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October 2023
Article

Matching Mechanisms for Refugee Resettlement

By: David Delacrétaz, Scott Duke Kominers and Alexander Teytelboym

Current refugee resettlement processes account for neither the preferences of refugees nor the priorities of hosting communities. We introduce a new framework for matching with multidimensional knapsack constraints that captures the (possibly multidimensional) sizes of... View Details

Keywords: Refugee Resettlement; Matching; Matching Markets; Matching Platform; Matching With Contracts; Algorithms; Refugees; Market Design

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November 1999 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Family Feud (A): Andersen v. Andersen

By: Ashish Nanda and Scot H. Landry

Traces the history and development of consulting within Andersen and the history of the schism between Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting. Ends with the two units seeking external arbitration of their dispute. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Corporate Governance; Conflict and Resolution; Consulting Industry

May 1993 (Revised June 2004)
Case

PepsiCo Bottling in Mexico

By: Kenneth A. Froot

This case describes Pepsico's program to restructure its Mexican bottling network. It wants to work with existing bottlers and find an organizational arrangement that will allow the bottlers to grow and change with the Mexican soft drink industry. View Details

Keywords: Bottling; Mergers and Acquisitions; Joint Ventures; Multinational Firms and Management; International Finance; Valuation; Programs; Organizational Design; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico

May 2025
Supplement

On (B): The Cyclon Spins On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader and Karen Elterman

A follow-up to the On case (723-430), this short case explores how the performance athletic shoe company On expanded its Cyclon subscription and recycling program through 2024, adding two new shoe models to the subscription and a one-time-purchase recyclable T-shirt. View Details

February 9, 2024
Article

The Rise of Consumer Crypto

By: Steve Kaczynski and Scott Duke Kominers

Although non-fungible tokens are often misunderstood and even derided, they remain a general and flexible solution for establishing and tracking ownership in the digital domain. As a superior solution to existing technology in many areas of the consumer economy, their... View Details

Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Crypto Economy; NFTs; Non-fungible Tokens; Internet Of Everything; Market Design; Technological Innovation; Demand and Consumers; Web Services Industry

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16 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Digging Into Data: Making A Career Change

Tell us about your role at HBS. As the Market Intelligence Manager in Career & Professional Development, I strive to identify, analyze, and understand MBA hiring trends that influence the strategic priorities of our office. Although... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Manufacturing

October 2013 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Alcoa's Bid for Alcan (A)

By: Paul Healy and Penelope Rossano

In spring 2007, Alcoa CEO Alain Belda was concerned about the company's market position in light of increased competition from developing markets. China's recent entry into the aluminum market was affecting both supply and demand. Furthermore, downstream and upstream... View Details

Keywords: Acquisitions; Strategy; Aluminum; Accounting; Financials; Alcoa; Rio Tinto; Alcan; Metals and Minerals; Competition; Consolidation; Emerging Markets; Acquisition; Financial Statements; Manufacturing Industry; Canada; China; Russia

September 1981 (Revised April 1984)
Case

Great American Knitting Mills: Gold Toe Socks

Gold Toe has an exclusive distribution policy. Its men's socks are sold only through one department store per city. Executives are trying to decide whether, and how, to widen distribution and to determine what impact broader distribution would have on the nature of the... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Distribution Channels; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

January 2013
Case

Cabot Corporation: The Fuel Cell Decision (A)

By: Willy Shih and Ying Zhou

Managers at Cabot Corporation are faced with deciding the future of its fuel cell program. The (A) case recounts the view of the business manager and the technical project lead, and the (B) case describes the perspective of a senior manager who is the head of the New... View Details

March 2023 (Revised May 2023)
Case

OneTen at Delta Air Lines: Catalyzing Family-Sustaining Careers for Black Talent (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

It was December 10, 2020, and Ed Bastian, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Delta Air Lines (Delta), had just finished a meeting with Joanne Smith, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer, and Keyra Lynn Johnson, the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Training; Race; Equality and Inequality; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Job Design and Levels; Air Transportation Industry; United States

December 2021
Article

Auctioneers Sometimes Prefer Entry Fees to Extra Bidders

By: Jiafeng Chen and Scott Duke Kominers

We investigate a market thickness–market power tradeoff in an auction setting with endogenous entry. We find that charging admission fees can sometimes dominate the benefit of recruiting additional bidders, even though the fees themselves implicitly reduce competition... View Details

Keywords: Entry; Reserve Prices; Entry Fees; Auctions; Design

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26 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Best Practices of Global Innovators

a recent setback, Boeing lashed together the efforts of 50 partners in 130 locations working together over 4 years. These firms aren't just manufacturing partners—they actually design the components they... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

September 2023 (Revised September 2023)
Supplement

On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader, Jordan Mitchell and Karen Elterman

Slides to support the teaching of the On case, 723-430. On is a premium performance running shoe company founded in Switzerland in 2010. The company rapidly gained traction through its unique CloudTec cushioning technology, its innovative midsole plate called the... View Details

13 May 2013
Blog Post

"I never thought I would be a business person until…”

minored in Media Studies at Korea University. I never thought I would be a business person until I interned at The Boston Consulting Group. I worked on a technology incubation project for a Korean heavy industries conglomerate. I was fascinated by the industrial View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

14 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

The High Cost of the Slow COVID Vaccine Rollout

officials took steps to speed vaccine development last year, the United States and other countries could have paid to build manufacturing infrastructure and shore up the supply... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

18 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 18

mid-2012 Lit Motors had created both engineering and design prototypes and conducted initial customer tests on less than $750,000 of investment. Lit Motors' founder, Daniel... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

September 2017 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Miami Price: Bidding on an Iconic Transit-Oriented Development Site

By: Charles F. Wu, Aaron Stolear, Vitali Bourchtein and Sayiddah Fatima McCree

13th Floor-Adler, a partnership of 13th Floor Investments and Adler Group, was compiling a response to a Miami-Dade County Request for Proposal (RFP). The RFP's prize was the opportunity to develop a 7.5+/- acre parking lot, adjacent to a heavy-rail rapid transit... View Details

Keywords: Land Valuation; Real Estate Development; Real Estate; Land Markets; Land Investment; Property; Design; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; Miami

January 1989
Background Note

Managing Information Technology: System Development

By: James I. Cash Jr. and Thomas H. Davenport

Provides an overview of the system development process in large organizations. Describes traditional life cycle approaches as well as more recent methods, e.g., prototyping. The objective is to familiarize students with the terminology and issues involving system... View Details

Keywords: Design; Information Technology; System