Publications

In the fast-moving digital world, even experts have a hard time assessing new ideas. Case in point: At Bing a small headline change an employee proposed was deemed a low priority and shelved for months until one engineer decided to do a quick online controlled... View Details

February 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Product Development at OPOWER

By: Thomas Eisenmann and Rob Go

OPOWER, a software startup that helps utilities engage their customers in ways that reduce energy consumption, is scaling rapidly. The company's new head of product management has designed a system to address a point of constant tension: whether to build custom... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Product Development; Sales; Customization and Personalization; Energy Conservation; Environmental Sustainability; Information Technology Industry; Utilities Industry

December 1993 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Medical Products Co.

By: Robert H. Hayes

In early 1990, the company is contemplating changes in its European plant network for producing hypodermic products, including the total production capacity to be provided, the number and location of plants over which to spread this capacity, and which products should... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Decision Making; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost; Production; Performance Capacity; Performance Effectiveness; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Europe

10 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 10, 2017

as Egyptian and Syrian disengagement accords with Israel following their 1973 war. Along with diverse political leaders, diplomats, and business executives, every U.S. President since John F. Kennedy—including President-elect Donald Trump... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Apr 2024
Book

Struggling With a Big Management Decision? Start by Asking What Really Matters

Business leaders face a wide variety of difficult decisions: whether their companies should stay small or go big, whether layoffs are necessary for survival, whether a proposed partnership is a good idea or... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

October 2023
Case

Shredder Setups or Straightlining into Risk?: Investing in What You Love

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Bob Hall, President of Green Gables Partners, evaluated whether to angel invest into an up-and-coming ski brand. As the son-in-law of the founder of Vera Bradley and having retired from a lengthy career on Wall Street, Hall was well-versed in both direct investing and... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Angel Investors; Direct Investment; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Small Business; Financial Strategy; Personal Finance; Investment Portfolio; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk and Uncertainty; Consumer Products Industry; Montana; United States

September 2006 (Revised November 2008)
Case

Supergrid

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Supergrid is a mammoth wind-power development scheme for Europe, recently proposed by Airtricity. This firm, founded in 1997, is a fast-growing power-development company focused on wind. Already having built about 600 megawatts of wind turbines in Scotland and Ireland,... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Performance Capacity; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Europe; United States

November 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Supplement

Magna International, Inc. (A) (CW)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Yuhai Xuan

Magna International, Inc., a Canadian-based automotive parts manufacturer, is considering whether and how to unwind its dual-class ownership structure. A family trust controlled by the founder owns a 0.65% economic interest in the company but has 66% of the votes via a... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Voting; Governance Controls; Market Transactions; Production; Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value Creation; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Canada

03 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, October 3, 2017

gender and commercial activity within founders’ local communities. The presence of female business owners in the same community mitigates the role of founders’ gender on the use of commercial activity. We examine these issues through a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

May 2012 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Credit Unions: The Future of the Cooperative Financial Institution

By: Robert C. Pozen and Grace Hou

Credit unions are a specialized type of depository institution with a cooperative, non-profit structure and a federal tax exemption. They originated as small, cooperative institutions with an emphasis on uncollateralized consumer lending to the unbanked... View Details

Keywords: Banking; Credit Unions; Banks and Banking

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/download.aspx?name=13-092.pdf Debating the Responsibility of Capitalism in Historical and Global Perspective By: Jones, Geoffrey Abstract—This working paper examines the evolution of concepts of the responsibility of View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

Web

Curriculum - MBA

of technology ventures. The MS/MBA Engineering Sciences Program provides a strong foundation in general management and convey concepts and builds skills in engineering, design, and innovation management. First Year August Harvard Business... View Details

July 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Swedish Lottery Bonds

Profiling nonsystematic risk for a bond investor, the case describes lottery bond issues by the Swedish National Debt Office (SNDO). Swedish lottery bonds are a specific type of financial fixed income instrument for Swedish retail investors. The distinctive feature of... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Business and Government Relations; Public Administration Industry; Retail Industry; Sweden

January 2014 (Revised October 2014)
Supplement

Mittal Steel's Pursuit of Arcelor (B)

By: Paul M. Healy and Penelope Rossano

Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of Mittal Steel, a UK-based company with Indian roots, took advantage of a weakened Arcelor that had successfully won a bidding war for Canadian steel company Dofasco, with an unsolicited bid to buy the company. Mittal's plans for acquiring Arcelor... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Fiduciary Duty; Negotiation; Steel; India; Europe; Governance; Mergers; Board Decisions; White Knight; Valuation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Economics; Steel Industry; Canada; United Kingdom; India

06 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Renewable Energy: Winds at Our Back?

When American energy entrepreneur Jim Gordon envisioned the first offshore wind farm lining the horizon a few miles off the coast of the eastern United States, he perhaps did not factor in blowback from almost every angle. Gordon's nearly 10-year battle to gain... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

11 Oct 2023
Blog Post

A Journey of Discovery, Teamwork, and Impact with FIELD Global Immersion

In early May, I embarked on a journey to Seoul, South Korea, accompanied by 70 fellow Harvard Business School classmates. Our purpose? To culminate our first-year studies through the FIELD Global Immersion program. Throughout this... View Details

January 2014 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Mittal Steel's Pursuit of Arcelor (A)

By: Paul M. Healy and Penelope Rossano

Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of Mittal Steel, a UK-based company with Indian roots, took advantage of a weakened Arcelor that had successfully won a bidding war for Canadian steel company Dofasco, with an unsolicited bid to buy the company. Mittal's plans for acquiring Arcelor... View Details

Keywords: Fiduciary Duty; Steel; India; Europe; Governance; Mergers; Board Decisions; White Knight; Strategy; Negotiation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Governance; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Steel Industry; Canada; United Kingdom; Russia; India

March 2002 (Revised June 2005)
Case

AOL Time Warner, Inc.

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Erin Sullivan

AOL Time Warner, which has been billed as the "first fully integrated media and communications company of the Internet Century," raises the fundamental question of how value will be created and captured by the merger of AOL and Time Warner. This case describes just how... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Internet and the Web; Value Creation; Organizational Culture; Consolidation; Change Management; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States