Publications

January 2001 (Revised May 2010)
Case

BP Amoco (A): Policy Statement on the Use of Project Finance

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

Following the BP/Amoco merger in December 1998, CFO David Watson asked Bill Young to recommend when and under what circumstances the firm should use external project finance instead of internal corporate funds to finance new capital investments. As part of this... View Details

Keywords: Project Finance; Mergers and Acquisitions; Policy; Capital Budgeting

25 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 25, 2006

paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/06-061.pdf Cross Functional Alignment in Supply Chain Planning: A Case Study of Sales & Operations Planning Authors:Rogelio Oliva and Noel Watson Author's Abstract In 2002, Leitax, a niche... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2008 (Revised December 2011)
Case

IBM Values and Corporate Citizenship

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

IBM's transformation into a globally integrated enterprise (GIE) began with a conviction about what should never change. Since its founding in 1911, the company operated under a set of principles articulated by founder Thomas Watson and became known for a strong... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Globalized Firms and Management; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Integration

01 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 1

trade policies? Purchase this case:https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/905405-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 317-046 IBM Transforming, 2012–2016: Ginni Rometty Steers Watson To transform IBM for the next technology wave, Ginni... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

The American Chief Executive from 1850 to 2000

By: Richard S. Tedlow

Richard S. Tedlow's research explores changes in the leadership strategies, styles, and backgrounds of corporate chief executive officers in the United States over the past century and a half. This project has both a qualitative and a quantitative component. The... View Details

23 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

How to Keep Employees Productive: Support Caregivers

by Willis Towers Watson found that 40 percent of employees desire family-related assistance, with preference for expanded family leave, bereavement leave or assistance, and additional maternity leave. Companies can attract and retain... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

01 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

John H. Patterson and the Sales Strategy of the National Cash Register Company, 1884 to 1922

rules of salesmanship at N.C.R. was the ability to demonstrate "sympathy [toward] ... the business and interests of the P.P. [or "Probable Purchaser"] and sincerity in presenting [the] machines to the P.P " These were skills to be honed. After an... View Details

Keywords: by Walter A. Friedman

19 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

Birth of the American Salesman

Bockhoff of National Automatic Tool also worked at NCR, as did Joseph E. Rodgers of Addressograph-Multigraph, Henry Theobold of Toledo Scale, William Sherman of Standard Register, and Thomas J. Watson of International Business Machines.... View Details

Keywords: by Laura Linard

01 Jun 2007
What Do You Think?

How Should Pay Be Linked to Performance?

into account the spread in pay packages between the top two executives in the organizations whose bonds it rates. Presumably, the larger the spread, the lower the bond rating, reflecting the higher implied risk associated with a large spread. As Mark View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

01 Nov 2022
What Do You Think?

Why Aren’t Business Leaders More Vocal About Immigration Policy?

those crossing the border to request asylum without “waiting in line” for fully documented or legal entry. (As economist Tara Watson and writer Kalee Thompson point out in their recent book, it is more accurate to say that under current... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

06 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Are You a Level-Six Leader?

the Builder, strives not to reach a goal but to build an institution. Builders are legendary leaders such as IBM's Tom Watson Jr., GM's Alfred P. Sloan, and Harpo's Oprah Winfrey. These people serve their institutions by managing for the... View Details

Keywords: by Mitch Maidique

20 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

Gaps in the Historical Record: Development of the Electronics Industry

revenues were $1.24 billion; Rand's were $145.5 million. Thomas Watson Jr., the executive most responsible for the change from data processing through electricity to electronics, noted: "While our great million dollar 700 got the... View Details

Keywords: by Alfred D. Chandler Jr.; Consumer Products

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How the Giants of Enterprise Seized the Future

shared with the other titans in this book a belief in the future. Watson had two decades of business experience by the time he became chief executive of Computing-Tabulating-Recording (C-T-R) in 1914. The situation he faced was not... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow

2004
Chapter

Managing Global Supply Chains

By: Ananth Raman and Noel Watson

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Globalized Markets and Industries

June 2010
Case

The Shaw Group Inc.: Entrepreneurial Innovation

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Edward Watson

The case describes the founding and evolution of the Shaw Group through acquisition. The case is set at the time that the company is redesigning its business processes, organization, and information technology infrastructure to support aggressive growth and increased... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Infrastructure; Business Processes; Organizational Design; Information Technology

Find at Harvard

October 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Supplement

Integrated Packaging Corporation: Struggling to Do the Right Thing (C)

By: Herman B. Leonard and Orson Watson

Keywords: Manufacturing Industry

January 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Expanding the Culture of Learning at Kraft Heinz

By: Ashley V. Whillans and Carolyn Watson

The Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) was an American food company formed in 2015 by the merger of Kraft Foods Group, Inc and the H.J. Heinz Company. The company sold food products like Heinz Ketchup, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Kool-Aid, and Philadelphia cream cheese to supermarkets,... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Culture; Work Culture; Workplace Practices; Mergers; Mergers and Acquisitions; Competitive Advantage; Human Capital; Training; Performance Evaluation; Growth and Development; Personal Development and Career; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Food and Beverage Industry

October 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Supplement

Integrated Packaging Corporation: Struggling to Do the Right Thing (B)

By: Herman B. Leonard and Orson Watson

Keywords: Manufacturing Industry

October 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

Integrated Packaging Corporation: Struggling to Do the Right Thing (A)

By: Herman B. Leonard and Orson Watson

As a child, Al Fuller had seen his working-class, African-American neighborhood disintegrate as factory jobs moved away. He resolved to help inner-city communities do better when he grew up. Some years later, as an accomplished university graduate with several years... View Details

Keywords: Business and Community Relations; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Issues; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Strategy; Management Style; Pulp and Paper Industry; Manufacturing Industry