Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,018)
- Faculty Publications (253)
- July 2007 (Revised March 2008)
- Background Note
Staging Two-Sided Platforms
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Andrei Hagiu
Firms that aspire to develop two-sided platforms face a formidable challenge. Prospective users on each side will not invest in the platform until they are confident there will be enough users on the other side. Traditional strategies for dealing with this... View Details
- February 2007 (Revised March 2012)
- Compilation
John D. Rockefeller and the Creation of Standard Oil
By: Nancy F. Koehn and Katherine Miller
Reconstructs the entrepreneurial journey of John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil and one of the most famous business figures in history. Traces his early career as a retailer in Cleveland through his decision to enter the oil industry in the early 1860s to his... View Details
- December 2006 (Revised April 2014)
- Case
J. R. D. Tata
By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo and Mark Benson
J.R.D Tata, Chairman of the Indian conglomerate Tata & Sons, played a significant role in building India's economic infrastructure. Under his guidance, Tata & Sons built locomotives, steel refineries, airlines, chemical plants, and technology-based enterprises.... View Details
- September 2006 (Revised December 2006)
- Case
Arizona Department of Public Health: The Challenges of Preparing for a Public Health Emergency
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ajay Vinze, T. S. Raghu and Minu Ipe
In the post-9/11 era information technology enablement for emergency preparedness and response have taken on increased significance. Public health organizations like ADHS play a critical role in any statewide preparation for large scale emergencies. With issues like... View Details
- July 2006
- Case
Citigroup: Euro Zone Bond Trading (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine, Christopher Bruner and Aldo Sesia
Describes the development and execution of a bond trading strategy by a London-based team of Citigroup eurozone bond traders. The trades, which involved two of Europe's leading electronic trading platforms, gave rise to a European-wide controversy over the traders'... View Details
- July 2006 (Revised March 2010)
- Case
Symantec vs. McAfee: Competing in the Consumer Anti-virus Industry
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Jordan Mitchell
Symantec and McAfee hold 53.6% and 18.8% respectively, of the anti-virus software market as of 2006. While the market is concentrated with five firms controlling over 90%, Microsoft is on the eve of releasing a consumer security subscription packed called OneCare Live.... View Details
- Working Paper
Benchmarking Against the Performance of High Profile 'Scandal' Firms
By: Emre Karaoglu, Tatiana Sandino and Randy Beatty
In recent years, several high profile firms engaged in accounting fraud that resulted in severe investor losses and erosion of trust in the capital markets. We examine high profile accounting "scandals" prosecuted by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unlike most... View Details
- May 2006 (Revised June 2006)
- Case
Codon Devices
By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron
In December 2005, 40-year-old John Danner was about to make his first presentation to the board of directors of Codon Devices, a one-year-old biotechnology start-up based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After a month as the company's CEO, Danner was prepared to lay out... View Details
- February 2006 (Revised March 2008)
- Case
ChoicePoint (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Zack Phillips
The CEO of ChoicePoint, a leading company in the rapidly growing U.S. personal data industry, must reexamine the company's business model after a serious breach of data security affecting some 145,000 U.S. citizens. He must decide on steps to strengthen data protection... View Details
- December 2005 (Revised April 2007)
- Case
Flagstar Companies, Inc. (Abridged)
By: Stuart C. Gilson
A large restaurant chain undergoes a leveraged buyout and subsequent recapitalization. Financial and operating problems at the company force it to consider various restructuring options, including a prepackaged Chapter 11 exchange offer to its public bondholders. Two... View Details
- October 2005
- Case
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool 2005
By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman
CEO Mayo Schmidt had just guided his firm through five difficult years. Survival had come with the difficult decision to change the 80-year-old agricultural cooperative into a Canadian business corporation. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP) now faced the future with a... View Details
- July 2005
- Article
The Consequences of Labor Market Flexibility: Panel Evidence Based on Survey Data
By: Rafael Di Tella and Robert MacCulloch
We introduce a new data set on hiring and firing restrictions for 21 OECD countries for the period 1984 –1990. The data are based on surveys of business people in the countries covered, so the indices we use are subjective in nature. Controlling for country and time... View Details
- Article
Consequences of Financial Reporting Failure for Outside Directors: Evidence from Accounting Restatements and Audit Committee Members
By: Suraj Srinivasan
I use a sample of 409 companies that restated their earnings from 1997 to 2001 to examine penalties for outside directors, particularly audit committee members, when their companies experience accounting restatements. Penalties from lawsuits and Securities and Exchange... View Details
- May 2004 (Revised April 2005)
- Case
Prudential Securities
By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Amanda Cowen
Prudential Insurance Co. attempted to diversify into financial services by building an investment banking franchise. Prudential's initial foray into the industry was its acquisition of The Bache Group in 1982. In 2000, the company decided to exit investment banking.... View Details
- March 2004 (Revised February 2006)
- Case
Salt Lake Organizing Committee, The: 2002 Olympics
By: H. Kent Bowen, Bryce LaPierre and Courtney Purrington
After two and a half years of effort, Fraser Bullock, COO of the 2002 Winter Olympics, faced projected deficits and post-9/11 security requirements only five months before the opening ceremony. Summarizes the organizational structure and processes put in place by... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised September 2021)
- Case
Ivar Kreuger and the Swedish Match Empire
By: Geoffrey Jones and Ingrid Vargas
Taught in Evolution of Global Business. Globalization and corporate fraud are the central themes of this case on the international growth of Swedish Match in the interwar years. Between 1913 and 1932, Ivar Kreuger, known as the "Swedish Match King," built a small,... View Details
- October 2003 (Revised January 2004)
- Background Note
Online Securities Trading in Japan
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Jamie Ladge, Haruki Umezawa and Masako Egawa
Provides an overview of the Japanese securities industry and discusses how the online trading/brokerage industry grew as a result of deregulation of financial markets and penetration of the Internet in Japan. Describes major players in the online industry--Matsui... View Details
- October 2003 (Revised January 2009)
- Case
Transforming Matsui Securities
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Masako Egawa, Jamie Ladge and Haruki Umezawa
Michio Matsui, president and CEO of Matsui Securities, transformed a small regional securities company into a leading player in the online broking industry in Japan. Discusses how he transformed the business model and culture of the company and took advantage of the... View Details
- August 2003
- Case
SEC Proposal for Nomination of Directors by Shareholders
By: Jay W. Lorsch and Ashley Robertson
Describes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's 2003 proposal to allow shareholders to nominate a "short slate" of directors for the board of listed companies. Includes comment letters for and against the proposal. View Details
- July 2003 (Revised February 2004)
- Background Note
M&A Legal Context: Standards Related to the Sale or Purchase of a Company
By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Constance E. Bagley and James Quinn
Introduces students to the legal standards affecting officers and directors when selling or purchasing a company. Provides a practical understanding of the Revlon Standard, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, Rule 10b-5, and the legal criteria for a cause of... View Details