Publications

April 2016
Supplement

Canadian Pacific's Bid for Norfolk Southern Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Scott Mayfield

In December 2015, Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR) has just made its third bid to acquire Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC), one of the largest railroads in the United States. Having rejected the prior offers, NSC’s CEO James Squires and the NSC board must now value... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Financial Strategy; Investment Activism; Bids and Bidding; Negotiation Offer; Corporate Strategy; Rail Transportation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Transformation; United States; Canada

May 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Progressive Corporation

By: Michael E. Porter and Nicolaj Siggelkow

Progressive is a leader in providing nonstandard (high-risk) automobile insurance to drivers across America, with a long record of extraordinary profitability. Progressive is facing a challenge in its segment from Allstate, the industry leader, and must decide how to... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Planning; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Auto Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

01 Oct 2000
News

Faculty Retirements

Michael Jensen, the Jesse Isidor Straus Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, is an authority on organizational theory, organizational strategy, and finance. He is codirector of The Monitor Company Organizational Strategy... View Details

August 2012 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Colorscope, Inc. (Abridged)

By: V.G. Narayanan

A small company in the graphic design business faces severe price competition. The company must respond by cutting costs and making process improvements. View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Price; Business Processes; Performance Improvement; Competition; Fine Arts Industry

October 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Supplement

BlackRock (C): Integrating BGI

By: Ranjay Gulati, Jan W. Rivkin and Aldo Sesia

This (C) case is a supplement to HBS case no. 717-404 “BlackRock (A): Selling the Systems?” View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competition; Information Technology; Asset Management; United States

October 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Supplement

BlackRock (B): Acquire MLIM?

By: Ranjay Gulati, Jan W. Rivkin, Stuart C. Gilson and Aldo Sesia

This (B) case is a supplement to HBS case no. 717-404 “BlackRock (A): Selling the Systems?” View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competition; Information Technology; Asset Management; United States

September 2011 (Revised August 2015)
Case

ScoreBig

By: William A. Sahlman, Jeffrey Glass and Evan W. Richardson

The founding team at ScoreBig, an event ticketing company, is on the verge of a public launch of their product. The company has made great progress in negotiating access to tickets, designing its interface, and building a proprietary architecture. For consumers,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Corporate Finance; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

July 2011
Teaching Note

The Credit Suisse/Gerson Lehrman Group Alliance (TN)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Penelope Rossano

Teaching Note for 409046. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Equity; Alliances; Competitive Advantage; Leadership; Research; Business Model; Quality; Revenue; Contracts; Financial Markets; Consulting Industry; Service Industry

16 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 16, 2018

change). They can be used to diagnose a culture and to model how likely an individual leader is to align with and shape it. The authors offer five insights regarding culture's effect on companies' success: (1) When aligned with strategy... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2019
Case

The Allstate Corporation, 2019

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In July 2019, Allstate, the United States’ number-three property and casualty (P/C) insurer, released its second-quarter earnings, which reported first-half revenues of $22.1 billion, up 11.4% year-over-year. Shareholders cheered the top-line growth, but P/C premiums... View Details

Keywords: Insurance Companies; Strategic Analysis; Strategic Change; Insurance; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Insurance Industry; North America

November 2019
Supplement

United Technologies Corp.: Are the Parts Worth More Than the Whole?

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

After spending more than 50 years creating a diversified industrial conglomerate that Fortune Magazine described as “arguably the most profitable conglomerate in America” in 2014, UTC’s CEO Greg Hayes was under pressure from activist investors (Dan Loeb and Bill... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Financial Management; Corporate Governance; Organizational Structure; Diversification; Valuation; Investment Activism; Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Value Creation; Aerospace Industry; Electronics Industry; Industrial Products Industry; United States