Publications

August 2002
Case

Siebel Systems: Anatomy of a Sale, Part 3

By: John A. Deighton and Das Narayandas

How does a $2 million software sale happen? This case traces efforts by Siebel Systems to sell lead management software to discount broker Quick & Reilly. The buying process is mapped out over four years. Covers in detail the last six months--from Siebel's initial... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Customer Relationship Management; Product Marketing; Information Technology Industry

May 2002 (Revised July 2002)
Background Note

U.S. Educational System:The, Key Issues and the Role of Business Leadership

Explores the area of education and ways in which corporations have played a role in its improvement. Not intended to cover all examples of corporate involvement but, instead, to provide a sense of the range of ways that corporations have become involved, either... View Details

Keywords: Education; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Education Industry

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August 1994 (Revised May 2001)
Case

ITT Automotive: Global Manufacturing Strategy (1994)

By: Gary P. Pisano and Sharon L. Rossi

ITT Automotive is in the process of developing a new-generation antilock brake system (ABS), designated the MK-20. The case focuses on the level of automation to be used in the production of this new system, and whether all plants should use the same process... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Innovation Strategy; Production; Product Development; Globalized Firms and Management; Performance Productivity; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Belgium; Germany; United States

September 1995 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Transcape Systems: Creating a Market

Entrepreneurial companies must overcome substantial barriers to create markets for innovative products in industries reluctant to embrace change. Transcape Systems faces this callenge as it attempts to create a market for interactive multimedia software in the... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Applications and Software; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Product Marketing; Information Technology Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Health Industry

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September 1994
Case

BayFunds

By: Alvin J. Silk, Lisa Klein Pearo and Jamie Harper

In June, 1994, the Senior Vice President of BayBank's Investment Management Group is preparing a strategic plan for her organization's line of mutual funds. Sixteen months earlier, BayBank, Massachusetts's leading retail bank, had entered the mutual fund business by... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Investment Funds; Product Marketing; Integration; Financial Services Industry

09 Mar 2009
News

2009, Not 1992

31 Jul 2019
News

Activist accountants; Goldman de-silos sustainability; Hong Kong ESG Battle

17 Oct 2018
Video

Unlocking the Potential of Precision Medicine

20 Feb 2014
HBS Seminar

Feng Zhu, Harvard Business School

14 Feb 2023
HBS Case

Is Sweden Still 'Sweden'? A Liberal Utopia Grapples with an Identity Crisis

policy: An active national government with a desire to achieve an equitable distribution of income and wealth; a generous social welfare system financed by taxes; and a shared structure of corporate control by business, labor, and the... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

18 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

When It Comes to Climate Regulation, Energy Companies Take a More Nuanced View

Common wisdom holds that oil and gas companies, electric utilities, and other industries known for their large carbon emissions generally oppose clean energy policies. Now, a study of corporate advocacy spanning 30 years reveals that many companies are more flexible... View Details

Keywords: by Desmond Dodd; Energy; Utilities

22 Feb 2010
Op-Ed

Tragedy at Toyota: How Not to Lead in Crisis

vaunted quality system failed. CEO Toyoda should take personal responsibility by saying that he pushed too hard for growth and neglected quality. By admitting his errors, he gives every Toyota employee permission to acknowledge mistakes... View Details

Keywords: by William George; Auto

2010
Chapter

Measuring and Managing Macrofinancial Risk and Financial Stability: A New Framework

By: Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton and Zvi Bodie

This paper proposes a new approach to improve the way central banks can analyze and manage the financial risks of a national economy. It is based on the modern theory and practice of contingent claims analysis (CCA), which is successfully used today at the level of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Economy; Financial Condition; Central Banking; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Measurement and Metrics; System Shocks

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

Web

2023 Reunion Presentations - Alumni

economic inequality, driving environmental destruction, and sustaining systems of racial injustice. Join Professor Debora Spar and a panel of fellow alumni for a discussion about where business and society interact and occasionally... View Details

Research Summary

Mastering Strategy Execution

By: Robert Simons

Professor Robert Simons’ research encompasses three areas of management accountability that are the foundation for successful strategy execution: organization design, performance measurement and control, and risk management. In addition, Simons is interested in the... View Details

May 15, 2012
Article

Ensuring Quality Cancer Care: A Follow-Up Review of the Institute of Medicine’s 10 Recommendations for Improving the Quality of Cancer Care in America

By: Tracy E. Spinks, Heidi W. Albright, Thomas W. Feeley, Ron Walters, Thomas W. Burke, Thomas Aloia, Eduardo Bruera, Aman Buzdar, Lewis Foxhall, David Hui, Barbara Summers, Alma Rodriguez, Raymond DuBois and Kenneth I. Shine

Responding to growing concerns regarding the safety, quality, and efficacy of cancer care in the United States, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences commissioned a comprehensive review of cancer care delivery in the US health care system... View Details

Keywords: Cancer; Quality; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Quality Improvement; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; North and Central America

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September 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Case

VMware, Inc., 2008

By: David B. Yoffie, Andrei Hagiu and Michael Slind

Paul Maritz took the helm of VMware in July 2008, just as the company confronted a radically new competitive environment. Since its founding in 1998, VMware had been the leading provider of virtualization software. Now it faced the kind of threat that every software... View Details

Keywords: History; Digital Platforms; Competition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Applications and Software; Business Strategy

2006
Working Paper

Managing Functional Biases in Organizational Forecasts: A Case Study of Consensus Forecasting in Supply Chain Planning

To date, little research has been done on managing the organizational and political dimensions of generating and improving forecasts in corporate settings. We examine the implementation of a supply chain planning process at a consumer electronics company, concentrating... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Business or Company Management; Supply Chain Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Planning; Electronics Industry