Publications

January 1990 (Revised March 1991)
Case

American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region

By: Robert L. Simons

Recounts the financial difficulties and management changes experienced by American Red Cross Blood Services: Northeast Region (NER) during the 1980s. After summarizing industry-wide changes in the collection, testing, and distribution of blood and blood products, the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Management; Restructuring; Health; SWOT Analysis; Social Enterprise; Marketplace Matching; Management Style; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; North and Central America

09 Jan 2014
News

Tapping into Opportunity

says Shenkar. Her awareness of how precious and limited water can be began while growing up in Israel. The Middle East has prospered for millennia by making the most out of what relatively little water there is in the region. Since the... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman; Business and Environment Initiative; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services

03 Dec 2008
What Do You Think?

Can Housing and Credit be “Nudged” Back to Health?

"greed and corruption helped create the crisis, ... simple human frailty played a vital role." They suggest providing incentives to make financial products easier, not more difficult, to understand. This would involve, among... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

16 Oct 2013
Op-Ed

Response to Readers: Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

With more than 7,500 views and 180-plus tweets, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read the original HBS Working Knowledge piece, The Case for Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power View Details

Keywords: by Joe Lassiter; Energy; Utilities

14 Aug 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 14, 2018

argued the merits of each, we inquired into which happiness people say they want. In five studies (N = 3351), we asked people to choose between experienced happiness and remembered happiness—for shorter time... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

13 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

and step up to make the kind of dramatic change we need to have in our society. Neeley: You think this time is different? Frazier: I'm not sure. I hope it's different. I'll tell you a quick little story. I... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Pharmaceutical

21 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

The Parable of the Bungled Baggage And the Unhappy Customer

program identifies our very best customers. And our very best customers often fly one or two times a week. Now, you're not in that category of frequent flyers, but because you're talking with the top... View Details

Keywords: by W. Earl Sasser

November 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Magna International, Inc. (A)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Yuhai Xuan

Magna International, Inc., a Canadian-based automotive parts manufacturer, is considering whether and how to unwind its dual-class ownership structure. A family trust controlled by the founder owns a 0.65% economic interest in the company but has 66% of the votes via a... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Governance Controls; Ownership Stake; Family Ownership; Auto Industry; Canada

08 Sep 2009
Research & Ideas

The Height Tax, and Other New Ways to Think about Taxation

for our tax system. For example, we might want to split the costs of government equally among all taxpayers, letting each of us keep whatever income we earn above our fair share. Or, we might want our tax system to reinforce social View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

02 Feb 2021
News

How the pandemic is creating a financial windfall for people willing to relocate

07 Oct 2013
Research & Ideas

The Case for Combating Climate Change with Nuclear Power and Fracking

If you ask any given environmentalist to identify the biggest threat to the planet, you may expect to hear about man-made climate change, consumerism, or overpopulation. But if you ask Harvard Business School's Joseph B. Lassiter, he'll toss in another: single-issue... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

Web

Remote Work Extends to Factories and Farmlands | Working Knowledge

and improved patient wait times and other key metrics. Finally, BMW is developing smart factories, starting with a facility in Hungary slated to open in 2025. BMW engineering... View Details

01 Oct 2002
News

Dean Clark on Leadership, Educational Priorities, and Funding the Future

market. Last month, moreover the nation marked the anniversary of September 11. What has all this meant for HBS? I believe an institution's true character is revealed in times of great stress, and that... View Details

October 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Adelphia Communications Corp.'s Bankruptcy

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Belen Villalonga

In 2002, a massive accounting fraud and corporate looting scandal involving the founding Rigas family made Adelphia the 11th largest bankruptcy case in history, and the third-after WorldCom and Enron-among those triggered by fraud. Set in 2005, when Adelphia is... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Family Ownership

20 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

Big Deal: Reflections on the Megamerger of American and US Airways

help companies with fundamentally viable businesses become financially stronger and more competitive. The Bankruptcy Code achieves this by giving companies a "safe harbor" while they restructure their liabilities, buying View Details

Keywords: Re: Rosabeth M. Kanter & Stuart C. Gilson; Air Transportation

November 2010
Supplement

Magna International, Inc. (B)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Yuhai Xuan

Magna International, Inc., a Canadian-based automotive parts manufacturer, is considering whether and how to unwind its dual-class ownership structure. A family trust controlled by the founder owns a 0.65% economic interest in the company but has 66% of the votes via a... View Details

Keywords: Business and Shareholder Relations; Value Creation; Voting; Family Ownership; Cost; Cost vs Benefits; Stock Shares; Governance Controls; Governing and Advisory Boards; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Canada

November 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Supplement

Magna International, Inc. (A) (CW)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Yuhai Xuan

Magna International, Inc., a Canadian-based automotive parts manufacturer, is considering whether and how to unwind its dual-class ownership structure. A family trust controlled by the founder owns a 0.65% economic interest in the company but has 66% of the votes via a... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Voting; Governance Controls; Market Transactions; Production; Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value Creation; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Canada

February 2008 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Spiegel-Verlag Rudolf Augstein GmbH & Co. KG

By: Belen Villalonga, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Vincent Dessain

Der Spiegel is Germany's most influential political news magazine. In the 1970s, its founder Rudolf Augstein gave a 50% ownership stake to his employees and sold another 25% to rival publisher Gruner+Jahr, but retained significant control during his lifetime by... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Governance Controls; Employee Ownership; Family Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry; Germany