Publications

March 2023 (Revised June 2023)
Teaching Note

Ransomware Attack at Springhill Medical Center

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan (Jason) Ni

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 123-065. In July, 2019, Springhill Medical Center (“SMC”) in Mobile, Alabama fell prey to a malicious ransomware attack that crippled the hospital’s internal network systems and public-facing web page. While the hospital rushed to... View Details

February 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Henry Ford: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case traces the rise of Henry Ford from a small farm in Michigan to the controlling shareholder of the Ford Motor Company. The case describes how Ford, as young man, acquired engineering skills and the risks he took as he built and marketed one of the first... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Entrepreneurship; Personal Characteristics; Business Startups; Management; Success; Values and Beliefs; Technological Innovation; Personal Development and Career; Auto Industry; United States; Michigan

October 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

The Tulsa Massacre and the Call for Reparations

By: Mihir A. Desai, Suzanne Antoniou and Leanne Fan

How should historic social injustices be addressed? Survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and their descendants, including Representative Regina Goodwin of Tulsa, believe they should be addressed through reparations and have consequently continued to push the government... View Details

September 2020
Case

Keeping It in the Family at the Hayden Saw Company

By: V.G. Narayanan and John Masko

In 2019, Board Chair and third-generation shareholder Helen Fullerton was preparing for a meeting to discuss Ohio-based Hayden Saw Company’s (Hayden) future as a family business. As the company entered its fifth decade, the Hayden family was dealing with three distinct... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Corporate Governance; Family Ownership; Business and Shareholder Relations; Family and Family Relationships; Governing and Advisory Boards; Construction Industry; Ohio; United States

May 2019
Teaching Note

Gender and Free Speech at Google (A), (B), & (C)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Sarah Mehta

Teaching Note for HBS No. 318-085, 319-095, and 319-097. View Details

Keywords: Free Speech; Representation; Diversity; Gender; Race; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Labor; Employment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; United States; California

November 2018 (Revised December 2018)
Case

CalSTRS Takes on Gun Violence

By: Vikram S Gandhi and Caitlin Reimers

In Spring of 2018, Chris Ailman, CIO of the $200 billion pension plan for California public school teachers (CalSTRS) was mandated by his board to “prioritize engagement with makers and retailers of firearms in California” following a series of gun-related tragedies in... View Details

Keywords: Pension Funds; Pension Plan; Asset Allocation; Screening; ESG; Gun Violence; Business and Government Relations; Values and Beliefs; Education Industry; California; United States

October 2018
Supplement

Zenefits Board of Directors (C)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Business Model; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Leadership; Risk Management; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; California

June 2018
Supplement

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (C)

By: Marco Di Maggio, Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Analyzes Snap’s value and analyst recommendations following the events described in the (B) case. View Details

May 2018
Case

Kaiser Permanente Colorado: Primary Care Plus

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Mahek A. Shah

A geriatrician in Kaiser Permanente’s Colorado region is concerned with the high and growing cost of treating the elderly population. She introduces a new care model, Primary Care Plus, using an interdisciplinary team of a primary care doctor, palliative care... View Details

Keywords: Primary Health Care; Elderly Patients; Integrated Practice Unit; Interdisciplinary Care; Health Care and Treatment; Age; Cost Management; Performance Improvement; Health Industry; United States; Colorado

February 2017 (Revised May 2018)
Case

The Flint, Michigan Sit-Down Strike

By: Tom Nicholas, Christopher T. Stanton and Matthew Preble

For roughly six weeks between late December 1936 and February 1937, a major strike at several critical General Motors (GM) plants in Flint, Michigan, essentially halted the corporation’s U.S. production and resulted in significant gains for the nascent United... View Details

August 2016
Case

Collective Academy

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

This case is about making the decision to become an entrepreneur and early challenges in setting up a business model and team. In 2015, Pato Bichara co-founded Collective Academy to create an affordable, three-year undergraduate experience to infuse innovation into... View Details

