Publications

January 1995 (Revised November 1995)
Case

Candela Laser vs. Cynosure, Inc.

By: Josh Lerner and Benjamin Conway

Summarizes the lawsuit by Candela Laser against its former CEO and founder, who has begun a competing firm. The extent of patent and trade secret protection are crucial issues. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Entrepreneurship

August 2004 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Debating the Expropriation of Mexican Oil

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and R. Daniel Wadhwani

In 1938, the Mexican government expropriated the assets of foreign oil companies. Explores the legal and moral arguments in favor of and against expropriation. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Globalized Firms and Management; Government and Politics; Business History; Lawfulness; Business and Government Relations; Energy Industry; Mexico

Keywords: Construction, infrastructure

November 2021
Article

Making Industrial Policy Work for Decarbonization

By: Jonas Meckling

Industrial policy has begun to move into the center of debates on climate policy. This represents a shift away from climate policy as we know it—as classic environmental policy. Industrial policy and environmental policy differ in their policy goals, policy... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Regulation; Policy; Government and Politics; Climate Change

Read Now

October 2022 (Revised September 2023)
Case

SolarWinds Confronts SUNBURST (A)

By: Frank Nagle, George A. Riedel, William R. Kerr and David Lane

On December 12, 2020, SolarWinds learned that malware had been inserted in its software, potentially granting hackers access to thousands and thousands of its 300,000 customers. General Counsel Jason Bliss needed to orchestrate the company response without knowing how... View Details

Keywords: Cyberattacks; Cybersecurity; Corporate Disclosure; Crisis Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Legal Liability; Information Technology Industry; United States

July 2009 (Revised March 2010)
Teaching Note

Airbus vs. Boeing: Parts (TN) (A) to (F)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Erich Alexander Voigt and Jordan Mitchell

Teaching Note for [707447], [707448], [707449]. [707450], [707451], and [707452]. View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation

November 2001
Background Note

Global Approaches to Anti-Corruption

By: Joseph Hinsey, Guhan Subramanian and Michelle Kalka

In the 1970s, a series of unpleasant revelations about corporate conduct, culminating in the public disclosure about unsavory business practices abroad by more than 400 U.S. corporations, jarred popular perceptions concerning business ethics. Congress responded by... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Globalization; Developing Countries and Economies; Laws and Statutes; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Information Industry; United States

January 2019
Case

Data.gov (Abridged)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Robert D. Austin and Yumi Yi

This case presents the logic and execution underlying the launch of Data.gov, an instantiation of President Obama's initiative for transparency and open government. The process used by Vivek Kundra, the federal CIO, and his team to rapidly develop the website and to... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Rights; Analytics and Data Science; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Cost vs Benefits; Innovation and Management; Information Management; Public Administration Industry; Information Industry; United States

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

09 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

Who Sways the USDA on GMO Approvals?

regulatory agencies serving the public instead end up advancing the interests of the companies they regulate. The main way companies accomplish this, economists theorize, is through lobbying and campaign contributions that convince... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage; Biotechnology; Agriculture & Agribusiness

Ronnie Screwvala

Keywords: Media; Entertainment; Diversified

01 Sep 2009
News

Faculty Books

Government and Markets: Toward a New Theory of Regulation edited by Edward J. Balleisen and David A. Moss (Cambridge University Press) After years of emphasis on governmental... View Details

October 2015
Article

Managing the Performance Tradeoffs from Partner Integration: Implications of Contract Choice in R&D Projects

By: Alan MacCormack and Anant Mishra

Formal contracts represent an important governance instrument with which firms exercise control of and compensate partners in R&D projects. The specific type of contract used, however, can vary significantly across projects. In some, firms govern partnering... View Details

Keywords: ＂＂Partner Integration; Contract Choice; R＆D Project Management; Relational Contracts; Partnering Performance; Research and Development; Projects; Partners and Partnerships; Performance; Contracts

Find at Harvard

January 2019 (Revised May 2019)
Case

When Trolls Attack: Carbonite vs. Oasis Research

By: Lauren H. Cohen, Umit G. Gurun, Scott Duke Kominers and Sarah Mehta

This case, set in October 2017, follows Danielle Sheer, general counsel for Carbonite, as she defends the company against claims of patent infringement. It provides a broad overview of the U.S. patent system and explores the impact that non-practicing entities... View Details

Keywords: Patent Infringement Litigation; Non-practicing Entities; Patent Trolls; Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Patents; Laws and Statutes; Lawsuits and Litigation; Legal Liability; Computer Industry; Technology Industry; Boston

28 Oct 2009
Lessons from the Classroom

HBS Begins Teaching Consumer Finance

Last spring HBS became the first top-ranked U.S. business school to offer a course in consumer finance. Jointly taught by HBS professor Peter Tufano and Harvard Law School professor Howell Jackson (HBS MBA... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Financial Services; Education

May 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

EU Verdict Against Microsoft

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In 2004, following an investigation that began in 1998, the European Commission (EC) issued an antitrust judgment against Microsoft Corp., levying a record fine of 497 million euros ($613 million) and mandating changes of commercial behavior and bundling of Windows... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Governance Compliance; Lawsuits and Litigation; Monopoly; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Software; European Union; United States

December 2019 (Revised June 2024)
Case

The Dutch East India Company in 1612 (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci

The Dutch East India Company’s board of directors must decide what to do about an impending legal requirement to liquidate the company’s assets and return to shareholders their capital and any profits earned during a ten-year lock-up period. The charter granted to the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Laws and Statutes; Financial Markets; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business History; Shipping Industry; Netherlands

Keywords: Biopharmaceuticals

April 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

BitTorrent

Involves the copyright issues associated with Bram Cohen's revolutionary software program BitTorrent, which makes it possible to transfer very large files, such as movies, at a high speed over the Internet. The program, which is available for free over the Internet, is... View Details

Keywords: Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Applications and Software; Copyright; Internet and the Web

September 2010 (Revised February 2013)
Background Note

The Cage-Free Egg Movement

By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice

Describes the social movement confronting conventional egg production techniques (battery cages) based on animal welfare concerns, and some merits and drawbacks of cage-free alternatives. Highlights animal rights activist campaigns, political and regulatory responses,... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Rights; Supply Chain Management; Natural Environment; Social Issues; Competitive Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry