Publications

July 1987 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Phillips 66: Controlling a Company Through Crisis

By: Lynda M. Applegate

The downstream operations subsidiary of a major U.S. petroleum company is faced with major restructuring decisions and responds by developing an Executive Information System (EIS) which allows for increased responsiveness, wider span of control, and higher levels of... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Information Management; Governance Controls; Organizational Design; Crisis Management; Communication; Management Teams; Growth Management; Mining Industry; Energy Industry; United States

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March 1978 (Revised October 1978)
Case

Rosemont Hill Health Center

An administrator of a neighborhood health center is considering changing his cost accounting system from a single cost per visit to a cost per visit for each department in the center. Used to illustrate several issues related to cost accounting in health care:... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

14 Aug 2012
News

To Be Number One, Get the Right Number Two

05 May 2021
News

Shoshana Zuboff: Facebook’s Oversight Board Is Not Enough. The Government Has to Regulate Big Tech

Person Page

Blog Post Collection

By: Sunil Gupta

“In Mobile Advertising, Timing is Everything,” Nov 4, 2015
https://hbr.org/2015/11/in-mobile-advertising-timing-is-everything

“2015: A Decisive Year for... View Details

21 Sep 2010
First Look

First Look: September 21, 2010

aggregate the "information" and "communication" components together. We show theoretically and empirically that this is problematic. Information and communication technologies have very different effects on the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2009
Case

What People Want (and How to Predict It)

By: Thomas H. Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris

Historically, neither the creators nor the distributors of cultural products such as books or movies have used analytics -- data, statistics, predictive modeling -- to determine the likely success of their offerings. Instead, companies relied on the brilliance of... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Creativity; Customer Satisfaction; Forecasting and Prediction; Markets; Business Model; Publishing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

October 1990
Case

Parenting Magazine

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes a set of decisions confronting Robin Wolaner, who is negotiating with representatives of Time Inc. about investing in a project to launch a new magazine called Parenting. The negotiations have reached an impasse. Among the issues to be considered are the... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Negotiation; Negotiation Deal; Valuation; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Outcome or Result; Risk and Uncertainty; Projects; Journals and Magazines; Journalism and News Industry; Publishing Industry

March 2002
Case

Mark Taper Forum (A)

The Mark Taper Forum, a regional nonprofit theatre in Los Angeles, has discovered and produced a highly acclaimed play entitled Angles in America. Because of the play's success, for-profit theatres on Broadway in New York have become extremely interested in... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Nonprofit Organizations; For-Profit Firms; Decision Choices and Conditions; Theater Entertainment; Los Angeles

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07 Jul 2015
First Look

First Look: July 7, 2015

business model as decisions enforced by the authority of the firm; this definition enables the analysis of business models through the analysis of individual firm choices. We situate negotiation outcomes within the strategy literature by... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2008
Other Unpublished Work

Punctuated Identities and the Careers of Professional Women

This paper proposes a punctuated equilibrium model of identity change to explain how professional women's career goals and attitudes can change rapidly and dramatically during mid-career years. Data collected from interviews of 43 women alumni of an elite business... View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Identity; Personal Development and Career; Gender

February 2003 (Revised January 2006)
Case

AIT Group Plc

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

A U.S. venture capital firm has just learned that the deal structure for purchasing an illiquid U.K. software firm is unacceptable to institutional investors. The group must decide if it still wants to go through with the deal. This decision hinges on whether the... View Details

Keywords: Price; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Mergers and Acquisitions; Venture Capital; Financial Condition; Risk and Uncertainty; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry; United States; United Kingdom

July 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Activision: The 'Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer' Project

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Enrico D"Angelo and Kerry Herman

Mike Ward, the producer in charge of developing the Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer game for Activision, must decide whether to launch the game in time for the 2002 Christmas season. Complicating his decision are the lukewarm response from consumers to TV test spots of the... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Product Development; Customer Satisfaction; Projects; Business or Company Management; Product Launch; Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Industry Structures; Innovation Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

January 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

eToro: Building the World's Largest Social Trading Network

By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan

Social trading platform eToro was preparing for the launch of its expanded offering in the U.S. The company faced critical decisions regarding product-market fit, go-to-market strategy, positioning and monetization. Moreover, it faced the challenge of how best to make... View Details

Keywords: Social Trading Platform; Investment; Social and Collaborative Networks; Marketing Strategy; Expansion; Digital Platforms

September 2009
Article

Hidden Roadblocks in Cross-Border Talks

By: James K. Sebenius

While most analysts and dealmakers are aware of "cultural" differences in negotiations that cross national borders--different protocol and process expectations, differences in the role of the individual versus the group, differences in attitudes toward risk and time,... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Negotiation Tactics; Risk Management; Time Management; Strategy; Governance; Performance Expectations; Attitudes; Culture; Decision Making

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September 2001
Case

Charitableway

By: James E. Austin and Elizabeth Kind

In early 2001, Charitableway, an ePhilanthropy application service provider that enabled the collection of charitable donations online; faced major strategic decisions relating to its alliance with United Way of America to foster workplace giving online. One of the... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

February 1990 (Revised December 1993)
Case

Fusion Systems Corp. in Japan (A)

Describes the international business of Fusion Systems Corp., a small high technology American firm, and a five-year patent dispute the company has in Japan with Mitsubishi Electric. Also describes key features of the intellectual property systems in Japan and related... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Conflict and Resolution; Technology Industry; Japan; United States