Publications

2016
Working Paper

Decision-Making by Precedent and the Founding of American Honda (1948 – 1974)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and John Heilbron

American Honda was founded in 1959 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Honda Motor Company to facilitate sales and distribution in the United States. The details of American Honda’s early history have long served as evidence in debates among scholars and practitioners... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Decision Making; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States

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2009
Simulation

Finance Simulation: M&A in Wine Country: No. 3289.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and W. Carl Kester

In this simulation, students play the role of CEO at one of three publicly-traded wine producers: Starshine, Bel Vino, or International Beverage. Each player evaluates merger and/or acquisition opportunities among the three companies and then determines reservation... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Negotiation; Valuation; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Corporate Transparency Improves For Foreign Firms in U.S. Markets

Are international firms that interact with U.S. capital, labor, and product markets more likely to be more transparent than companies without those interactions? In this e-mail interview, HBS Suraj Srinivasan delves into a recent working... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

October 2016
Case

La-Z-Boy (A)

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Natalie Kindred

Kurt Darrow, CEO of La-Z-Boy furniture, must decide whether to continue an overhaul of the company's strategy in the face of a collapse in demand during the great recession. Having pared back La-Z-Boy's portfolio of brands and manufacturing network, he intends to... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Manufacturing; Organizational Transformations; Reorganization; Furniture Industry; Corporate Strategy; Home Fashion; Turnaround; Portfolio Rationalization; Globalization Of Supply Chain; Brand Repositioning; Business Growth and Maturation; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Retail Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

September 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

The United Kingdom and the Means to Prosperity

By: Laura Alfaro, Lakshmi Iyer and Hilary White

After struggling through the country's longest recession since 2008, the U.K. was expected to grow faster than any other G7 nation in 2014. Analysts wondered whether the return to growth was because, or in spite of, Prime Minister David Cameron's controversial £113... View Details

17 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Good about Quiet Rule-Breaking

usually aware of these activities yet turn a blind eye, says Anteby. Why? Is that because such managers are nice people? Or do supervisors see hidden yet important benefits in a View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

2016
Working Paper

Alternative Paths of Green Entrepreneurship: The Environmental Legacies of The North Face's Doug Tompkins and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard

By: Geoffrey Jones and Ben Gettinger

This working paper examines the impact of two entrepreneurs who offered alternative paths to reach their shared goal of a more sustainable world. Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins were respective founders of the prominent outdoor apparel brands Patagonia and The North... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry

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September 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

BT Plc: The Broadband Revolution (A)

By: Michael L. Tushman, David Kiron and Adam M. Kleinbaum

In early 2003, CEO Ben Verwaayen and Chief Broadband Officer Alison Ritchie of BT Plc. are trying to transform the former British Telecom from a stodgy telephone company into a 21st century broadband company. Their efforts to focus the firm on broadband issues within... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Innovation and Management; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Behavior; Telecommunications Industry; United Kingdom

30 Mar 2021
Research & Ideas

Commuting Hurts Productivity and Your Best Talent Suffers Most

workers’ subjective well-being,” the researchers write. How can companies ease the commuting pain? While Wu is quick to note that some “knowledge work” depends on in-person collaboration, including medical and biotech research, he says... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

12 Sep 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Can Remote Surgeries Digitally Transform Operating Rooms?

Keywords: Health

24 Jan 2017
News

How a former Clinton aide is rewriting Silicon Valley’s political playbook

December 2011
Article

EXEMPLARY CONTRIBUTION: Transforming Mental Models on Emerging Markets

By: Charles Dhanaraj and Tarun Khanna

Economic growth in the Western world increasingly depends on meaningful engagement with emerging markets such as Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and Turkey. Business schools are responding with increased attention to these markets in their research and curricula.... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Business Model; Economic Growth; Developing Countries and Economies; Research; Business Education; Learning; Financial Institutions; Framework; Transformation; Perspective; India; China; Brazil; South Africa; Turkey

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January 2013 (Revised January 2015)
Case

FX Risk Hedging at EADS

By: W. Carl Kester, Vincent Dessain and Karol Misztal

In 2008, EADS, the European aerospace group that owns Airbus, was faced with the decision of how best to hedge a large and growing mismatch between its dollar revenues and its euro manufacturing costs. Specifically, the company needed to decide if it would continue... View Details

Keywords: Derivatives; Foreign Exchange; Options; Forward Contract; Aerospace; Europe; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Aerospace Industry; Europe

26 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

Lipstick Tips: How Influencers Are Making Over Beauty Marketing

products—as less credible and less trustworthy, according to research by recent Harvard Business School MBA graduate Alessia Vettese. “People used to watch celebrities on the red carpet talking about what they were wearing, View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products; Beauty & Cosmetics

Gerald Zaltman

*Joined Harvard Faculty: 1991
Prior Faculty Appointments: Northwestern University, 1968-75;
University of Pittsburgh, 1975-91

*Doctoral Degree in Sociology Received from: The John Hopkins University;
MBA Degree Received from: The University of... View Details

Keywords: advertising; apparel; automotive; beverage; biotechnology; consumer products; entertainment; financial services; food; health care; marketing industry; pharmaceuticals; retailing; sports; telecommunications

January 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Targanta Therapeutics: Hitting a Moving Target

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

This case explores regulatory, product testing, and business strategy at Targanta Therapeutics, a biotech company preparing its first new drug application to the FDA. In October 2007, Mark Leuchtenberger, president and CEO of Targanta—which has just held a successful... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Testing and Trials; Product Development; Business and Government Relations; Business Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry