Publications

23 Jun 2021
News

Do Chance Meetings at the Office Boost Innovation? There’s No Evidence of It.

Research Summary

Finding their voice: Time and the conditions that elevate participation of lower-power members in teams [Dissertation, data analysis and writing]

This dissertation paper develops theory about how gaining voice and “speaking up” by low-power members is not sufficient to create changes that benefit them and their low-power colleagues; that, in fact, speaking up when the team is not ready to listen results in... View Details

22 Jun 2022
News

Disrupted by SpaceX, ULA was in ‘serious trouble.’ Now it’s on the road back.

Bigbelly

To accelerate Bigbelly's sales growth and its "smart cities" positioning, its CEO planned to shift his company from equipment sales to a subscription service. Jack Kutner hoped to re-position Bigbelly's solar-powered trash compacting stations beyond trash and... View Details

The Truth About Open Offices

It’s never been easier for workers to collaborate—or so it seems. Open, flexible, activity-based spaces are displacing cubicles, making people more visible. Messaging is displacing phone calls, making people more accessible. Enterprise social media tools are displacing... View Details

March 2004 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Paper and More

Provides a context and exercise for introducing retail inventory management, including cost optimization, service-level criteria, and forecasting in single and multiproduct settings. The owner of a single-location paper and paper products store considers the... View Details

Keywords: Management; Expansion; Logistics; Forecasting and Prediction; Pulp and Paper Industry; Retail Industry

September 2002
Case

Seattle Public Schools, 1995-2002 (C2): Race, Class, and School Choice

Presents the decision by the Federal Court of Appeals for the ninth Circuit in the spring of 2002 to invalidate Seattle's use of race as a factor in allocating space in Seattle's oversubscribed schools. Summarizes the posture and content of the litigation, including... View Details

Keywords: Management; Leadership; Income; Social Entrepreneurship; Race; Lawsuits and Litigation; Education; Education Industry; Seattle

08 Aug 2011
News

Blind Spots, Bernie Madoff's and Ours

November 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Lipman: Vertical Integration in Fresh Tomatoes

By: José B. Alvarez and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Lipman, the largest open field fresh tomato grower and marketer in the United States, has been successfully pursuing an aggressive strategy of acquisitions over the last several years. End-market consolidation in the retail space has driven vertical integration in the... View Details

Keywords: Tomatoes; Fresh Produce; Vertical Integration; Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; Cuba; Central America

26 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Yes, You Can Raise Prices in a Downturn

the selling company's profitability. It emphasizes the collaborative aspects of buyer-seller relations over the split-the-pie aspects. The idea is to create more space between the value provided to customers and your cost. You can then... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Consumer Products

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Issa Baluch and the African Agribusiness Knowledge and Innovation Leadership Initiative (AKILI)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Renee Vuillaume

A veteran of the freight forwarding industry, Issa Baluch wanted to transform the education space in Africa by introducing hands-on practical teaching in agriculture and agribusiness. In the summer of 2015 his vision of a practical learning institute for African... View Details

November 2000 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Alibaba.com

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Carin-Isabel Knoop and David Lane

This case focuses on the strategic issues of an emerging dot-com in a rapidly emerging Internet nation-China. Alibaba, a bulletin board company based in Hangzhou, China, is trying to carve out a niche in the B-to-B e-commerce world. It also shows the speed and... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Internet and the Web; Marketing; Strategy; Service Industry; Information Technology Industry; Hangzhou; Europe; United States

07 Sep 2010
News

China: Looking beyond the boom

October 2015
Case

Bigbelly

By: Mitch Weiss and Christine Snively

To accelerate Bigbelly's sales growth and its "smart cities" positioning, its CEO planned to shift his company from equipment sales to a subscription service. Jack Kutner hoped to re-position Bigbelly's solar-powered trash compacting stations beyond trash and recycling... View Details