Publications

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Industrial Giant

exchange with auto parts suppliers. This system, initially called TradeXchange, was designed to bring suppliers online so that GM can purchase supplies. For a fee, suppliers were to use TradeXchange to "reduce their costs View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, Davis Dyer & Frederick Dalzell; Manufacturing

November 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Asea Brown Boveri (Condensed)

By: Robert L. Simons

The merger of Asea AB and BBC Brown Boveri required a restructuring of operations and a change in organizational cultures. Competitive success also necessitated the benefits of scale while remaining "local" for political and customer-responsiveness reasons. The case... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Competitive Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development; Performance Effectiveness; Consumer Products Industry

24 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

With Millions of Workers Juggling Caregiving, Employers Need to Rethink Support

the workforce. Companies also pay a price, both directly and indirectly, often in ways they don’t fully understand, the report found. The Gazette spoke with its author Joseph B. Fuller, professor of View Details

Keywords: by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

September 1976
Case

Del Norte Paper Co. (A)

By: William A. Sahlman

Deals with a transfer pricing problem in a complex, international situation. A broad range of issues are present in the case, or are needed for a thorough case analysis. Such issues include: relevant costs; the appropriateness of profit centers; the appropriateness of... View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Cost Management; Business Divisions; Profit Sharing; Profit

03 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 3, 2009

explores many issues in the construction of large-scale buildings: how to envision such a project, how to manage the architects, how different designs add value, and what criteria matter in resolving a... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 1997
Case

Enron Development Corp.: The Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra, India (B) (Abridged)

By: Louis T. Wells Jr.

A new administration takes power in a state in India and cancels a power project agreed upon by the previous state government and a U.S.-based energy company. The project cancellation is based on allegations of irregularities, exorbitant costs, and political pressures. View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Fairness; Cost; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Policy; Government and Politics; Contracts; Market Entry and Exit; Negotiation Process; Conflict Management; Energy Industry

11 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 11

Standard theories of corporate ownership assume that because markets are efficient, insiders ultimately bear agency costs and therefore have a strong incentive to minimize conflicts of interest with outside... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2024
Supplement

gWorks (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In January of 2019, Joe Heieck, CEO of gWorks, was deciding whether to proceed with his acquisition of Data Tech, that was a business roughly the same size as gWorks. gWorks, which provided geospatial software to small city and rural county governments, was acquired by... View Details

04 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 4

aggressively managing their own tax liabilities and those of their portfolio firms. We investigate the latter assertion based on a sample of private firms for which there is financial statement data... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

07 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Corporate Tax Strategies Mirror Personal Returns of Top Execs

“There is actually a lot of heterogeneity with the actions that executives take. For me that was very surprising.” Pérez Cavazos, part of the Accounting and Management Unit, initially doubted his colleague... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

05 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Fixing the ‘I Hate Work’ Blues

of managers. The best way to address this is to widen the span of control for everyone between the CEO and first-line employees. Instead of six to 12 direct reports, all managers should have 15 to 20 people... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

01 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

How Much Time Should CEOs Devote to Customers?

product managers spent on average only three percent of their time in contact with end consumers. Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco, the UK supermarket chain, spends two days a week in stores interacting with employees View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

June 2009
Teaching Note

COFCO Xinjiang Tunhe Co., Ltd. (TN)

By: David E. Bell, Sarah Morton and Mary Louise Shelman

Teaching Note for [508079]. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Goals and Objectives; Quality; Price; Competitive Strategy; Contracts; Supply and Industry; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Safety; Cost Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China

08 Sep 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

Capitalism Works Better When I Can See What You're Doing

corrupt company. Why American Health Care Needs Its Own SECThe United States needs a health care equivalent of the Securities and Exchange Commission to increase transparency and competition. But sometimes a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

08 Nov 2024
Op-Ed

How Private Investors Can Help Solve Africa's Climate Crisis

budget is only about $31 billion, and that amount is intended to cover all areas of concern in all nations, according to the World Bank Group. Furthermore, the entire gross domestic product of Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, is... View Details

Keywords: by John Macomber; Green Technology; Energy

17 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Harvard Business School Faculty Comment on Crisis in Japan

to cover most of the cost of the recovery plan. Japan often shows itself at its best in times of crisis, setting aside internal differences and responding with inspiring levels of efficiency View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

01 Oct 2001
News

The Eyes Have It: Business Plan Winners Pursue Global Vision

hadn't really thought about this problem until he visited Peru and noticed that hardly anybody there wore glasses. Back at HBS, in Associate Professor Stefan Thomke's elective course Managing Product... View Details

Keywords: eyeglasses

05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Are Consumers the Cure for Broken Health Insurance?

to be like this. About twenty years ago, managed care was widely viewed as the silver bullet that would curb cost increases while ensuring patients good and convenient... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger

November 1991 (Revised October 1993)
Supplement

British Airways: ""Go for It, America!"" Promotion (B)

By: Stephen A. Greyser

Provides details on the results of the campaign for British Airways (BA) in terms of expenditure by BA, press coverage, effect on bookings, and effect on overall market share. View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Cost Management; Information Publishing; Marketing Strategy; Market Participation; Aerospace Industry