Publications

01 Dec 2009
News

The Fab Four

college savings vehicle acquired by Sallie Mae in 2006. Now a general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, Bussgang represents the firm on the boards View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; contests; Technical and Trade Schools; Educational Services; Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services; Information; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

April 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Background Note

An Overview of Project Finance & Infrastructure Finance - 2006 Update

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

Provides an introduction to the fields of project finance and infrastructure finance, and gives a statistical overview of project-financed investments over the years from 2002 to 2006. Examples of project-financed investments include the $4 billion Chad-Cameroon... View Details

Keywords: Project Finance; Infrastructure; Investment; Projects; Trends

17 Nov 2008
Research & Ideas

Decoding the Artful Sidestep

instead provide distraction by answering something they would rather have been asked. And what is more, oftentimes their listeners either do not notice the verbal sleight of hand or do not mind it. New... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

&Samhoud Service Management

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Monica Mullick

&Samhoud, a small service management consulting firm in the Netherlands, grapples with the dilemma of firing its largest client while introducing Heskett's theory of the service profit chain. View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Management Practices and Processes; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Relationship Management; Consulting Industry; Netherlands

December 2022
Article

I Don't 'Recall': The Decision to Delay Innovation Launch to Avoid Costly Product Failure

By: Byungyeon Kim, Oded Koenigsberg and Elie Ofek

Innovations embody novel features or cutting-edge components aimed at delivering desired customer benefits. Oftentimes, however, we observe the need to recall new products shortly after their introduction. Indeed, a firm may rush an innovation to market in an attempt... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Management; Innovation And Strategy; Product Development Strategy; Product Introduction; Quality Control; Product Recalls; Game Theory; Market Timing; Innovation Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development

2020
Working Paper

Transaction Cost Economics in the Digital Economy: A Research Agenda

By: Frank Nagle, Robert Seamans and Steve Tadelis

Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) theory has played an important role in understanding when it is more efficient for a transaction between two parties to occur within the market or within an organization. However, as more transactions occur in a digitally-mediated... View Details

Keywords: Transaction Cost Economics; Digital Economy; Economics; Cost; Markets; Research; Digital Transformation

SSRN

08 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

How Centuries of Restrictions on Women Shed Light on Today's Abortion Debate

mobility, female genital cutting, and anti-abortion attitudes. Will women stray when men are away? Becker, who works at the intersection of anthropology and economics, finds evidence for View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

January 2025
Case

A Tiger in the Tank: Exxon Sues Investors

By: Clayton S. Rose, Sarah Sasso and James Weber

In June 2024, investors were trying to make sense of ExxonMobil’s (Exxon) lawsuit against two impact investors, Arjuna Capital (Arjuna) and Follow This, that had just been dismissed by the U.S. District Court of Northern Texas. Exxon’s suit challenged the rights of two... View Details

by O’Reilly, C. & Tushman, M. L. 2016. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

In the past few years, a number of well-known firms have failed; think of Blockbuster, Kodak, or RadioShack. When we read about their demise, it often seems inevitable—a... View Details

July 2012 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Research In Motion: The Mobile OS Platform War

By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer

The case describes competition in the market for smart phones in the US, and the position of one player, Research In Motion (RIM) who manufacture the popular Blackberry line of products. Early in 2011, RIM is in trouble. Its stock price has plummeted, amidst poor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Product Development; Technology Strategy; Platform Strategy; Software; Hardware; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Applications and Software; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry; Canada; United States

November 2003 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Ivar Kreuger and the Swedish Match Empire

By: Geoffrey Jones and Ingrid Vargas

Taught in Evolution of Global Business. Globalization and corporate fraud are the central themes of this case on the international growth of Swedish Match in the interwar years. Between 1913 and 1932, Ivar Kreuger, known as the "Swedish Match King," built a small,... View Details

Keywords: History; International Finance; Globalized Firms and Management; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Monopoly; Business and Government Relations; Sweden

08 Feb 2022
News

The ‘Do-Gooder’s Dilemma’: Why Purpose-Driven Companies Can’t Lose Focus On Profits

March 2023
Article

Attracting the Sharks: Corporate Innovation and Securities Class Action Lawsuits

By: Elisabeth Kempf and Oliver Spalt

This paper provides novel evidence suggesting that securities class action lawsuits, a central pillar of the U.S. litigation and corporate governance system, can constitute an obstacle to valuable corporate innovation. We first establish that valuable innovation output... View Details

Keywords: Class-action Litigation; Turnover; Lawsuits and Litigation; Innovation and Invention; Risk and Uncertainty

Register to Read

November 2022
Case

Hiring with the Community in Saint Paul

By: Mitchell B. Weiss and Sarah Mehta

This case reviews Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s decision to involve the community in the process of hiring his cabinet members. Rather than relying on an executive recruiting firm or choosing cabinet heads from his own network, Carter recruited 100 community members... View Details

Keywords: Community Engagement; Competency and Skills; Government and Politics; Human Resources; Government Administration; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Decision Making; Public Administration Industry; United States; Minnesota; Saint Paul

February 2007
Case

Update: The Music Industry in 2006

By: John R. Wells and Elizabeth Raabe

The global recorded music industry was undergoing a major transition in 2006. Sales had been declining for a decade, and consumers were buying music in new formats and through different distribution channels. CD sales still accounted for the majority of revenues, but... View Details

Keywords: History; Arts; Music Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Market Timing; Performance Evaluation; Trends; Music Industry

December 2015
Article

Entrepreneurial Imagination and a Demand and Supply-side Perspective on the MNE and Cross-border Organization

By: Geoffrey Jones and Christos Pitelis

This article explores the role of entrepreneurial imagination on the international expansion of multinational enterprises. The focus is on supply- and demand-side factors that help explicate cross-border expansion. The article explores how appropriability-informed and... View Details

Keywords: Imagination; Globalization; History; Entrepreneurship; Multinational Firms and Management; Africa; Asia; Europe; North and Central America

September 2008
Article

Does Innovation Cause Stock Market Runups? Evidence from the Great Crash

By: Tom Nicholas

This article examines the stock market's changing valuation of corporate patentable assets between 1910 and 1939. It shows that the value of knowledge capital increased significantly during the 1920s compared to the 1910s as investors responded to the quality of... View Details

Keywords: History; Technological Innovation; Patents; Stocks; Valuation; Financial Crisis; Financial Services Industry; United States

December 2009
Article

Strategy-proofness versus Efficiency in Matching with Indifferences: Redesigning the NYC High School Match

By: Atila Abdulkadiroglu, Parag A. Pathak and Alvin E. Roth

The design of the New York City (NYC) High School match involved tradeoffs among efficiency, stability, and strategy-proofness that raise new theoretical questions. We analyze a model with indifferences—ties—in school preferences. Simulations with field data and the... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Secondary Education; Marketplace Matching; Performance Efficiency; Mathematical Methods; Motivation and Incentives; Strategy; Balance and Stability