Publications

Find at Harvard

05 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 5

PublicationsHow to Identify the Best Customers for Your Business Authors:Cespedes, Frank V., James P. Dougherty, and Ben S. Skinner III Publication:MIT Sloan Management Review Abstract How can businesses achieve profitable growth so... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 3, 2009

when compared to defense and healthcare expenditures, not to mention the costs incurred recently rescuing failing banks and automakers, among others. But the picture changes... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Retail Reaches a Tipping Point—Which Stores Will Survive?

but you really need to reimagine what the right customer experience is and what the right cost base is to make this capital efficient for shareholders. Best Buy is a good example. Best Buy has taken most of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

August 2022
Case

Atlanta Ransomware Attack (A)

By: Amit Goldenberg and Julian Zlatev

This case describes the March 2018 Ransomware attack on the information technology (IT) systems of the city of Atlanta and the response by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and her administration. The case includes a brief background on Bottoms and her young administration at... View Details

January 1999
Case

Ciba Specialty Chemicals

By: Forest L. Reinhardt

Based on extensive interviews, this case discusses the environmental policies of a successful firm in the specialty chemicals business. Executives at Ciba have differentiated products along environmental lines and have used environmental scrutiny as a tool for cutting... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Business or Company Management; Cost Management; Risk Management; Business Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Chemical Industry

Find at Harvard

09 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

Uncompromising Leadership in Tough Times

that CEOs of HCHP companies think very differently about their employees. They see them as an asset, and care about them as people and work hard to frame the mission of the firm in a way that creates... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

June 2021
Supplement

Reversing Course on a Reverse E-Auction (C)

By: Kym Lew Nelson, James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

Global consumer products powerhouse LSP has found enormous savings in a trial run of a new competitive bidding tool for their procurement organization known as a reverse e-auction. But when Jen Baldwin is asked to achieve the same savings from her suppliers for a... View Details

Keywords: Reverse E-auctions; Bids and Bidding; Auctions; Complexity; Cost vs Benefits

May 2024
Supplement

DRSi (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In March of 2019, Jen Ransom Fuller purchased DRSi. DRSi, located in Bellevue, Washington, printed and reproduced architectural plans and drawings. Fuller planned to use her first year of ownership to learn the business and to run it in much the same way as the seller.... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Health Pandemics; Selection and Staffing; Employee Relationship Management; Production; Logistics; Safety; United States; Washington (state, US)

December 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Workplace Safety at Alcoa (B)

At the May 1996 annual shareholders meeting, Alcoa CEO Paul O'Neill reported that Alcoa was making great progress toward becoming a world-class leader, both in terms of workplace safety and profitability. This validated of O'Neill's decade-long emphasis on safety as... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Working Conditions; Quality; Cost; Profit; Management Systems

March 2022 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Perch

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Stacy Straaberg and Julia Kelley

In May 2021, Perch CEO Chris Bell needed to decide whether his e-commerce aggregator company, which bought and scaled Amazon Marketplace brands, should acquire up to three acquisition targets. The prospective acquisitions, Web Deals Direct, HomeCo, and Future Brands,... View Details

13 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Ignore This Advice at Your Own Peril

School researchers: Disregarding advice from colleagues could invite harsh backlash that just might damage valued workplace relationships, according to the recent paper Seeker Beware: The Interpersonal Costs of Ignoring Advice, published... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

March 1990 (Revised November 2004)
Case

O.M. Scott & Sons Co. Leveraged Buyout

By: George P. Baker III and Karen Wruck

Documents the organizational changes that took place at O.M. Scott & Sons Co. in response to their leveraged buyout. Provides the opportunity for students to discuss the effects of high leverage on management decision making, and the differences between operating as a... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Capital Structure; Borrowing and Debt; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management; Business Conglomerates; Cost of Capital; Financial Services Industry

14 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

Keeping Your Balance With Customers

Industrial Era, product innovation and operations management predominated. Product innovation ensured the continuous flow of new products that would sustain growth or market share or both. Operations management ensured that View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

23 Apr 2014
HBS Case

Are Electronic Cigarettes a Public Good or Health Hazard?

When electronic cigarettes first appeared a little over a decade ago, they were hailed by many as a godsend: a tool to help smokers quit while mitigating the most harmful effects of tobacco. "The [e-cigarette] market is producing, at no View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage; Advertising

21 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 21, 2009

risen to economic and business prominence in many industries. This paper first lays out a simple micro-founded framework that aims to organize academic and managerial thinking about MSPs. It argues that any... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 May 2003
Research & Ideas

Sharing the Responsibility of Corporate Governance

Unfortunately, then as now, the consequences are felt not just by the wrongdoers but by the honest men and women who do their best each day to earn the trust given them. Sometimes honesty does hurt View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

January 8, 2025
Article

Why Retailers Are Turning to Third-Party Marketplaces

By: Antonio Moreno

Some traditional retailers—including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy—are adopting third-party marketplaces, which connect customers with external sellers and thereby offer customers a much broader selection. Many other traditional retailers are considering whether to... View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Matching; Distribution Channels; Customer Focus and Relationships; Cost vs Benefits; Retail Industry

Register to Read

January 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Supplement

Kanebo Ltd. (B)

By: David F. Hawkins, Suraj Srinivasan and Akiko Kanno

Financial statements before and after restatement following revelation of fraud. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Financial Statements; Crime and Corruption; Business Conglomerates; Japan