Company History - Publications - Faculty & Research

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Supplement

Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (B)

This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Exploration; Dominant Design; Business Growth and Maturation; Business History; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan

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21 Jun 2022
HBS Case

Free Isn’t Always Better: How Slack Holds Its Own Against Microsoft Teams

When COVID-19 forced companies to send employees home two years ago, newly remote workers largely reconnected on two collaboration apps: Slack and Microsoft Teams. The pandemic propelled Slack beyond its core following in the technology... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Information Technology; Technology

14 Feb 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Laws vs. Contracts: Legal Origins, Shareholder Protections, and Ownership Concentration in Brazil, 1890-1950

Keywords: by Aldo Musacchio

14 Nov 2006
First Look

First Look: November 14, 2006

source software ("OSS"). What drives companies with large, proprietary software portfolios to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in OSS? We approach this question by grouping a sample of OSS projects into clusters and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Top Ten Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs

for shares. These include requiring participating preferred with a high cumulative dividend, redemption rights exercisable after only several years, and ratchet anti-dilution protection with no cap. One must ask, what's the reputation of this firm? Do they have a View Details

Keywords: by Staff

12 Mar 2020
News

Real Leaders: Rachel Carson Seeds the Environmental Movement

Web

Diversity and Inclusion - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

history of mental or physical illness, veteran status, political or religious affiliation to an instructor or a few sectionmates but not to the entire class. Suggestions: Be mindful of unintentionally disclosing private information about... View Details

09 Feb 2021
News

Investing in Entrepreneurship

that gave Venrock 10 percent of the company—his reputation for integrity, hard work, and picking people is what he finds most satisfying. “No Venrock company ever went bankrupt,” he noted in the Computer View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

February 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Freeport Mine, Irian Jaya, Indonesia, The: "Tailings & Failings" - Stakeholder Analysis

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Arthur McCaffrey

Chronicles the development of Freeport's nearly 30 years of mining operations in Indonesia. Building on a mining concession awarded by the country's government, headed by General Suharto, in 1973, Freeport steadily built its mining output to nearly 200,000 cubic... View Details

Keywords: History; Situation or Environment; Private Sector; Economic Growth; Power and Influence; Business and Government Relations; Growth and Development Strategy; Mining Industry; Indonesia

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01 Jan 2013
News

Roger W. Sant, MBA 1960

Ocean Hall opens at National Museum of Natural History As a Mormon missionary in Wisconsin, Roger Sant enjoyed working with Native Americans. Innately curious, he liked spending time with the people, getting to know them, and helping them... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

28 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

Earth Day Reflections

Weapon", was originally published on Harvard Business Review's faculty blog on April 19, 2010.) Spring brings April showers, May flowers—and a flurry of annual reports. Mine have been arriving in the mail, and I am always interested to see what the View Details

Keywords: by Staff

10 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 10, 2018

and based in Michigan, the company had a proud history of product and marketing innovation starting with its first product, Kellogg’s Toasted Corn Flakes, which created the cold cereal category. In recent... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Being the Boss

of words that's belittling only invite minimal compliance or subtle disobedience. As someone told us, "I fixed my boss. I did exactly what he said to do." Be aware that some people are especially sensitive to "being bossed around." They bring to... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

August 2022
Case

Air Wars: Deregulating the U.S. Airline Industry

By: Tom Nicholas and James Weber

In the early decades of the twentieth century, the U.S. government assisted in the development of an airline industry by subsidizing the delivery of mail and allowing mail carriers to also fly passengers. Because the government awarded mail routes to the lowest... View Details

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Educators

02 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 2

of Your Organization Author:Ranjay Gulati Publication:Harvard Business School Press, forthcoming Abstract In an era of raging commoditization and eroding profit margins, survival depends on resilience: staying one step ahead of your customers. Sure, most View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2009
Chapter

Chinese Railroads, Local Society, and Foreign Presence: The Tianjin-Pukou Line in pre-1949 Shandong

By: Elisabeth Koll

This chapter explores issues of how Chinese railroads improved social mobility and standards of living along major trunk lines, and how foreign investment shaped the integration of the Chinese railroad network from the early 1900s to 1949. As this case study of the... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Business History; Industry Growth; Welfare or Wellbeing; Rail Transportation; Rail Industry; China

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13 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

Should Men’s Products Fear a Woman’s Touch?

remnant from ancient history is very much alive and well in contemporary culture," says Avery. "Because most cultures are androcentric, it's more socially acceptable for women to demonstrate masculine traits than it is for men... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage; Auto

12 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Accounting Information as Political Currency

the firm in the future (the politicians and firms have a good history together), one can argue that the earnings management is "well spent." It is ambiguous, however, whether earnings management or other forms of political... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2010 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Dubai in Crisis

By: Noel Maurer

On November 25, 2009, the small city-state of Dubai shook financial markets across the world when the Dubai World holding companies announced that it would ask its creditors to standstill its debts. After three decades of phenomenal growth, something had gone off the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Development Economics; Financial Crisis; Borrowing and Debt; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Dubai

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December 2005 (Revised May 2014)
Case

Walt Disney and the 1941 Animators' Strike

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo and Bridget Gurtler

Focuses on the leadership lessons drawn from the events precipitating the Animator's Strike of 1941, depicting the growing pains of a company that was as much formed and changed by American culture as American culture was formed and changed by it. The tale of Walt... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Leadership; Creativity; Culture; Business Strategy; Technology Adoption

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