Publications

September 2023 (Revised January 2025)
Case

To Found or to Cofound? That Is the Question

By: Christina Wallace and Jo Tango

Entrepreneurs often struggle with the question of whether to found solo or alongside one or more cofounders. This case is comprised of three vignettes detailing common founding scenarios: the first-time technical founder; the serial commercial founder; and the MBA... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships

April 1975 (Revised December 1991)
Case

Consolidated Edison Co. (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Piper

Faced with large external financing needs and a low stock price, Con Ed management must decide whether to pay a cash dividend in April 1974. Based on Consolidated Edison by G.C. Lodge. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Energy Industry

July 2017 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Entrepreneurship for All

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Julia Kelley

Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) is a Lowell, Massachusetts–based nonprofit that hosts business accelerators for entrepreneurs in underserved communities. By mid-2017, EforAll has five office locations in Massachusetts, and its leadership and the Board of Directors... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions

January 2011
Case

Exit Strategy (A)

By: Clayton S. Rose and Justine Kelly Lelchuk

Jeff Brown wondered whether now was the right time to call his boss, and friend, Bernard Tubiana. Brown was a rising star at Deloitte Consulting and three weeks into an important project for Aflac. He was about to receive an offer from Aflac's major competitor,... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Ethics; Employees; Resignation and Termination; Service Industry

February 2007 (Revised March 2007)
Module Note

Truman and the Bomb Summary: Balancing Benefits and Harms

By: Sandra J. Sucher

A summary of the major themes discussed in the eleventh class of The Moral Leader (EC curriculum). View Details

Keywords: History; Leadership; Ethics; Decision Choices and Conditions; Government and Politics

December 2005 (Revised April 2007)
Case

The Pilgrim Assurance Building

By: Robin Greenwood, David S. Scharfstein and Arthur I Segel

A local real estate developer has to decide how much to bid for a Boston office building in 2005. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Decisions; Investment; Bids and Bidding; Real Estate Industry; Boston

01 Dec 2007
News

Where Are the Innovators in Health Care?

brilliant, effective innovators have forced sluggish U.S. industries to become more productive. Sam Walton’s exquisitely detailed supply chain management, coupled with his daring decision to locate Wal-Marts in rural areas, kick-started... View Details

Keywords: Regina E. Herzlinger; Health, Social Assistance; Management

23 Aug 2016
First Look

August 23, 2016

D. KC, and F. Gino Abstract—Many models in operations management involve dynamic decision making that assumes optimal updating in response to information revelation. However, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2002
Case

Introducing ... The XFL!

By: Susan M. Fournier, Stephen A. Greyser and Seth Schulman

When the XFL professional football league debuted on February 3, 2001, it generated a Nielsen rating of 10.1, higher than any nationally televised program in a Saturday evening time slot. The next week, ratings plummeted, and by week nine the XFL game earned the title... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Product Development; Culture; Commercialization

July – August 2009
Article

Preferential Treatment: The New Face of Protectionism?

Free trade agreements have increased dramatically over the past decade. This forethought considers how they present global executives with thorny strategic and operational decisions, a piece of which has to do with China's entry into the FTA scene. View Details

Keywords: Agreements and Arrangements; Trade; Strategy; Operations; Decisions; Practice; China

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November 2007
Supplement

Differences at Work: Ben (C)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

In Differences at Work: Ben (C) 9-408-044 Ben shares the remark with his bosses who let Ben decide whether to report the incident to Human Resources. He decides not to, but several years later he still regrets his inaction. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Employees; Working Conditions

01 Jan 2006
News

Conquering a Culture of Indecision

Keywords: Ram Charan

01 Dec 2011
News

Reimagining the MBA

Issue Focus: Leadership Illustration by Craig Frazier What HBS Learned from West Point The Evolving Case Method Issue Focus Li & Fung's Global Footprint Making the Leadership Case Related Faculty Research What Top Scholars Say about... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; FIELD program; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

June 2005
Article

Currency Returns, Intrinsic Value, and Institutional Investor Flows

By: K. A. Froot and T. Ramadorai

Keywords: Currencies; Exchange Rates; Purchasing Power Parity; Real Exchange Rate; Forecasting and Prediction; Behavioral Finance; Investment Return; Market Transactions; Performance Expectations; Personal Characteristics; Asset Pricing; Financial Services Industry

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September 2004
Article

Decomposing the Persistence of International Equity Flows

By: Kenneth A. Froot and J. Tjornhom Donohue

Keywords: Asset Pricing; Equity Investment; Forecasting and Prediction; Behavioral Finance; Stocks; Investment Return; Market Transactions; Performance Expectations; Personal Characteristics; Financial Services Industry