Publications

February 2018
Case

Earlham College Basketball: Turnaround Strategy

By: Juan Alcacer and Anne Marie Knott

Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, is in the heart of basketball country. Yet its record for the 2013/2014 basketball season was a dismal 5–20. The school recruited Jason Polykoff from the University of Pennsylvania’s coaching staff to reinvent the program. By... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Sports; Sports Industry; Indiana

21 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Going Negative in Political Advertising

desperate as the day of reckoning approaches. They flood the airwaves with negative ads, especially in closely fought states like Pennsylvania and Indiana where the margin of victory was as important as who wins. Political brands, on the... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

May 2010
Teaching Note

Re-THINK-ing THINK: The Electric Car Company (TN)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III

Teaching Note for [810105]. View Details

Keywords: Production; Product Launch; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Environmental Sustainability; Brands and Branding; Distribution; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Auto Industry; Indiana; Norway

September 1997 (Revised January 1998)
Teaching Note

Indianapolis: Implementing Competition in City Services TN

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

Teaching Note for (9-196-099). View Details

Keywords: Competition; City; Indiana

June 1983 (Revised June 1986)
Case

Downtown Indianapolis Rejuvenation Project

By: Walter J. Salmon

Keywords: Urban Development; Indiana

Find at Harvard

20 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

When CEOs Become Activists

the limelight on controversial social issues that are not directly related to their companies’ bottom lines,” Toffel says. “And we hadn’t seen as much of that in the past, as corporate leaders tended to stay out of the fray on these types of issues.” For example, in... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Publishing

June 2017
Supplement

Transformation at Eli Lilly & Co. (C)

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

Keywords: Eli Lilly; Pharmaceutical Companies; Restructuring; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pharmaceutical Industry; Indiana; Indianapolis

30 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, May 30

social issues that do not relate directly to their companies. The case uses several examples to describe why business leaders are engaging in CEO activism and the potential benefits and drawbacks: (1) how Angie’s List’s CEO responded to the state of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1997
Teaching Note

Activity-Based Management at Stream International TN

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Teaching Note for (9-196-134). View Details

Keywords: Indiana

February 1996 (Revised June 1996)
Supplement

Indianapolis: Activity-Based Costing of City Services (B)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: City; Service Operations; Infrastructure; Service Industry; Indiana

February 2015 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Winnan Metal: Fulfilling the Dream

By: William R. Kerr, Jim Sharpe and James Weber

Neil Kashyap and Neil Lombardo (HBS '08) acquired Winnan Metal, Inc., a metal fabrication shop, after raising a search fund and an 11 month search to fulfill their dreams of becoming business owners. Two weeks after they took control of the company, Winnan's largest... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurial Management; Turnarounds; Bank Loan; Crisis Management; Financial Analysis; Search Funds; Acquisitions; Financial Capital Needed; Management; Operations Management; Sales; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Change Management; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Indiana

February 1996 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Indianapolis: Activity-Based Costing of City Services (A)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A new administration in the City of Indianapolis is initially determined to privatize many municipal services. Before taking this action, however, the city managers want to know the current cost of performing these services with the municipal workers. Existing... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Public Sector; Activity Based Costing and Management; Service Delivery; Privatization; City; Indianapolis

2008
Working Paper

Consumer Demand for Prize-Linked Savings: A Preliminary Analysis

By: P. Tufano, Nick Maynard and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

This paper reports on a small-scale survey of the potential American demand for prize-linked savings accounts, an account that awards prizes as part of the saving product's return. In October 2006, Centra Credit Union launched a prize-linked savings pilot. As part of... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Income; Consumer Behavior; Personal Finance; Investment Return; Banks and Banking; Clarksville

Read Now

October 2003
Case

Merrill Lynch: Supernova

Supernova is the name given to a new way to manage client relationships that originated in the Merrill Lynch Indianapolis offices. During a trial period, Supernova generated very good results among financial advisers and their customers, but challenged the traditional... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customer Relationship Management; Organizational Culture; Financial Services Industry; Indianapolis

14 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Web Surfers Have a Schedule and Stick to It

Harvard Business School; and Jeffrey Prince, Indiana University. The study notes, for example: We devote a more or less fixed amount of time online each week. We don’t allocate more time when something new comes along; instead, we shift... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Web Services

April 3, 2016
Guest Column

The Power of C.E.O. Activism: How Politically Outspoken Executives Sway Public (and Consumer) Opinion

By: Aaron K. Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

Some CEOs are making news by taking public stances on controversial social issues largely unrelated to their core business. This article summarizes the insights from our research paper that shows that such "CEO activism" can influence public opinion and consumer... View Details

Read Now

July 2017 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Donald Trump Calls Carrier Corporation

By: Andy Zelleke and Brian Tilley

This case examines the influence of political pressure on corporate decision-making. It questions whether fidelity to domestic operations ought to be a corporate social responsibility, and thus it challenges the limits of “social responsibility” as a corporate ideal.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility; Board Decisions; Political Influence; Layoffs; Offshoring And Outsourcing; Manufacturing; United States; Mexico; Governing and Advisory Boards; Decision Making; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Political Elections; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Governance; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Connecticut; Indiana; Mexico

September 2000 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Radio One, Inc.

By: Richard S. Ruback and Pauline M Fischer

Radio One (NYSE: ROIA and RIOAK), the largest radio group targeting African-Americans in the country, had the opportunity to acquire 12 urban stations in the top 50 markets from Clear Channel Communications, Inc. (NYSE: CCU) in the winter of 2000. The stations were... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Valuation; Race; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Indiana; United States; North Carolina