Publications

January 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Background Note

Paving the Information Superhighway

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Geoffrey Bock and Janis Lee Gogan

Examines solutions to many of the information-sharing problems that limit growth of electronic commerce on the Internet. Serves as a basic primer for the use of electronic information exchange. While familiarizing the student with the basic tenets and terminology of... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Knowledge Sharing; Problems and Challenges; Retail Industry; Information Technology Industry

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Lyons Document Storage Corporation: Bond Math

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

In 2009 a recent MBA must analyze the possible refunding of bonds issued in 2000 when interest rates were much higher. She must consider the possible consequences of repurchasing company bonds outstanding using cash that might be obtained by issuing new bonds at a... View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Quantitative Analysis; Securities; Debt Securities; Bonds; Cash Flow; Mathematical Methods; Accounting; Interest Rates

September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Sniffing Out Opportunities at PetSmart

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

The pet and pet supply industry was one of the few bright lights in an otherwise dismal retail outlook in 2009. This case gives background pet retail industry information and strategic positioning information for both PetSmart and PETCO to enable students to develop... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry

November 2005
Background Note

Financial Reporting, Tax Reporting and the Role of Deferred Taxes

Explains how differences in the calculation of tax and financial income result in the need for a deferred tax account. Also provides a high-level overview of deferred tax accounting under U.S. and international GAAPs. Allows students to understand the major differences... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Financial Reporting

July 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Background Note

M&A Legal Context: Standards Related to the Sale or Purchase of a Company

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Constance E. Bagley and James Quinn

Introduces students to the legal standards affecting officers and directors when selling or purchasing a company. Provides a practical understanding of the Revlon Standard, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, Rule 10b-5, and the legal criteria for a cause of... View Details

Keywords: Laws and Statutes; Law Enforcement; Government Legislation; Acquisition; Business Exit or Shutdown; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Courts and Trials

November 1975 (Revised September 1992)
Background Note

Communications Policy

Introductory note on communications policy for use in first year marketing. Focuses on: Target selection; message delineation; communications intensity; alternative communications; means and media; economics of communications decisions; and need for consistency in... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy

24 Jun 2015
News

What Happened When Linkin Park Asked Harvard for Help with Its Business Model

08 Dec 2014
News

Harvard Business School Announces Sixteen Entrepreneurs-in-Residence

10 Oct 2012
News

Harvard professor's 'profound gift' – Author Eric Sinoway on lessons he learned from mentor Howard Stevenson

23 Oct 2012
News

Seventeen Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Join Harvard Business School

17 Dec 2010
News

Becoming a Better Leader

20 Jun 2019
Blog Post

What is the MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences Program? A Q&A with Bill Anderson, Senior Lecturer on Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology

Students should also love to tackle big questions, analyze data critically, and devise creative solutions. Most students will have an undergraduate degree in the life sciences or another STEM field, or... 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