Publications

February 1995 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Antmobel (A)

In the midst of a sales slump brought on by a recession in Spain, Antmobel's managers are presented with an opportunity to sell a substantial quantity of furniture in Uzbekistan. Management must decide whether the order fits with the company's strategy, capabilities,... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Uzbekistan; Spain

04 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 4, 2008

Inc.—Engineered Products Division Harvard Business School Case 709-434 Curled Metal Incorporated has declining sales but has developed a new product (curled metal pile driver pads) that, in field tests,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Apr 2004
Research & Ideas

A Clear Eye for Innovation

The Roman god Janus had two sets of eyes—one pair focusing on what lay behind, the other on what lay ahead. General managers and corporate executives should be able to relate. They, too, must constantly look backward, attending to the... View Details

Keywords: by Charles A. O'Reilly III & Michael L. Tushman

07 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

The Business of Biotech

already have products on the market, as does Amgen, where Gordon M. Binder (MBA '62) served as CEO until his retirement last month (he will continue to serve as chairman through December). Amgen's Epogen (a treatment for anemia in kidney... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Biotechnology; Health; Technology

Career Coach

Ellen Harris

Ellen (HGSE ’86) is the Director of Outward Bound Professional/Facilitator at Thompson Island Outward Bound Professional where she is responsible for business development and corporate team and leadership... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

23 Jun 2021
Blog Post

How I Sourced My Internship Outside of the US: Abena Nyantekyi-Owusu

huge wave of funding and I wanted to contribute,” Nyantekyi-Owusu said. “They never had an intern before, but by using the HBS resources on how to propose an internship I was able to put together a pitch.” OPay was excited to bring... View Details

16 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 16, 2007

distribution of sales and profits across products. By enabling an analysis of the book acquisition, development, and marketing process from the perspective of the publisher, author, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Takashimaya in Transition

By: Rajiv Lal, Masako Egawa and Chisato Toyama

Takashimaya, the largest department store in Japan, was suffering from declining sales. CEO Koji Suzuki had succeeded in instituting changes to cut costs. However, Suzuki needed to come up with a strategy to increase sales, particularly in apparel, which comprised the... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Sales; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Japan

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October 1996 (Revised December 1996)
Case

United Electric Controls

By: H. Kent Bowen, Jody H. Gittell and Sylvie Ryckebusch

United Electric Controls (UE) was a small, traditional family-owned manufacturing company when Dave Reis, the youngest member of the Reis family, took over the business. This case describes Reis's efforts to change UE's traditional work practices in order to make the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Family Business; Production; Business Strategy; Human Resources; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Decisions; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Electronics Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

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05 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

It’s Alive! Business Scholars Turn to Experimental Research

Fellow Marco Piovesan, whose research on how temptation influences work productivity included field experiments with children tempted by soda and candy at an Italian summer camp. "Understanding where these... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

17 May 2016
First Look

May 17, 2016

achieve a "soft landing" for his team and his investors. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/816030-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 816-032 Yabbly and the Anthology... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Diagnosing the Public Health Care Alternative

authoritative report estimated that up to 118 million people would eventually move into Medicare and out of private-sector plans. Are we surprised? Public markets and their View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Health

Career Coach

Laurie Matthews

Whether working with clients on their own leadership development or focusing on navigating a particular career juncture, Laurie helps her clients crack their own codes to figure out how to make the most of their professional and life... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

December 1973 (Revised November 1993)
Case

Cooper Industries, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Piper

The executive president of a major industrial company must decide 1) whether to acquire a small hand tool company and, if so, 2) the value and form that the acquisition package should take. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Valuation; Acquisition; Management Teams; Consumer Products Industry

April 2001 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Verge Software (A)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Elizabeth Kind

Scott Rozic, CEO of start-up Verge Software, has just told his board that he is taking the company in a totally new direction, moving from enterprise knowledge management software to Internet direct marketing. This case covers the start-up of the business, and Rozic's... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Strategy; Technological Innovation; Applications and Software; Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Product Development; Information Technology Industry; United States

11 May 2020
Op-Ed

Immigration Policies Threaten American Competitiveness

to shift blame onto outsiders, America is at risk of signaling to global innovators and entrepreneurs, and the promising students who will one day become them, that they cannot have a future here. Talent... View Details

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Three Steps for Crisis Prevention

company pressed forward with launches of GMO food products in Europe, giving far too little weight to the fact that Europeans were still reeling from the mad cow disease crisis, reports of dioxin-contaminated chicken, View Details

Keywords: by Michael D. Watkins & Max H. Bazerman

February 1990 (Revised March 1990)
Case

Quantum Semiconductor, Inc.

By: Janice H. Hammond and Roy D. Shapiro

Quantum is faced with a difficult ethical dilemma--industry studies provide evidence that chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing may cause women working in fabrication cleanrooms to suffer a higher likelihood of spontaneous abortions. The possibility of other... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Prejudice and Bias; Law; Equality and Inequality; Cost; Production; Ethics; Health; Gender; Semiconductor Industry

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June 17, 2016
Comment

Companies Need to Start Marketing Security to Customers

By: John A. Quelch

Recent events in Orlando underscore an important marketing truth: consumer safety and security are mission critical. A popular nightclub, Pulse, known as a safe place for the LGBT community, is put out of business at least temporarily by a terrorist act. Not far away... View Details