Publications

April 2001
Teaching Note

Katharine Graham TN

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Lisa M. Gunther and Dina R. Pradel

Teaching Note for (9-801-276). View Details

Keywords: Leading Change; Public Ownership; Power and Influence; Experience and Expertise; Value; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Risk and Uncertainty

28 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 28

case explores maximizing shareholder value as a goal in executive decision making. Over a period of nine years, three different Pfizer CEOs make critical decisions intended to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

TetraScience: Noise and Signal

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

In 2019, TetraScience CEO “Spin” Wang needed advice. Five years earlier, he had cofounded a startup that saw early success with a hardware product designed to help laboratory scientists in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical spaces more easily collect data from... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; Restructuring; Forecasting and Prediction; Digital Platforms; Analytics and Data Science; AI and Machine Learning; Organizational Structure; Network Effects; Competitive Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; Boston

01 Jun 2009
Lessons from the Classroom

The Challenges of Investing in Science-Based Innovation

because you're talking about discovering something that's completely new," she says. "That requires a different kind of management strategy." For example, the financial metrics used to make management View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Auto; Pharmaceutical

18 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

New at the Helm: A Talk with HBS Dean Light

application aside and asked whether I'd like to get a doctorate instead," recalls Light. After discussions during a visit to the campus, Light agreed to enter a new doctoral program in decision and control theory, a joint program... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Education

August 2024 (Revised November 2024)
Case

No Labels and the 2024 Presidential Insurance Plan

By: Robert F. White and Tom Quinn

After observing record voter dissatisfaction with the choices in the 2024 U.S. presidential election—Democratic nominee President Joe Biden and Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump—the bipartisan nonprofit No Labels decided to reserve ballot access in... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Forecasting and Prediction; Lawsuits and Litigation; Failure; System Shocks; Political Elections; Motivation and Incentives; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; United States

September 2010
Case

Bush Brothers & Company

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Chad Carr

The chairman and CEO of Bush Brothers grapples with leading and managing changes in strategy, governance and board composition, as well as succession, compensation and ownership issues, as he takes the family owned/family operated business into its fourth generation.... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Change Management; Decision Making; Selection and Staffing; Leading Change; Management Succession; Governing and Advisory Boards; Wages; Values and Beliefs; Growth and Development Strategy

January 2011
Supplement

Matrix Capital Management (B)

By: Malcolm P. Baker and David Lane

Ben Balbale, a partner at hedge fund Matrix Capital, must decide whether to exit their investment in Rovi Corporation, a company with a diverse portfolio of patents used primarily for digital interactive guides. Rovi's shares are up over 50% from the time Balbale... View Details

Keywords: Public Ownership; Cash Flow; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Valuation; Partners and Partnerships; Markets; Performance Efficiency; Patents; Stock Shares; Decisions; Financial Services Industry

28 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 28, 2008

large traditional retailers. Nickell, DeHart, and Kalmikoff were now faced with making a decision about a potentially lucrative offer from a major retailer offering to carry large volumes of select... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Explaining China's Crash

feel the pinch. Q: What does it mean for the U.S. economy if this is China’s new normal or things decline even further? A: The U.S. is growing solidly. This crisis is not going to be too impactful through the trade channel. Exports make... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese; Financial Services

11 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

Neuroeconomics: Eyes, Brain, Business

that we can predict what they're going to do in the future. How your brain does that is what's interesting to me—when it works well, when it fails, and how it can influence the decisions we make." To determine the point at which humans... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

21 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 21

for making CBA more effective, rather than eliminating CBA as a decision-making tool. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-001.pdf Reputation and Competition: Evidence from the Credit Rating Industry (revised) Authors:Bo... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2012
Article

Comovement and Predictability Relationships Between Bonds and the Cross-Section of Stocks

By: Malcolm Baker and Jeffrey Wurgler

Government bonds comove more strongly with bond-like stocks: stocks of large, mature, low-volatility, profitable, dividend-paying firms that are neither high growth nor distressed. Variables derived from the yield curve that are already known to predict returns on... View Details

Keywords: Relationships; Bonds; Stocks; Investment Return; Cash Flow; Quality; Risk and Uncertainty; Forecasting and Prediction; Profit

Find at Harvard

Read Now

December 2012
Article

Evidence on the Use of Unverifiable Estimates in Required Goodwill Impairment

By: Karthik Ramanna and Ross L. Watts

SFAS 142 requires managers to estimate the current fair value of goodwill to determine goodwill write-offs. In promulgating the standard, the FASB predicted managers will, on average, use the fair value estimates to convey private information on future cash flows. The... View Details

Keywords: Goodwill Impairment; Fair-value Accounting; FASB; SFAS 142; Fair Value Accounting; Standards; Cash Flow; Agency Theory; Motivation and Incentives; Forecasting and Prediction; Goodwill Accounting

SSRN

Find at Harvard

June 2010
Teaching Note

Cisco Business Councils (2007): Unifying a Functional Enterprise with an Internal Governance System (TN)

By: Ranjay Gulati and Marlo Goetting

Teaching Note for 409062. View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; System; Business Units; Corporate Strategy; Infrastructure; Growth and Development; Decision Making; Restructuring; Resource Allocation; Information Technology Industry

August 2009
Teaching Note

Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (A): Becoming Truly Global (TN)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

Teaching Note for [309030]. View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Value; Multinational Firms and Management; Change Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Problems and Challenges; Decision Making; Consumer Products Industry

Article

Measuring the Effectiveness of Competition in Defense Procurement: A Survey of the Empirical Literature

By: James J. Anton and Dennis A. Yao

This article surveys the literature that has attempted to measure competition's effects on defense procurement. The focus is on conceptual underpinnings of models rather than technical aspects of estimation procedures. While providing valuable insight, the models are... View Details

Keywords: Performance Effectiveness; Competition; Surveys; Value; Economics; Forecasting and Prediction; Programs; Power and Influence; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

Find at Harvard

Read Now

September 1992
Case

Vintage Directions, Inc.

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Focuses on the problem of determining whether to continue with a start-up after the first market test. The company has seen product success but is far from break-even and needs additional financing. Focuses on opportunity analysis and the use of market data to assess... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Product Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Business or Company Management