Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(10,248)
- Faculty Publications (3,825)
- November 1998 (Revised February 1999)
- Case
Microsoft Office: Finding the Suite Spot
By: Stefan H. Thomke and Steven Sinofsky
Describes a key decision-making process within Microsoft's Office products division. At a time when the PC software business has a great deal of uncertainty, Microsoft's management has to make a key decision regarding the future of software suites. A strengthening of... View Details
Keywords: Decisions; Applications and Software; Strategic Planning; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Development; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Goals and Objectives; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Management; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry
- November 1998 (Revised July 1999)
- Case
Merrill Lynch's Acquisition of Mercury Asset Management
By: Andre F. Perold, Imran Ahmed and Randolph B Altschuler
In the Spring of 1998, Merrill Lynch faced an array of challenges and opportunities related to its global asset management business. The firm had recently completed its $5.3 billion cash acquisition of U.K.-based Mercury Asset Management, a transaction that made it one... View Details
- November 1998 (Revised August 1999)
- Case
Mickey Maurer: IBJ Corp. and MyStar Communications
By: Paul W. Marshall and Jeremy Dann
Mickey Maurer is a successful entrepreneur who retired in the late 1980s and then reentered the business world with the purchase of two media companies. In the radio industry he faces competition from large national players. In his publishing enterprise, Maurer... View Details
- November 1998 (Revised December 1998)
- Case
Asea Brown Boveri (Condensed)
By: Robert L. Simons
The merger of Asea AB and BBC Brown Boveri required a restructuring of operations and a change in organizational cultures. Competitive success also necessitated the benefits of scale while remaining "local" for political and customer-responsiveness reasons. The case... View Details
- October 1998 (Revised May 2001)
- Case
Preview Travel (A)
By: William A. Sahlman, Nicole Tempest, Daniel H Case III and Robert Keller
Preview Travel was a leader in the online travel industry, having generated $80 million in bookings in 1997 and growing at a 34% compound annual growth rate per quarter. This case describes the evolution of Preview Travel's business plan and financing strategy and... View Details
- October 1998
- Case
CRA Managed Care, Inc. (A)
By: Myra M. Hart and Jennifer Starr
Silverman and her co-founder, Don Larson, own the largest privately held injury-management and cost-containment services firm in the United States. When their $80+ million company attracts substantial interest of investment bankers and venture capitalists, the two must... View Details
- October 1998 (Revised December 1999)
- Case
Lockheed Martin IMS: Making a Contribution and a Profit
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Courtney Purrington
Examines Lockheed Martin's attempt to move from its traditional reliance on defense/aerospace contracts into providing outsourced government services in the social sector. The protagonist reflects on the past 24 years of rapid growth in the company and the myriad... View Details
- October 1998 (Revised November 2001)
- Case
Boston Beer Company: Light Beer Decision
By: Linda A. Cyr, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Michael J. Roberts
Boston Beer's current light-beer offering, Boston Lightship, has not been successful, and a student team is charged with investigating the problem and recommending a strategy. Highlights issues around branding, target customer selection, and cannibalization, and... View Details
- Article
Merchants as Business Groups: British Trading Companies in Asia before 1945
By: G. Jones and Judith Wale
Merchants formed an important component of British foregn direct investment before 1945. Locating in parts of Asia, Latin America and other developing economies, they often diversified into non-trading activities, inclding the ownership of plantations. This article... View Details
- September 1998 (Revised February 1999)
- Case
Interactive Insurance Services: Redefining Insurance Distribution
By: Lynda M. Applegate and Marla Malcom-Nagler
Founded in July 1995, Interactive Insurance Services provided personal lines of insurance over the World Wide Web. In June 1996, the company was acquired by Intuit for $7.5 million. The case details the competitive and organizational issues faced by this rapidly... View Details
- September 1998 (Revised July 1999)
- Case
Costco Companies, Inc.
By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon
Costco Companies, one of the major players in the wholesale club industry, has developed a new class of membership that offers discounted services--auto, health, and home insurance, business credit card processing, real estate services--in exchange for a higher annual... View Details
- September 1998 (Revised May 1999)
- Case
Arnold Communications
By: Teresa M. Amabile and Jeremiah Weinstock
The new owner and CEO of Arnold Advertising, a relatively small regional agency, aims to build it into Arnold Communications--a much larger, stronger firm competing successfully for national accounts. As part of this growth strategy, the agency develops a process for... View Details
- September 1998 (Revised August 1999)
- Case
IBM's Lotus Development in 1999
By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kelley Porter
Describes Lotus' acquisition by IBM, its movement from proprietary standards to open standards, and its current market position. Microsoft is gaining ground with its Exchange Server, and Lotus has received unfavorable press. View Details
- September 1998 (Revised May 1999)
- Case
Strategic Services at Andersen Consulting
By: Thomas J. DeLong, Catherine M. Conneely and Abby J. Hansen PHD
Bill Copacino, Andersen Consulting's managing partner of Strategic Services Americas, needed to submit his recommendation to Peter Fuchs, Strategic Services worldwide director, for the operating plan for Strategic Services Americas for fiscal year 1999. Strategic... View Details
- September 1998 (Revised September 2001)
- Case
IBM's Reinventing Education (A)
Describes IBM's national innovation strategy to transform K-12 public education through new solutions developed by IBM engineers and consultants using information technology. Examples are: data warehousing in Broward County, FL schools, tracking software for the... View Details
- August 1998 (Revised December 1998)
- Case
Wells Fargo Online Financial Services (B)
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Nicole Tempest
Describes how the Balanced Scorecard built by the Online Financial Services (OFS) group is used to select the highest-priority initiatives for the organization. Currently, initiatives arise continually throughout the organization, and management spends considerable... View Details
- August 1998 (Revised July 2002)
- Case
Innovation at 3M Corporation (A)
By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade
Describes how 3M Corp. introduces and learns a new and innovative methodology called Lead User research to understand future customer and market needs. A team from 3M's Medical-Surgical Markets Division applies the Lead User methodology to the field of surgical... View Details
- August 1998 (Revised August 2002)
- Case
MicroFridge: The Concept
By: John A. Deighton
Robert Bennett, who has a Master's degree in engineering, wants to exploit his idea to combine a refrigerator, freezer, and 500-watt microwave into an 87-pound, 4-foot-high appliance to sell to college students. Bennett must decide which markets to serve, which... View Details
- August 1998 (Revised October 1998)
- Case
Disney's "The Lion King" (A): The $2 Billion Movie
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis
In 1994, just 10 years after its filmed entertainment division lost $33 million, Disney's animated creation "The Lion King" became the second highest grossing film ever. In addition to drawing $740 million in worldwide box office sales, its merchandise sales exceeded... View Details