Publications

June 2013 (Revised July 2017)
Case

Angus Cartwright IV

By: Kenneth J. Hatten, William J. Poorvu, Howard H. Stevenson, Arthur I Segel and John H. Vogel, Jr.

Judy and John DeRight, looking to diversify their investment portfolios, have retained Angus Cartwright, Jr. to identify prospective real estate acquisitions. Mr. Cartwright has four potential properties that he feels merit an in-depth financial analysis. The case... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Cash Flow; Investment Return; Investment Portfolio; Taxation; Balanced Scorecard; Valuation

11 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

It Pays to Hire Women in Countries That Won’t

Call it corporate alchemy. New research finds that multinational companies can spin gender bias into gold by recruiting and hiring well-educated female managers in countries that traditionally discriminate against women. Employing women... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

12 Nov 2014
News

Whalen: Dow Should Give Money Back to Shareholders

January 2001 (Revised June 2004)
Case

PetroChina

By: Alexander Dyck, Yasheng Huang and David Lane

In March 2000, plans for the initial public offering of shares in PetroChina were proceeding on schedule, and institutional investors were evaluating the deal. PetroChina was China's largest oil and gas company and an attractive play on China's continued economic... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; China

Multinationals frequently operate in locations where laws against corruption are not widely enforced. We examine ratings of self-reported anticorruption efforts for 480 multinationals to better understand what factors underlie their efforts and their performance... View Details

July 1986 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Nippon-WTI Ltd.

By: W. Carl Kester and Glynn Ferguson

A Japanese joint venture between a U.S. parent and a Japanese parent has proposed that 100% of the U.S. parent's product be produced in Japan rather than the 40% currently being manufactured there. This would require the U.S. parent to give up a dollar profit earned on... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Product; Production; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Asia; Japan; United States

Find at Harvard

Article

The End of Chimerica

For the better part of the past decade, the world economy has been marked by an economic order that combined Chinese export-led development with U.S. over-consumption. The financial crisis of 2007-09 likely marks the beginning of the end of the Chimerican relationship.... View Details

Keywords: Trade; China; United States

March 2023
Teaching Note

Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline Company

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 123-069. On the morning of May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline Company became aware that the company had been the victim of a malicious ransomware attack that had stolen and locked up company data. The extortionists demanded 75 bitcoins (worth... View Details

December 2002 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Commerce Bank

By: Frances X. Frei and Corey B. Hajim

Commerce Bank has become one of the fastest growing banks in the country, despite having defied conventional wisdom about how to grow deposits. Banks historically have grown either by competing on deposit rates or through acquisitions that expand their deposit base.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Design; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Competition; Banking Industry

October 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Carme Ruscalleda: The Chef as an Artist

By: Boris Groysberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Annelena Lobb

In October 2018, Chef Carme Ruscalleda, the most-starred woman chef in the world at the time, closed the doors of her Restaurant Sant Pau (Sant Pau), as she had on almost every night for the past 30 years—this time for the last time. Ruscalleda had opened the... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Sant Pau; Personal Development and Career; Family Business; Leadership Style; Innovation and Invention; Food; Success; Food and Beverage Industry

April 2008 (Revised December 2008)
Case

North Goes East

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Elena Corsi

In August 2006, Magnus Lofgren and Robert Provine, managing directors and co-founders of the "North Real Estate Opportunities Fund," need to decide which real estate investment the Fund should pursue as its first project. The Fund's target region, Central and Eastern... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment Funds; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; Opportunities; Real Estate Industry; Europe

George Serafeim is the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He co-leads a Lab, within Harvard's Digital, Data, Design Institute, and serves on the faculty steering commitee of Harvard University's Salata Institute. He... View Details

Keywords: asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management; asset management

Samuel L. Hayes

Samuel L. Hayes holds the Jacob H. Schiff Chair in Investment Banking Emeritus, at the Harvard Business School. He has taught at the School since 1970, prior to which he was a tenured member of the faculty of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He... View Details

September 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Costco Companies, Inc.

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Costco Companies, one of the major players in the wholesale club industry, has developed a new class of membership that offers discounted services--auto, health, and home insurance, business credit card processing, real estate services--in exchange for a higher annual... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Cost Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Supply and Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Risk and Uncertainty; Retail Industry

June 2014
Case

Going Social: Durex in China

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Aaron Smith

When Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a leading consumer goods company, first entered China, it encountered significant challenges. RB's strategy relied on selling high margin products supported by cost-effective advertising and distribution, but the highly competitive Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Multinational Firms and Management; Internet and the Web; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; China