Publications

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February 2009 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Publicis Groupe 2009: Toward a Digital Transformation

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

After a series of acquisitions, Maurice Levy, the Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, had created the fourth largest marketing and communications company in the world. His next major challenge was managing the firm's digital transformation. In December 2006, the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transformation; Financial Crisis; Globalized Firms and Management; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Expansion; Information Technology; Advertising Industry; Communications Industry

October 2007
Article

The Power of Stars: Do Star Actors Drive the Success of Movies?

By: Anita Elberse

Is the involvement of star actors critical to the success of motion pictures? Film studios, which they regularly pay multimillion-dollar fees to star actors, seem driven by that belief. I shed light on the returns on this investment using an event study that considers... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Film Entertainment; Investment Return; Revenue; Compensation and Benefits; Resource Allocation; Success; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

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June 2007 (Revised December 2007)
Case

AFL-CIO: Office of Investment and Home Depot

By: Rakesh Khurana and James Weber

Describes the AFL-CIO: Office of Investments activities in their campaign to improve governance at Home Depot by calling attention to Home Depot CEO Robert Nardelli's compensation package and the company's poor performance. The AFL-CIO Office of Investments advocates... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Labor Unions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business and Shareholder Relations

November 2005 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Pine Ridge Winery, LLC (A)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Lauren Barley

George Scheppler, president and CEO of Pine Ridge Winery, LLC, (the "Company") sat in his office overlooking the steep hillside vineyards of the Pine Ridge Winery in Napa Valley. It was June 2005, and he was preparing for the upcoming board of managers meeting where he... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Corporate Strategy; Napa Valley

February 2003
Case

Whitbread Hotel Company (A)

By: Michael Beer and James Weber

Alan Parker has developed an effective organization using organizational fitness profiling and other change methodologies. Parker knows that as Whitbread continues to grow, both internally and through acquisitions, the company will have to change its organization... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Growth Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Integration

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March 2001 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Merrill Lynch HOLDRS

By: Andre F. Perold and Simon E. Brown

Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and HOLDRS (Holding Company Depositary Receipts) represent recent and highly successful capital market innovations. HOLDRS closely approximates a buy-and-hold strategy, and Merrill Lynch believes the product has significantly lower taxes... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Cost; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Taxation; Innovation and Invention; Product; Success; Expansion

November 1998 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Mike Winsor: A Career in Marketing

By: Robert J. Dolan

An MBA student has received an offer to join Kraft Foods, a leading consumer packaged goods firm. This unit is a wholly owned subsidiary of a holding company whose other major subsidiary is a leading cigarette manufacturer. The case raises ethical issues of marketing. View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Ethics

November 1996
Case

Del Webb Corporation (C), The

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Samanta Graff

Dion and the other Del Webb directors were open to having Industrial Equity Pacific (IEP) and Webcott Holdings representation on the board. The IEP representative was perceived as reserved and lacking in sophistication. Cotter of Webcott, however, struck the directors... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Management Succession; Strategic Planning; Governing and Advisory Boards; Horizontal Integration; Conflict Management

February 1995 (Revised September 1995)
Case

The Bourland Companies

By: William J. Poorvu and John H. Vogel Jr.

Michael Bourland, the president of the Bourland Companies, needs to refinance two properties, an office building in southern New Hampshire and a retail property in Massachusetts. He is considering three alternatives: a renewal of a bank mini-perm, a 15-year mortgage... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Property; Mortgages; Family Business; Financial Management; Family Ownership; Real Estate Industry; Massachusetts; North and Central America

October 1986 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Advanced Medical Technology Corporation

By: Thomas R. Piper and Steven Rogers

A loan officer must decide whether to lend $8 million to a rapidly growing high technology company. The company has had a series of relationships with three other banks. Reports from loan officers at these banks are mixed and raise questions as to the ease with which a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Commercial Banking; Financing and Loans; Financial Condition; Technology Industry