Publications

March 1989 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Metabo GmbH & Co. KG

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A privately owned German power tool company was dissatisfied with its existing cost system. The system could not produce timely accurate reports on cost center operations, and newly purchased automated machines were attracting large overhead costs. A new, highly... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost; Budgets and Budgeting; Capital Budgeting; Cost Management; Reports; Private Ownership; Business or Company Management; Consumer Products Industry; Germany

24 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 24, 2017

information, increased volume, or idiosyncratic volatility. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51024 February 2017 Academic Radiology Dissecting Costs of CT Study: Application... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 12, 2006

the footprint are outsourced—module boundaries are redrawn and interfaces designed for this purpose. The result is an invested capital advantage, which can be used to drive the returns of competitors below... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2013
Working Paper

International Health Economics

By: Mark Egan and Tomas J. Philipson

Perhaps because health care is a local service sector, health economists have paid little attention to international linkages between domestic health care economies. However, the growth in domestic health care sectors is often attributed to medical innovations whose... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Global Range; Economics

June 2007
Article

Does Employment Protection Reduce Productivity? Evidence from U.S. States

By: David H Autor, William R. Kerr and Adriana D. Kugler

Theory predicts that mandated employment protections may reduce productivity by distorting production choices. Firms facing (non-Coasean) worker dismissal costs will curtail hiring below efficient levels and retain unproductive workers, both of which should affect... View Details

Keywords: Theory; Production; Selection and Staffing; Cost; Employment; Capital; Performance Productivity; United States

February 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Case

BUA Group

By: John D. Macomber, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal

BUA Group must decide between investments in cement, road building, power generation, or sugar. Private businesses are important to economic development in Africa. Students must assess the competitive nature of each of these industries, the magnitude of capital... View Details

Keywords: Investing; Transportation; Strategy; Project Finance; Agribusiness; Construction; Infrastructure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Nigeria; Africa

11 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

Is A/B Testing Effective? Evidence from 35,000 Startups

researchers analyzed the characteristics, web metrics, and technology adoption trajectories of the startups over four years starting in April 2015 to determine not only whether A/B testing affected firm performance, but how. What they... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

January 2001
Case

Valuing Project Achieve

By: Mihir A. Desai and Kathleen Luchs

Project Achieve is a start-up providing information management solutions for schools. Its founders see a need for software both to manage the volumes of information necessary to administer a school and to connect parents, teachers, and students in a more effective way.... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Valuation; Venture Capital; Cost of Capital; Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction

Article

R&D: A Small Contribution to Productivity Growth

By: Diego Comin

In this paper I evaluate the contribution of R&D investments to productivity growth. The basis for the analysis are the free entry condition and the fact that most R&D innovations are embodied. Free entry yields a relationship between the resources devoted to R&D and... View Details

Keywords: Research and Development; Investment; Interest Rates; Performance Productivity; Technological Innovation; Perspective; United States

Article

Market Integration in Developed and Emerging Markets: Evidence from the CAPM

By: Robert Bruner, Wei Li, Mark Kritzman, Simon Myrgren and Sebastien Page

Beta, as measured by the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), is widely used for pricing stocks, determining the cost of capital, and gauging the extent to which markets are integrated. The CAPM model assumes that equilibrium conditions prevail. The choice of which... View Details

10 Nov 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Crony Capitalism, American Style: What Are We Talking About Here?

Keywords: by Malcolm S. Salter

February 1992 (Revised April 1993)
Case

Acid Rain: The Southern Co. (A)

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

The Southern Co., an electric utility, is planning its compliance with the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. The Act established a system of tradeable permits for sulfur dioxide emissions. The company must decide whether to install pollution control equipment and... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Business Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Management; Strategic Planning; Investment Return; Government Legislation; Wastes and Waste Processing; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; United States

2025
Chapter

Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter argues that since the nineteenth century capitalism has created much wealth, but at the cost of massive ecological destruction, which has been particularly severe in Latin America. During the first global economy before 1929, considerable wealth was... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Business History; Globalization; Economic Growth; Latin America

February 1998 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Delamere Vineyard

Delamere Vineyard is a small, integrated winemaking business in Tasmania, specializing in pinot noir (red) and chardonnay (white) wines. Richard Richardson, Delamere's owner and winemaker, manages and operates the vineyard and winery largely alone. His products have... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Quality; Production; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Australia

31 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

American Idle: Workers Spend Too Much Time Waiting for Something to Do

experienced idle time. Employees were asked: “On average, how frequently do you experience periods of at least 15 minutes of other-caused idle time at your primary job?" (Blair Storie-Johnson)... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Climate Change is Going to Transform Where and How We Build

As fires, floods, and droughts increasingly threaten homes, businesses, and other institutions, climate risk has become financial risk. Mortgages written on homes in exposed locations are being shed by banks and absorbed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,... View Details

21 May 2012
Research & Ideas

OSHA Inspections: Protecting Employees or Killing Jobs?

averages implies that a company with a bad year would usually improve the following year even without an inspection. "When they do find a problem, it's not entirely obvious that it wouldn't resolve itself anyway," he says. Toffel has long... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

March 2006 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Hexcel Turnaround — 2001 (A)

By: Paul W. Marshall, James Quinn and Reed Martin

Hexcel's new CEO is faced with deciding how to "take out" $60 million in cash costs in fiscal 2002, as two of the company's end markets—electronics and commercial aerospace—are expected to decline precipitously. Options include closing plants, exiting a business, or... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Negotiation; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Change Management; Crisis Management; Borrowing and Debt; Aerospace Industry; Electronics Industry; United States

November 2008
Case

HNA Group: Moving China's Air Transport Industry in a New Direction

By: William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Manty

HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines, was positioning itself to go global and make a mark for itself as the largest private airline in China. Positioned squarely behind the "Big Three" state-owned carriers, Hainan Airlines sought to create a world-class... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Private Ownership; Competitive Advantage; Air Transportation Industry; China