Publications

September 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Supplement

Enman Oil, Inc. (B)

By: David F. Hawkins

Company pursues ways to reduce its debt to equity ratio by resorting to off balance sheet debt transactions. View Details

Keywords: Energy Sources; Capital Structure; Financial Statements; Energy Industry; Energy Industry; United States

01 Nov 2011
First Look

strongest predictors of entry, with labor laws and household banking quality also playing important roles. Looking at the district-industry level, we find extensive evidence of agglomeration economies among manufacturing industries. In particular, supportive incumbent... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 Nov 2006
First Look

First Look: November 21, 2006

that future work should develop more precise and context-specific theories to help guide research and practice in disparate task and industry domains. Working paper not available. Why Do Firms Hold So Much Cash? A Tax-Based Explanation... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2010
Case

Corporate Strategy at Berkshire Partners

By: Julie M. Wulf and Scott Waggoner

The managing directors of Berkshire Partners, a mid-sized private equity firm, address strategic and organizational challenges in response to turbulent market conditions, rapid firm growth, and the transition of leadership from its founding partners to the next... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Boston

September 2019
Case

Teaming Up to Win the Rail Deal at GE (A)

By: Amy Edmondson, Ranjay Gulati and Rachna Tahilyani

In 2012, Nalin Jain, then head of GE aviation for South Asia, was given the added responsibility for GE’s transportation business in India, including bidding for a $2.5 billion contract to manufacture, service and maintain 1,000 diesel locomotives for state owned... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Groups and Teams; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; United States; India

29 Mar 2016
First Look

March 29, 2016

Through contemporary examples from a variety of industries and geographies, this collection provides students with an appreciation for the importance of consumer empowerment and consumer behavior in shaping both health and corporate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2002
Case

Lycos (A): The Tripod Decision

By: Giovanni M. Gavetti, Jan W. Rivkin and Elizabeth Johnson

The Internet portal Lycos has acquired Tripod, a provider of home-page-building tools, and now must decide how to integrate the acquisition. View Details

Keywords: Integration; Organizational Structure; Situation or Environment; Mergers and Acquisitions; Internet and the Web; Decision Choices and Conditions; Web Services Industry

20 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 20

examine whether multi-location firms increase internal ties when they face appropriability risks from direct competitors. Our empirical analysis of the global semiconductor industry shows that when leading firms co-locate with direct... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Rebuilding Commercial Real Estate

time MBAs pile into a field, it's a good contrarian indicator. Gallows humor aside, market pros see parallels, but no repeat of the 1989 crash. That optimism rests on the knowledge that the industry today bears little resemblance to the... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Construction; Real Estate

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Setting the Stage: A Young Scholar at HBS

accounts. But, by the early twentieth century a large industry had emerged that provided basic financial services to the public. In the 1930s the modern regulatory framework for this industry was created. In... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard; Banking; Financial Services

January 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Ford Motor Company's Value Enhancement Plan

By: Andre F. Perold

In April 2000, Ford Motor Co. announced a shareholder Value Enhancement Plan (VEP) to significantly recapitalize the firm's ownership structure. Ford had accumulated $23 billion in cash reserves and under the VEP would return as much as $10 billion of this cash to... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Forecasting and Prediction; Capital Structure; Cash; Financial Liquidity; Policy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value; Auto Industry

15 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 15

standard preferences and show that the endogenous structure of the network is conducive to sharing by a significant number of peers, even if sharing is costlier than freeriding. We build on this model of p2p to analyze the optimal... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

From Beirut With Love (A)

By: Christina R. Wing, Esel Y. Cekin and Samer Al-Rachedy

This case describes how Robert Fadel, CEO and chairman of ABC, one of Lebanon’s leading retail and real estate groups, professionalized the family business. Robert was the second son of the company’s founder, Maurice Fadel, who had run it single-handedly. Concerned... View Details

June 2013
Case

Hess Corporation

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kathleen Durante

On January 29, 2013, Elliott Management, a hedge fund run by Paul E. Singer, which owned 4.5% of Hess Corporation stock, put forward a slate of five independent directors it wanted elected to improve the company's performance. Elliott argued that Hess lacked focus and... View Details

Keywords: Takeover Attempt; Board; Hess; Governing and Advisory Boards; Organizational Structure; Acquisition; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

29 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

Hunting for a Hot Job in High Tech? Try 'Digitization Economist'

the ability to understand industry structure and equilibrium behavior by firms. Working in a real-world setting with interdisciplinary teams on complex problems is part of the lure of the tech sector, says... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Technology; Education

15 Nov 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

Connecting Goals and Go-To-Market Initiatives

the industry you compete in, the market segments where you do (and do not) choose to play, and the nature of the customers that you sell and service. These factors help to determine required sales tasks—that is, what your go-to-market... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

April 1985 (Revised November 1987)
Case

Sun Hydraulics Corp. (A)

Involves the design and creation of a company with no formally-defined hierarchy. Describes the steps the founder takes to avoid the organizational politics he perceives as crushing the human contributions they were designed to harness. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Engineering; Business Startups; Technology Industry