Publications

September 2009 (Revised November 2021)
Case

OnStar: Not Your Father's General Motors

By: Clayton M. Christensen

After two years of less than stellar performance resulting in sales well below plan, senior management at General Motors (GM) mobile telecommunications service start-up, OnStar, recognized that without a substantial change in their strategy, support for the venture... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Technology; Risk and Uncertainty; Joint Ventures; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Positioning; Risk Management; Auto Industry; Telecommunications Industry

October 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

Integrated Packaging Corporation: Struggling to Do the Right Thing (A)

By: Herman B. Leonard and Orson Watson

As a child, Al Fuller had seen his working-class, African-American neighborhood disintegrate as factory jobs moved away. He resolved to help inner-city communities do better when he grew up. Some years later, as an accomplished university graduate with several years... View Details

Keywords: Business and Community Relations; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Issues; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Strategy; Management Style; Pulp and Paper Industry; Manufacturing Industry

December 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

NewSchools Venture Fund in 2004: At a Crossroads

By: Stacey M. Childress and Caroline Joan King

Founded as one of the first venture philanthropy organizations in the United States in 1998, NewSchools Venture Fund brought new investors and new ideas to public education reform. By 2004, the organization and its founder were reassessing their model and their role in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Education; Social Entrepreneurship; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; United States

Find at Harvard

December 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Nestle and Alcon--The Value of a Listing

By: Mihir A. Desai, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman

In response to a perceived undervaluation by the capital markets, Nestle is considering divesting a part of its ophthalmology subsidiary, Alcon, and must decide on a listing location. In the process, students are challenged to wrestle with the valuation of a... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; International Finance; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Markets; Taxation; Business Subsidiaries; Valuation; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; Europe; United States

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Boston.com

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jon K Rust

How aggressively should an incumbent move when developing an online business that threatens its core product? With Internet competitors taking direct aim at the traditional print newspaper business model, the Boston Globe fought back with its own web initiative,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Change Management; Internet and the Web; Customer Relationship Management; Competitive Strategy; Publishing Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

30 May 2000
Research & Ideas

Market Makers Bid for Success

Meakem: I agree. The benefit of jumping right out is that you don't get cushy; you don't get used to a corporate job with corporate perks and get lulled into submission by staying at a large View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Web Services; Technology

28 Apr 2009
First Look

First Look: April 28, 2009

Earnings Management, Corporate Tax Shelters, and Book-Tax Alignment Authors:Mihir Desai and Dhammika Dharmapala Publication:National Tax Journal (forthcoming) Abstract This paper reviews recent evidence analyzing the link between earnings... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

14 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 14, 2017

within the context of the device approval process. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53492 Lessons Unlearned? Corporate Debt in Emerging Markets By: Alfaro, Laura, Gonzalo Asis, Anusha Chari, and Ugo Panizza... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

January 2008 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Henry J. Kaiser and the Art of the Possible

By: Anthony J. Mayo, Mark Benson and David Chen

From his humble beginnings as a local salesman in New York, Henry J. Kaiser rose to become one of the leading industrialists of 20th century America. Though he had no technical engineering training, Kaiser mastered the management and execution of plans for several... View Details

Keywords: History; Mission and Purpose; Transition; Management Practices and Processes; Construction; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Business History; Business Growth and Maturation; Civil Society or Community; Business Strategy; Planning; Construction Industry; Shipping Industry; United States

August 1988 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Norton Group PLC: To Be or Not to Be in the Motorcycle Business (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Jon Skofic

Norton, a once famous motorcycle manufacturer, soundly beaten by Japanese competition, turns its attention to developing rotary engines. The company is acquired by Norton Group PLC, which is headed by a dashing entrepreneur. The new management must decide what... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Crisis Management; Resource Allocation; Production; Competition; Auto Industry; Motorcycle Industry; Japan; United Kingdom

January 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

VendQuest (A): The Business Idea

By: Dwight B. Crane and David Foster

A potential founder of a company is considering whether to start up a new enterprise that would link parts distributors with customers in the construction industries via the Internet. This case describes the industry and the potential advantages to distributors and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Corporate Strategy; Business Model; Distribution; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Business Plan; Customer Relationship Management; Business Ventures; Construction Industry

Find at Harvard

24 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 24, 2009

distribution services (GDSs)—such as SABRE—to reach travel agents. But GDSs held significant tactical advantages. For example, GDSs had signed long-term exclusive contracts with the corporate customers who were American's best customers.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

20 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 20

Corporate and Integrated Reporting: A Functional Perspective By: Eccles, Robert G., and George Serafeim Abstract—In this paper, we present the two primary functions of corporate reporting (information and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How One Center of Innovation Lost its Spark

ventures within an industrial cluster, an incubator, and a large corporation to understand how each context promoted or hindered the venture. An empirical study might categorize different contexts and analyze how they contribute to... View Details

Keywords: by Donald Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation; Auto

January 2003 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Multinationals as Engines of Growth?

By: Geoffrey G. Jones

Reviews the issues surrounding estimating the impact over time of multinationals on host economies. Uses a series of short historical case studies, including the role of United Fruit in the "banana" republics of Central America, oil and banking in Iran before the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Multinational Firms and Management; Trade; Growth and Development; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Globalized Economies and Regions; Iran; United States; Malaysia; Japan