategic management and international business, with a focus on how firms’ heterogeneous national environments affect competition, corporate strategy, and firm performance. View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Emerging Markets; Corporate Strategy; Competitiveness; Competitive Dynamics; United States; Brazil; Africa

September 2006 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Philips Electronics N.V.

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Alexis Chernak

Looks at the multinational company, Philips Electronics, which is headquartered in the Netherlands, as an example of a company with a two-tiered board. The company is governed by both a supervisory board and a board of management. Examines the role, dynamic, and best... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business or Company Management; Management Teams; Netherlands

December 2006 (Revised January 2009)
Case

METRO Cash & Carry

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu, Carin-Isabel Knoop and David Lane

Analyzes the globalization of Metro Case & Carry, a German wholesaler, which has flourished in many foreign markets but struggled to gain traction in India. Considers Metro's experience in Russia and China to put the company's challenges in India in comparative... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; China; India; Russia; Germany

September 2019
Case

JTC: Stronger Together with Shared Ownership

By: Ethan Bernstein and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Nigel Le Quesne, CEO of Jersey-based financial services firm JTC, firmly believed that "shared ownership" was at the heart of his company’s successful track record. The firm had seen its revenues, profits, and number of clients and staff grow steadily throughout its... View Details

Keywords: Ownership; Employee Ownership; Leadership Style; Compensation and Benefits; Organizational Culture; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Going Public; Mission and Purpose; Management Practices and Processes; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry; Channel Islands; Europe; United States

July 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

What Happened at Citigroup? (A)

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

What went wrong at Citigroup? In 1998, the Travelers Group and Citicorp merged to create Citigroup Inc., considered the first true global "financial supermarket" and a business model to be envied, feared, and emulated. By year-end 2006 the firm had a market... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Globalized Firms and Management; Leadership; Risk Management; Failure; Financial Services Industry

September 1993
Case

Rhone-Poulenc (B)

Rhone-Poulenc, France's largest chemical firm, has achieved a major position in the United States as the result of an ambitious series of acquisitions. As it expanded in the United States from 1986 to 1990, Rhone-Poulenc management sought to take a "hands-off" approach... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Chemical Industry; France; United States

21 Feb 2007
Op-Ed

What a U.N. Partnership with Big Business Could Accomplish

for a local business to flourish, it must invariably be connected to world markets, credit, and technology. That's why multinational corporations must play a critical role. The goal of poverty reduction will... View Details

Keywords: by George C. Lodge & Craig Wilson

Alan D. MacCormack

Alan MacCormack is the MBA Class of 1949 Adjunct Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, a member of The Digital, Data, and Design (D^3) Institute at Harvard, and a core faculty member... View Details

Keywords: automotive; communications; computer; e-commerce industry; electronics; high technology; information technology industry; internet; semiconductor; software; telecommunications; venture capital industry

September 2021 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Bühler: Mobilizing Industry around a Common Purpose

By: Ranjay Gulati, Franz Wohlgezogen and Malini Sen

Bühler Group, a Swiss multinational processing technology provider, started by selling machines for processing grains and later transitioned into selling food processing solutions. A family-owned business in the fifth generation, Bühler’s high-end milling, grinding,... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Customer Focus and Relationships; Machinery and Machining; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Innovation Leadership; Switzerland

5 Nov 2005 - 8 Nov 2005
Conference Presentation

New Perspectives on the Business Value of IT

By: David James Brunner, Bradley R. Staats and Marco Iansiti

We sought to unravel the link between IT investment and firm performance by examining deployed IT functionality (ITF). First, ITF appears to be an important link in the IT spend to business value chain. Second, ITF does not seem to be a commodity and has... View Details

Keywords: Perspective; Value; Performance; Investment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry