Publications

November 2015 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Air Products' Pursuit of Airgas (A)

By: Charles C.Y. Wang, Paul M. Healy, Penelope Rossano and Kyle Thomas

This case centers around the Air Products' hostile takeover attempt of Airgas in 2010. Air Products argued that its offer of a 38% premium is generous given Airgas' poor performance, which Air Products attributed to underperforming and entrenched managers at Airgas. On... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business and Shareholder Relations; Industrial Products Industry; Energy Industry; Chemical Industry

June 2014 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Access Health CT: Marketing Affordable Care (A)

By: John A. Quelch and Michael Norris

At the close of open-enrollment in March of 2014, Kevin Counihan, CEO of Access Health CT, Connecticut's state health insurance exchange, stops to consider the success it has experienced so far and think about how to ensure its long-term sustainability. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Industry; Health Care Policy; Public Health Insurance Exchange; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Connecticut

March 2003
Case

Investing in Japan

By: Peter A. Hecht and Luis M. Viceira

The evolution of the macroeconomic environment, capital markets, financial institutions (including banks, public and private pension funds, and mutual funds), and financial regulation in Japan during the period 1980 to 2002, are examined long-term demographic... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Investment; Financial Institutions; Macroeconomics; Japan

Find at Harvard

30 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Use the Psychology of Pricing To Keep Customers Returning

Buyers are more apt to use a product right after they purchase it, a fact you need to ponder as you consider how to keep customers coming back for more. In this e-mail interview with HBS Working Knowledge's Manda Mahoney, Harvard Business School professor John... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Mahoney

2008
Simulation

Strategic Innovation Simulation: Back Bay Battery

By: Willy C. Shih and Clayton Christensen

This online simulation allows students to play the role of a business unit manager at Back Bay Battery Company who faces the dilemma of balancing a portfolio of investment strategies across products in the rechargeable battery space. Players have to manage R&D... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Investment; Product Development; Research and Development; Battery Industry

October 1996 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Chiquita Brands International (A)

By: Debora L. Spar and Terence Mulligan

When a new banana import policy is implemented in 1993 by the European Union, Chiquita Brands International, the world's largest banana distributor, watches its sales and net income plummet. The policy, Council Regulation (EEC 404/93), uses a new tariff and quota... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Trade; Government and Politics; Policy; Market Design; Fairness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Latin America; European Union

30 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Do Social Movements Sway Voters? Not Really, Except for One

outset of each social movement. “Our approach significantly improves upon existing work by providing a comprehensive view on the impact of protests on attitudes and on the underlying channels,” the researchers write. Most protests don’t change View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

February 2024
Case

Compass Pathways: Pioneering Psychedelic Treatment

By: Tiona Zuzul, Kisha Lashley and Gamze Yucaoglu

This case follows Compass Pathways, a pioneering company developing treatment for depression based on psilocybin, the compound found in ‘magic mushrooms.’ Psilocybin was a federally illegal substance in the U.S., and a “Schedule I” drug, defined as a drug “with no... View Details

Keywords: Commercialization; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Product Launch; Health Testing and Trials; Research and Development; Laws and Statutes; Pharmaceutical Industry; Europe; United States; United Kingdom

January 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

CareGroup

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Robert D. Austin

Describes the circumstances leading to the three-and-a-half-day collapse of a major hospital group's IS capabilities. Identifies the technical reasons for the failure, management steps in dealing with the problem short term, and the long-term lessons they believe they... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Information Technology; Safety; Crisis Management; Infrastructure; Health Industry

19 Jul 2011
News

Social Security Reform Is the Key to the Debt Ceiling Debate

07 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Immigrant Networking and Collaboration: Survey Evidence from CIC

Keywords: by Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

March 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Wendell Weeks at Corning Inc. (B): Valor Glass and the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Aldo Sesia

The (B) case offers a detailed account of Wendell Weeks’s innovation strategy at Corning, and how his approach played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic. It illustrates the company’s philosophy of making long-term investments in promising new technologies and... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Information Technology; Leadership; Health Pandemics; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

13 Jul 2018
News

The Transformation of Microsoft

November 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Monsanto: Leadership in a New Environment

By: Ray A. Goldberg, James Weber and James M Beagle

Monsanto is the biotechnology leader in agriculture. How does it use its leadership in Round Up to fund long-term research and development in biotechnology that is acceptable to the priority system of consumers in different parts of the world? Includes color exhibits. View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Food; Business or Company Management; Agribusiness; Industry Growth; Customer Focus and Relationships; Globalization; Leadership; Biotechnology Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

April 1996
Case

Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group

Examines two dilemmas often faced by an operations consultant. First, the dual responsibility to both client and consulting firm. Second, the management of the often competing pressure to deliver immediate results, at the same time laying the foundation for long-term... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Problems and Challenges; Consulting Industry