Publications

11 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 11

tailor-made to the needs of each country's political, social, and economic priorities. Supplements the case "Nestlé's Milk District Model: Economic Development for a Value-Added Food Chain and Improved Nutrition." Purchase this... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 17

Samuel G., and Adi Sunderam Abstract—We develop a novel methodology to infer the amount of capital allocated to quantitative equity arbitrage strategies. Using this methodology, which exploits time-variation in the cross section of short... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 25, 2008

stable mechanism is Pareto-optimal if and only if it prevents unravelling. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-068.pdf Cases & Course Materials Amazon Web Services Harvard Business School Case 609-048 Considers the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Dec 2013
HBS Case

Lessons from the Lance Armstrong Cheating Scandal

Corrupted, which was taught to all incoming MBAs on their second day on campus in the fall. The goal was to get them to think about their own values and the obligations they have to shape the culture of an organization. As much as... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Sports

22 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 22, 2008

intermediation and may have slowed employment gains in trade and services. Development lending goals were met, but these had no impact on the real economy. Download the paper:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

When Benchmarks Don’t Work

product, or service against the best-known similar activity, so that challenging but attainable goals can be set and a realistic course of action implemented to efficiently become and remain best of the best. In one dramatic benchmarking... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan; Service

16 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 16

greater openness in our private and public innovation systems have particularly urged for more open disclosure and granting of access to intermediate works-early results, algorithms, materials, data and techniques-with the goals of... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

February 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Catherine Zhang

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm, started in January 2006, is a rapidly growing law firm in China's burgeoning legal services market. In addition to the usual challenges facing all professional service firms (picking and retaining talent and building a desired client... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Legal Services Industry; China

05 Jul 2016
First Look

July 5, 2016

avoid approaches that could undermine one another (e.g., economic incentives crowding out intrinsic incentives). Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51300 Notes on Developing a Strategy and Designing a Company... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

21Seeds: Taking Shots at Breakout Growth

By: Elie Ofek, Julian De Freitas, Michael Moynihan and Nicole Tempest Keller

21Seeds, a female-founded flavor-infused tequila startup launched in 2019, had made inroads into the alcoholic beverage industry by focusing on an underserved consumer segment in spirits—women, primarily in their 30s and 40s, many of whom were moms—and by following a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution Channels; Sales; Food and Beverage Industry

25 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Feeling Stuck? Getting Past Impasse

Director of Career Development Programs at Harvard Business School. "Without it we cannot grow, change, and—eventually—live more fully in a larger world," Butler writes in his new book, Getting Unstuck: How Dead Ends Become New... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

03 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 3, 2007

Working PapersCan Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia Authors:Nava Ashraf, James Berry, and Jesse M. Shapiro Abstract The pricing of health products in the developing world has become a center... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

The Seven Things That Surprise New CEOs

reporting on results and management's decisions. Surprise Six: Pleasing Shareholders Is Not The Goal Warning signs: Executives and board members judge actions by their effect on stock price. Analysts who don't understand the business push... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter, Jay W. Lorsch & Nitin Nohria

22 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

Use Artificial Intelligence to Set Sales Targets That Motivate

employee’s goal slightly higher than their sales for the previous year, a term known as “ratcheting the quotas.” But that, too, can have its drawbacks. “Suppose I got over the quota by 20 percent, then my quota next year will be 120... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

January 2017
Case

The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco... View Details

Keywords: Tyco; Dennis Kozlowski; Edward Breen; Fire Safety; Fire Protection; Security; Packaging; Securities And Exchange Commission; Fraud; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Engineering; Applied Optics; Chemicals; Construction; Metals and Minerals; Ethics; Finance; Cash Flow; Public Equity; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Initial Public Offering; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Executive Compensation; Selection and Staffing; Courts and Trials; Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Value; Chemical Industry; Construction Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Energy Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Mining Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Utilities Industry; Republic of Ireland; Switzerland; Bermuda; United States; New Hampshire

March 1999 (Revised January 2005)
Case

Newell Company: Corporate Strategy

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Elizabeth Gordon

In 1998, Newell Co., a manufacturer of low-tech, high-volume consumer goods, acquired Calphalon Corp., a high-end cookware company, and Rubbermaid, a $2 billion manufacturer of consumer and commercial plastic products. The case focuses on Newell's strategy and its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

July 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Edward Jones

By: Michael E. Porter and Gregory C. Bond

Edward Jones is a leading, highly profitable retail brokerage firm with a unique strategy very different from those of its rivals. The case describes Jones's activities and allows a rich discussion of its positioning choices, supporting activities, and tradeoffs. Jones... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry