Publications

February 2021
Tutorial

What are Agile Teams?

By: Tsedal Neeley

This video explores the elements that constitute agile teams. From its history in the "Agile Manifesto," this philosophy for organizational behavior prioritizes working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and... View Details

Keywords: Agile Practices; Organization Behavior; Priorities; Groups and Teams; Decision Choices and Conditions; Values and Beliefs

October 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Boston Beer Company: Samuel Adams, Brewmaster Leading a Revolution

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mollie H. Carter

Boston Beer Co. revolutionized the beer industry by identifying and responding to a new consumer segment. Using the excess capacity in the brewing industry to establish contract brewing arrangements and an extremely capable sales force, the company opened the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Leadership; Product Marketing; Product Development; Production; Quality; Salesforce Management; Segmentation; Food and Beverage Industry

2016
White Paper

LNG and Renewable Power: Risk and Opportunity in a Changing World

By: Jurgen Weiss, Steven Levine, Yingxia Yang and Anul Thapa

The paper explores potential long-term revenue risks to LNG exports to the extent LNG competes with alternative energy sources (such as renewables) in LNG destination markets. Given the longevity of LNG infrastructure investments, the evolution of the attractiveness of... View Details

Keywords: LNG; Renewable Energy; Revenue; Risk and Uncertainty; Opportunities

Read Now

October 2007 (Revised January 2009)
Background Note

Analyzing Relative Costs

By: Hanna Halaburda and Jan W. Rivkin

Introduces students to the technique of relative cost analysis, a core technique of strategists. Among the intricate quantitative analyses that strategists undertake, relative cost analysis may be the most common. The goal of a relative cost analysis is simply to... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Mathematical Methods; Competition; Competitive Advantage

Research Summary

Performance Measurement and Incentive Alignment

Professor Kulp is interested in how organizations use information to enhance firm performance. The manner in which an organization gathers, analyzes, and uses performance information as part of its internal governance system affects organizational success. Professor... View Details

December 1996 (Revised December 1997)
Case

NAPOCOR Privatization: Power in the Philippines

In the summer of 1993, brownouts reached 10 hours a day in Metro Manila, the center of the Philippine economy. Solving the electricity crisis was central to recently elected President Fidel Ramos's plan to transform the Philippines from the "sick man of Asia" to the... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Privatization; Energy Industry; Philippines

Find at Harvard

April 2008 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Commonwealth Care Alliance: Elderly and Disabled Care

By: Michael E. Porter and Jennifer F Baron

Individuals enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, known as dual eligibles, are among the highest-cost beneficiaries in the US. Commonwealth Care Alliance, a small nonprofit insurer and care delivery system in Massachusetts, operated under a public demonstration... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Public Sector; Alliances; Policy; Age; Service Delivery; Value; Health Care and Treatment; Welfare; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

15 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Barriers to Household Risk Management: Evidence from India

Keywords: by Shawn Cole, Xavier Giné, Jeremy Tobacman, Petia Topalova, Robert Townsend & James Vickery

August 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Steel Street

By: Arthur I Segel, William J. Poorvu, Ben Creo and Justin Seth Ginsburgh

The case involves repositioning an old 6-story warehouse in Pittsburgh and many of the issues of rehabilitation and selecting and managing the development team especially in a world of capital market uncertainty. The case also demonstrates the alignment of interests of... View Details

Keywords: Construction; Capital Markets; Financial Management; Investment; Property; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Pittsburgh

05 Dec 2014
News

Life settlement gets a welcome face-lift

November 2005
Case

Michael Ovitz and The Walt Disney Company (A)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Alexis Chernak

Faced with the need to hire a new president, The Walt Disney Co. pursued Michael Ovitz, a founder of the Creative Artist Agency. Although initially disinterested, Ovitz engaged in negotiations with Michael Eisner, CEO of The Walt Disney Co., in the summer of 1995... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Management Teams; Selection and Staffing; Negotiation; Organizational Culture

January 2025
Case

Ontra: Embracing GenAI in the Legal Technology Industry

By: Christopher Stanton and George Gonzalez

Ontra built a network of legal professionals to enable financial institutions to outsource contract negotiations. The rise of generative AI inspired the company to build software solutions to streamline its processes through automation. Now company leadership must... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Technology Industry; Legal Services Industry; United States

27 Oct 2020
News

Hospital Merger Seeks to Create Regional Giant in the West

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

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Measurement and Metrics; Contracts; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

January 2009 (Revised June 2009)
Case

Distribution at American Airlines (A)

By: Benjamin Edelman

American Airlines sought to reduce the fees it pays to global distribution services (GDSs)—such as SABRE—to reach travel agents. But GDSs held significant tactical advantages. For example, GDSs had signed long-term exclusive contracts with the corporate customers who... View Details

Keywords: Price; Globalized Firms and Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Distribution; Service Operations; Competition; Air Transportation Industry; Travel Industry

April 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Background Note

Note on Basic Option Properties

Options are contracts that give the right, but not the obligation, to either buy or sell a specific underlying security for a specified price on or before a specific date. Explains the basis of options, covering fundamentals such as option terminology, the payoff... View Details

Keywords: Stock Options

8:30 AM – 6:45 PM EDT, 20 Oct 2020
Virtual Programming

The Future of Work - and Managing the Impact of COVID-19

Forces such as automation, demographics, and globalization were already changing how and where we work at a bewildering pace, then COVID happened. In the months ahead, companies need to prepare for three areas where their decisions and actions will play out in... View Details

August 2012
Case

Danshui Plant No. 2

By: William Bruns, Julie H. Hertenstein and Kelvin Liu

Danshui Plant No. 2 in southern China has a one-year contract with Apple Inc. to assemble 2.4 million iPhones. In the first three months of the contract, the plant is unable to assemble as many phones as expected and is operating at a loss. The plant manager must... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Production; Budgets and Budgeting; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; China