Publications

June 1991 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Jay Gould and the Coming of Railroad Consolidation

Concerns the role of Jay Gould in causing the creation of large regional rail systems after the Civil War in the United States. In class it will be used to show the inevitability of consolidation in that industry. View Details

Keywords: Rail Transportation; Industry Growth; Consolidation; Rail Industry; United States

January 2004
Case

America Latina Logistica

Describes the turnaround of America Latina Logistica, a $200 million revenue, formerly state-owned, railway in Brazil that has been restored to profitability by its CEO, a recent MBA graduate. After successfully transforming the company's operations, finances, and... View Details

Keywords: Rail Transportation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Rail Industry; Brazil

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June 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Railroads and the Beginnings of Modern Management (Abridged)

By: Thomas K. McCraw

Consists of three selections by the most innovative of the early American railroad managers describing the organizational structures and control systems they created. Questions to be asked are: why and how such managerial techniques were created, how well they worked,... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Rail Transportation; Organizational Structure; Management Systems; Rail Industry; United States

01 Mar 2010
News

Faculty Research Online

Can Entrepreneurs Drive People Movers to Success? Call them next-generation driverless taxis or people movers, the age of personal rapid transport is just around the bend. Could PRT change the face of public View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

1967
Other Unpublished Work

TFX (D) - Developing an Air Force/Navy Aircraft - HBS Analysis and Decision Case

By: J. Ronald Fox

Keywords: Air Transportation; Government and Politics; National Security; Product Development; Decision Making

March 1993 (Revised May 2009)
Case

CF MotorFreight in 1992

By: David B. Yoffie

In June 1992, CFMF management finds that despite a number-two ranking nationwide among long-haul carriers, two smaller rivals are far more profitable for the year-ended 1991. Management confronts the issue of encroaching competition from the country's smaller regional... View Details

Keywords: Labor Unions; Business or Company Management; Distribution; Competition; Consolidation; Truck Transportation

Web

Annual Cost of Attendance | MBA

for the 2025–2026 Academic Year 9-Month Total Cost Single Tuition $78,700 Course & Program Materials Fee $2,800 HUHS Student Health Fee (SHF) $1,800 Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) $4,308 HUSHP for Student Spouses/Dependents $0 Housing $18,900 ($2,100/mo) Food... View Details

April 2013 (Revised October 2014)
Case

SaferTaxi: Connecting Taxis and Passengers in South America

By: Peter Coles and Benjamin Edelman

SaferTaxi, a taxi booking service in South America must develop its mobilization strategy; that is, it must attract enough passengers and drivers to make its service worthwhile for all. Drivers hesitate to pay for SaferTaxi's smartphones and service unless these will... View Details

Keywords: Taxi Booking; Smartphone; Transportation Networks; Network Effects; Laws and Statutes; South America; Argentina; Brazil; Chile

October 2018 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Testing Autonomy in Pittsburgh

By: Mitchell Weiss and Brittany Urick

Pittsburgh’s mayor had been among the first to welcome self-driving vehicles but was now one of many needing to react after a pedestrian fatality involving an autonomous Uber in Arizona. He had originally preferred to roll out “the red carpet” instead of the “red... View Details

01 Sep 2005
News

Allston Options Up for Discussion

in June a forty-page report outlining design options for the new Allston campus. Of all the issues considered, “effective transportation is the most critical to the overall feasibility of the project,” concluded the report, prepared by... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

Article

Doubting Driverless Dilemmas

By: Julian De Freitas, Sam E. Anthony, Andrea Censi and George A. Alvarez

The alarm has been raised on so-called driverless dilemmas, in which autonomous vehicles will need to make high-stakes ethical decisions on the road. We argue that these arguments are too contrived to be of practical use, are an inappropriate method for making... View Details

Keywords: Moral Judgment; Autonomous Vehicles; Driverless Policy; Transportation; Ethics; Judgments; Policy

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2014
Article

An Analysis of the Competitive Advantage of the United States of America in Commercial Human Orbital Spaceflight Markets

By: Greg Autry, Laura Huang and Jeff Foust

The “Public/Private Human Access to Space” / Human Orbital Markets (HOM) study group of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) has established a framework for the identification and analysis of relevant factors and structures that support a global human... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Infrastructure; Emerging Markets; Analysis; Competitive Advantage; Aerospace Industry; United States

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14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

By 2050, the Earth's population will likely exceed 9 billion people, up 30 percent from 6.9 billion today, according to projections from both the US Census Bureau and the United Nations. What's more, the population in the world's cities is expected to increase by 3... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

06 Oct 2010
News

Success in Freight and Logistics

Keywords: Rail Transportation; Rail Transportation; Rail Transportation; Rail Transportation

June 2018
Teaching Note

LabCDMX: Experiment 50

By: Mitchell Weiss and Matt Higgins

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-031. View Details

Keywords: Public Entrepreneurship; Experimentation; Lean Startup; Government; Innovation; Crowdsourcing; Open Data; Mexico City; Mexico; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Social Entrepreneurship; Government Administration; Transportation; Innovation Leadership; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Mexico; Mexico City

Web

Previous Year | MBA

$4,202 HUSHP for Student Spouses/Dependents $0 Housing (9 Months) $17,280 ($1,920/mo) Food (9 Months) $6,120 ($680/mo) Transportation (9 Months) $2,280 ($253/mo) Other Living Expenses (9 Months) $8,320 ($924/mo) Computer [Variable; not... View Details

February 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

CarPoint in 1999

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Gillian Morris

Updates events in Microsoft CarPoint through the end of 1999, focusing on CarPoint's strategic alliance with Ford and on competitive developments. View Details

Keywords: History; Business Model; Transportation Networks; Alliances; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Auto Industry

March 2025
Case

Hurtigruten: Sea Zero

By: Christian Kaps and Michael W. Toffel

Hurtigruten was deciding whether the next ship they built should be fully electric. But such a vessel's battery, the size of electric cars, needed to be charged on the ship's multi-day voyage along the Norwegian coast. Before making such a $250 million investment, the... View Details

Keywords: Energy Sources; Alternative Energy; Ship Transportation; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Management; Green Technology; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Norway; Europe

July 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Building a Mishap-Free U.S. Navy

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Herman B. Leonard, Michael W. Toffel and Michael Norris

In 2021, Kevin “Bud” Couch, a retired Navy captain who was now working as a civilian employee of the Navy Safety Center, was trying to determine how best to reduce the risk of Navy mishaps. The Navy had experienced a series of major mishaps in 2017 that had led to a... View Details

Keywords: National Security; Safety; War; Ship Transportation; Risk Management; Operations; Singapore; Tokyo; San Diego