Publications

February 1991
Case

Continuous Casting Commitments at Bethlehem Steel Corp.

By: Richard S. Rosenbloom and Clayton M. Christensen

Keywords: Competition; Competitive Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Steel Industry; Pennsylvania

01 Feb 1998
News

Former HBS Dean Fouraker Dies at 74

professor at Pennsylvania State University. He quickly made his mark at HBS as an effective and highly regarded teacher in the MBA and Executive Education Programs, while also taking leadership roles in the administration of the School's... View Details

January 2016 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Ivy Academy: Blended Learning in Downingtown Area School District

By: John J-H Kim and Daniel Goldberg

In 2015, Downingtown Area School District (DASD), a suburban school district near Philadelphia, entered its second year implementing Ivy Academy, a blended learning program, in its two traditional high schools. Superintendent Larry Mussoline, having for several years... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Curriculum and Courses; Learning; Philadelphia

2015
Working Paper

Entrepreneurship and Urban Growth: An Empirical Assessment with Historical Mines

By: Edward L. Glaeser, Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

We study entrepreneurship and growth through the lens of U.S. cities. Initial entrepreneurship correlates strongly with urban employment growth, but endogeneity bedevils interpretation. Chinitz (1961) hypothesized that coal mines near cities led to specialization in... View Details

Keywords: Industrial Organization; Chinitz; Agglomeration; Clusters; Cities; Mines; Industry Clusters; Entrepreneurship; City; Mining; Mining Industry; Pittsburgh

Read Now

January 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Case

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Network Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter, Carolyn Daly and Andrew Peter Dervan

In 2009 Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) had been recognized as the best children's hospital in the country for six years in a row; but leadership saw CHOP as more than the large main campus in western Philadelphia. Beginning in the 1990s, CHOP had created a... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Organizational Structure; Networks; Integration; Health Industry; Philadelphia

February 2008 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Mellon Financial and The Bank of New York

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Ryan Taliaferro

Bob Kelly, the new CEO of Mellon Financial, is considering the terms of a proposed "merger of equals" with The Bank of New York, just before the final Board meeting to approve the deal. The combination offers a great strategic fit, and the expected synergies are large.... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Equity; Banks and Banking; Business and Shareholder Relations; Valuation; Banking Industry; Pittsburgh

December 2005 (Revised December 2008)
Case

SchoolNet: Pursuing Opportunity beyond Federal Mandates

Settling into his seat on the train bound for New York, CEO Jonathan Harber reflected on the evolution of SchoolNet's position in the educational technology market and its important relationship with Philadelphia. Specifically, how could it transition from a project to... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Education; Performance Improvement; Partners and Partnerships; Expansion; Technology Adoption; Philadelphia

January 2003 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Finding a CEO for the School District of Philadelphia: Searching for a Savior?

Following the largest state takeover of a local public school district in U.S. history, a new governing body must find a CEO to effect a large-scale turnaround in the Philadelphia school district. This case examines the context of large urban public schools and... View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Restructuring; Education; Crisis Management; Education Industry; Philadelphia

October 1997 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Transitional Infant Care Specialty Hospital

Transitional Infant Care Specialty Hospital (TIC) addresses the question of whether and how to maintain strategic focus in an industry that is calling increasingly for integrated service delivery. Despite providing high-quality, cost-effective care relative to... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Marketing Strategy; Service Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Pittsburgh

16 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

What Happens When Zambian Schoolgirls Receive Negotiation Training

educational outcomes. “Negotiation isn’t just for making better deals, it’s vital for creating better lives” With HBS Associate Professor Nava Ashraf, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School Assistant Professor Corinne Low, and Remmy... View Details

Keywords: Re: Kathleen L. McGinn

28 Nov 2023
Blog Post

Hiring at HBS: How Summer Interns Make an Impact at Duolingo

is a popular language learning app and website that now serves over 500 million learners worldwide. Learners can access 30+ languages through bite-sized engaging lessons on a gamified platform making learning fun and accessible. The company is headquartered in... View Details

Keywords: Technology

20 Dec 2019
Blog Post

Top 10 MBA Voices Blogs of 2019

not expect myself to become interested in biotechnology. Growing up in Vancouver, Canada, with Taiwanese immigrant parents, I considered the path of becoming a medical doctor. However, a volunteering experience at the hospital of the University of View Details

18 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Penn State Lesson: Today’s Cover-Up was Yesterday’s Opportunity

The most damaging portion of former FBI Director Louis Freeh's comprehensive report on the Pennsylvania State pedophilia scandal is his conclusion that four senior university officials concealed football coach Jerry Sandusky's child abuse... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Education

21 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Going Negative in Political Advertising

desperate as the day of reckoning approaches. They flood the airwaves with negative ads, especially in closely fought states like Pennsylvania and Indiana where the margin of victory was as important as who wins. Political brands, on the... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

01 Jun 2014
News

Roads to Recovery

Step Forward: Incremental Improvement In 2000, Amtrak and the Pennsylvania Department of Trans-portation resolved to make the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia train route "auto-competitive" by 2015. That goal is within reach, thanks to modest... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Transportation; Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction; Construction; Administration of Housing Programs, Urban Planning, and Community Development; Government

January 2013 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Pittsburgh

By: Eric Werker, Meg Rithmire, Benjamin Kennedy and Andrew Knauer

The case narrates the development of Pittsburgh from the 1940s to 2012. It analyzes the collapse of the steel industry in the early 1980s, the city's subsequent decline, and the city's later re-emergence as a hub for higher education, the tech sector, and the... View Details

August 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Steel Street

By: Arthur I Segel, William J. Poorvu, Ben Creo and Justin Seth Ginsburgh

The case involves repositioning an old 6-story warehouse in Pittsburgh and many of the issues of rehabilitation and selecting and managing the development team especially in a world of capital market uncertainty. The case also demonstrates the alignment of interests of... View Details

Keywords: Construction; Capital Markets; Financial Management; Investment; Property; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Pittsburgh

February 2008 (Revised September 2009)
Case

Lance Johnstone: Developing 3000 North Broad

The case focuses on Lance Johnstone, a former NFL player, who has dabbled in real estate development during his playing career, and now, as a retired player, is trying to pursue the development of a 10-unit rental apartment building in a depressed area of Philadelphia,... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Development Economics; Construction; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Philadelphia

December 2017 (Revised April 2018)
Case

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Network Strategy 2016

By: Michael E. Porter, Thomas W. Feeley and Toyin J. Okanlawon

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) began as a stand-alone hospital in the heart of downtown Philadelphia in 1855. By 2016 the CHOP Care Network stretched across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the New York metropolitan area, providing a wide range of services... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Organizational Structure; Networks; Integration; Strategy; Health Industry; Philadelphia