Keywords: Early Stage; Team Building; Business Startup; Trade-offs; Risk; Founders' Agreements; Education; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Business Startups; Decision Making; Technology Industry; Mexico; Latin America; United States

August 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Technical Note

Overview of Senior Housing in the United States

By: Charles F. Wu and Joseph Beyer

This technical note provides an overview of the senior housing industry in the United States. There were 40 million seniors in America in 2010, and that number was expected to double by 2050. Seniors would make up 1 in every five Americans. This note explores the... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Senior Living; Retirement Homes; Development; Property; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Real Estate Industry; Massachusetts; United States

June 2014
Teaching Note

Lit Motors

By: Thomas Eisenmann

In mid-2012 Lit Motors had created both engineering and design prototypes and conducted initial customer tests on less than $750,000 of investment. Lit Motors' founder, Daniel Kim, had started the company to design and manufacture an efficient electric 2-wheeled... View Details

Keywords: Lean Startup; Prototyping; Electric Vehicle; Urban Vehicle; Customer Test; Gyroscope; Entrepreneurs; Development Stage Enterprises; Creativity; Disruptive Technologies; Consumer Surveys; Market Segmentation; Manufacturing Costs; Entrepreneurship; Auto Industry; United States; California

June 2014
Supplement

Chung and Dasgupta: Supplemental Information on Jordan Ramirez and Casey Clark

By: Ian Larkin and Karen Huang

The "Promotion Process at Chung and Dasgupta, LLP" set of cases explores the roles of general and firm-specific human capital in employee performance measurement, feedback, and promotion/compensation decisions. In the cases, a leading law firm must decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Performance Appraisal; Performance Measurement; Employee Feedback; Motivation; Promotions; Human Capital; Performance Evaluation; Management Systems; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Legal Services Industry; United States; Massachusetts

February 2014
Case

Interview with Joe Kennedy, Pandora Media

By: Willy C. Shih

Joe Kennedy is the emeritus president of Pandora Media. In this interview, he discusses some of the challenges he faced in leading the company. View Details

Keywords: Pandora; Internet Radio; Pandora Media; Streaming; Music Industry; Music Entertainment; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California

June 2014
Supplement

Chung and Dasgupta: Information for Casey Clark

By: Ian Larkin and Karen Huang

The "Promotion Process at Chung and Dasgupta, LLP" set of cases explores the roles of general and firm-specific human capital in employee performance measurement, feedback, and promotion/compensation decisions. In the cases, a leading law firm must decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; Performance Evaluation; Management Systems; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Legal Services Industry; United States; Massachusetts

June 2014
Case

The Promotion Process at Chung and Dasgupta, LLP

By: Ian Larkin and Karen Huang

The "Promotion Process at Chung and Dasgupta, LLP" set of cases explores the roles of general and firm-specific human capital in employee performance measurement, feedback, and promotion/compensation decisions. In the cases, a leading law firm must decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Performance Appraisal; Performance Measurement; Employee Feedback; Motivation; Promotions; Human Capital; Performance Evaluation; Management Systems; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Legal Services Industry; United States; Massachusetts

December 2012
Case

Ocean Mist Farms

By: David E. Bell, Jose B. Alvarez, Mary Shelman and Michael Norris

In late 2012, Kori Tuggle, director of marketing and business development at Ocean Mist Farms, a California produce company, examines her social media-based marketing program and her attempts to create a brand for a bulk commodity. View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; California

July 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Supplement

Philip McCrea: Once an Entrepreneur... (B)

By: William W. George

Philip McCrea is dealing with the aftermath of the move of his company and family from San Francisco to New Jersey (from the (A) case). Although the move goes well from a family perspective, his business runs into challenges when he merges it into a Canadian company... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Leadership; Failure; Ownership Stake; Work-Life Balance; Canada; New Jersey