Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(22,493)
- Faculty Publications (5,049)
- October 1988
- Case
Agrico, Inc.: A Software Dilemma
An information systems vice president has one hour to make an ethical decision: should a software program, left inadvertently on the company's computer, be copied and stored? Copying the program would protect clients' assets, but it seems to violate the vendor... View Details
- September 1988 (Revised June 1993)
- Case
Ring Medical
Describes the progress of a new product launch (HCS-100, a hospital communication system). Ring Medical has sold only five systems in six months against an annual target of 30. There is a lack of agreement internally on how the new product effort should be organized.... View Details
- August 1988 (Revised November 1988)
- Case
Texas Instruments: Cost of Quality (A)
By: Robert S. Kaplan
Texas Instruments implements a Cost of Quality (COQ) system as part of a company-wide "Total Quality Thrust." After several years of operation, group management questions whether or not the COQ system should be updated to make it more useful in identifying areas for... View Details
- August 1988 (Revised February 1992)
- Case
Norton Group PLC: To Be or Not to Be in the Motorcycle Business (A)
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Jon Skofic
Norton, a once famous motorcycle manufacturer, soundly beaten by Japanese competition, turns its attention to developing rotary engines. The company is acquired by Norton Group PLC, which is headed by a dashing entrepreneur. The new management must decide what... View Details
- May 1988
- Background Note
Roles and Relationships of Business and Government
By: George C. Lodge
Synthesizes a wide range of literature and experience concerning comparative government-business relations, focusing especially on Japan, Europe, and the United States with some references to Brazil and Mexico. Designed for discussion in two consecutive class sessions.... View Details
- April 1988 (Revised May 1992)
- Case
Gaz de France
By: W. Carl Kester
The treasurer of Gaz de France is an aggressive, proactive manager of his company's liability structure, running one of the largest swap books of any non-financial corporation in the world. Currency futures, interbank forwards, and currency options are also frequently... View Details
- January 1988 (Revised May 1992)
- Case
Howard Head and Prince Manufacturing, Inc.
Deals with the issue of an entrepreneur in a very successful company deciding whether to stay through a period of great growth or to sell. What are the entrepreneur's responsibilities to the organization, to his employees, to the public? As subtopics, the issues of... View Details
Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Patents; Law; Markets; Production; Sales
- December 1987 (Revised May 1991)
- Case
One Leather Street
By: William J. Poorvu and Jeffrey A. Libert
Presents a problem involving rehabilitating a small office building in Boston. Describes an investment decision which is knowingly underfunded. As construction proceeds, the developer realizes that it is not up to building code and faces difficult business and ethical... View Details
- Article
'Making Book Against Oneself,' the Independence Axiom, and Non-Linear Utility Theory
By: Jerry R. Green
An individual with known preferences over lotteries can be led to accept random wealth distributions different from his initial endowment by a sequential process in which some uncertainty is resolved and he is offered a new lottery in place of the remaining... View Details
- August 1987 (Revised December 1998)
- Background Note
Capital Market Myopia
Focuses attention on a phenomenon we call capital market myopia, a situation in which participants in the capital markets ignore the logical implications of their individual investment decisions. Viewed in isolation, each decision seems to make sense. When taken... View Details
Keywords: Capital Markets
- July 1987 (Revised October 2009)
- Background Note
A Method For Valuing High-Risk, Long-Term Investments: The "Venture Capital Method"
By: William A. Sahlman and Daniel R Scherlis
Describes a method for valuing high-risk, long-term investments such as those confronting venture capitalists. The method entails forecasting a future value (e.g., five years from the present) and discounting that terminal value back to the present by applying a high... View Details
- June 1987 (Revised September 1997)
- Case
Mebel, Doran & Co.
Puts the student in the position of a senior official of a major New York investment bank who discovers that information has leaked to the market on a confidential takeover plan that was being developed by a corporate client. The official has to decide how to deal with... View Details
- May 1987 (Revised November 1998)
- Case
John Deere Component Works (A)
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The division has recognized the inadequacies of its existing, traditional cost system for estimating product costs. Describes the innovative activity-based system that was developed to more accurately trace overhead costs to individual products. Provides students with... View Details
- May 1987 (Revised February 2000)
- Case
Codman & Shurtleff, Inc.: Planning and Control System
By: Robert L. Simons
Detailed description of the planning and control systems in use at Johnson & Johnson. Focuses on the actions of managers in one subsidiary in revising budget targets. Illustrates intensive strategic planning and financial planning process in a large, decentralized... View Details
- May 1987 (Revised October 1996)
- Case
Murray Ohio Manufacturing Co.
After a record year in 1983, Murray Ohio's earnings declined in 1984. The company was faced with competition from cheap imports and was experiencing declining margins. Students are asked to analyze the company's 1984 financial statements and predict whether there is... View Details
- spring 1987
- Article
Facilitating Group Creativity: Experience with a Group Decision Support System
By: J. Nunamaker, L. M. Applegate and B. Konsynski
- March 1987 (Revised October 1993)
- Case
Au Bon Pain: The French Bakery Cafe, The Partner/Manager Program
By: W. Earl Sasser
In recent years, Au Bon Pain (ABP), a chain of upscale French bakeries/sandwich cafes based in Boston, confronted a set of human resource problems endemic to the fast food industry (i.e., a labor shortage which made it difficult to attract and maintain quality crew... View Details
- March 1987 (Revised July 1996)
- Case
Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc.
By: Kenneth A. Merchant, Krishna G. Palepu and Joseph P. Mulloy
Describes a dispute between the owners of the major league baseball teams and the players' union about the profitability of the baseball teams. The issue is important because of the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations. A consultant is brought in to decide... View Details
- January 1987 (Revised January 2002)
- Case
Baker Precision Instruments, Inc.
By: Ramchandran Jaikumar, Roy Shapiro, Donald Rosenfield and Kathryn E. Stecke
A rapidly growing machine parts manufacturer is trying to decide whether to acquire an advanced Flexible Manufacturing System or Systems. The selection decisions must address the impact of new technology, the effect of setup times on production planning and capacity,... View Details