Publications

May 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

IKEA's Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman

Traces the history of IKEA's response to a TV report that its Indian carpet suppliers were using child labor. Describes IKEA's growth, including the importance of a sourcing strategy based on its close relationships with suppliers in developing countries. Details the... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Moral Sensibility; Policy; Employment; Contracts; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Natural Environment; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Issues

01 Jun 2017
News

Supercharged

unprofitable—made to satisfy California’s stringent zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) mandate, which stipulates that to sell their products in the state, automakers must commit to making 15.4 percent of their fleets zero-emission by 2025. In... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; illustrations by Tavis Coburn

2022
Book

Private Equity

By: Paul A. Gompers and Steven N. Kaplan

This Advanced Introduction provides an illustrative guide to private equity, integrating insights from academic research with examples to derive practical recommendations. Paul Gompers and Steven Kaplan begin by reviewing the history of private equity then exploring... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment Funds; Value Creation

Find at Harvard

January 2014 (Revised May 2014)
Case

Tech Mahindra and the Acquisition of Satyam Computers (A)

By: Srikant M. Datar, Anjali Raina and Namrata Arora

Set in 2008, the case details Tech Mahindra, an information technology (IT) company within the Mahindra Group, an Indian multi-industry company with a diverse stable of businesses including automotives, farm equipment, and financial services, and its decision to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Corporate Governance; Computer Industry; India

Richard S. Tedlow is the Class of 1949 Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, where he is a specialist in the history of business.

Professor Tedlow received his B.A. from Yale in 1969 and his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from... View Details

Keywords: advertising; computer; marketing industry; retailing; semiconductor; tire

Christopher T. Stanton

Christopher Stanton is Marvin Bower Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit. Professor Stanton's research streams focus on personnel economics, organizational economics, labor markets, and entrepreneurship. His MBA... View Details

06 Dec 2021
News

What's the Word?

She·sesh·un (noun) Ly·ing flat (verb) Post·cook·ie (adj.) Bi·o·rev·o·loo·shun (noun) Dig·i·tul no·mad (noun) Di·ver·si·ty wa·shing (verb) Meem Stock (noun) When the price of supposedly “dull” stocks like BlackBerry and GameStop hit the roof earlier this year, driven... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; illustrations by Martha Rich; Manufacturing; Finance; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

29 Aug 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Patent Trolls

Keywords: by Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun & Scott Duke Kominers

February 1989 (Revised November 1991)
Case

Science Technology Co.--1985

By: Thomas R. Piper

The CEO of a U.S. electronics firm is assessing the financial forecasts and the financing plan prepared by the chief financial officer. Given the cyclicality of the industry and the volatility of the firm's performance, the CEO is unsure as to the usefulness of... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Change Management; Industry Growth; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Strategy; Volatility; Electronics Industry

Professor McFarlan earned his AB from Harvard University in 1959, and his MBA and DBA from the Harvard Business School in 1961 and 1965 respectively. He has had a significant role in introducing materials on Management Information Systems to all major programs at... View Details

Keywords: communications; computer; e-commerce industry; health care; information; information technology industry; nonprofit industry

Article

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Corporate Compliance Programs: Establishing a Model for Prosecutors, Courts, and Firms

By: Eugene F. Soltes

When prosecutors, courts, and regulators make charging and sentencing decisions, they must evaluate whether firms have effective compliance programs. Such evaluations are difficult because of the challenges associated with measuring effectiveness. Notably, these... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Governance Compliance; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Evaluation

Read Now

20 Aug 2001
Research & Ideas

Making an Ally of Uncle Sam

levels, will affect structural conditions." 2 Porter integrated the impact of government into strategy development by focusing on how it affected his "five-forces" analysis of rivals, potential entrants, suppliers,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins, Mickey Edwards & Usha Thakrar

Celia Stafford

Celia Stafford is a doctoral student in Health Policy (Management). She received a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Emory University in 2017 and an MPH focused in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2020. She is also... View Details

December 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand within Unilever

By: James E. Austin and James Quinn

In the months after Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever, Ben & Jerry's head social mission faces challenges and opportunities unique in the company's history, including: how to manage employee morale; whether to include synthetic ingredients to meet consumer... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Value Creation; Corporate Governance; Employee Relationship Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Retail Industry; United States

Teaching Interest

Business Opportunties in Climate Adaptation

By: John D. Macomber

This is a Short Intensive Program or SIP at Harvard Business School. It’s an optional student offering prior to the formal start of the Spring semester the following week. SIPs tend to cover new material on current topics, to be less formal than the HBS Case Study... View Details

Keywords: Resilience; Climate Risk; Climate Impact; Fire Protection; Insurance Risk Exposure; Hedge Fund; Public Health; Public Health Measures; Climate Change; Adaptation; Infrastructure; Real Estate Industry; Transportation Industry; Insurance Industry; United States; Africa; Latin America

22 Mar 2023
News

Harvard Business School Announces New Venture Competition Finalists in Student Business, Social Enterprise, and Alumni Tracks

18 Oct 2016
Op-Ed

Why Business Should Invest in Community Health

more pressing crisis management activities. Local sales organizations, which are often tasked with local-level implementation of community health activities, prioritize product sales, supply, and distribution issues first. Target is... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch, Howard Koh, and Pamela Yatsko; Health

01 Jun 2016
News

How Do We Win the Cyberwar?

the mafia. Every criminal trope imaginable is trying to get a piece of this. All told, online crime inflicted $445 billion in damage to the global economy in 2014, according to a study by the Center for Strategic and International... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; illustrations by Victo Ngai

November 1984 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Mayers Tap, Inc. (C)

Mayers Tap, Inc. has decided to redesign its cost system. In this case it uses three different cost center designs to determine how the new system should be designed. Students are asked to drop unprofitable products under the three scenarios and explain the effects on... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Management Systems