Publications

December 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Monsanto: Realizing Biotech Value in Brazil

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

In 2003, Monsanto's patented "Roundup Ready" technology was used illegally on 70-80% of the soybean area in southern Brazil. Under pressure from U.S. soybean growers, who were paying to license the technology, the firm implemented an innovative delivery-based... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Patents; Lawfulness; Emerging Markets; Product Development; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Brazil

September 1992 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Martin Marietta: Managing Corporate Ethics (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine

Senior managers at Martin Marietta are considering two questions: how to assess the company's seven-year-old ethics program; and how to deal with employees' fear of retribution--real or imagined--for alerting the corporate ethics office to potential problems. The case... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Resignation and Termination; Employees; Law; Business or Company Management; Programs

April 2012
Case

Introducing iSnack 2.0: The New Vegemite

By: Anat Keinan, Francis Farrelly and Michael Beverland

Vegemite is an iconic Australian breakfast spread and is often seen as a quintessential Australian product. This case focuses on Kraft's decision to revitalize brand performance through the introduction of a brand extension. Drawing on extensive social media analysis... View Details

Keywords: Food; Product Launch; Conflict and Resolution; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

March 2009
Background Note

Evaluating M&A Deals: Floors, Caps, and Collars

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

As equity consideration has become more popular in acquisitions, so has the use of the "pricing-protection" mechanisms, such as floors, caps, and collars. These contractual devices provide insurance to the shareholders of the target and may protect the buyer as well.... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Equity; Price; Contracts; Business and Shareholder Relations

29 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 29

in a Chaotic World By: Wheeler, Michael Abstract—A member of the world-renowned Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School introduces the powerful next-generation approach to negotiation. For many years,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Sep 2015
News

Putting Entrepreneurial Skills to Work in City Hall

Now teaching HBS’s first course in “public entrepreneurship,” Professor of Management Practice Mitchell Weiss (MBA 2004) served as chief of staff for late Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, helping lead what the... View Details

08 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

Solving an Economic Mystery Surrounding Argentina and Chile

recognized. But the nature of these institutions has been very crudely defined. A whole body of research has unfavorably compared Latin American institutions with those in North America. The View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

25 Mar 2013
Research & Ideas

How Chapter 11 Saved the US Economy

Europe's, where bankruptcy laws tend to favor immediate payback of creditors. "Many countries around the world have bankruptcy laws that primarily seek to liquidate... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Financial Services

February 1994 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Competitive Information Policy at Pratt & Whitney

By: Lynn S. Paine

Officials at United Technologies Corp. (UTC) must decide on an ethics policy to govern competitive intelligence gathering. The flow of competitor information into the Pratt & Whitney division has declined sharply since adoption of UTC's code of ethics. A rewritten... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Corporate Governance; Ethics; Competition; Information Management; Business or Company Management; Law

Forthcoming
Article

It Takes Two to Untangle: Illuminating How and Why Some Workplace Relationships Adapt While Others Deteriorate After a Workplace Microaggression

By: Summer R. Jackson and Basima A. Tewfik

Although scholars largely assume that workplace microaggressions negatively impact the work relationship between the target and the perpetrator, relational deterioration is not the only observable relational outcome. Indeed, there are instances of relational... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Interpersonal Communication; Motivation and Incentives; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution

Read Now

September 1984
Case

Henkel Corp.: International Sealants Brand SISTA (A)

By: Robert J. Dolan

Corporate headquarters wishes to expand sales of a sealant product currently sold only in the West German market. Regional affiliates, operating on a profit center basis, are not enthusiastic about taking on the new product. The case describes the company's... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Globalization; Expansion; Profit; Conflict Management; Consumer Products Industry; Construction Industry; Europe; West Germany

Find at Harvard

04 Jun 2024
Blog Post

Finding Alignment to Make Impact: Layla Ramirez (MBA 2017)

After college, Ramirez planned to attend law school and took a proactive approach to crafting her career trajectory. Goal-oriented by nature and encouraged by her parents, she joined an enrichment program with Boston Lawyers Group, an... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

September 2002
Case

Seattle Public Schools, 1995-2002 (C2): Race, Class, and School Choice

Presents the decision by the Federal Court of Appeals for the ninth Circuit in the spring of 2002 to invalidate Seattle's use of race as a factor in allocating space in Seattle's oversubscribed schools. Summarizes the posture and content of the litigation, including... View Details

Keywords: Management; Leadership; Income; Social Entrepreneurship; Race; Lawsuits and Litigation; Education; Education Industry; Seattle

25 Nov 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Standard-Essential Patents

Keywords: by Josh Lerner & Jean Tirole; Legal Services

01 Feb 2001
News

Q&A - Dirty Money: Raymond Baker Explores the Free Market's Demimonde

Department estimates that 99.9 percent of the criminal money presented for deposit in the United States is accepted into secure accounts. It's a sad fact, but American banks, under an umbrella of View Details

Keywords: Finance; Government

27 Jul 2019
Op-Ed

Does Facebook's Business Model Threaten Our Elections?

Congressional August 2018 recess, a federal bill is unlikely and therefore a hodgepodge of state bills, like California’s CCPA, will come into effect in 2020. Beyond privacy and content, a range of calls... View Details

Keywords: by George Riedel

July 2011
Background Note

Just an MOU or a Real Deal?

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Mary Beth Findlay

Notwithstanding the professed intention of a party to an MOU, a "preliminary" agreement can have binding effect. This note explores the circumstances under which MOUs may give rise to binding and enforceable agreements. View Details

Keywords: Curriculum and Courses; Contracts; Legal Liability; Management; Risk Management

September 2019
Article

Contingent Capital Trigger Effects: Evidence from Liability Management Exercises

By: Boris Vallée

This paper investigates the so called liability management exercises by European banks, which bear comparable effects to triggering contingent capital. I first explore the determinants of these exercises. I then study market reactions to these operations as well as... View Details

Keywords: Contingent Capital; Financial Distress; Regulatory Capital; Financial Institutions; Legal Liability; Management; Banking Industry; Europe