Publications

July 1990 (Revised October 1997)
Case

Siemens Electric Motor Works (A) (Abridged)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Explores how a cost system can help support a firm's decision to change strategies. In the process, the students are introduced to a simple activity-based cost system. Siemens Electric Motor Works found itself facing an increasingly competitive environment and so made... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost Accounting; Cost; Adoption; Cost vs Benefits; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Production; Business Strategy; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry

January 2022
Background Note

The Florange Law: Encouraging Long-Termism in Equity Markets?

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Tonia Labruyere

This note provides background information on a French law (“the Florange law”) passed in 2014 that the French government said would encourage long-term shareholdings. The note describes the law, what led to it, the reactions it evoked, and similar initiatives in other... View Details

Keywords: Equity; Financial Markets; Investment Activism; Institutional Investing; Corporate Governance; Policy; Rights; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; Accounting Industry; France

July 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Shell’s Balancing Act: Resource Allocation and the Green Transition (Abridged)

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

In mid-2023, amid pressure from climate change activists, shareholder activists, and confronting enormous uncertainty about the future demand for and price of fossil fuels, new Shell CEO Wael Sawan (Harvard MBA 2003) announced a change in strategy for the U.K. oil... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Renewables; Forecasting Demand; Strategy; Energy; Climate Change; Resource Allocation; Corporate Strategy; Investment Activism; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Energy Industry

Fast Answer

Industrial classification systems

searching as many descriptions are incomplete or may be absent from a database. On the other hand, industry classification systems do not keep up with the latest industry trends, so new buzz words or ways of connecting related View Details

June 1987 (Revised May 1990)
Case

John Deere Component Works (B)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Having installed an activity-based system, the division is now exploring the insight provided by that system. In particular, it is studying the economics of lot-size process planning and product mix management. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Production; Business or Company Management; Planning; Cost Accounting; Cost Management; Product Marketing; Management Practices and Processes; Consumer Products Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

22 Aug 2007
Research & Ideas

The Hedge Fund as Activist

share of most public firms, mutual fund companies have been reluctant to engage in any form of activism (the same firms that are performing poorly may also be mutual fund clients). The Activist Arena Unlike mutual funds, the sole... View Details

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood; Financial Services

02 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Stuck in Gear: Why Managers Don’t Act

common for most companies are the slow, incremental shifts that smart managers do see coming down the road. Why then aren't they better at shifting gears? According to Sull, most top managers are far sighted and methodical, active and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 2007 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

In an activist role, the hedge fund Third Point LLC has three board seats and an ownership stake of 9.5% in Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company. Third Point believed that Ligand had a strong drug portfolio and pipeline but that it was... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Governing and Advisory Boards; Bids and Bidding; Ownership Stake; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Keywords: First Nations; Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry; Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry; Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry; Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry; Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry

Find at Harvard

16 Sep 2013
News

Canada’s Native Son

by Maureen Harmon Blaine Favel Blaine Favel (MBA 2001) grew up on Cree Indian reservation. His father was a chief, as was his grandfather before him. "It was a true democracy back then," says Favel, when a chief served at the will of the people. Favel recalls his... View Details

01 Jun 2015
News

Exploring Global Business Practices

a lean but deeply networked international presence, the centers enable the faculty to produce research that informs management practice around the world and have become a locus for HBS activities in their regions. The insights faculty... View Details

August 2005 (Revised April 2007)
Case

DICOM Group plc and Captiva Software Corp.

By: Paul M. Healy

Compares two companies in the information capture software industry. Asks students to analyze and compare the performance of two companies (one in the United Kingdom and the other in the United States) from the perspective of a buy-side analyst reporting to the manager... View Details

Keywords: History; Financial Management; Environmental Accounting; Activity Based Costing and Management; Financial Reporting; Performance; Performance Evaluation; Financial Statements; Economic Growth; Fair Value Accounting; Information Industry; Computer Industry; United Kingdom; United States