Publications

November 2003 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Union Corrugating Company (B)

By: Paul W. Marshall and Julia Stevens

Lauri Union, president of Union Corrugating Co., has successfully transformed her family's corrugated steel roofing and siding manufacturer into a successful enterprise. Reviews how Union turned the struggling company around and also considers the management structure... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Competition; Work-Life Balance; Success; Change Management; Management Systems; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; Boston; North Carolina

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October 2023
Case

Shredder Setups or Straightlining into Risk?: Investing in What You Love

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Bob Hall, President of Green Gables Partners, evaluated whether to angel invest into an up-and-coming ski brand. As the son-in-law of the founder of Vera Bradley and having retired from a lengthy career on Wall Street, Hall was well-versed in both direct investing and... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Angel Investors; Direct Investment; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Small Business; Financial Strategy; Personal Finance; Investment Portfolio; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk and Uncertainty; Consumer Products Industry; Montana; United States

30 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 30

for the introduction of health products in developing countries where consumers may be uncertain about product quality, and price subsidies are common policy instruments. Through a field experiment selling... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

25 Oct 2016
First Look

October 25, 2016

set in May 2016, discusses sales strategy and managing sales and service at Oversight Systems, an Atlanta, Georgia–based software firm that View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Apr 2019
Research & Ideas

Incubators Take Notice: Your Entrepreneurs Are Networking with the Wrong People

hopes? “If you're trying to make new connections and learn from the other people, I wouldn't bring your posse.” To find out, Koning and Hasan invited 112 aspiring entrepreneurs to a three-week software View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

Marketing the Beauty Secrets of Japanese Geisha This case considers the creation and early growth of California-based TATCHA, a Japanese-themed luxury beauty brand. It explores how Vicky Tsai View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

Rocket Science Retailing

developed by planners and occur independent of the bottom-up process. They are based on macroeconomic factors such as the economic growth rate View Details

Keywords: by Marshall L. Fisher, Ananth Raman & Anna Sheen McClelland; Retail

December 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Vignette: The Rebar Dilemma

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Martin Smith, a new associate at an LBO firm, must respond to a problem posed by his boss, based on an historical deal that suddenly came undone. After months of negotiation, his firm's plan to buy a bankrupt competitor of one of its portfolio companies and close it... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Competition; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management

November 2024 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Indonesia Education Reform: Merdeka Belajar ('Emancipated Learning')

By: John Jong-Hyun Kim, Adina Wong, Nancy Hua Dai and Mary C. Sauer

This case is set in 2024 in Indonesia, as Nadiem Makarim, Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, reflects on his tenure as Minister shortly before stepping down. With the ambition to lift Indonesia out of the middle-income gap by raising K12 to... View Details

Keywords: Education; Change Management; Knowledge Dissemination; Government Administration; Leading Change; Innovation Strategy; Development Economics; Education Industry; Asia; Indonesia

29 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 29, 2007

Business School Case 707-474 In 2006, newspaper firms in developed markets were severely threatened on three fronts: the growth of online news, online classified advertising, View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2012 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Videogames: Clouds on the Horizon?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Kerry Herman

Since the creation of the first videogame systems in the 1970s, the videogame industry has undergone numerous transformations as new technologies and market entrants fundamentally changed the gaming experience of customers. In the early 21st century, customers began... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Strategy; Industry Growth; Video Game Industry

March 2008 (Revised June 2009)
Case

Actis: January 2008

By: Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Paul Feltcher, the CEO of Actis, a leading private equity investor in emerging markets, is preparing for an executive retreat at which the management team will consider how best to position the firm for the future. Actis could move in a number of different directions... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Private Equity; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Emerging Markets; Organizational Change and Adaptation