Publications

June 2001 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Sampa Video, Inc.

A video rental store is considering offering home delivery service. Management must value the project under different financing strategies and methods, specifically adjusted present value (APV) and weighted average cost of capital (WACC). View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Cost of Capital; Entertainment; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

September 1996
Case

Silicon Graphics, Inc. (B)

By: Marco Iansiti and Alan D. MacCormack

After the release of the "Challenge" computer in 1993, Silicon Graphics executives meet to discuss the follow-up project. Should they pursue an incremental improvement to the Challenge, or opt for a radically new design recently demonstrated at Stanford University? View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Technological Innovation; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Hardware; Computer Industry

2017
Working Paper

Discretionary Task Ordering: Queue Management in Radiological Services

By: Maria Ibanez, Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman and Bradley R. Staats

Work scheduling research typically prescribes task sequences implemented by managers. Yet employees often have discretion to deviate from their prescribed sequence. Using data from 2.4 million radiological diagnoses, we find that doctors prioritize similar tasks... View Details

SSRN

July 2022
Supplement

General Mills: Responding to the Killing of George Floyd (B)

By: Debora L. Spar and Alicia Dadlani

Jeff Harmening, CEO of General Mills, one of the world's largest manufacturers of breakfast cereals and packaged foods, was deeply disturbed and instantly aware that he and General Mills would need to respond. George Floyd, an African-American man who had been accused... View Details

Keywords: Race; Decisions; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Consumer Products Industry; Minneapolis; Minnesota; United States

10 Jan 2008
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Operations Management

more than the statement presented in company documents; it's the actual aggregation of commitments and their relationship to the realized strategy of the firm. Operating level decisions can change the de facto strategy of the firm. View Details

01 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Alumni Spotlight: Career Advice from Alums Working in Climate

"Every sector needs leaders aware of the causes of climate change and focused on mitigating its effects. Whether reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting natural resources, or supporting other causes, a multidisciplinary movement of committed individuals is needed... View Details

Keywords: Energy / Cleantech

08 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, August 8, 2017

respect to fair trade policy. The issue revolves around what actions the various private and public decision makers will now take to make this ruling work while not placing too big a burden on any one... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2020
Teaching Note

Valuing Celgene's CVR

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 221-031. When Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) acquired Celgene Corporation in November 2019, Celgene shareholders received cash, BMS stock, and a contingent value right (CVRs) that would pay $9 if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Value; Judgments; Decision Making; Cash Flow; Financial Instruments; Cognition and Thinking; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; 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

12 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

The Value of a ‘Portable’ Career

should weigh the decision to change jobs carefully, because their major value is in the company they currently work for and the teammates they work with. If they do change jobs, they should make sure that... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Sports

13 Feb 2015
News

Lessons in Perseverance

over the next 25 years did not deter Deza. Nor did HBS’s rejection of her application, in 1998, for the OPM program, on the grounds that her venture wasn’t big enough. Instead, she traveled to Boston to make a personal appeal and then was... View Details

Keywords: Tyler Bridges; Elementary and Secondary Schools; Educational Services

24 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

Financial Meltdowns Are More Predictable Than We Thought

Are financial crises predictable? Former United States Federal Reserve Chair Ben S. Bernanke has had his doubts. Economics can show policymakers “precisely why the choices they made in the past were wrong,” he told Princeton University graduates in 2013. “About the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Financial Services

10 May 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Consumer Inertia and Market Power

Keywords: by Alexander MacKay and Marc Remer

October 2021
Case

CrisisReady: Private Data for Public Good

By: Tarun Khanna and James Barnett

In October 2021, CRISISREADY.io considers how and if it should scale operations. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Ethics; Globalization; Governance; Government and Politics; Intellectual Property; Science; Technology

March 27, 2020
Other Article

Lessons from Italy's Response to Coronavirus

By: Gary P. Pisano, Raffaella Sadun and Michele Zanini

Policymakers in many parts of Europe and the United States are struggling to bring the rapidly spreading Covid-19 pandemic under control. In doing so, they are repeating many of the mistakes made in Italy, where the pandemic turned into a disaster. A major contributing... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management; Government and Politics; Decision Making; Italy

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Article

Earnings Dynamics and Measurement Error in Matched Survey and Administrative Data

By: Dean Hyslop and Wilbur Townsend

This article analyzes earnings dynamics and measurement error using a matched longitudinal sample of individuals’ survey and administrative earnings. In line with previous literature, the reported differences are characterized by both persistent and transitory factors.... View Details

Keywords: Earnings Dynamics; Measurement Error; Panel Data; Validation Study; Business Earnings; Measurement and Metrics; Forecasting and Prediction

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Article

Raiffa Transformed the Field of Negotiation—and Me

By: Max Bazerman

Howard Raiffa was a role model, friend, and inspiration. He transformed the field of negotiation, and he transformed my career. This brief article provides a recollection of how Howard revolutionized the field of negotiation and how those insights are now affecting... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Decision Making; Analysis; Game Theory; Personal Development and Career

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Article

Scenario Generation for Long Run Interest Rate Risk Assessment

By: Robert F. Engle, Guillaume Roussellet and Emil N. Siriwardane

We propose a statistical model of the term structure of U.S. treasury yields tailored for long-term probability-based scenario generation and forecasts. Our model is easy to estimate and is able to simultaneously reproduce the positivity, persistence, and factor... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting; Stress Testing; Interest Rates; Forecasting and Prediction; Risk Management; United States

June 2018
Article

Will a Five-Minute Discussion Change Your Mind? A Countrywide Experiment on Voter Choice in France

By: Vincent Pons

This paper provides the first estimate of the effect of door-to-door canvassing on actual electoral outcomes, via a countrywide experiment embedded in François Hollande's campaign in the 2012 French presidential election. While existing experiments randomized... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Political Elections; Interpersonal Communication; France