Publications

2012
Book

Harder Than I Thought: Adventures of a Twenty-First Century Leader

By: Robert D. Austin, Richard L. Nolan and Shannon O'Donnell

Being a great leader today is much harder than you think—meet Jim Barton. He's a newly minted CEO, rising leader of a firm in transition, and manager of massive complexity—thanks to our incredibly networked and increasingly unpredictable world of business. What if you... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Complexity; Crisis Management; Problems and Challenges; Volatility

June 2011
Case

Trouble in Islandia; Computer Associates 2001 - 2004

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Melissa Barton

The Board of Directors of Computer Associates deals with pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice as its members try to gain better insight into the accounting practices of the company's top management team. View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Corporate Governance; Management Teams; Ethics; Practice; Florida; United States

August 2000 (Revised November 2001)
Background Note

Liability Reporting

By: Paul M. Healy and Preeti Choudhary

By examining key criteria for recognizing a liability, this case explores liability recognition in straightforward situations and then examines the most difficult reporting issues in recording liabilities. These often arise when: 1) uncertainty arises about whether an... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Legal Liability; Valuation; Problems and Challenges; Accounting Industry

October 1997
Case

L'Oreal of Paris: Bringing 'Class to Mass' with Plenitude

By: Robert J. Dolan

L'Oreal's strategy is to "trickle down" technology over time from high-end outlets like department stores to mass-markets, such as drugstores. The mass market brand Plenitude has become the market leader in France, but even eight years after introduction in the United... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Globalization; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Retail Industry; France; United States

October 1984
Teaching Note

NIKE (F): The Apparel Division, Teaching Note

Teaching Note for (9-385-039). View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Management Succession; Strategy; Business Divisions; Apparel and Accessories Industry

19 Apr 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Top Executive Background and Financial Reporting Choice: The Case of Goodwill Impairment

Keywords: by Francois Brochet & Kyle Welch; Accounting

02 Nov 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Making the Numbers? ‘Short Termism’ & the Puzzle of Only Occasional Disaster

Keywords: by Nelson P. Repenning & Rebecca M. Henderson

16 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Making the Gambler’s Fallacy Disappear: The Role of Experience

Keywords: by Gregory M. Barron & Stephen Leider

25 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Walking Away from a $3 Billion Deal

It's no secret that private equity firms have enjoyed massive profits in recent years. In Private Equity Finance, a course in the second-year MBA elective curriculum, students follow the life cycle of a deal in order to learn more about the complexities and conflicts... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Effects of Task Difficulty on Use of Advice

Keywords: by Francesca Gino & Don A. Moore; Consulting

December 2006
Supplement

Financial Reporting Problems at Molex, Inc. (C)

By: Paul M. Healy

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Problems and Challenges; Technology Industry

July/August 2003
Article

Solving the Dilemmas of Growth

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Scott D. Anthony

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development

May 2002
Article

Disruptive Change: When Trying Harder Is Part of the Problem

By: Clark Gilbert and Joseph L. Bower

Keywords: Disruption; Change; Problems and Challenges

Find at Harvard

October 1985
Supplement

CompuServe (C)

By: James L. Heskett

Describes events and raises issues subsequent to Charlie McCall's acceptance of the job of CEO at CompuServe. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Problems and Challenges; Information Technology Industry

Article

Just Trust Us: Today's Credit Problems Have One Thing in Common, an Appalling Lack of Transparency

Keywords: Credit; Problems and Challenges

Find at Harvard

July 2004 (Revised September 2004)
Background Note

A Conversation about Information Technology

Two managers discuss the benefits, costs, opportunities, and headaches of corporate computing. Topics include security, training, the Internet and Web, collaboration, productivity, Moore's Law, computer crashes, upgrades, open source software, network effects,... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Problems and Challenges

January 2015
Background Note

Note on Economic Inequality (2015)

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

For over half a century, most of the world's economies have enjoyed steady growth and prosperity. However, beginning in the 1980s, and continuing essentially unabated to the present, the gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in developed countries has widened,... View Details

Keywords: Economic Inequalty; Income Inequality; Growth and Development; Economics; Equality and Inequality; Society; Problems and Challenges; United States