Publications

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April 2000
Article

The Fable of Fisher Body

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Daniel F. Spulber

General Motors' (GM) acquisition of Fisher Body is the classic example of market failure in the literature on contracts and the theory of the firm. According to the standard account, GM merged vertically with Fisher Body in 1926, a maker of auto bodies, because of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Failure; Contracts; Vertical Integration; Market Transactions; Investment; Trust; Production; Assets; Supply Chain; Opportunities; Technology; Auto Industry

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15 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 15, 2008

specializing in building and managing prisons. Students must assess the firm's strategy and risks, evaluate key financial reports, derive forecasts of future performance, and use these forecasts to value the firm. Purchase this case:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Jan 2016
First Look

January 12, 2016

exposure to workplace attributes that contribute to poor health. We used General Social Survey data to estimate differential exposures to workplace conditions, results from a meta-analysis that estimated the effect of workplace conditions... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

September 2011
Supplement

Expansion at Narayana Hrudayalaya

By: Tarun Khanna and Tanya Bijlani

Narayana Hrudayalaya has expanded into a multi-specialty health city in Bangalore, with a 25-acre campus that offers complex tertiary care procedures ranging from orthopedics to cancer care. In 2008, NH raised private equity from JP Morgan and Pinebridge Investments to... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Price; Health Care and Treatment; Emerging Markets; Social Enterprise; Expansion; Health Industry; Bangalore; Cayman Islands; Miami

October 1989 (Revised October 1992)
Case

Smoke Wars: The Case for and Against the Cigarette Industry

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Describes the arguments for and against the tobacco industry. With the per capita demand for cigarettes steadily declining by 2% to 3% every year, the tobacco companies have been using various approaches to stem the tide. Many such moves, however, have come under... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Performance; Social Issues; Consumer Products Industry

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July 2012 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Global Knowledge Management at Danone (A) (Abridged)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and David Lane

This case explores French consumer goods company Danone's novel approach to knowledge management. In 2007, Human Resource Chief (Executive Vice President) Franck Mougin assesses the company's knowledge-sharing tools and considers his options going forward. Through... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Employee Relationship Management; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Social and Collaborative Networks; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry; France

October 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Augusta National Golf Club Controversy, The (A)

By: Herman B. Leonard, Marc J. Epstein and Melissa Tritter

The prestigious Augusta National Golf Club's secret membership is widely believed to exclude women. When feminist advocate Martha Burk receives a mysterious list of "members," she must decide how best to use this information in her efforts to crack the glass ceiling.... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Attitudes; Decision Making; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Gender; Non-Governmental Organizations; Communication Strategy; Sports Industry

March 2025
Case

The Changing Climate on Wall Street

By: Clayton S. Rose, Maxim Pike Harrell and Michael Norris

Increasing and conflicting regulatory requirements and political pressures regarding climate change tested the leaders of U.S. financial institutions, as they struggled to determine how best to comply while managing their business and its risks.
In October 2024,... View Details

July 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Erin L. Henry, Andreas Georgoulias and Natalie Bartlett

Building Strong Partnerships at the Inter-American Development Bank details the development of the bank's new Office of Outreach Partnerships to sustain a culture of innovation through maintaining and generating partnerships in order to fulfill the bank's greater... View Details

03 Jan 2017
First Look

January 3, 2017

disclosure of fundamentals and trading transparency. This is socially inefficient if a large fraction of market participants are speculators, and hedgers have low processing costs. But in these circumstances, forbidding hedgers’ access to... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

September 2021 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Community Solutions

By: Brian Trelstad and Tom Quinn

Community Solutions was an anti-homelessness nonprofit founded in 2011 after protagonist Rosanne Haggerty grew frustrated with the limited impact of traditional housing and outreach strategies. It set an ambitious goal, reached in some partner communities, of ending... View Details

Keywords: Change; Change Management; Disruption; Transformation; Communication; Communication Strategy; Decision Making; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Social Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Capital Budgeting; Capital Markets; Country; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Housing; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Mission and Purpose; Performance Evaluation; Performance Improvement; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Opportunities; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Human Needs; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Societal Protocols; Poverty; Welfare; Well-being; System; Equality and Inequality; Consulting Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; New York (city, NY); Florida; Texas

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

Why the Internet Doesn’t Change Everything

deal of time trying to concoct a strategy for dealing with this unsettling cyber-priest. But there really wasn't much that they could do, so they left Gaillot and his liberal site alone. Partenia had won. In cyberspace, Partenia is... View Details

Keywords: by Debora L. Spar

May 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Case

InterfaceRAISE: Sustainability Consulting

By: Michael W. Toffel, Robert G. Eccles and Casey Taylor

InterfaceRAISE is a sustainability management consulting firm created to leverage the capabilities of its parent company Interface Inc., a carpet manufacturer recognized as a global leader in corporate environmental sustainability. This case illustrates the challenges... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Performance; Environmental Accounting; Profit; Marketing Strategy; Human Resources; Business Model; Leveraged Buyouts; Salesforce Management; Consulting Industry; Manufacturing Industry

2005
Chapter

Beyond 'Fun and Games': Outdoor Activities for Meaningful Leadership Development

Many managers and academics today view outdoor exercises as simply "fun and games." However, framed correctly, outdoor leadership activities provide a uniquely effective method for leadership development. They allow participants to access and explore the deeper... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Leadership Development; Personal Development and Career; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Emotions; Personal Characteristics; Alignment

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January 2010
Case

Pratham - Every Child in School and Learning Well

By: Srikant M. Datar, Stacey M. Childress, Rachna Tahilyani and Anjali Raina

The case focuses on how Pratham, a non-governmental organization, provided quality education to underprivileged children in India by collaborating with the government. It focuses on the problem Madhav Chavan, the founder, is trying to solve, the contributing factors... View Details

Keywords: Non-Governmental Organizations; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Social and Collaborative Networks; Performance Evaluation; Change Management; Organizational Design; Early Childhood Education; Management Systems; Strategy; Quality; Education Industry; India

August 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Supplement

Facelift at Olay (B)

By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Olivia Hull

This supplement to Facelift at Olay (A) explains the major steps Procter & Gamble’s skincare brand Olay took to reverse several years of declining sales. View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Demographics; Age; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Digital Marketing; Transformation; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States; Ohio

June 2020
Case

Career Karma: Growth in a Time of Global Uncertainty (A)

By: Laura Huang, Elizabeth Jiang and Brandon Yu

Career Karma is a startup focused on helping individuals looking to transition careers into computer engineering roles or similar fields by preparing them for formal technical training programs, or “coding bootcamps,” that would lead to a successful career pivot upon... View Details