Publications

November 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul: Building on a Diversified Base

By: William W. George

Since the 1970s, the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan region (MSP) had outpaced the nation in job creation and income per capita. MSP's diversified base of industry clusters had enabled the region to adapt to economic downturns and an exodus of major corporate... View Details

Keywords: Industry Clusters; Employment; Organizations; Transformation; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Minneapolis; Saint Paul

September 2010
Case

Quanta Research Institute: Rainforest or Hothouse?

By: Willy C. Shih, Jyun-Cheng Wang and Ho Howard Yu

Barry Lam, the CEO and founder of Quanta Computer (the largest notebook computer manufacturer worldwide), has recognized for many years that he had to transform the company to decrease its dependence on producing commodity hardware for other global brands and move the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Research and Development; Computer Industry; Taiwan

03 Sep 2014
What Do You Think?

Who Should Choose Your Boss?

the world choosing a leader for an organization is a primary responsibility of a board of directors. But others tempered that judgment with a variety of cautions. Richard Belloff made the base case by saying "The Board should choose the View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Food & Beverage

June 2021
Case

Mobileye 2021: Robotaxi and/or Consumer AV?

By: David B. Yoffie, Danielle Golan and Nicole Tempest Keller

In March 2021, Amnon Shashua, co-founder and CEO of Israel-based Mobileye, was preparing to meet with Intel’s new CEO, Pat Gelsinger, to review plans for the future. Mobileye had been acquired by California-based Intel in 2017, but still operated independently.... View Details

Keywords: Technology Companies; Robotics; Autonomous Vehicles; Strategy; Decision Making; Transportation; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry; Auto Industry; Transportation Industry; Israel

24 Jul 2018
Op-Ed

4 Ways Managers Can Exercise Their 'Agency' to Change the World

different ends of the career spectrum with a shared belief in their powerlessness" These companies have created new business opportunities by identifying societal problems that align with—or become part... View Details

Keywords: by George Serafeim

January 2006 (Revised February 2015)
Case

Innovation at Timberland: Thinking Outside the Shoe Box

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ryan Raffaelli

Innovation was linked to Timberland's heritage. In 2005, CEO Jeff Swartz and COO Ken Pucker hoped the Invention Factory, an advanced concept lab, would develop new breakthrough products and reinvigorate the company's culture of innovation. Since the 1960s, Timberland... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Change Management

November 2009 (Revised July 2011)
Case

International Lobbying and The Dow Chemical Company (A)

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

This case explores company strategy, business-government relations, and collective action challenges associated with international and domestic lobbying regarding regulation of the chemical industry. In the fall of 2006, a five-year legislative process for a major new... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Chemical Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Europe

15 Aug 2016
News

The Scandal Effect

2022
Case

Interface: The Journey Toward Carbon Negative

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Interface has been a leading innovator in the carpet industry, specializing in the manufacturing of carpet tiles for commercial flooring. This case describes the history, context, and technology behind the company's development of its newest sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Innovation and Invention; Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Accounting

March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Case

MTN: Unlocking Value While Driving Socioeconomic Progress

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha

On March 10, 2021, Ralph Mupita the new CEO of MTN Group, Africa's largest telecommunications company, presented the group’s 2020 annual results and unveiled a new strategy to “drive growth and unlock value.” Despite MTN’s leadership in most of its markets, the... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Valuation; Emerging Markets; Business Strategy; Financial Management; Information Technology; Corporate Finance; Telecommunications Industry; Africa; South Africa; Ghana; Nigeria

November 2017 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Royal Philips: Designing Toward Profound Change

By: Srikant M. Datar, Rajiv Lal and Caitlin N. Bowler

This case explores Royal Philips CEO Frans van Houten's bold use of design research to inform a critical strategic decision: Should Philips leave its storied lighting business behind in favor of complete focus on health technology and consumer lifestyle products?... View Details

Keywords: Design Research; Health Technology; Innovation; Design; Research; Decision Choices and Conditions; Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Transformation

04 May 2017
News

The Error at the Heart of Corporate Leadership

January 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and the Cost of Capital (Abridged)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

In 2000, Eaton Corporation was a broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around “power management” and more recently on “intelligent power,” the use of digitally enabled products and services designed to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland