Publications

November 2009
Case

Finance Myopia in a Systems Business

By: J. Bruce Harreld

This short case describes the tensions that often arise between finance executives attempting to curtail unproductive activities and strategy executives trying to optimize overall firm performance. View Details

Keywords: Finance; Managerial Roles; Performance Improvement; Performance Productivity; Conflict and Resolution; Strategy; Competition

12 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 12

derived predictions, does not confirm the private information hypothesis. Read the paper: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1134943 Working PapersFiduciary Duties and Equity‐Debtholder Conflicts Authors:Bo Becker and... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

2008
Simulation

DEC v. Riverside

By: David A. Lax, James K. Sebenius, Lawrence Susskind and Thomas Weeks

Riverside Lumber is a pulp manufacturer in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Riverside regularly dumps effluent into a nearby river. The Division of Environmental Conservation (DEC) claims that the effluent is toxic and jeopardizes the local salmon catch.... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Conflict Management; Cooperation; Courts and Trials; Decision Choices and Conditions; Natural Environment; Negotiation; Pulp and Paper Industry; Northwestern United States

November 1996
Case

Del Webb Corporation (C), The

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Samanta Graff

Dion and the other Del Webb directors were open to having Industrial Equity Pacific (IEP) and Webcott Holdings representation on the board. The IEP representative was perceived as reserved and lacking in sophistication. Cotter of Webcott, however, struck the directors... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Management Succession; Strategic Planning; Governing and Advisory Boards; Horizontal Integration; Conflict Management

02 Jan 2008
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Stories 2007

more so when your uncle, mother, or daughter is your business partner. Harvard Business School's John A. Davis and Deepak Malhotra outline 5 ways to analyze and improve dealmaking and dispute resolution while protecting family ties. As... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Aguas Argentinas: Settling a Dispute

By: Louis T. Wells Jr. and Alexandra de Royere

The French-owned Aguas Argentinas faces a demand from the Argentine government that it renegotiate its concession to operate the Buenos Aires water and sewage services. The company must decide whether to continue with efforts to settle on a new contract or to exercise... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Contracts; Infrastructure; Privatization; Business and Government Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Business Strategy; Utilities Industry; France; Buenos Aires

2019
Working Paper

Self-Interest: The Economist's Straitjacket

By: Robert Simons

This paper examines contemporary economic theories that focus on the design and management of business organizations. In the first part of the paper, a taxonomy is presented that describes the different types of economists interested in this subject—market economists,... View Details

SSRN

Read Now

April 1981 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Corning Glass Works: The Z-Glass Project

By: Kim B. Clark

Considers decisions facing the leader of a manufacturing staff project team assigned to a plant where yields have deteriorated sharply. The process is complex: the plant organization is not cooperative and there are deep disagreements about what is wrong and how to fix... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Production; Problems and Challenges; Conflict Management; Performance Productivity; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Groups and Teams; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

February 2015
Supplement

MedCath Corporation (C)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Kevin Schulman and F. Fallon Upke

MedCath is a horizontally integrated chain of heart hospitals that partners with local cardiologists. It claims that its focus leads to better and cheaper results than those of an everything-for-everybody general hospital. Community hospitals generally vehemently... View Details

Keywords: Medical Specialties; Market Entry and Exit; Service Delivery; Conflict and Resolution; Horizontal Integration; Health Industry

September 2002 (Revised January 2013)
Case

MedCath Corporation (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Pete Stavros

MedCath is a horizontally integrated chain of heart hospitals that partners with local cardiologists. It claims that its focus leads to better and cheaper results than those of an everything-for-everybody general hospital. Community hospitals generally vehemently... View Details

Keywords: Medical Specialties; Market Entry and Exit; Service Delivery; Conflict and Resolution; Horizontal Integration; Health Industry

Forthcoming
Article

It Takes Two to Untangle: Illuminating How and Why Some Workplace Relationships Adapt While Others Deteriorate After a Workplace Microaggression

By: Summer R. Jackson and Basima A. Tewfik

Although scholars largely assume that workplace microaggressions negatively impact the work relationship between the target and the perpetrator, relational deterioration is not the only observable relational outcome. Indeed, there are instances of relational... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Interpersonal Communication; Motivation and Incentives; Relationships; Conflict and Resolution

Read Now

October 2000 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Individual and the Corporation, The: Kathy Levinson and E*TRADE (B)

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Susan Harmeling

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Values and Beliefs; Decision Choices and Conditions; Gender; Diversity; Financial Services Industry

November 2012
Case

Edison Schools, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lauren Barley

Edison Schools, Inc., a pioneer in the for-profit management of public schools, demonstrates the challenges and opportunities related to private sector involvement in the delivery of a public good. Follows the organization from its start-up through its initial public... View Details

Keywords: Charter Schools; Conflict of Interests; Initial Public Offering; For-Profit Firms; Public Sector; Market Entry and Exit; Education; Business Startups; Education Industry

March 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Pakistan at 75: When Will the 'Nazuk Mor' End?

By: Meg Rithmire, Salaar A. Shaikh and Hong Zhang

In 2023, business leaders, politicians, and civil society were all describing Pakistan’s condition as “polycrisis.” The country faced decisions on elections after Imran Khan’s ouster and arrest, protests against the military’s involvement in politics and the crackdowns... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Inflation and Deflation; Government and Politics; Health Pandemics; Conflict and Resolution; Pakistan

February 2010 (Revised June 2014)
Supplement

CityCenter (C): Turmoil and Choices

By: John D. Macomber

"CityCenter (C)" follows the (A) and (B) cases chronologically. The (C) case explores the decisions facing MGM MIRAGE following a lawsuit by partner Dubai World and suspension of Dubai World's cash contributions to the project in early 2009. Issues include the... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Private Equity; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Decisions; Partners and Partnerships; Conflict and Resolution; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Nevada

October 2006
Teaching Note

Precista Tools AG (TN) (A), (B), and (C)

By: John A. Davis and Courtney Sampson

Teaching Note to (488-046), (488-047), and (488-048). View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Race; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Resignation and Termination; Conflict and Resolution; Switzerland

October 1996 (Revised March 2000)
Teaching Note

Intercon Japan TN

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Marie-Therese M. Flaherty

Teaching Note for (9-688-056). View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Production; Business Subsidiaries; Conflict and Resolution; Supply Chain; Manufacturing Industry; Japan