Publications

November 2016
Case

Bayern Munich in China

By: Karim Lakhani, Sascha L. Schmidt, Michael Norris and Kerry Herman

In 2015, German football club Bayern Munich is considering how to enter the Chinese market. Should it build its own infrastructure or rely on third-party partnerships to reach this massive football fan base? View Details

Keywords: Football; Soccer; Bundesliga; Digital Technology; Market Entry; Sports; Global Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Online Technology; Sports Industry; Germany; China

June 2004 (Revised January 2005)
Background Note

Principals, Agents, and Partners

By: Arthur I Segel, Armen Panossian and Jeff Mandelbaum

The establishment of the principal-agent relationship, the duties owed by the agent to the principal, and the principal's liability for illegal actions or representations made by the agent are all examined. Also covers the creation of partnerships and the duties of... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Agency Theory; Legal Liability

March 1991 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Berkshire Partners

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

Berkshire Partners is a limited partnership engaged in the acquisition of companies valued between $25 million and $250 million. The purpose of the case is to examine the resources of the firm and discuss the firm's competitive advantage vis-a-vis other types of... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Advantage; Acquisition; Corporate Finance

April 1996 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Jason Bosworth

By: William J. Poorvu and John H. Vogel Jr.

Jason Bosworth is a real estate investor who wants to purchase apartments for a $300 million limited partnership in which he is the general partner. This case is part of a negotiation game simulation that includes Sunshine Villas, Silver Lane Apartments, and Major... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Property; Negotiation Tactics; Partners and Partnerships; Management; Real Estate Industry

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February 1991 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Ann Hopkins (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Ilyse Barkan

Intended to help students understand the many barriers organizations face as their members and their management ranks grow more diverse. As a case on business ethics, it encourages students to discuss what "fairness" and "diversity" mean when an organization is also... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams

March 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Proximie: Using XR Technology to Create Borderless Operating Rooms

By: Ariel D. Stern and Alpana Thapar

In mid-January 2022, Nadine Hachach-Haram, founder and CEO of Proximie, was thinking about the company’s growth plans. Launched in 2016, Proximie was a platform that enabled clinicians, proctors, and medical device company personnel to be virtually present in operating... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Strategic Planning; Health Care and Treatment; Analytics and Data Science; Digital Platforms; Health Industry; Lebanon; United Kingdom; United States

28 May 2014
Video

Sal Khan - Making A Difference

28 Jul 2020
Video

Sizwe Nxasana

Sizwe Nxasana, the founding partner of SizweNtsalubaGobodo, the largest Black accounting firm in South Africa, as well as the former CEO of Telkom and FirstRand Group, recounts how the... View Details

January 2002
Case

IBM's Reinventing Education (B): West Virginia

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Daniel Galvin

Describes IBM's ongoing Reinventing Education initiative to improve K-12 public education via information technology developed by IBM's engineers and consultants. Focuses on one site, West Virginia, to reveal how IBM and the state created a mutually beneficial... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Partners and Partnerships; Information Technology; Education; Business and Community Relations; Information Technology Industry; Education Industry; West Virginia

May 2025
Case

Fidji Simo: Growing the Pie at Instacart

By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and James Barnett

In January 2025, Instacart CEO Fidji Simo considers strategies for continuing to grow Instacart from a grocery delivery platform to a holistic grocery technology company, including in-store grocery technology and expanding partnerships across the grocery sector. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Customers; Food; Health; Working Conditions; Leading Change; Operations; Going Public; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Canada

October 2002
Case

A Father's Love: Novazyme Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Bradley Campbell

John Crowley, CEO of Novazyme Pharmaceuticals, a start-up biotechnology firm developing an orphan drug to treat a rare lysosomal storage disorder from which his children suffer, must choose between a partnership and a buyout to have sufficient funds and support to get... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Partners and Partnerships; Financing and Loans; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Sales; Price; Product Development; Motivation and Incentives; Decision Choices and Conditions; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

February 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Bardhaman (A): Shrachi and the West Bengal Housing Board

By: John D. Macomber and Viraal Balsari

A real estate developer decides whether to enter into a public private partnership with the government of West Bengal to develop a township on farmland. The decisions include whether to expand operations from the company's base in Kolkata to Bardhaman, 100 km away;... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Growth and Development Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Decisions; Private Equity; Design; Housing; Infrastructure; Projects; Real Estate Industry; West Bengal

January 1993 (Revised November 1993)
Case

FCB and Publicis (A): Forming the Alliance

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Two of the largest ad agencies form a partnership to be able to offer their clients global capabilities. After five years, how is the alliance faring? May be used with FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity and (C): The German-Led Network. View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Partners and Partnerships; Globalized Firms and Management; Advertising; Global Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Market Timing; Outcome or Result; Advertising Industry; United States; France; Germany

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09 Jul 2014
News

How Business Leaders Can Strengthen American Schools

18 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

Wrap-up: Software, Telecom, and Recovery

Venture capital firms ask themselves tough questions these days. Among them: how can they dig out of the dot-com collapse? How should they invest going forward? How should the leader of a firm strike the right note for the future? And is it a field that graduating MBAs... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild & Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

November 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Mall of America (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher Bruner

Explores fiduciary duty issues that arose in litigation among partners in the partnership that owned and controlled the Mall of America. Describes the complex real estate transaction in which one partner attempted to purchase an additional interest in the mall from a... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Business Organization; Lawsuits and Litigation; Partners and Partnerships; Property; Investment; Retail Industry; United States

February 2014
Teaching Note

The Slingshot: Improving Water Access

By: John A. Quelch

Entrepreneur Dean Kamen has inked a multimillion dollar partnership with Coca-Cola (CC) to mass produce and distribute the Slingshot, a low energy device that can convert raw sewage into potable water for poor people and communities in developing economies. View Details

Keywords: DEKA; Dean Kamen; Coca-Cola; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Commercialization; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; North Africa; South Africa; Asia; South America