Publications

26 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 26, 2006

School Case 806-073 Follows the growth of an entrepreneur from his early startup activities. As the company evolves from 1998 to 2005, looks at key decisions and turning points as AtHoc's strategy adapts in response to changing market... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 1986 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Mike Finkelstein (B)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin, Charles Bryan and Ken Leet

Following his successful turnaround of WTXX, Waterbury, Mike Finkelstein joined Odyssey Partners with a mandate to build a communications company. From 1982-1985, he acquired three more stations, financing each as an independent partnership. However, increasing... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Cash; Business or Company Management; Bonds; Cost vs Benefits; SWOT Analysis; Alignment; Acquisition; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Communications Industry

06 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

Should Entrepreneurs Pitch Products or Ideas for Products?

School’s Hong Luo, an assistant professor in the Strategy Unit, studies entrepreneurship in Hollywood. Like other entrepreneurs, screenwriters struggle with the decision of how to advance their product. Should they pitch just a story line... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Motion Pictures & Video; Entertainment & Recreation; Banking

02 May 2008
What Do You Think?

What is the Future of State Capitalism?

Summing Up In state capitalism, is the operative word "capitalism"? State capitalism is neither to be applauded nor feared, judging from the tone of responses to this month's column. That is, "as long as the key decisions... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

01 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Keeping Track: Performance Measurement, Control & Strategy

and more companies have adopted a service management view of the world, which means being locally responsive to customers. As a result, firms have to decentralize and encourage their frontline employees to make View Details

Keywords: Re: Robert Simons

23 Jun 2020
Book

Beginning America Over Again with a New Electoral System

be difficult, especially in the face of an entrenched duopoly. The transformation requires smart decisions and sustained effort from multiple actors across multiple states, each with its own unique history, political climate, party... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

14 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Few Women on Boards: Is There a Fix?

Nobody questions that there's whopping gender imbalance in today's boardrooms, despite ample evidence that it makes financial sense to put women on the board. Companies with female board representation routinely outperform those with no... 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

12 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 12, 2019

bearers of bad news as unlikeable stems in part from their desire to make sense of chance processes. Consistent with this account, receiving bad news activates the desire to sense-make (Study 3A), and in turn, activating this desire... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

16 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

At the Center of Corporate Scandal Where Do We Go From Here?

new course in our required curriculum next year. This course will draw on a great deal of work at the School and focus on three issues: Individual decision making (how you as a leader confronting ethical... View Details

Keywords: by Kim B. Clark

07 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 7, 2017

of financial and social objectives warrants significant rethinking of organizational democracy’s merits compared both to hierarchy and to nondemocratic alternatives to hierarchy. In making this argument, we draw on some parallels with... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

19 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 19

paper, we unpack the concept of absorptive capacity and separately explore the effect of different types of prior experience on the capacity to adopt external knowledge and make internal inventions. We also measure how absorptive capacity... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 24, 2009

standard-setting authority to an international body. There is also evidence that the likelihood of IFRS adoption at first increases and then decreases in the quality of countries' domestic governance institutions, consistent with IFRS being adopted when governments are... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

31 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: Jan. 31

they should hear about themselves and their strategies. What to do about it: cultivate a network of junior coaches who are willing to tell you the things you don't want to hear. And seek input on key strategic decisions by empowering... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne & Carmen Nobel

02 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Foreign Multinationals in the U.S.: A Rocky Road

problem persuading high quality U.S. managers, accustomed to being at the center of decision making, to work for foreign companies where decisions were made elsewhere, especially as few Americans were... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Johnston & Martha Lagace

November 1999 (Revised November 2000)
Case

International Business Machines Corporation (C)

By: David F. Hawkins

A financial analyst is examining IBM's 1998 tax note to understand better how the company's 1998 tax note was determined. Teaching purpose: Illustrates deferred tax accounting. View Details

Keywords: History; Earnings Management; Taxation; Decision Making; Business Model; Business Earnings; Information Infrastructure; Mathematical Methods; Private Sector; Accounting Audits; Accounting Industry; Computer Industry

20 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

When CEOs Become Activists

and CEO Dan Schulman was especially vocal: “This decision reflects PayPal’s deepest values and our strong belief that every person has the right to be treated equally, and with dignity and respect,” he wrote in a statement. As the outcry... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Publishing

July 2024
Case

Wizards of the Coast and Magic: The Rebounding

By: Boris Groysberg and Tom Quinn

This case traces the history and growth of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game. From its development in 1993 by tiny studio Wizards of the Coast, to Wizards’ acquisition by toy giant Hasbro in 1999, to its evolution into a billion-dollar brand in 2023,... View Details

February 2022 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Lilium: Preparing for Takeoff

By: Navid Mojir, Vincent Dessain, Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej and Emer Moloney

Lilium is a German company focused on developing electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs) that can be used to offer air taxi services. The company went public in September 2021 through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal, raising more than... View Details