Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(14,919)
- Faculty Publications (3,431)
- September 2000 (Revised February 2007)
- Case
Freeport Studio
By: Rajiv Lal and James Weber
Describes the start-up and first-year difficulties of Freeport Studio, a unit of L.L. Bean, founded in 1998 to sell women's clothing by catalog. First-year sales were far below plan, and projected profits did not materialize. Fran Philip must identify the problems and... View Details
- August 2000
- Case
Manila Water Company (A)
By: Michael Beer and Elizabeth Weldon
On February 3, 1997, the east zone of the Manila Metropolitan Water and Sewerage System (MWSS) was taken over by the Manila Water Co. (MWC), a newly created joint venture between the Ayala Corp., a large Filipino conglomerate; Bechtel Enterprises, Inc., an American... View Details
- August 2000 (Revised August 2018)
- Case
The Atchison Corporation (A)
By: Joseph L. Bower
A new general manager uses a profit-center-based system to shake up an old line company. He then faces the task of placating a board member upset by the human consequences. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details
- August 2000
- Case
AMVESCAP in 1999
By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kathleen E. E Danoher
Deals with the problems faced by a major mutual fund company as it attempts to respond to the threats and opportunities posed by the explosion of the Internet and the changing landscape of retail financial services. View Details
- August 2000 (Revised December 2003)
- Case
Dell's Working Capital
By: Richard S. Ruback and Aldo Sesia
Dell Computer Corp. manufactures, sells, and services personal computers. The company markets its computers directly to its customers and builds computers after receiving a customer order. This build-to-order model enables Dell to have much smaller investment in... View Details
- August 2000 (Revised September 2005)
- Case
Callaway Golf Company
By: Rajiv Lal and Edie Prescott
Describes a situation faced by Mr. Ely Callaway, the 80-year-old founder, chairman, and CEO of Callaway Golf Co., in the fall of 1999. After a decade of stunning success with the marketing concept, Callaway suffered a significant loss and witnessed a steep decline in... View Details
- August 2000 (Revised February 2003)
- Case
Borders Group, Inc.
By: Zeynep Ton and Ananth Raman
Describes Borders Group, a well-known retail chain, in late 1999 and its traditional strengths and rapid growth in the 1990s. By 1990, however, the company had fallen behind Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in leveraging the Internet for book retailing, although it... View Details
Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Distribution Channels; Service Operations; Business Growth and Maturation; Economic Growth; Industry Growth; Growth and Development; Internet; Business Model; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Supply and Industry; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry
- July 2000 (Revised October 2000)
- Case
Petstore.com
Petstore.com is one of four contenders for leadership in the highly competitive online pet supply business. Petstore.com faces decisions regarding potential merger partners and how to brand its service within the website managed by its ultimate merger partner,... View Details
- July 2000 (Revised April 2001)
- Case
Agricultural Biotechnology and its Regulation
In the United States, genetically modified corn and soybeans are now widely grown and consumed. In Europe, however, they have been dubbed "Frankenstein foods," shunned by packaged food manufacturers, and subjected to a host of governmental restrictions. This case... View Details
- July 2000
- Background Note
Industry Transformation
By: Michael E. Porter and Jan W. Rivkin
One of the steepest challenges a strategist faces is to navigate his or her company through a period of industry transformation--an era of rapid and wholesale changes in industry structure. This note considers how periods of transformation typically unfold. It then... View Details
- 2000
- Other Unpublished Work
Career Concerns and Staged Investment: Evidence from the Venture Capital Industry
By: Malcolm Baker
I develop a model in which career concerns lead to inefficient reinvestment decisions. Managers have incentives to inflate interim returns by continuing bad projects and delaying write-offs. In the venture capital industry, the syndication of follow-on investments can... View Details
- June 2000 (Revised December 2000)
- Case
Compensation and Performance Evaluation at Arrow Electronics
By: Brian J. Hall and Carleen Madigan
Describes a company's struggles in implementing a subjective performance rating system for its employees. In particular, it describes the difficulties faced by the CEO in getting managers to combat "ratings inflation"--that is, to produce numerical ratings that are... View Details
- June 2000 (Revised October 2017)
- Case
IDEO
By: Stefan Thomke and Ashok Nimgade
Describes IDEO, the world's leading product design firm, and its innovation culture and process. Emphasis is placed on the important role of prototyping and experimentation in general, and in the design of the very successful Palm V handheld computer in particular. A... View Details
- June 2000
- Case
Lifeline Systems, Inc. (A)
By: H. Kent Bowen and Marilyn Matis
Lifeline Systems provides emergency response equipment to the elderly who live at home. The company uses local hospitals to market, sell, and install these units in homes, while the hospital monitors and calls for aid to respond to emergency calls from the elderly... View Details
- June 2000
- Case
Rebirth of the Swiss Watch Industry, 1980-1992 (A)
By: Michael L. Tushman and Daniel Radov
The Swiss watch industry has been devastated by new entrants from Asia in the low- and mid-priced watch segments. Japanese and Hong Kong firms have used quartz technology to lower costs dramatically. Nicolas Hayek, president of a Swiss consulting firm, is asked to help... View Details
- June 2000
- Case
Rebirth of the Swiss Watch Industry, 1980-1992 (B): Hayek and Thomke at SMH
By: Michael L. Tushman and Daniel Radov
Describes the course pursued by Hayek, Thomke, and others in the formation of SMH. Discusses the new strategy and its implementation, charting the dramatic recovery of the large Swiss watchmakers. Ends with an exploration of Hayek's efforts to build on SMH's successes. View Details
- June 2000 (Revised February 2003)
- Case
Must Zee TV
By: Bharat N. Anand and Tarun Khanna
Explores issues related to (1) the vertical boundaries of the firm in an emerging-economy context, especially the effects of lack of intellectual property rights and lack of contract enforcement on both industry structure and boundaries of the firm; and (2) the extent... View Details
- May 2000 (Revised December 2018)
- Case
SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (A)
By: Michael Beer and Michael Tushman
The Micro-Electronic Products Division of SMA has financial and organizational problems. Conflict and lack of coordination exist between functional groups. Employees do not have a sense of direction and morale is low. The cause of these problems is found in a change in... View Details
- May 2000 (Revised December 2018)
- Supplement
SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B)
By: Michael Beer and Michael Tushman
Focuses on the recommendations and implementation strategy suggested by the organizational development group for the division's problems. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details
- May 2000 (Revised January 2003)
- Case
Health Development Corporation
Health Development Corp. (HDC) owns and operates health clubs in the Greater Boston area. HDC engaged a local investment banker to explore a sale of the company. The most likely buyer views HDC's prior purchase of real estate as a negative. HDC's management is... View Details
Keywords: Cash Flow; Property; Business Exit or Shutdown; Valuation; Value; Decisions; Health Industry; Boston