Publications

May 2003
Module Note

Managing Development Networks

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Describes the concepts and pedagogy for a module on understanding and managing product development networks between firms and within firms and among products themselves. Introduces students to the increasingly important role of networks in the development of new... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Resource Allocation; Research and Development; Networks; Design; Groups and Teams

April 2012
Background Note

Note: Net Cash, Share Repurchases and EPS Growth

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

How companies with large net cash positions can enhance earnings/share through share repurchase in an environment of low interest rates. View Details

Keywords: Stock Shares; Corporate Finance

February 2012
Case

Kent Chemical: Organizing for International Growth

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Laura Winig

In July 2008, Luis Morales, president of Kent Chemical International, is proposing a third reorganization effort after two failed attempts to better align his business with its U.S.-based parent company. With a global expansion strategy placing increasing demands on... View Details

Keywords: International Business; Organizational Change; Multinational Corporations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Design; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Culture; Global Strategy; Chemical Industry; United States

July 2021 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Supreme: Remaining Cool While Pursuing Growth

By: Jill Avery, Sandrine Crener, Marie-Cecile Cervellon and Ranjit Thind

Following VF Corporation’s acquisition of cult streetwear brand Supreme, consumers and industry pundits were nervous that becoming part of a large, public corporation would put an end to Supreme’s slow and careful growth trajectory as pressure for quarterly results... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Growth Management; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; United States; North America

December 2001 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Financing PPL Corporation's Growth Strategy

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Carrie Ferman

PPL Corp., an electric utility in Pennsylvania, needs to finance $1 billion of peaking plants as part of its new growth strategy. In February 2001, Steve May, director of finance for PPL's Global Division, is responsible for recommending a finance plan. After... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Financial Instruments; Project Finance; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Leasing

May 1997
Teaching Note

Product Development Process, Organization and Improvement, Instructor's Note

By: Marco Iansiti

Explores how development projects fit (or do not fit) within a firm's development strategy and its wider competitive goals. Module materials, and this note, focus on two broad approaches to process design (sequential and flexible) that were originally introduced in the... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Competition

October 1997 (Revised September 2003)
Case

Eli Lilly and Company: Drug Development Strategy (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke, Ashok Nimgade and Paul Pospisil

Describes how Eli Lilly and Co. tries to accelerate its new drug development process with the aid of "combinatorial chemistry"--a rapidly emerging and revolutionary approach to preclinical drug discovery. The product manager of a potential blockbuster migraine drug... View Details

Keywords: Chemicals; Finance; Innovation and Invention; Time Management; Markets; Product Development; Organizations; Business Processes; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Competition; Pharmaceutical Industry

December 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Seeding Growth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

By: Ray Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Djordjija Petkoski

By 2013, the agricultural sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had long suffered from war, political instability, and dilapidated infrastructure. A country with 75 million inhabitants and the second lowest GDP per capita in the world in 2011, the DRC's... View Details

Keywords: National Agricultural Investment Plan (PNIA); Developing Agriculture; World Bank; Poverty Reduction; Special Economic Zones (SEZs); Small-scale Farmers; Agricultural Business Parks; Agriculture Reform; Agribusiness; Economic Growth; Infrastructure; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Congo, Democratic Republic of the

May 2003
Module Note

Managing Product Development

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Introduces students to the managerial aspects critical to conceiving, designing, and developing innovative products and services. Considers the full range of activities required: learning about customer needs, understanding and managing experimentation and problem... View Details

Keywords: Product Design; Product Development; Service Operations; Business or Company Management; Projects; Management Practices and Processes; Experience and Expertise; Customers; Research; Management Skills; Integration

September 2012
Article

Learning Agility: In Search of Conceptual Clarity and Theoretical Grounding

By: D. Scott DeRue, Susan J. Ashford and Christopher G. Myers

As organizations become more complex and dynamic, individuals' ability to learn from experience becomes more important. Recently, the concept of learning agility has attracted considerable attention from human resource professionals and consultants interested in... View Details

Keywords: Learning And Development; Learning

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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

2010
Working Paper

Multinational Strategies and Developing Countries in Historical Perspective

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper offers a longitudinal and descriptive analysis of the strategies of multinationals from developed countries in developing countries. The central argument is that strategies were shaped by the trade-off between opportunity and risk. Three broad... View Details

Keywords: History; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Business and Government Relations

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November 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Leadership Development at Goldman Sachs

By: Boris Groysberg, Scott A. Snook and David Lane

In November 1999, 11 of Goldman Sachs' finest gathered to put the final touches on a revolutionary leadership development plan. Following Goldman's explosive growth during the 1990s and its eventual IPO in 1999, a diverse group of leaders from across the firm were... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Leadership Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Skills; Organizational Design; Planning

March 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

MAC Development Corporation

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Colleen McCaffrey

Deals with MAC Development's efforts to develop a 41-acre site near Chicago. Reviews two years of efforts and highlights the remaining issues of: 1) gaining town approval for development and tax reductions, 2) meeting the bank's debt covenants, including finding a... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Taxation; Financial Instruments; Borrowing and Debt; Asset Pricing; Construction Industry; Chicago

January 2020
Case

Banorte Móvil: Data-Driven Mobile Growth

By: Ayelet Israeli, Carla Larangeira and Mariana Cal

In mid-2019, Carlos Hank was deliberating over the results for Banorte Móvil—the mobile application for Banorte, Mexico’s most profitable and second-largest financial institution. Hank, who had been appointed as Banorte´s Chairman of the Board in January 2015, had... View Details

Keywords: Data Analytics; Customer Lifetime Value; Financial Institutions; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Customers; Technology Adoption; Communication Strategy; Banking Industry; Mexico; Latin America

August 2002 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Italy: A New Commitment to Growth

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Rebecca Evans

Examines Italy's efforts to comply with the Maastricht Treaty and become integrated with Europe in the European Union. By 2002, Italy has achieved macroeconomic stability, but slow growth threatens the country's future competitiveness. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Economic Growth; Competitive Strategy; Integration; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government and Politics; Globalized Economies and Regions; International Relations; Alliances; Italy; European Union

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2015
Working Paper

Mobile Money Services—Design and Development for Financial Inclusion

By: Rajiv Lal and Ishan Sachdev

Mobile money services are being deployed rapidly across emerging markets as a key tool to further the goal of financial inclusion. Financial inclusion, the development of novel methods to enable individuals at the base of the pyramid to access formal financial services... View Details

Keywords: Social Marketing; Poverty; Emerging Markets; Product Launch; Economic Growth; Financial Services Industry