Publications

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08 Mar 2012
Research & Ideas

Unplugged: What Happened to the Smart Grid?

Replacing the antiquated electrical system in the United States with a super-efficient smart grid always seemed a surefire way to strengthen the economy, improve society, and provide endless opportunities... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Energy; Utilities

January 2017
Supplement

Bayer AG: Bidding to Win Merck's OTC Business

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Marc Baaij and Arjen Mulder

Keywords: Acquisition; Bidding Strategy; Valuing Synergies; Negotiations; Corporate Strategy; Business Unit Strategy; Bidding Process; Discounted Cash Flow; Cross-border M＆A; Tax Shields; Valuation; Competitive Strategy; Auctions; Germany; United States; United Kingdom

March 1993 (Revised June 1993)
Supplement

McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. (B)

Describes McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc.'s investment decision and strategic plans in 1990, following the situation in the (A) case. Outlines the competitive situation in other types of mobile communications in the United States and the United Kingdom in 1991. View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Communication Technology; Competition; Mobile Technology; Telecommunications Industry; United Kingdom; United States

May 1992 (Revised February 1994)
Case

North American Free Trade Agreement: Free For Whom?

Mexico, the United States, and Canada have negotiated a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that would create the largest free trade zone in the world. The union would build on the three-year-old Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Canada.... View Details

Keywords: Agreements and Arrangements; Trade; Canada; United States; Mexico

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August 2024
Background Note

Brief Note on Congressional and Down-Ballot Races (2024)

By: Robert F. White

This brief note explains the other elections that occur in the United States at the same time as the presidential election. View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; Public Administration Industry; United States

February 2016 (Revised April 2017)
Case

James Madison, the 'Federal Negative,' and the Making of the U.S. Constitution

By: David Moss and Marc Campasano

On June 8th, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, delegates from across the United States began discussing a curious proposal to expand federal power over the states. James Madison of Virginia had suggested that the new constitution include a... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Law; Government and Politics; Power and Influence; History; South Carolina; Philadelphia; United States

April 1989 (Revised December 1998)
Background Note

Household Furniture Industry in 1986

By: Michael E. Porter and Cynthia A. Montgomery

Profiles the household furniture industry in the United States in 1986. Designed for use with Masco Corp. (A) and (B). View Details

Keywords: Supply and Industry; Consumer Products Industry

March 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Shepard Quraeshi Associates (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Harold F. Hogan Jr

Samina Quraeshi, principal of Boston-based Shepard Quraeshi Associates, must decide whether to take legal action against her key employees after they leave her firm to start their own, taking with them key clients and data. Quraeshi sees the situation as reflecting... View Details

Keywords: Ethnicity; Nationality; Ethics; Employees; Gender; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Immigration; Growth and Development Strategy; United States

05 Oct 2016
What Do You Think?

Can the US Economy Regain the Growth and Prosperity of the Past?

Whose Job Is It to Rebuild the US Middle Class? Optimism among respondents to this month’s column concerning future United States growth rates hinges on whether the middle class can be restored. That’s a big... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

07 Mar 2013
News

U.S. Crises Like Villain in a Horror Movie: Rivkin

November 2001
Background Note

Sexual Harassment Law and Policy

By: Michael A. Wheeler, Georgia Levenson and Arturo Corso

Outlines the recent development of legal principles regarding sexual harassment, including procedures in the United States and state courts, what circumstances constitute harassment, the resolution of these conflicts and the resulting consequences for the individuals... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Policy; Working Conditions; Code Law; Outcome or Result; Conflict and Resolution; United States

Mar 2012
Article

Rethinking School

Economists have found that the higher a country's academic test scores, the faster its GDP grows. That puts the United States' perennially mediocre test scores in a particularly ominous light. Progress is being made, says Childress, of... View Details

31 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Why These Business School Professors Oppose Trump's Executive Order on Immigration

Editor’s note: Last Friday, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order indefinitely preventing Syrian refugees from entering the United States, suspending all refugee admission for 120 days, and blocking all citizens of seven... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

2020
Book

American Business History: A Very Short Introduction

By: Walter Friedman

By the early twentieth century, it became common to describe the United States as a "business civilization." President Coolidge in 1925 said, "The chief business of the American people is business." More recently, historian Sven Beckert characterized Henry Ford's... View Details

Keywords: American Economy; Democratic Capitalism; Business History; Economy; Entrepreneurship; United States

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Video

Andrew Pratt - Making A Difference

27 Jan 2011
News

US Competitiveness Problem?

July 2021 (Revised October 2023)
Case

K.C. Li: The Tungsten King

By: Geoffrey Jones and Casey Verkamp

This case examines the business career of Kuo-Ching Li, who was born in China in 1892, and built a successful minerals trading business called Wah Chang in the United States during the interwar years. He acquired a prominent role in tungsten, the strongest natural... View Details

Keywords: Immigration Acts; Racial Bias; Globalization; Government and Politics; Business History; Entrepreneurship; Business and Government Relations; Mining Industry; China; United States; Latin America

April 1993 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW)

By: Robert J. Dolan

In 1992, BMW attempts to revive its position in the United States market. In 1991, unit sales had fallen to 53,000 from 88,000 in 1987. The new CEO of North America considers a multifaceted plan to turn around the situation. View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Market Entry and Exit; Sales; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Germany; North America

December 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Chez Cora

By: David E. Bell, Hal Hogan and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Chez Cora is a chain of breakfast restaurants that successfully expanded from Quebec to Ontario. Is it organized appropriately for more growth? Could the concept work in the United States? If so, how should a migration to the United States be structured? Includes color... View Details

Keywords: Food; Global Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Growth Management; Service Operations; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry; Canada; United States