Publications

08 Nov 2024
HBS Case

What Wartime Service Taught These Historic Leaders

during military conflicts. As countries such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom honor their veterans this month, Harvard Business School Professor Robert Simons reflects on how service during wartime shaped the executive... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Entertainment & Recreation

August 1994 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Taco Bell Corporation (Abridged Update)

By: James L. Heskett

Taco Bell's management has developed plans to establish 100,000 points of service for its fast food business. Clearly, this will require significantly different approaches to management and organization. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Delivery; Organizations; Food and Beverage Industry

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16 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

The Outside-In Approach to Customer Service

must be more profound and open-ended, with an intent not only to discover how your customers engage with your products or services but also to understand some of the broader parameters of the constraints they are facing in their own... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products

February 2010
Case

Corporate Strategy at Berkshire Partners

By: Julie M. Wulf and Scott Waggoner

The managing directors of Berkshire Partners, a mid-sized private equity firm, address strategic and organizational challenges in response to turbulent market conditions, rapid firm growth, and the transition of leadership from its founding partners to the next... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Boston

November 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Case

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation

By: Robert S. Kaplan

First Commonwealth Financial Corp., a financial institution in central and southwestern Pennsylvania, implemented the Balanced Scorecard for describing and implementing its new customer-focused strategy. Its founder and chairman decided that the Balanced Scorecard also... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Corporate Strategy; Customers; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Customer Relationship Management; Executive Compensation; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Pennsylvania

29 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Star Power! How to Win in Professional Services

organization, in which professionals who go down in the elevator one evening may not return the next morning. Together, these dynamics ensure that the CEO's role in the professional service firm's decision making is both constrained and... View Details

Keywords: by Jay W. Lorsch & Thomas J. Tierney

28 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Shareholders Key to Corporate Reform

correct the underlying weaknesses. When it comes to corporate governance, for too long we have relied on the first approach. It's time to take a deeper look, see where the stressors in the system lie, and commit to structural reforms. In... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia A. Montgomery & Rhonda Kaufman

28 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Profit Power of Corporate Culture

Corporate culture is often thought of as a hard-to-define, or soft concept in management circles. Soft not in the sense that it isn't important—most CEOs will tell you that their ability to inculcate values and mission into the DNA of a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

August 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

TNT Limited's Logistics Services in Asia (A): The Strategy

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Meredith Hellicar's mission as general manager of corporate development is to make TNT Ltd. one of the biggest and most diverse transport and logistic companies in the world, with approximately $5 billion in turnover in 1993, a leading provider of logistics services in... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Distribution; Logistics; Mission and Purpose; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Diversification; Transportation Industry; Asia; China; Indonesia; Thailand

September 2016
Supplement

Financial Services at Falabella (B)

By: C. Fritz Foley and Agustin M. Hurtado

Supplements the (A) case and provides an update describing choices Falabella made. View Details

Keywords: Consumer Credit; Financial Management; Corporate Strategy; Credit; Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry

05 Oct 2009
Research & Ideas

The Vanguard Corporation

communities like leeches. The time is ripe for a new corporate model, driven by a new type of business leader, where creating business value also means creating value for society. Surprisingly, Kanter finds models for these so-called... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

February 1994
Case

Fremont Financial Corporation

Fremont Financial is an asset-based lender to middle-market companies. The firm has three options to raise capital to finance its loan portfolio. Fremont can (1) extend its existing bank line of credit, (2) issue commercial paper through a special purpose-conduit, or... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Capital; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry

April 2000 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Ameritrade Holding Corporation

By: Lisa K. Meulbroek

Some of the senior managers at Ameritrade, an Internet brokerage firm, are selling their holdings in the firm. Why are the managers selling, how will it affect shareholders, and what should the CEO do about it? The CEO is concerned that the market will interpret... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Internet and the Web; Stock Options; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry

April 2005 (Revised August 2012)
Supplement

MedCath Corporation (B)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Louisa Neissa

Supplements the (A) case. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Medical Specialties; Market Entry and Exit; Service Delivery; Conflict and Resolution; Horizontal Integration; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

September 2005 (Revised May 2007)
Case

OuterLink Corporation (A)

By: Josh Lerner and Brenda Chia

Zero Stage Capital is addressing a troubled investment in OuterLink Corp., which has a capital deficit of $30 million and was written off by all but one of its investors as a victim of the technology bubble. The venture organization must decide whether to shutter the... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Decisions; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Price Bubble; Investment; Financial Services Industry

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January 2005
Teaching Note

Sapient Corporation (TN)

By: Rakesh Khurana and Joel Podolny

Teaching Note to (9-405-045) and (9-406-058). View Details

Keywords: Service Industry

January 2008 (Revised July 2008)
Case

The Allstate Corporation

By: John R. Wells

In 2007, Allstate was the number two property and casualty insurer in the USA and had enjoyed five years of rapid profit improvement. The question facing CEO Thomas J. Wilson was how to maintain the momentum. This case tracks the evolution of Allstate's strategy over... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Financial Institutions; Insurance; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financial Services Industry

September 2006 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Providian Financial Corporation

By: John R. Wells

On October 3, 2005, Washington Mutual acquired Providian Financial Corporation, the ninth-largest credit card issuer in the U.S., for $6.5 billion. At the time, Providian had approximately 10 million customer relationships and a balance of $18.6 billion. For some... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Customer Relationship Management; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Credit Cards; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financial Services Industry; United States

February 1987 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Arley Merchandise Corporation

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves the initial public offering of a firm's stock. The offering includes a money-back guarantee to investors from the issuing firm which comes in the form of a "put" option. Option valuation is thus an important issue in this case. View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Stocks; Cases; Valuation; Stock Options; Service Industry; Service Industry