Publications

August 2005 (Revised April 2015)
Background Note

Employment At Will: A Legal Perspective

By: Lynn S. Paine and Christopher M. Bruner

Provides a brief overview of the employment-at-will doctrine, an important concept unique to the U.S. legal system and business landscape. Briefly surveys the history and development of this doctrine and certain limitations and exceptions to it, as well as some of the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Resignation and Termination; Employment; Common Law; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; United States

April 2017 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Helena Rubinstein: Making Up the Modern Woman

By: Geoffrey Jones and Kathy Choi

This case examines the entrepreneurial career of Helena Rubinstein before 1938. Rubinstein is widely considered the single most important female entrepreneur in the United States in the 20th century. She was born in Poland but immigrated to Australia where she started... View Details

Keywords: Female Entrepreneur; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

January 1990 (Revised May 1991)
Case

Hoechst and the German Chemical Industry

Describes the rise of the German chemical industry and the specific country-based factors that contributed to the rise. Focuses on the German firm Hoechst: its history, its position after World War II, and its subsequent internationalization. Set in 1986 when Hoechst... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Competitive Advantage; Acquisition; Chemical Industry; Germany; United States

21 Jul 2016
News

White people think racism is getting worse. Against white people

April 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

L'Oreal and the Globalization of American Beauty

By: Geoffrey G. Jones, David Kiron, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman

Examines L'Oreal's acquisition of leading U.S. cosmetics brands, including Maybelline, Redken, and Kiehl's, and their subsequent renewal and globalization. Reviews the history of L'Oreal, now the world's largest cosmetics company, from its origins in France in 1907.... View Details

Keywords: Management; Corporate Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Brands and Branding; Business History; Globalization; Acquisition; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; France; United States

Mar 2012
Report

A Jobs Compact for America's Future

human capital in the United States. In short, badly needed investments in the workforce are not being made, thereby threatening the country's future competitiveness and living standards. So argues Kochan, of MIT's Sloan School of... View Details

November 2010
Technical Note

Technical Note: An Abridged History of the American Corporation

By: Rakesh Khurana, Andrew David Klaber and Eric Baldwin

This note examines the development of the corporate form in the United States from the eighteenth century to the present, focusing primarily on legal issues. It identifies several major trends in the history of the American corporation: the transition of corporations... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Corporate Accountability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; History; Code Law; Managerial Roles; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Private Ownership; United States

Find at Harvard

Waiting periods in 17 states for handgun purchases prevent about 750 gun deaths each year in the United States, new research has found.

An estimated 910 gun deaths could also be avoided if those policies were adopted... View Details

Article

Assessing the Impact of Health System Organizational Structure on Hospital Electronic Data Sharing

By: A Jay Holmgren and Eric Ford

Horizontal consolidation in the hospital industry has gained momentum in the United States despite concerns over rising costs and lower quality. Hospital systems frequently point to potential gains in interoperability and electronic exchange of patient information as... View Details

Keywords: Hospitals; Health Information Technology; Health Care; Health Care and Treatment; Data and Data Sets; Information Technology; Consolidation; Knowledge Sharing; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

September 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Supplement

Henry Kissinger: Negotiating Black Majority Rule in Rhodesia (B)

By: James K. Sebenius and Laurence A. Green

In 1976, United States Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger conducted a series of intricate, multiparty negotiations in Southern Africa to persuade white Rhodesian leader Ian Smith to accede to black majority rule. Conducted near the end of President Gerald Ford’s... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Race; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Deal; Government and Politics; Africa; United States

October 2015
Case

The Maine Food Cluster Project

By: Karen Mills and Aldo Sesia

The Libra Foundation is exploring how to grow the food sector in Maine using the strategy of creating a food cluster initiative. Maine is one of the poorest states in the United States and the food sector is one of the largest employers. Multiple efforts in... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Maine; Vermont; Oregon; Denmark

May 1990 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Ingvar Kamprad and IKEA

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Ashish Nanda

Traces the development of a Swedish furniture retailer under the leadership of an innovative and unconventional entrepreneur whose approaches redefine the nature and structure of the industry. Traces IKEA's growth from a tiny mail order business to the world's largest... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Management Succession; Distribution; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Value; Retail Industry

July 1981
Background Note

Competitive Status of the U.S. Automobile Industry--1981: Crisis and Transition

By: Kim B. Clark

Examines the competitive status of the U.S. auto industry in 1979-80. Provides information on the historical background of the current crisis using data on the United States and Japan. Discusses the competitive position of the U.S. industry in terms of productivity,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Auto Industry

31 Oct 2022
Video

Health Minute: Krys Mroczkowski

September 2003
Case

Valuing a Cross-Border LBO: Bidding on the Yell Group

By: Mihir A. Desai, Paolo Notarnicola and Mark Veblen

A team of private equity investors must value the leveraged buyout of a Yellow Pages business that operated in both the United States and the United Kingdom. In the process, they must wrestle with issues of how to conduct cross-border valuations and how to value a... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Cash Flow; Private Equity; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Valuation