Publications

March 2001 (Revised February 2004)
Case

International Profit Associates

By: Ashish Nanda, Thomas J. DeLong and Monica Mullick

Describes the work environment, systems, and processes that allow International Profit Associates (IPA) to follow a systematic four-step approach to providing advisory service to small business owners. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Business Processes; Business Model; Consulting Industry

December 2000 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Rise and Fall of Iridium, The

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Examines the history of Iridium Communications, a provider of mobile satellite services. Discusses the genesis of Iridium's technical design, then follows the venture through various stages of development. Describes Iridium's attempts to build a subscriber base after... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Business Model; Business Growth and Maturation; Organizational Structure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry

21 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Is a Gap in Small-Business Credit Holding Back the American Economy?

report a net credit gain of $25,000. Third, the data only includes small business loans on the balance sheets of banks, not loan originations. This means that loans which have been securitized will not be counted. The Banking Industry... View Details

Keywords: by Karen Mills; Manufacturing

January 1985 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Lotus Development Corp.

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of the history and venture capital financing of Lotus Development. Focuses on issues related to the possible terms of investment in Lotus by a major venture capital firm. The pedagogic objectives in the case are: to explore the elements of the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Venture Capital; Organizational Structure; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Outcome or Result; Corporate Finance; Planning; Computer Industry

June 1997 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Walker and Company: Profit Plan Decisions

By: Robert L. Simons and Ramsey Walker

Ramsey Walker, a second-year MBA student, must decide how to control a family business as an absentee owner. After providing background details on the publishing industry, the case requires the reader to: 1) make a product segmentation decision; 2) prepare a profit... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Family and Family Relationships; Market Design; Management Systems; Planning; Profit; Performance Evaluation; Segmentation; Corporate Strategy; Investment Return; Publishing Industry

19 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Wrapping Your Alliances In a World Wide Web

widespread; in a survey of fifty global manufacturing companies, 62 percent reported that they used primarily manual methods to share production schedules with their partners, with one respondent stating, "Our biggest coordination... View Details

Keywords: by Andrew McAfee

02 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Casino Payoff: Hands-Off Management Works Best

management structures. So casino hosts in some units are more tightly watched than others, allowing the researchers to evaluate results in both loosely and tightly monitored environments. In what appears to be an industry standard, casino... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Entertainment & Recreation

06 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Circularity in Denmark

pumps they sell annually, but Grundfos is building the knowledge and infrastructure that will be necessary to scale. In Kalundborg, we saw circularity applied to energy as NGO Kalundborg Symbiosis presented Kalundborg Bioenergy’s production of biogas from local View Details

06 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: Dec. 6

corporate governance literature of the past decade has focused on identifying drivers of superior or deficient corporate governance. One of the most rigorous methodologies uses firms' reactions to industry shocks to characterize the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 17, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=107061 Understanding Industry Structure Harvard Business School Note 707-493 Examines the structural determinants... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 1998 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Gene Research, the Mapping of Life and the Global Economy

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Juan Enriquez-Cabot

A new firm is being created to speed up the process of mapping humans, animals, and plants by combining gene technology with rapid gene identification to improve the health and well being of the human population and the productivity of crops and animals. How does one... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Business Processes; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Productivity; Welfare; Agribusiness; Genetics; Science-Based Business; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry