Publications

14 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Reforming New Orleans Schools After Katrina

infighting, and allegations of corruption. The district was by far the lowest performing in the state, and nearly half of its 125 schools failed to meet their adequate yearly progress goals in 2004 as required View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Education

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Three Steps for Crisis Prevention

Bazerman Failures of prioritization arise when potential threats are recognized by leaders but not deemed sufficiently serious to warrant immediate attention. Monsanto fell into this trap in late 1999 when CEO Robert View Details

Keywords: by Michael D. Watkins & Max H. Bazerman

15 Aug 2005
HBS Case

Classic Cases Live On at HBS

case has been interesting, Berg notes. Once, during an MBA class attended by Lincoln's president, a student declared that he had high regard for Lincoln but he preferred three-piece suits and executive dining halls to eating in a company... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

May 1988 (Revised June 2023)
Case

National Cranberry Cooperative, 1996

Describes the continuous flow process used to process cranberries into juice and/or sauce. Requires student to analyze process flows to determine where the bottlenecks are and to decide how, and whether, to expand capacity. Original version written by J.G. Miller and... View Details

Keywords: Logistics; Performance Capacity; Performance Improvement; Supply Chain; Mathematical Methods; Cost vs Benefits; Production

December 2005 (Revised March 2010)
Case

William Levitt, Levittown and the Creation of American Suburbia

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo and Mark Benson

Demand for low-cost housing after World War II far exceeded supply. Was this a profitable new market? New York developer William Levitt had to decide. During World War II, Levitt was eager to build basic housing for the working class—otherwise, Levitt & Sons would have... View Details

Keywords: Demographics; Construction; Business History; Housing; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Business and Government Relations; Construction Industry; Real Estate Industry; United States; New York (state, US)

March 1987 (Revised April 1987)
Background Note

Specialties vs. Commodities: The Battle for Profit Margins

Explains the differences between commodities and specialties and defines four different types of specialty products. The analysis is customer oriented. Special attention is given to the distinctions between functions (product- ) and relationship (vendor-oriented)... View Details

Keywords: Goods and Commodities

January 2014 (Revised August 2017)
Case

StepSmart Fitness

By: Robert J. Dolan, Benson P. Shapiro and Alisa Zalosh

StepSmart Fitness, a manufacturer of exercise equipment, is undergoing a sweeping reorganization. The new CEO has terminated the District Sales Director and Regional VP and promoted 30-year-old Benjamin Cooper to manage the underperforming New England district. A... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Restructuring; Salesforce Management; Management Succession; Performance Improvement; Manufacturing Industry; Sports Industry; New England

September 1994 (Revised August 2003)
Exercise

EXTEND Simulation Exercises in Process Analysis (C), Exercise Three

Third set of exercises meant to be used with EXTEND, a simulation system created by Imagine That, Inc. of San Jose, California. These exercises allow students to investigate the impact of variable processing times on the performance of simple in-line processes.... View Details

Keywords: Business Processes

July 1975
Background Note

Introduction to the Case Method

Guidelines to aid the student in analyzing a case situation by casting himself or herself in the role of protagonist, developing criteria for alternative decisions, and generalizing to other situations. View Details

Keywords: Cases

August 1996 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Howard, Shea & Chan Asset Management(C): Recruiting and Selecting a Salesperson

Goes to the heart of the sales strategy issues by asking discussion participants to: 1) develop a salesperson recruiting process, 2) choose among four resumes, and 3) develop a sales compensation approach. View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Recruitment; Salesforce Management; Strategy

September 1988 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Donner Co.

The management of a small manufacturer of circuit boards faces a number of production and operations management problems. The first day on this case is used to analyze the production capacity of various stages in the process and to examine bottlenecks and key... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Management; Management Practices and Processes; Production; Performance Capacity; Problems and Challenges; Semiconductor Industry

March 1984 (Revised August 1990)
Case

Petite Playthings, Inc.--1984 (A)

Provides background information for the (B) case, in which a young sales person is asked for a bribe by an experienced children's wear buyer. View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Information; Sales; Apparel and Accessories Industry

June 1982 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Ellis Manufacturing Co.

Ellis finds itself in a weakening competitive position largely due to the lack of rationalization in its plants. Driven by a strong traditionally decentralized sales organization, Ellis finds that all plants want control over all product lines. As a result, overall... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Cost; Analytics and Data Science; Brands and Branding; Performance Capacity; Competitive Strategy; Construction Industry

2022
Working Paper

A Linear Panel Model with Heterogeneous Coefficients and Variation in Exposure

By: Jesse M. Shapiro and Liyang Sun

Linear panel models featuring unit and time fixed effects appear in many areas of empirical economics. An active literature studies the interpretation of the ordinary least squares estimator of the model, commonly called the two-way fixed effects (TWFE) estimator, in... View Details

Keywords: Econometric Models; Mathematical Methods