Publications

March 1983 (Revised January 1989)
Case

American Home Products Corp.

American Home Products is a company with virtually no debt. Students are asked to analyze the company's debt policy and make a recommendation to the CEO. It is likely that adding debt to the capital structure would create some value for shareholders; the CEO is firmly... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Business Strategy; Borrowing and Debt; Consumer Products Industry

January 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Background Note

Note on Corporate Strategy

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski

Introduces students to the study of corporate strategy. Focuses on questions of scope and ownership. Examines both horizontal and vertical integration. Underscores the point that economies of scope, or the existence of relationship-specific investments, are... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Contracts; Ownership; Corporate Strategy; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration

14 Apr 2016
News

Making a Difference

21 Aug 2014
Blog Post

HBS Social Enterprise Initiative Visits NYC

days in July, to visit Social Enterprise students and alumni. Within SEI, we have a lens before fellowships start, when we receive student applications for the Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship or when HBS... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

15 Oct 2015
Blog Post

Why We Recruit: Medallia

Why We Recruit is a series of interviews with our recruiting partners covering everything from their experience working with HBS to what they would like students to know. Each week, we will release a new interview that dives into a unique... View Details

Keywords: Technology

October 2020 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Epic Games: Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite

By: Andy Wu, Miaomiao Zhang and Christopher Zhang

In the midst of intensifying public and political attention towards the market power of big technology, Epic Games in 2020 challenged the status quo that has existed for years in the Apple iOS and Google Android mobile application marketplaces and payment systems.... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Platforms; Mobile App Industry; Mobile Payment Systems; Antitrust; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Lawsuits and Litigation; Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy; Digital Platforms; United States

16 May 2014
Blog Post

Leveraging Big Data to Improve Recruiting

Organizations everywhere are turning to Big Data to make smarter decisions. But how can you leverage it to improve the recruiting process? As the Assistant Director of Market Intelligence within the Career & Professional Development Office, I leverage data to... View Details

December 2013 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Atlanta Schools: Measures to Improve Performance

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

The widespread cheating scandal that rocked the Atlanta public school system in 2010 and 2011 illustrates how high-stakes performance pressure, without sufficient risk controls, can drive dangerous behavior. After becoming superintendent of the low-income and... View Details

14 Mar 2014
Blog Post

Looking to the Next Decade of Change: A Recap of the 10th Annual Retail & Luxury Goods Conference

On the evening of Saturday, February 22, 2014 and all day Sunday, February 23, 2014, the Retail & Luxury Goods Club hosted a record number of nearly 400 students and professionals from Harvard and the surrounding community for its... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

Career Coach

Katherine Manweiler

Katherine is eager to support students in a variety of ways including: consulting, VCPE, and hedge fund case interview prep; behavioral interview prep; crafting a cohesive and compelling personal narrative; deciding between different... View Details

April 2011 (Revised April 2011)
Exercise

Raptor Oil Company: An Exercise

The exercise, which adapts a famous experiment by experimental psychologist Thomas Gilovich, is designed to show both the ubiquity of analogy or associative thinking more generally and its potential perils. Students are presented with a scenario in which an oil company... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Cognition and Thinking; Prejudice and Bias; Strategy

Find at Harvard

Successful leaders – at any level and in any arena – are inevitably presented with moral and ethical choices. This unique and innovative textbook is designed to encourage students and managers to confront those fundamental moral challenges, to develop skills in... View Details

Are the 'Best and Brightest' Going into Finance? Skill Development and Career Choice of MIT Graduates

Abstract

Using detailed data on recipients of bachelor's degrees from MIT between 2006 and 2012, I examine the selection of students into finance or science and engineering (S&E). I find that academic achievement in college is negatively correlated with... View Details

January 2005
Case

Building Career Foundations: Humphrey Chen (A)

Follows the career decision making of a second-year MBA student who is engaged and must negotiate both cross-cultural and dual-career issues. Humphrey Chen must decide between a consulting firm and running his own start-up company (pre-Internet boom). He confronts... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Family and Family Relationships; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

September 1971 (Revised September 1983)
Case

Gentle Electric Co.

By: W. Earl Sasser

Designed to illustrate various levels of complexity in determining optimum order sizes for a single item inventory policy. Students are asked to evaluate the impact of recent operational changes on the firm's ordering policy. Intended to follow the students' initial... View Details

Keywords: Change; Policy; Supply Chain; Complexity; Electronics Industry