Publications

January 2017 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Royal DSM: From Continuous Transformation to Organic Growth

By: William W. George, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Amram Migdal

Royal DSM CEO Feike Sijbesma was pondering the challenges of shifting DSM’s global organization from the constant transformations of the past 100 years to creating organic growth. When Sijbesma took the helm as CEO in 2007, he further pushed and completed the company’s... View Details

Keywords: Organic Growth; Organizational Change; M＆A; Mergers And Acquisitions; Divestment; Business Ventures; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Restructuring; Change; Change Management; Transformation; Transition; Engineering; Chemicals; Mining; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Finance; Capital Markets; Financial Markets; Food; Globalization; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Health; Nutrition; History; Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Management; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Ownership; Public Ownership; Performance; Strategy; Adaptation; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Value; Value Creation; Biotechnology Industry; Chemical Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Mining Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Europe; Netherlands

November 2024
Teaching Note

Martine Rothblatt and United Therapeutics: A Series of Implausible Dreams

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 323-039. In 1990, satellite expert and Sirius XM founder Martine Rothblatt was determined to save the life of her seven-year-old daughter, Jenesis, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness called Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). At... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Organ Donation; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States; District of Columbia

February 2006
Case

Adams Capital Management: Fund IV

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

The partners of Adams Capital Management must decide whether to start their fourth fund in early 2006 or to hold off until they have realized more exits from the earlier funds and have proved the viability of a recent change in strategy. View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Business Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Services Industry

26 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Japanese Businesses Are So Good at Surviving Crises

deeply hit by pandemic and seismic culture shifts, it’s important to recognize that many of the Japanese companies in the Tohoku region continue to operate today, despite facing serious financial setbacks from the disaster. How did these... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

31 Oct 2014
Op-Ed

Ebola’s Call To Arms About Disaster Preparedness

lesson in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The risk-management tools and safety margins needed to manage normal disruptions in the market were completely inadequate to handle a major catastrophe. We... View Details

Keywords: by Gautam Mukunda; Health

19 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

15 Podcast Episodes That Grabbed Listeners in 2023

how Apple's financial model contributes to its success and illustrates a critical lesson about risk management. Mike Wheeler on the Jazz of Negotiation Mike Wheeler, who retired as the MBA Class of 1952 Professor of View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

12 Feb 2024
News

Dale LeFebvre to Receive Horatio Alger Award

he returned to school to concurrently pursue his Juris Doctor and MBA from Harvard Law and Harvard Business School. Leaving graduate school with $250,000 in debt, Mr. LeFebvre faced new financial pressures but believed in himself, the... View Details

Keywords: Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments

10 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

Truth Be Told: Unpacking the Risks of Whistleblowing

In 2018, HBS associate professors Aiyesha Dey and Jonas Heese wrote a case about a whistleblower at a multi-national gambling company who exposed financial misstatements, first to his manager and later to... View Details

Keywords: by April White

31 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

The Dow at 20,000: What's That All About?

School finance professor Luis Viceira, an expert on investment management and capital markets, offered his views on how this happened, what it means, and how high the Dow may go in the future. Jim Aisner: Last week the Dow closed above... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

Career Coach

Ben Schlatka

Ben (HBS '05) has deep experience in technology driven organizations - including fund raising and venture formation, product marketing, product management, business development and managing technical professionals in large public and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All); Financial Services (All)

November 2000 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Blaine and Mason, LLP: Gross Versus Net Revenue Reporting (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

The managing partners of a public accounting firm must resolve a number of staff requests for assistance in deciding how audit clients should report their revenues. Each example explores whether revenues should be reported on a gross or net basis. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Accounting Audits; Business Earnings; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Reporting; Revenue; Accounting Industry

Find at Harvard

September 1997 (Revised October 1997)
Case

Information at the World Bank: In Search of a Technology Solution (B)

By: W. Earl Sasser and Josep Valor

Acting on his vision to make the World Bank a knowledge institution, bank President Wolfensohn announces the creation of an Information and Knowledge Management Council and an Information Solutions Group, headed by a newly nominated CEO, Mohamed Muhsin. This case... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Knowledge Management; Management Teams; Information Management; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

August 2019 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Sustainable Investing at J.P. Morgan Private Bank

By: Sara Fleiss and Luis Viceira

This case features Monica Issar, then Global Head of J.P. Morgan Endowments & Foundations Group in the Private Bank. In just five years, she and J.P. Morgan have grown the Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) business from $5 billion in AUM from primarily family... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Investment; Management; Strategy; Social Issues; Environmental Sustainability; Banking Industry

26 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 26, 2007

lead their facilities to prioritize different external pressures and thus adopt different management practices. Specifically, we argue that external constituents who interact with particularly influential corporate departments are more... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

It’s never been easy to make money in the restaurant industry. A highly fragmented sector dominated by 70 percent independent owners and operators, the average restaurant’s annual revenue hovers around $1 million and generates an operating profit of just 4-5 percent. A... View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

May 2024
Case

Mission Veterinary Partners

By: Boris Groysberg, Zeeshan Ali and Annelena Lobb

After five successful years, Mission Veterinary Partners (MVP) had to decide on the best way to scale. MVP owned 300 animal hospitals and competed with other consolidators to buy more small veterinary practices. MVP had to distinguish itself as the buyer of choice but... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy