Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,991)
- Faculty Publications (507)
- November 1998 (Revised February 1999)
- Case
Microsoft Office: Finding the Suite Spot
By: Stefan H. Thomke and Steven Sinofsky
Describes a key decision-making process within Microsoft's Office products division. At a time when the PC software business has a great deal of uncertainty, Microsoft's management has to make a key decision regarding the future of software suites. A strengthening of... View Details
Keywords: Decisions; Applications and Software; Strategic Planning; Organizational Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Product Development; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Goals and Objectives; Digital Platforms; Innovation and Management; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry
- May 1997
- Teaching Note
Introduction and Overview: Managing Product Development, Instructor's Note
By: Marco Iansiti
The first module, comprising three cases and a team exercise, provides an impressionistic look at all the issues raised in greater detail in subsequent classes. It thus enables students, who come to the course with a range of experience and skills, to get up to speed... View Details
- April 1997 (Revised May 1997)
- Case
Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (A): The Growth Initiative
By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Carin-Isabel Knoop
In late 1994, James Down, member of Mercer's Executive Committee, has to decide whether or not he should push ahead with the writing and publication of a book on growth--at a time when the more successful business publications focus on reengineering and cost cutting.... View Details
- February 1997
- Background Note
Savings and Loans and the Mortgage Markets
By: Robert C. Merton and Alberto Moel
Provides a brief overview of the history of the savings and loans, the savings and loans crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, and the creation of the mortgage markets in the United States. Also explains briefly the most common types of mortgage-backed securities available. View Details
- December 1996
- Case
Common Fund Hedge Fund Portfolio, The
By: Andre F. Perold and William T. Spitz
The Common Fund, a nonprofit consortium of educational institutions, is deciding whether to create a fund of hedge funds for its members, and if it does, which hedge fund managers to select. View Details
- November 1996 (Revised June 1999)
- Case
Living on Internet Time: Product Development at Netscape, Yahoo!, NetDynamics, and Microsoft
By: Marco Iansiti and Alan D. MacCormack
Describes how four companies in the Internet software market approach product development. Drawing upon short case studies of three recent projects, students are invited to synthesize the common attributes of development practice in turbulent environments. View Details
- July 1996
- Case
Williams-Sonoma, Inc.--1990
By: Nancy F. Koehn and Michael Dearing
Howard Lester, chairman and CEO, has just completed a second offering of common stock in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. ($218.2 million 1989 sales). Having targeted $500 million in retail sales, Lester's challenge is to: 1) prioritize growth investments in five existing catalog... View Details
- April 1996 (Revised January 2006)
- Case
Times Mirror Company PEPS Proposal Review
By: Peter Tufano
Times Mirror Co. (TMC) owns a substantial block of Netscape common stock purchased prior to Netscape's IPO, on which it has substantial unrealized gains. TMC is restricted from selling the stock in a public offering and is therefore considering a proposal by Morgan... View Details
- March 1996 (Revised April 2006)
- Case
Global Equity Markets: The Case of Royal Dutch and Shell
By: Kenneth A. Froot and Andre F. Perold
Royal Dutch and Shell common stocks are securities with linked cash flow, so that the ratio of their stock prices should be fixed. In fact, the ratio is highly variable, moving with the markets where the securities are intensively traded. Royal Dutch trades more... View Details
- February 1996
- Case
USX Corporation
By: Stuart C. Gilson and Jeremy Cott
A large diversified steel and energy firm is pressured by a corporate raider to spin off its steel business in order to increase its stock price. As an alternative to the spinoff, management proposes replacing the company's common stock with two new classes of... View Details
- January 1996
- Background Note
Creativity and Innovation in Organizations
Creativity, the production of new and useful ideas by individuals or teams, can appear in many forms and many functions within firms of all kinds--from entrepreneurial start-ups to well-established enterprises. This note describes the varieties of creativity in... View Details
- July 1995
- Background Note
Managerial Duties and Business Law
By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem
Consists of excerpts from Principles of Corporate Governance, a set of legal guidelines that enumerates the principal duties of corporate managers and directors, including fiduciary duty, duty of care, and duty of fair dealing. Also addresses legal obligations relating... View Details
- June 1995 (Revised September 1996)
- Case
Union Carbide's Bhopal Plant (A)
By: Debora L. Spar
In December 1984, a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, sprung a leak, releasing thousands of gallons of highly toxic gas into the atmosphere. By the time the leak was sealed, over 2,000 people had died. In a series of three excerpts from published accounts, the case... View Details
- 1995
- Chapter
An Exploration of Common Ground: Integrating Evolutionary and Strategic Theories of the Firm
By: C. A. Montgomery, N. Juul Foss and C. Knudsen
- Article
Non-verifiability, Costly Renegotiation, and Efficiency
By: Jerry R. Green and J. J. Laffont
We study the implications of the non verifiability of information for the allocation of resources and the bearing of risk in a two party relationship. We consider a two step approach. In step one the two parties define a non contingent contract which will be executed... View Details
Keywords: Negotiation
- November 1994 (Revised January 1995)
- Background Note
A Note on Capital Cash Flow Valuation
Presents the capital cash flow method for valuing risky cash flows. In this method cash flows are calculated to include the benefits of interest tax shields. In a capital structure, with just ordinary debt and common equity, capital cash flows equal the flows available... View Details
- June 1994 (Revised March 1995)
- Background Note
New Product Commercialization: Common Mistakes
Addresses the common mistakes made in new product development and launch. Many times customers' and suppliers' perceptions of the degree of product/market innovation do not match. One of them may view the innovations as a "breakthrough," but the other may view it only... View Details
- May 1994 (Revised October 1994)
- Case
Motorola: Institutionalizing Corporate Initiatives
By: Shoshana Zuboff and Janis Lee Gogan
Motorola became a recognized quality leader in large part by becoming a leader in employee education and by encouraging "participative management." Through the Motorola Training and Education Center, later Motorola University, the company invested substantial resources... View Details
- February 1994 (Revised August 1994)
- Background Note
Note on Contingent Environmental Liabilities
Addresses contingent environmental liabilities that are the result of unforeseen environmental risks where the dollar amount of such liabilities is unknown and depends on future events. In contrast, fines for violating environmental laws are liabilities, but are not... View Details
- November 1993 (Revised April 1995)
- Background Note
Orientation to the Subarctic Survival Situation
By: Linda A. Hill
An orientation to the "Subarctic Survival Situation" (designed by and available from Human Synergistics, Inc., Plymouth, MI, tel. 313-459-1030), an experiental exercise that gives students an opportunity to learn about their personal influence style and their... View Details