Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(283)
- Faculty Publications (45)
- September 2013
- Case
SafeBlend Fracturing
By: Benson P. Shapiro, Frank V. Cespedes and Alisa Zalosh
The CEO of SafeBlend Technologies must set a price for the company's environmentally friendly fracturing fluid additive. The firm is negotiating a new contract with its biggest client, Bristol Natural Gas. For the last two years, SafeBlend has been the sole provider of... View Details
- November 2012 (Revised April 2013)
- Case
Colbún and the Future of Chile's Power
By: Forest Reinhardt and Shon R. Hiatt
This case is about Colbún, Chile's second largest electricity generator, which is facing significant uncertainty regarding the cost and availability of alternative energy sources. Problems with the contracted supply of natural gas and the volatility of oil prices,... View Details
Keywords: Energy; Chile; Environmental Protection; Energy Generation; Energy Industry; South America; Chile
- August 2012 (Revised September 2013)
- Case
EnerNOC: DemandSMART
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice
EnerNOC is an energy company with an innovative business model: it serves as an intermediary between electric utilities and electricity users. It contracts with electricity users willing to reduce demand during periods of peak energy demand, and sells this as excess... View Details
Keywords: Production Planning; Productivity; Environmental Protection; Energy; Environment; Business Government Relations; Laws And Regulation; Business Model; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Supply Chain Management; Production; Energy Conservation; Energy Industry
- Article
Matching in Networks with Bilateral Contracts
By: John William Hatfield and Scott Duke Kominers
We introduce a model in which firms trade goods via bilateral contracts which specify a buyer, a seller, and the terms of the exchange. This setting subsumes (many-to-many) matching with contracts, as well as supply chain matching. When firms' relationships do not... View Details
- February 2011 (Revised May 2011)
- Case
Utilis: Designing, Producing, and Selling Rapid Deployment Shelters for a Troubled World
By: Herman B. Leonard, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Simon Harrow
How can a company that supplies disaster response and humanitarian agencies best handle the intrinsically unpredictable and highly volatile demand for its products? Utilis is a French supplier of rapid-deploy high-end tent solutions for civilian and military uses (such... View Details
- November 2010
- Case
Esquel Group: Building a Sustainable Partnership with Cotton Farmers in Xinjiang (A)
By: James K. Sebenius and Jason Cheng Qian
Esquel Group, leading manufacturer of quality shirts, sought to negotiate long-term partnerships with often-exploited farmers in Xinjiang (western China) to procure a superior cotton variety. Seeking to secure a large supply of specialty cotton in an ethical and... View Details
Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Leasing; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Hong Kong; Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu
- 2011
- Working Paper
Cyclicality of Credit Supply: Firm Level Evidence
By: Bo Becker and Victoria Ivashina
Theory predicts that there is a close link between bank credit supply and the evolution of the business cycle. Yet fluctuations in bank-loan supply have been hard to quantify in the time-series. While loan issuance falls in recessions, it is not clear if this is due to... View Details
- June 2009 (Revised December 2011)
- Case
Colbún—Powering Chile
By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Gustavo A. Herrero and Sanjay Patnaik
This case is about Colbún, Chile's second largest electricity generator, which is facing significant uncertainty regarding the cost and availability of alternative energy sources. Problems with the contracted supply of natural gas and the volatility of oil prices,... View Details
- June 2009
- Teaching Note
COFCO Xinjiang Tunhe Co., Ltd. (TN)
By: David E. Bell, Sarah Morton and Mary Louise Shelman
Teaching Note for [508079]. View Details
Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Goals and Objectives; Quality; Price; Competitive Strategy; Contracts; Supply and Industry; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Safety; Cost Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China
- April 2009 (Revised June 2010)
- Supplement
Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (B)
By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem
The epilogue to Supply Chain Partners: Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor (A), the B case details the outcome of the issues discussed in Case A; namely that Virginia Mason and Owens & Minor did implement the TSCC contract. Virginia Mason also kept the suture contract... View Details
- August 2008 (Revised July 2009)
- Case
Gazprom (A): Energy and Strategy in Russian History
By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Sogomon Tarontsi and Alexander Jorov
Critics have accused Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas producer, of eschewing market principles in favor of the foreign policy priorities of the Russian government, ever since the energy giant cut off the supply to Ukraine in January of 2006. The purported... View Details
Keywords: History; International Relations; Trade; Energy Industry; Russia; Soviet Union; Ukraine; Europe
- June 2008 (Revised July 2009)
- Case
COFCO Xinjiang Tunhe Co., Ltd.
By: David E. Bell and Aldo Sesia
In 2005, COFCO Ltd., one of China's largest and most successful companies, acquired Xinjiang Tunhe, a tomato processing firm, which had been, in recent years, poorly managed. COFCO changed Tunhe's management team and set out to create a culture of professionalism and... View Details
- May 2007 (Revised July 2011)
- Case
The West German Headache Center: Integrated Migraine Care
By: Michael E. Porter, Clemens Guth and Elisa M. Dannemiller
Describes the joint efforts of the German health plan KKH and Essen University Hospital to develop an integrated practice unit (IPU), and the West German Headache Center's efforts to improve the quality of migraine care. Provides an overview of the German health care... View Details
- 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
- April 2005 (Revised May 2005)
- Case
Exel PLC--Supply Chain Management at Haus Mart
By: Zeynep Ton and Steven C. Wheelwright
Exel plc is a global third-party logistics provider, serving clients such as Home Depot, Dell, Unilever, and Marks & Spencer. Describes the range of activities Exel performs for its clients and the capabilities the company has developed. Exel traditionally focused on... View Details
- Article
Contracting in a Supply Chain with Stochastic Demand and Substitute Products
By: Santiago Kraiselburd, V.G. Narayanan and Ananth Raman
- February 2003 (Revised May 2003)
- Case
Mobile Energy Services Company
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia
When Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap became CEO of the Scott Paper Co., the company owned a large, vertically integrated production facility in Mobile, Alabama. Dunlap sold part of the production facility, a cogeneration power plant (later known as Mobile Energy Services Co.), to... View Details
- November 2002 (Revised August 2003)
- Case
MedSource Technologies
Considers the issues facing Richard Effress, MedSource's chairman and CEO, as the firm approaches the Precision Cut project--the first test of MedSource's capabilities as an integrated, contract manufacturer in the medical device industry. MedSource Technologies was... View Details
- March 2002 (Revised May 2003)
- Case
Supply Chain Close-Up: The Video Vault
By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem
The owners of the Video Vault struggle to determine the optimal stocking levels of home videos in an industry fraught with new technology, new pricing paradigms, and stiff competitive pressure from large national chains. Teaching Purpose: To demonstrate the role of... View Details
- February 2002 (Revised May 2002)
- Background Note
That's a Wrap: The Dynamics of the Video Rental Industry
By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem
The history, current dynamics, and future trends of the $10 billion home video rental industry provides a platform to discuss revenue-sharing contracts between suppliers of home videocassettes and retailers. View Details