Publications

April 1982 (Revised June 1985)
Case

Westinghouse Electric Corp.: Quality of Earnings Analysis

Westinghouse had just issued its annual report to shareholders for the year ending December 31, 1973. The report indicates that sales have increased to a record $5.7 billion but that net income is down almost 20% from its record level of $199 million in the previous... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Financial Reporting; Corporate Finance; Electronics Industry

08 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 8

firearms industry company in its community is examined. Publisher's link: https://archive.harvardbusiness.org/cla/web/pl/product.seam?c=32094&i=32096&cs=80fcfaa8da53da1a3cdd0ea8f861eeed August 2013 Journal of Finance Is a VC... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2021
Case

Diversifying P&G's Supplier Base (A)

By: Kris Ferreira, Kym Lew Nelson, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Sarah Mehta

In February 2003, P&G hosted two meetings—one with its largest woman- and minority-owned suppliers and one with its largest non-minority-owned suppliers. Attendees in each meeting heard the same message: P&G was keen to grow its commitment to inclusive supply chains,... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Business Organization; Family Business; Joint Ventures; Demographics; Diversity; Ethnicity; Race; Ethics; Fairness; Ownership; Supply Chain Management; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Ohio

March 2022 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Reclaiming the Land of Purple: Purpl’s Mission to Unlock Finance in Lebanon

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Karl Naim, Co-Founder and CEO of Purpl, embarked on a venture to lower remittance costs for his native Lebanon. Since October 2019, the Lebanese economy had entered a free fall as its banking sector collapsed and large swathes of its population were plunged into... View Details

Keywords: Business Startup; Fintech; Inflation; Deflation; Cross-border Frictions; Remittances; Business Startups; Diasporas; Financial Crisis; Money; Entrepreneurship; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Poverty; Financial Institutions; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Banking Industry; Lebanon

January 2025
Case

Redwood & Strong: The Value of a Consulting Engagement

By: David G. Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

The board of Redwood & Strong LLP (R&S), the American branch of a large global law firm, is meeting to review the findings of a recent strategic initiative designed to identify potential merger candidates. The request for the engagement originated from Daniel Crawford,... View Details

Keywords: Client Service; Professional Service Firm; Professional Services; Consulting; Mergers and Acquisitions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Reports; Strategic Planning; Value; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry; United States

Article

Healthy Buildings in 2070

By: John D. Macomber and Joseph G. Allen

Fifty years seems a very long time in the future for most industries. Not so in buildings and real estate; built structures routinely last decades if not hundreds of years, as long as they are economically competitive. Any discussion of the 50-year future has to... View Details

Keywords: Health ＆ Wellness; Real Estate; Architectural Innovation; Public Health; Health; Buildings and Facilities; Well-being

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November 2007
Article

Solve the Succession Crisis by Growing Inside-Outside Leaders

By: Joseph L. Bower

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. In his interviews and data analysis, Harvard Business School professor Bower found... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Leadership Development; Management Practices and Processes; Management Succession; Planning

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12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Rapid Response: Inside the Retailing Revolution

trucks unload their just-in-time goods from automated distribution centers on a weekly basis, and the variety of products available is seemingly infinite. A typical department store now stocks some 800,000 items, with that number climbing... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Manufacturing; Retail

14 Jun 2023
Op-Ed

Every Company Should Have These Leaders—or Develop Them if They Don't

assignments and formal education programs. Little-T leader development, on the other hand, should deepen the employee's expertise in the organization's practices. This approach might include stretch experiences like the challenge of scaling an initiative. Most... View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson

April 2021 (Revised April 2021)
Teaching Plan

Nehemiah Mfg. Co.: Providing a Second Chance

By: Brian Trelstad and John Masko

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 320-008. In 2009, Dan Meyer and Richard Palmer, two veterans of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry, founded Nehemiah Manufacturing to build FMCG brands while providing jobs to Cincinnati, Ohio’s beleaguered urban core. Two... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Employment; Human Capital; Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Social Marketing; Mission and Purpose; Prejudice and Bias; City; Urban Scope; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Ohio; United States

Article

Operational Efficiency and Effective Management in the Catheterization Laboratory

By: Grant W. Reed, Michael L. Tushman and Samir R. Kapadia

Operational efficiency is a core business principle in which organizations strive to deliver high-quality goods or services in a cost-effective manner. This concept has become increasingly relevant to cardiac catheterization laboratories, as insurers move away from... View Details

Keywords: Cath Lab; Catheterization Laboratory; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Efficiency; Management; Performance Productivity; Cost Management; Health Industry

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March 2008 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Carlyle Japan (A)

By: David B. Godes, Masako Egawa and Mayuka Yamazaki

Tamotsu Adachi, Managing Director of Carlyle Japan, wants to formulate a strategy to improve his firm's ability to source high-quality deals at competitive valuations, or prices. Buyout funds like Carlyle typically have two deal phases: sourcing and monitoring. These... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Leveraged Buyouts; Supply Chain Management; Marketing Channels; Sales; Financial Services Industry; Japan

June 2024
Case

Caesars Entertainment: Governance on the Road to Bankruptcy

By: Kristin Mugford

Caesars Entertainment was a large casino operator in the United States that had been purchased in a 2008 leveraged buyout by Apollo and TPG. In January 2015, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (CEOC), its largest subsidiary, filed for Chapter 11. This set up a... View Details

Keywords: Gaming; Chapter 11; Fraudulent Conveyance; Apollo; TPG; Bankruptcy; Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Private Equity; Financial Management; Lawsuits and Litigation; Negotiation; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Borrowing and Debt; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Las Vegas

06 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 6

90th anniversary is a sensible time to revisit a basic question: Are organizations more likely to succeed if they adopt good management practices? The answer may seem obvious to most HBR readers, but these three economists cast their net... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2011
Other Unpublished Work

Aligning Collective Production with Demand: Evidence from Wikipedia

Economic markets align supply and demand through prices. However, many social phenomena lack pricing to inform producers about consumer demand. This can lead to the over- or under-production of certain goods and services. In this paper, I propose a social mechanism... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Supply and Industry

SSRN

October 2009
Case

Low-k Dielectrics at IBM

By: Willy C. Shih and Giovanni Carraro

Innovations at the frontiers of technology carry enormous risk of making wrong choices. This case examines a decision made by IBM in its semiconductor process technology strategy: a material to use as a dielectric insulator in its leading edge silicon chip technology.... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Product Development; Science; Creativity; Semiconductor Industry; United States