Publications

January 2016 (Revised August 2019)
Case

From Preparatory Academy to National Flagship: The Evolution of Tsinghua University

By: William C. Kirby and Joycelyn W. Eby

Tsinghua University is one of the most prominent universities in China, and, increasingly, in the world. Its evolution to this position reflects the major developments in Chinese history—outward looking internationalism in the 1920s and 1930s, creative survival in the... View Details

Keywords: University Administration; University Curriculum; University Faculty; World-class Universities; Higher Education; History; Governance; Education Industry; China; Beijing

June 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Continental Media Group: Business Highlights

By: Robert L. Simons and Kathryn Rosenberg

Continental Media Group has a series of business reviews struggling to achieve profitability. This case focuses on the use of management control systems to identify emerging opportunities and the formulation of new strategies. The interactive system used by top... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Governance Controls; Management Systems; Risk Management; Business Strategy; Publishing Industry

September 1976 (Revised January 1977)
Case

Del Norte Paper Co. (C)

By: William A. Sahlman

Designed to serve two roles: first, it provides a reasonably comprehensive description of an ongoing capital budgeting system for the international operations of a large American company. Second, it allows the student to focus upon and critically analyze a series of... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; International Relations; Globalized Markets and Industries; Goals and Objectives; Service Delivery; Business Subsidiaries; Performance Evaluation; Performance Expectations; Pulp and Paper Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry

26 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 26

Puzzle of Private Investment in State-Controlled Firms Authors:Pargendler, Mariana, Aldo Musacchio, and Sergio G. Lazzarini Abstract A large legal and economic literature describes how state-owned... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2002 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Corporate Renewal in America

By: Bruce R. Scott and Thomas S. Mondschean

Discusses various macroeconomic, regulatory, technological, and financial forces that led to increased corporate restructuring in the United States beginning in the mid-1980s. The U.S. financial system is often viewed as the most developed in the world and a model for... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Corporate Governance; Macroeconomics; Economic Systems; Restructuring; Markets; Private Sector; Corporate Finance; Germany; Japan; United States

Career Coach

Michelle Antonio

Michelle (Chicago Booth ’97, Wharton ’91) offers 15 years of professional experience in recruiting, consulting and career management leadership roles. Michelle partners with MBA students and alumni to... View Details

Keywords: Government; Government; Government; Government

April 2012 (Revised July 2012)
Supplement

Man Group (B)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Thomas M. Clay

The Man Group was a huge and successful UK-based hedge fund and fund of funds manager. Through acquisitions, the company had consciously diversified its portfolio of investment products. In 2007 Man had to decide whether or not to spin off its brokerage business. Man... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Funds; Asset Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Investment Funds; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

Find at Harvard

26 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 26, 2006

leaders from Harvard Business School who discuss theory with practices from the world's top corporations to show how businesses, NGOs and government organizations can use business solutions to add social... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2013
Case

Slicing Pie with a Razor: Ockham Technologies' Founding Agreement

By: Noam Wasserman and Yael Braid

Ockham Technologies' three founders are about to craft their founding agreement and split the equity among themselves. Uncertainty lingers over each member's future contributions, though—how is the team to devise a durable and effective split? Jim Triandiflou and Ken... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Conflict Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Employees; Management Teams; Product Development; Technology Industry

04 Oct 2004
What Do You Think?

Does Speed Trump Intellectual Property?

Summing Up This month's column, in the eyes of several respondents, represents the struggle of competitive strategies based on process versus product. When seen in this light, the triumph of speed over ideas, which many see as a reality, is not necessarily onerous.... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Article

Undermining Value-Based Purchasing — Lessons from the Pharmaceutical Industry

By: Leemore S. Dafny, Christopher Ody and Matt Schmitt

The analogy between value-based purchasing in pharmaceuticals and the new frontier of alternative payment models for health care providers is relatively straightforward. Insurers are increasingly demanding steep discounts from providers in exchange for inclusion in... View Details

Keywords: Drug Copayment Coupons; Prescription Drug Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Cost; Policy; Pharmaceutical Industry

Find at Harvard

Read Now

22 Sep 2015
News

Finding New Ways to Solve Civic Problems

As deputy majority whip in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Ryan MacKenzie (MBA 2010) has followed a path of community service and political involvement, transforming the business experience he... View Details

August 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Supplement

Preserving Trust at Care.com (B)

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Julia Kelley

The (B) case describes the company’s response and subsequent developments. View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Corporate Governance; Digital Platforms; Market Design; Emerging Markets; Trust; Technology Industry; United States

September 1995
Case

Richina Capital Partners Limited

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Richard Yan and Suzanne Foels raise a $52.5 million fund to invest in Chinese companies in concert with major multinational companies. They face all the challenges of starting a business from scratch in addition to the challenges of operating in a cross-cultural... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Problems and Challenges; Emerging Markets; Multinational Firms and Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governance Compliance; Business Strategy; Expansion; Investment Return; China

Find at Harvard

16 Oct 2018
Blog Post

A Pathway to Pursue Aspirations

While Mizuho Kanai (MBA 2018) was fulfilling her summer internship at NPR, her manager recommended that she read an HBS case study about how the Sesame Workshop CEO, Jeff Dunn (MBA 1981), was changing the institution. “I was blown away,” she says, “by how Jeff View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

Career Coach

Elizabeth Gelb

Liz is happy to talk through career opportunities and strategies to pivot into roles in investing, consulting, sustainability, and energy, both internationally and... View Details

22 Aug 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Investors as Stewards of the Commons?

Keywords: by George Serafeim

03 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 3, 2006

development in Africa and in other low-income countries. Provides a brief political and economic history of Rwanda, but focuses on the country preceding View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2014 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Belk: Towards Exceptional Scheduling

By: Ethan Bernstein, Saravanan Kesavan, Bradley Staats and Luke Hassall

With 24,000 staff and over 300 stores, Belk Inc. sought to replace its entirely manual labor scheduling system with an automated software solution from Reflexis. Belk hoped the upgrade would simplify scheduling, reduce time employees spent in non-customer-facing roles,... View Details