Publications

April 1998
Case

Cephalon, Inc.

By: Peter Tufano

In early 1997, Cephalon, awaited an FDA panel's decision on whether its drug, Myotrophin, would be approved. If the drug was approved, the firm might need substantial additional funds to commercialize as well as to buy back rights to it (which had been sold earlier to... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Financing and Loans; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

April 1998 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Guidant Corporation: Shaping Culture Through Systems

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Guidant is a successful IPO start-up selling pacemakers and defibrillators. The case describes how managers install systems to balance innovation and control. Three parts of a shareholder value strategy are described. Controls include incentive systems, beliefs... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Planning; Risk Management; Management Systems; Business Strategy; Value Creation; System; Service Industry; Financial Services Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

March 1998 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Concordia Electronic Systems Test

By: Thomas R. Piper

The management of an electronics company must decide whether to use a single hurdle rate for all projects or to move to a system of different hurdle rates for each of its two divisions. The divisions differ substantially in terms of risk and seem to have substantially... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Risk and Uncertainty; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Business Divisions; Electronics Industry

February 1998 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Burma Pipeline, The

By: Debora L. Spar and Lane LaMure

In 1996, Unocal Corp. joined forces with the French Total company to construct an ambitious natural gas pipeline from the Andaman Sea across the southern tip of Burma and into Thailand. At an estimated cost of $1.2 billion, the pipeline was designed to bring sorely... View Details

Keywords: Political Risk; Risk Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Foreign Direct Investment; Energy Industry; Asia

1998
Working Paper

Public Risk Management and the Private Sector: An Exploratory Essay

By: David A. Moss

January 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

General Scanning, Inc. (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen, Sean McClenaghan and Charles Tillen

General Scanning, Inc. was founded by Jean Montagu and Pierre Brosens, two MIT mechanical engineers with an interest in developing innovative products based on the early application of lasers. They invented proprietary technology for laser beam positioning and scanning... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Entrepreneurship; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Strategic Planning; Research and Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Commercialization; Manufacturing Industry

January 1998
Article

Risk Management, Capital Budgeting and Capital Structure Policy for Financial Institutions: An Integrated Approach

By: K. A. Froot and J. Stein

Keywords: Catastrophe Risk; Corporate Finance; Cost Of Capital; Banking And Insurance; Asset Pricing; Hedging; Banking; Decision Choice And Uncertainty; Financial Markets; Insurance; Policy; Risk Management; Natural Disasters; Insurance Industry

December 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Mid Ocean Limited: Trading Catastrophe Index Options

By: Kenneth A. Froot and Markus Mullarkey

An insurance industry executive must evaluate the potential of a set of newly-offered catastrophe insurance derivatives. The background addresses the roles of traditional reinsurance and securitization efforts in providing risk transfer and risk financing in the "cat"... View Details

Keywords: Commodity Market; Derivatives; Insurance; Capital Markets; Natural Disasters; Risk Management; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Insurance Industry; Bermuda

December 1997 (Revised May 2017)
Teaching Note

Kidder, Peabody & Co.: Creating Elusive Profits

By: Robert Simons and Antonio Dávila

Teaching Note for (9-197-038). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Internal Controls; Risk Management; Risk And Uncertainty; Risk Assessment; Profit

November 1997 (Revised May 2002)
Case

MicroAge, Inc.: Orchestrating the Information Technology Value Chain

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kirk A. Goldman

MicroAge, Inc. started as a storefront in Tempe, AZ in 1976 selling personal computer kits to hobbyists. During their first year of operation, founders Jeff McKeever and Alan Hald sold $1.5 million worth of computer kits, priced at under $1,000 each. Twenty years... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Growth Management; Risk Management; Product; Opportunities; Horizontal Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Technology Industry; Arizona

October 1997
Case

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (B)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Elaine V. Backman

Outlines the process of strategy reinvention adopted by Planned Parenthood. It lays out the new strategic proposals, and the reactions of the various constituencies to those proposals. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Framework; Core Relationships; Risk and Uncertainty; Adaptation; Health Industry

October 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Busang (A): River of Gold

By: Debora L. Spar

In 1995, Bre-X Minerals, a tiny Canadian mining firm, struck gold. Deep in the heart of the Borneo jungle, it discovered what appeared to be one of the world's largest and most cost-effective gold deposits. Almost immediately, the firm's stock price shot upwards and... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Mining; Mining Industry; Canada; Indonesia

October 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Komatsu Ltd.: Project G's Globalization

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

This case describes the major strategic and organizational transformation at Komatsu aimed at changing it from a Japan-based producer of construction equipment to a truly global company with the ability to leverage its groupwide portfolio of resources and capabilities... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Construction; Asset Pricing; Investment Portfolio; Global Strategy; Leadership; Resource Allocation; Risk Management; Expansion; Manufacturing Industry; Japan