Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(14,903)
- Faculty Publications (3,432)
- August 1988 (Revised February 1992)
- Case
Norton Group PLC: To Be or Not to Be in the Motorcycle Business (A)
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Jon Skofic
Norton, a once famous motorcycle manufacturer, soundly beaten by Japanese competition, turns its attention to developing rotary engines. The company is acquired by Norton Group PLC, which is headed by a dashing entrepreneur. The new management must decide what... View Details
- August 1988 (Revised April 1998)
- Case
IBM 360: Giant as Entrepreneur
By: Joseph L. Bower
Presents the ingredients that went into a major entrepreneurial shift by IBM--investing $5 billion into a new product line that would obsolete any existing computer product line offered by the competition, or by IBM itself. The economic and technical challenges of this... View Details
- August 1988 (Revised August 1989)
- Case
Poletown Dilemma, The
By: Thomas R. Piper
Senior management of General Motors must select a site for a new assembly plant to replace two plants located in Detroit. The economics strongly favor a site in an adjacent state. However, a relocation would have substantial, negative impact on the existing work force,... View Details
- May 1988 (Revised November 1990)
- Case
Airbus vs. Boeing (B): The Storm Intensifies
Discusses the growing competition faced by U.S. producers of civil aircraft due to the success and expanding product line of Airbus Industries. Designed to foster discussion of international trade policy as it affects producers in the industry and to encourage firm... View Details
Keywords: Trade; Policy; Negotiation; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Aerospace Industry; United States
- April 1988 (Revised May 1992)
- Case
Gaz de France
By: W. Carl Kester
The treasurer of Gaz de France is an aggressive, proactive manager of his company's liability structure, running one of the largest swap books of any non-financial corporation in the world. Currency futures, interbank forwards, and currency options are also frequently... View Details
- October 1987 (Revised July 1991)
- Case
Tiffany & Co.
This premier retail jewelry company was bought from its parent, Avon, by a group of investors led by its own management in 1984. The company was highly leveraged, financially, and had to scramble to meet the cash flow and earnings requirements laid down by its lenders.... View Details
- July 1987 (Revised October 2009)
- Background Note
A Method For Valuing High-Risk, Long-Term Investments: The "Venture Capital Method"
By: William A. Sahlman and Daniel R Scherlis
Describes a method for valuing high-risk, long-term investments such as those confronting venture capitalists. The method entails forecasting a future value (e.g., five years from the present) and discounting that terminal value back to the present by applying a high... View Details
- July 1987 (Revised October 1995)
- Case
Phillips 66: Controlling a Company Through Crisis
The downstream operations subsidiary of a major U.S. petroleum company is faced with major restructuring decisions and responds by developing an Executive Information System (EIS) which allows for increased responsiveness, wider span of control, and higher levels of... 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
- June 1987 (Revised September 1997)
- Case
Mebel, Doran & Co.
Puts the student in the position of a senior official of a major New York investment bank who discovers that information has leaked to the market on a confidential takeover plan that was being developed by a corporate client. The official has to decide how to deal with... View Details
- April 1987 (Revised April 1987)
- Case
Tiberg Co.
By: Michael Beer and Daniel J. Isenberg
Describes the efforts of a vice president of purchasing to coordinate and centralize purchasing procedures in a multinational company. He encounters a lack of active cooperation. A rewritten version of an earlier case by G. Lombard. View Details
- March 1987 (Revised October 1993)
- Case
Au Bon Pain: The French Bakery Cafe, The Partner/Manager Program
By: W. Earl Sasser
In recent years, Au Bon Pain (ABP), a chain of upscale French bakeries/sandwich cafes based in Boston, confronted a set of human resource problems endemic to the fast food industry (i.e., a labor shortage which made it difficult to attract and maintain quality crew... View Details
- October 1986 (Revised February 2008)
- Case
Congoleum Corp. (Abridged)
Describes the development and terms of the largest leveraged buyout up to the date of the case. The main problem is to value the positions of the various participants: lenders, equity holders, investment bankers, and management. This is an abridged version of an... View Details
- January 1986 (Revised March 1997)
- Case
Horizon Group
Contains a description of a situation confronting the co-founder of a company planning to produce software for microcomputers. The company has just completed raising money from some wealthy investors by forming an R&D Limited Partnership. Development of the program (an... View Details
- November 1985 (Revised November 1987)
- Case
R&R
Outlines alternative mechanisms for getting into business. Shows the means by which an experienced entrepreneur can gain control over the necessary resources in order to lower the fixed costs of business entry. Provides a mechanism for discussing the role of... View Details
- September 1985
- Background Note
Pre-Start Analysis: A Framework for Thinking About Business Ventures
By: Howard H. Stevenson and John R. Van Slyke
Describes the thought process an entrepreneur should undergo before committing to a course of action. Covers understanding the opportunity--assessing the critical skills, resources, relationships, and approvals--developing an action plan; forming a business entity;... View Details
- May 1985 (Revised November 1990)
- Case
Spinnaker Software Corp.
Describes the problems faced by a company that has experienced remarkable growth, but growth which is below projections. The management must evaluate the company's position in the turbulent software industry. The two partners must then decide whether to cut back to... View Details
- January 1985 (Revised February 1997)
- Case
Lotus Development Corp.
Contains a description of the history and venture capital financing of Lotus Development. Focuses on issues related to the possible terms of investment in Lotus by a major venture capital firm. The pedagogic objectives in the case are: to explore the elements of the... View Details
- December 1984
- Case
Expense Tracking System at Tiger Creek
By: Shoshana Zuboff
Mill manager Carl Adelman learns that a group of senior managers is soon to visit the Tiger Creek mill to learn more about the success of the newly implemented Expense Tracking System. The System had been installed on two paper machines to give workers real time cost... View Details