Publications

01 Mar 2023
News

Clearing the Air

who can really afford credits [to offset emissions] are funds like Frontier and the Microsofts of the world—organizations that want to encourage growth and development. But costs will naturally come down... View Details

Keywords: April White and Dan Morrell; Illustrations by Richard Borge

August 1998 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Innovation at 3M Corporation (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how 3M Corp. introduces and learns a new and innovative methodology called Lead User research to understand future customer and market needs. A team from 3M's Medical-Surgical Markets Division applies the Lead User methodology to the field of surgical... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Managerial Roles; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Market Timing; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Business Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

January 2017
Case

The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco... View Details

Keywords: Tyco; Dennis Kozlowski; Edward Breen; Fire Safety; Fire Protection; Security; Packaging; Securities And Exchange Commission; Fraud; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Engineering; Applied Optics; Chemicals; Construction; Metals and Minerals; Ethics; Finance; Cash Flow; Public Equity; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Initial Public Offering; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Executive Compensation; Selection and Staffing; Courts and Trials; Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Value; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Republic of Ireland; Switzerland; Bermuda; United States; New Hampshire

February 2000 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Owens & Minor, Inc. (B)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

After a manager at Owens & Minor, a national medical and surgical distribution company, proposes and develops a formalized activity-based pricing and activity-based management approach to sales and service provision, this case explore the outcome. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Logistics; Distribution; Price; Supply Chain Management; Sales; Outcome or Result; Management Style; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

June 1996
Case

Becton Dickinson: Managing the Global Enterprise, 1996

Becton Dickinson, a U.S.-based maker of medical and diagnostic devices, has been organized into a mixed structure of U.S.-based divisions and country/region organizations. In 1995, three businesses shifted to become worldwide divisions, forcing a reexamination of the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

October 1993 (Revised July 1994)
Case

A Brush with AIDS (A)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

A product manager at a health products company is responsible for marketing sharps containers, which hospitals use to store used needles in order to protect medical workers from being pricked with AIDS-contaminated needles. After hospitals report repeated instances of... View Details

Keywords: Health; Cost vs Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Safety; Values and Beliefs; Profit; Goals and Objectives; Compensation and Benefits; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

June 1977 (Revised September 1992)
Case

Sorenson Research Co. (Abridged)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Presents the issues facing a high volume, high margin (but lightweight) medical products business. The company is trying to improve its inventory control to reduce inventory investment and improve service. The present multi-site inventory system is described and major... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Investment; Volume; Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Performance Improvement; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

January 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Cyberdyne: A Leap to the Future

By: Doug J. Chung and Mayuka Yamazaki

Cyberdyne Inc. was a Japanese technology venture that wanted to commercialize a hybrid assistive limb (HAL). HAL was a robotic exoskeleton system for people who had difficulty walking due to nervous system disabilities resulting from stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI),... View Details

Keywords: Go-to-market Strategy; Pricing; Sales Channel; Technological Innovation; Marketing; Sales; Distribution; Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

April 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Background Note

Note on Healthcare in Ghana

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ben Creo

This note provides an overview of the healthcare system in Ghana. It discusses the public and private sector as well as traditional medical practice. It also discusses the country’s pharmaceutical industry. It is recommended as a companion to Professor Regina... View Details

Keywords: Africa; Pharmaceutical Companies; Pharmacy Benefit Manager; Health Care; Health Care Costs; Health Care Delivery; Health Care Entrepreneurship; Telehealth; Health Equity; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Business and Government Relations; Health Industry; Health Industry; Ghana

15 Dec 2015
News

The Year in Ideas 2015

medical innovations. Jessica Beck and Marcela Sapone (both MBA 2015) launched the automated “personal butler” service Hello Alfred in a crowded on-demand marketplace. The service corrals other on-demand... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna, Christine Lejeune, Dan Morrell, and April White

March 1994
Supplement

Kevin Simpson at Haemonetics, Video

By: Linda A. Hill

Contains excerpts from an interview with Kevin Simpson (HBS 1990) about his decision to join Haemonetics, a medical equipment company, after receiving his MBA. Simpson discusses his experiences on the job during the first three months while he was the assistant to the... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Experience and Expertise; Decisions; Recruitment; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

09 Oct 2020
Blog Post

4 Things To Know About the MS/MBA Biotech

myself, did come from a biotechnology company, but there were also people from life sciences consulting firms, research laboratories, medical device companies and larger... View Details

12 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 12

PublicationsLocal Industrial Structures and Female Entrepreneurship in India Authors:Ghani, Ejaz, William R. Kerr, and Stephen D. O'Connell Publication:Journal of Economic... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2020 (Revised June 2023)
Case

EyeControl: Inspiring Communication

By: Paul A. Gompers and Danielle Golan

Eye-controlled communication device startup EyeControl was founded in Tel Aviv, Israel in 2016 by cofounders with a shared personal connection to locked-in syndrome—a neurological disorder that left sufferers cognitively sound, yet paralyzed, with the exception of eye... View Details

Keywords: Health Disorders; Communication Technology; Business Startups; Expansion; Finance; Decision Making; Social Enterprise; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

September 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Facebook Fake News in the Post-Truth World

By: John R. Wells, Carole A. Winkler and Benjamin Weinstock

In August 2019, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, was surrounded by controversy. The first major storm of protest followed the surprise election of Donald Trump as President of the United States on November 8, 2016; many put the blame at the door of fake... View Details

05 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

A Market for Human Cadavers in All but Name?

for cadavers. Anteby's current research examines the morality of markets by focusing on the U.S. supply and demand of cadavers for medical research View Details

Keywords: by Michel Anteby; Health

June 1999 (Revised May 2000)
Case

EndoSonics

EndoSonics is a manufacturer of a sophisticated medical device--a catheter that can take ultrasonic images within the blood vessels of the heart. The company deals with a series of challenges that relate to implementing a difficult technology in the face of a complex... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Distribution; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Problems and Challenges; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry