Publications

September 1986 (Revised April 1990)
Case

Mueller-Lehmkuhl GmbH

Mueller-Lehmkuhl sells apparel fasteners and rents attaching machines. It views these two products as effectively a single item and prices them accordingly, the fasteners at high profit and its attaching machines at a loss. The cost system allocates the cost of the... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Profit; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Japan; Germany

April 1996
Case

Shanghai Volkswagen

Volkswagen and Shanghai Sedan, have developed a joint venture to build western-quality autos in China. Having developed a supplier network capable of delivering quality components, the company now faces a need to expand capacity (demanding rapid expansion of their... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Management Practices and Processes; Joint Ventures; Operations; Performance Capacity; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Germany; China

12 Apr 2011
News

Twelve Global Finalists Compete at HBS

LifeQube mobile clinic management Asia-Pacific HBS Club of Shanghai Oliver Segovia, MBA '10 Jennifer Kelly, MBA '10 AVA invitation-only shopping platform Canada HBS Club of Toronto Zaheed Poptia, MBA '06 CardSwap online giftcard marketplace Europe HBS Alumni... View Details

Keywords: Multiple alumni

June 2023
Case

Dan McCrum - Unmasking Wirecard

By: Jonas Heese, Charles C.Y. Wang, Tonia Labruyere and Carlota Moniz

Dan McCrum, an investigative journalist for the Financial Times, had spent the past six years fighting to expose German payment processing firm Wirecard. The company had enjoyed years of exponential growth and was viewed by several investors as the poster child of... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Accounting; Financial Services Industry; Journalism and News Industry; Europe; United Kingdom; Germany

06 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Renewable Energy: Winds at Our Back?

When American energy entrepreneur Jim Gordon envisioned the first offshore wind farm lining the horizon a few miles off the coast of the eastern United States, he perhaps did not factor in blowback from almost every angle. Gordon's nearly 10-year battle to gain... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

15 Dec 2024
News

After Ozempic

Back before Ozempic, when Kate Mulroney (MBA 1984) spoke at technical conferences about her work at Novo Nordisk, people often assumed she was talking about Novartis. “I’d have to explain that’s a Swiss company; we’re Danish,” says Mulroney, now head of advanced... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Illustrations by Pete Ryan; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

18 Dec 2019
News

Thinking Smart About Numbers

travel from Switzerland, Italy, France, and Germany to spend the evening with him as well.” Clubs Raise a Toast to the Holidays The HBS Club of South Florida, in conjunction with the Harvard Club of the Palm Beaches, sponsored a sold-out... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

January 2022
Teaching Plan

Just Arrived: Integrating Refugees in Sweden

By: Brian Trelstad and Emilie Billaud

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 321-040. Just Arrived is an online platform that matches newly-arrived immigrants in Sweden with employment opportunities. As one of several for-profit and non-profit start-ups in Europe that is looking to address the refugee crisis, the... View Details

Keywords: Immigration; Refugees; Employment; Integration; Business Model; Social Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Employment Industry; Sweden; Italy; Germany

04 Mar 2015
What Do You Think?

Can a Laissez-Faire Approach Fix Labor Market Inequality?

in Germany and other countries. Implicitly, there is a fourth remedy—a laissez-faire approach that encourages but does not require employers to take actions in their own interests to raise entry-level wages and improve jobs. Until... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

22 Feb 2022
News

A Focus on Latinx Entrepreneurs

David Perez (MBA 1996) readily admits that launching Avance Investment Management in May 2020, at the height of the pandemic, was “the worst timing ever.” But the Cuban native, who studied engineering in East Germany and saved his... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

01 Dec 2008
News

NYC Club Hosts Nonprofits

Northern California Events in conjunction with students Madrid and Barcelona Northern California Video conferences with faculty Pakistan Philippines Topics addressed at the events included “Innovation, Regulation, and Biomedical Business in View Details

03 Oct 2012
What Do You Think?

Can We Bring Back the “Industrial Commons” for Manufacturing?

"over 20% in Germany and at good wages." Peter Sebregondi said that "the German government, companies and unions TOGETHER have defended the German Industrial Commons" in response to pressure from globalization and EU... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing

April 2025
Teaching Note

ZEISS: Commercializing Science

By: Maria P. Roche

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 725-359. View Details

January 2025
Teaching Note

AGENTS.inc: Pathways to Growth at an AI Startup

By: Frank Nagle and Susan Pinckney

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 724-444. In 2024, AI agent startup company AGENTS.inc faced multiple strategic decisions that could shape the company’s ability to grow into the future AI agent market leader. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Growth and Development Strategy; Open Source Distribution; Entrepreneurial Finance; Competition; Computer Industry; Technology Industry; Europe; Germany

July 2024
Case

ZEISS: Commercializing Science

By: Maria P. Roche, Carlota Moniz and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Karl Lamprecht, President and CEO of the ZEISS AG Group, mused on how far ZEISS had come in 175 years of being a pioneer in optics, and how the course he had charted since taking the helm of the company could keep it on track. In his role, he oversaw the four core... View Details

November 2021
Case

LKQ-Stahlgruber

By: Guhan Subramanian and Caeden Brynie

Through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, LKQ Corp. became the leading aftermarket auto parts distributor in the U.S. by the early 2000s. Beginning in 2012, the company began similarly consolidating the European marketplace. However, by 2017, the... View Details

Keywords: Consolidation; Acquisition; Decision Making; Strategy; Opportunities; Europe; Germany

February 2009
Teaching Note

AMD Dresden: Copy Inexactly! (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for [609004]. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Production; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Investment; Industry Clusters; Groups and Teams; Motivation and Incentives; Competency and Skills; Engineering; Science; Geographic Location; Semiconductor Industry; Germany; Europe; United States

January 2006 (Revised February 2006)
Case

E.ON Corporate Strategy

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Sebastian Frankenberger

Examines the corporate strategy of German energy giant E.ON. The firm is vertically integrated, horizontally diversified across electricity and natural gas, and active in numerous countries in Europe as well as in the United States. Explores the costs and benefits of... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Vertical Integration; Corporate Strategy; Globalization; Energy Sources; Economics; Energy Industry; Germany; United States; Europe