Publications

February 2009
Case

Avid Radiopharmaceuticals: The Venture Debt Question

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Ann Leamon

The CEO of a promising biotech company must decide how to respond to the macro-economic slump of late 2008. He had planned to pursue an aggressive schedule, moving the firm's Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease imaging compounds through clinical trials and into the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Borrowing and Debt; Venture Capital; Financial Management; Investment; Health Testing and Trials; Expansion; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

January 2021 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Delta Air Lines: Navigating the COVID-19 Storm

By: Ted Berk and Ryan Flamerich

This case examines Delta Air Lines’ response as demand for its services plummeted in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the company’s funding needs and capital structure. Following a series of initial actions, the company’s cash “burn” had reduced from... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Financial Condition; Capital Structure; Crisis Management; Risk Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Air Transportation Industry

July 2014
Article

Second-Opinion Pathologic Review is a Patient Safety Mechanism That Helps Reduce Error and Decrease Waste

By: Lavinia Middleton, Thomas W. Feeley, Heidi W. Albright, Ronald Walters and Stanley Hamilton

We have a crisis in health care delivery, originating from increasing health care costs and inconsistent quality-of-care measures. During the past several years, value-based health care delivery has gained increasing attention as an approach to control costs and... View Details

Keywords: Pathology; Diagnostic Errors; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; North and Central America

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October 2021 (Revised October 2022)
Case

The Opioid Settlement and Controversy Over CEO Pay at AmerisourceBergen

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

In 2020, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, a Fortune 50 company in the drug distribution industry, agreed to settle thousands of lawsuits filed nationwide against the company for its opioid distribution practices that critics alleged had contributed to the nationwide... View Details

July 2022
Case

Operation Overlord

By: Boris Groysberg, Greg Goullet, Katherine Connolly Baden and Sarah L. Abbott

On June 6, 1944, nearly 5,000 ships, 11,000 planes, and 160,000 infantrymen under an Allied joint-command of American, British, and Canadian leaders were sent across the English Channel, with hopes of re-establishing a foothold in Nazi-occupied France. Known as D-Day,... View Details

Keywords: Execution; Data Analytics; Leadership; Planning; Operations; Crisis Management; War; Organizational Structure; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Management; France; England

14 Jul 2006
Op-Ed

The Case for Consumer-Driven Medicaid

The Medicaid program provides a much needed health insurance safety net for 52 million of our nation's poor and medically needy, but its price tag threatens the financial stability of the states, growing 9.5 percent in 2004 alone—far in excess of revenues. Fiscally... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger

27 Feb 2020
Blog Post

Taking the LEAP into the Case Method

cross-registered the course of Leadership Execution and Action Planning (LEAP) for MBA students at Harvard Business School out of curiosity because he has great interest in the Harvard case method and its related knowledge. Dr. Su holds a... View Details

12 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 12, 2006

Working PapersDo Corporate Social Responsibility Ratings Predict Corporate Social Performance? Authors:Aaron K. Chatterji, David I. Levine, and Michael W. Toffel Abstract Ratings of corporations' environmental activities and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Tough Choices for the Illinois Pension System

By: Robert C. Pozen and Brij S. Khurana

This case describes the precarious fiscal situation of the Illinois public pension system in the spring of 2009 and the accounting of pension plans by non-federal municipalities more generally. In February 2009, in the midst of a recession, recently-appointed Governor... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Crisis; Financial Liquidity; Annuities; Financial Management; Financing and Loans; Taxation; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Illinois

12 PM – 1:30 PM EDT, 28 Apr 2020
Career Events

New Paths Forward & How to Get There

Is there anything holding you back from taking that next step? Are you at an impasse? This session is designed to help to you honestly assess where you are now in your life. From there, we will craft potential new paths and create action plans to guide your immediate... View Details

December 2018
Case

The Swedish Academy #MeToo Scandal and the Reputation of the Nobel Prize

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Mats Urde

This case focuses on the potential for “reputational contagion” to the Nobel Prize from a scandal affecting one of its independent network member entities, the Swedish Academy. The latter is responsible for selecting the Nobel Prize in Literature, by appointment of... View Details

Keywords: Nobel Prize; Swedish Academy; Scandal; Reputation; Brands and Branding; Crisis Management

February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

CPP Investments—The Road to Zero

By: Vikram Gandhi and Radhika Kak

In February 2022, Canadian Pension Plan (CPP) Investments, the investment management organization that managed funds for the CPP, one of the biggest pension plans in the world, announced a net-zero commitment for its portfolio by 2050. Under its CEO, John Graham, it... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Asset Management; Investment Portfolio; Leading Change; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Financial Services Industry; Canada; California

November 2001 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Lonestar

By: Michael A. Wheeler and Georgia Levenson

Explores the legal and ethical responsibilities of a manager who believes that he has heard of a serious instance of sexual harassment, but who has been implored by the victim not to report it. Discussion can focus on the immediate problem or be expanded to a broader... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Crisis Management; Legal Liability

March 2023
Case

Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline Company

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

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 about $4.4 million at the time) in... View Details

16 Nov 1999
Lessons from the Classroom

Leading Change and Organizational Renewal

will rise to some level of success, only to fail and, perhaps, later recreate themselves under crisis conditions. O'Reilly: Here's an example. If you asked someone thirty years ago what business Hewlett Packard is in, they would likely... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

September 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Siba Mtongana: A Pioneering Chef in South Africa

By: Boris Groysberg, Susan Seligson, Katherine Connolly Baden and Robin Abrahams

For Siba Mtongana, South African celebrity chef, the year 2020 was fraught with challenges and unknowns. Her brand was strong and she was certain it would survive. But as she fine-tuned her growth and innovation strategy in a shaky, unpredictable economy in the midst... View Details

Keywords: Food; Crisis Management; Health Pandemics; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; South Africa