Publications

February 2019 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Where to Grow Next at Online Marketplace OLX

By: Thales Teixeira, Leandro A. Guissoni and Samy Dana

The CEO of OLX Brazil, an online classifieds platform business, is debating among multiple paths to grow sustainably (i.e., profitably) without the need for investor money. The options under consideration are (1) penetration growth by focusing on the core, (2) new... View Details

Keywords: Online Marketplace; Growth; Customer Acquisition; Facebook; Two-sided Network; E-commerce; Classifieds; Naspers; Schibsted; Innovation; Startup; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Brazil

July 2010
Article

Is a Higher Calling Enough? Incentives Effects in the Church

By: Christopher Parsons, J. Hartzell and D. Yermack

We study the compensation and productivity of more than 2,000 Methodist ministers in a 43‐year panel data set. The church appears to use pay‐for‐performance incentives for its clergy, as their compensation follows a sharing rule by which pastors receive approximately... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Organizations; Religion; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits

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June 2013
Case

Hess Corporation

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kathleen Durante

On January 29, 2013, Elliott Management, a hedge fund run by Paul E. Singer, which owned 4.5% of Hess Corporation stock, put forward a slate of five independent directors it wanted elected to improve the company's performance. Elliott argued that Hess lacked focus and... View Details

Keywords: Takeover Attempt; Board; Hess; Governing and Advisory Boards; Organizational Structure; Acquisition; Financial Services Industry; Energy Industry

March 2007 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Madam C.J. Walker: Entrepreneur, Leader, and Philanthropist

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Anne Dwojeski, William Grundy, Erica Helms and Katherine Miller

Madam C. J. Walker, who has been credited as the first self-made African-American woman millionaire, created a hair-care empire after years spent as a laundress in St. Louis, Missouri. Decades before the Civil Rights movement, her company gave employment to thousands... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Business History; Race; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Saint Louis

June 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Background Note

Beating the Commodity Magnet

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and George T. Bowman

All markets follow a cycle of growth and maturity, then commoditization and decline. This note argues that while commoditization of an industry may seem inevitable, the better managed firms find a way to make money in the commodity cycle. These firms know how and when... View Details

Keywords: Goods and Commodities; Financial Markets; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

13 Oct 2020
News

Can Entrepreneurs Make Mobile Voting Easy and Secure?

24 Feb 2020
News

What happened when we tried to beat open-office distractions

29 Oct 2019
News

Why Open Offices Aren’t Working — and How to Fix Them

New Twitter Research: Men Follow Men and Nobody Tweets

Twitter has attracted tremendous attention from the media and celebrities, but there is much uncertainty about Twitter's purpose. Is Twitter a communications service for friends and groups, a means of expressing yourself freely, or simply a marketing... View Details

May 2012 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Apple Inc. in 2012

By: David B. Yoffie and Penelope Rossano

On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs tragically died of cancer. The recently retired CEO of Apple Inc. was a legend: he had changed Apple from a company near bankruptcy to one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world. Moreover, he had revolutionized several... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Market Positioning; Strategic Planning; Technology; Computer Industry; Strategy Implementation; Consumer Electronics; Telecommunications; Information Infrastructure; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Strategy; Leadership; Product Positioning; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

April 2014 (Revised July 2015)
Case

Sanofi Pasteur: The Dengue Vaccine Dilemma

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, David E. Bloom, Vincent Dessain and Emilie Billaud

In 2012, Sanofi Pasteur was racing to develop a vaccine against dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, and was evaluating this product in a Phase IIb trial conducted with school children in Thailand. But while the candidate vaccine met the high safety expectations and a... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Emerging Markets; Pharmaceutical Industry; France

16 Feb 2016
First Look

February 16, 2016

vary in their propensity to violate MAP policies and the depth by which they do so. Our inductive research approach documents managerial wisdom about MAP practices. We confront these insights from practice with a large empirical study that includes hundreds of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2023
Case

Russia's Invasion of Ukraine in 2022: Consequences for Agriculture

By: José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

Russia's brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine that begain in February 2022 caused major destruction to Ukraine's agriculture sector, one of the most productive and important in the world. This note provides a brief overview of certain singificant moments and moments... View Details

Keywords: Food; Agribusiness; War; Disruption; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Shipping Industry; Ukraine; Russia

2012
Book

Commentaries and Cases on the Law of Business Organization

By: William T. Allen, Reinier Kraakman and Guhan Subramanian

This fourth edition is completely updated throughout. It now includes excerpts from important recent cases such as "Air Products v. Airgas" and "In re CNX Gas" and provides commentary on current developments, such as "Say on Pay," proxy access and the Dodd-Frank Act of... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Laws and Statutes; Lawsuits and Litigation

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July 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

RelayHealth

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Elizabeth Kind

RelayHealth provides secure, online communications for doctors, patients, and health plans. The company's services include online consultations, prescription renewals, and appointment scheduling. RelayHealth's business model derives subscription revenue from doctors... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Telecommunications Industry