Publications

January 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Case

McKinnon Family Financial Planning

By: V.G. Narayanan and Shawn O'Brien

January 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Michael Belkin: Personal Financing Planning as an Entrepreneur

By: V.G. Narayanan and Shawn O'Brien

January 2018
Case

OldTown Berhad

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Greg Saldutte

In December 2017, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE, a Dutch coffee company) made an offer to acquire OldTown Berhad (OTB), a Malaysian coffee company. Three large shareholders, representing more than half of the outstanding shares, have agreed to tender their shares, and... View Details

January 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Portugal: Can Socialism Survive?

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

Portugal was not ready to join the European Monetary Union in 1999. With strong unions, weak competitiveness, and a legacy of socialism, it could not compete with north-European countries. After borrowing extensively to fund deficits, Portugal went into debt crisis in... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Financial Crisis; Economic Systems; Portugal

January 2018 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Saudi Arabia: Vision 2030

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman faces several challenges, both domestic and foreign. Domestically, he needs to build the country’s economy to accommodate a "youth bulge" while balancing between liberals and conservatives. And he needs to diversify the economy away from its... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Economy; Demographics; Diversification; Government and Politics; International Relations; Saudi Arabia

January 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Case

The Deckinger Family: The Finances of Having Children

By: V.G. Narayanan and Shawn O'Brien

January 2018 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Château Margaux: Launching the Third Wine (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek

Château Margaux, one of only five prestigious estates in the Bordeaux Medoc wine region to have been classified as a "first-growth", is facing a host of strategic decisions in early 2013. Up until this point the estate had been selling two red wines, a first wine whose... View Details

Keywords: New Product Launch; Marketing Plan; Brand Management; Go To Market Strategy; Channels Of Distribution; Wine Industry; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France

January 2018
Case

Flying into the Future: HondaJet

By: Gary P. Pisano and Jesse Shulman

This cases examine Honda’s diversification into the light jet market. In 1985, Honda initiated a secret program to develop a small jet. Over the years, the program had many ups and downs (it was almost canceled several times). Then, a breakthrough in the configuration... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Air Transportation Industry

January 2018
Case

Lloyd Blankfein and Goldman Sachs

By: Nitin Nohria, Aldo Sesia and Kerry Herman

The case provides a brief bio of Goldman Sachs’ Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein and highlights several challenges Blankfein faced as CEO. Blankfein took over as the firm’s leader in 2006 and continued to be CEO/Chairman in early 2018. View Details

Keywords: CEO; Leadership; Asset Management; Problems and Challenges; Financial Services Industry; United States

January 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Medtronic: Navigating a Shifting Healthcare Landscape

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Michael E. Porter, Thomas W. Feeley and Alee Hernandez

Medtronic is adapting its strategy to changes in healthcare competition and payments. It has decided to develop new relationships with payers, hospitals, and physicians to become more accountable for patient outcomes and total costs. The case describes new forms of... View Details

Keywords: Value Based Health Care; Bundled Payments; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Value Creation; Supply Chain Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States; Netherlands

January 2018
Supplement

OldTown Berhad

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Greg Saldutte

In December 2017, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE, a Dutch coffee company) made an offer to acquire OldTown Berhad (OTB), a Malaysian coffee company. Three large shareholders, representing more than half of the outstanding shares, have agreed to tender their shares and... View Details

January 2018
Teaching Note

Suominen Wipes the Slate Clean

By: Boris Groysberg, Kalle Heikkinen, Michael Norris and James Barnett

In 2016, after successfully turning around Finnish nonwovens manufacturer Suominen, CEO Nina Kopola faces a decision on the company’s strategy moving forward. View Details

Keywords: Nonwovens; Female Protagonist; Turnaround; Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Pulp and Paper Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Europe; United States; Finland

January 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

ZappRx

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Olivia Hull

In October 2015, ZappRx founder Zoe Barry is deciding between two business models for her health technology start-up. Her product, a software application that aims to expedite the prescription fulfillment process for patients with rare diseases, has attracted interest... View Details

Keywords: Speciality Drugs; Hub Services; Pivot; Speciality Prescriptions; Health Care and Treatment; Customization and Personalization; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry; Massachusetts

January 2018 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Adeo Health Science: Turning a Product into a Brand

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Jill Avery

For decades, American parents were warned to avoid introducing potential allergens to their babies prior to their first birthday. But two influential clinical studies caused the medical establishment to radically reverse its position. Parents were now warned that... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Health Care; Consumer; Consumer Products; Branding; Distribution; Retailing; Go To Market Strategy; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry; United States; North America

January 2018 (Revised August 2020)
Background Note

Continuous Software Development: Agile's Successor

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Samuel Clemens and Olivia Hull

In recent years, the twin software development methodologies of continuous delivery and continuous deployment have risen to prominence in the start-up world and beyond. These methods have enabled technology companies large and small to accelerate their product... View Details

2019
Working Paper

Do Banks Have an Edge?

By: Juliane Begenau and Erik Stafford

Overall, no! We show that the level and time series variation in cash flows for most bank activities are well matched by capital market portfolios with similar interest rate and credit risk to what banks report to hold. Ignoring operating expenses, bank loans earn high... View Details

Keywords: Banks; Market Efficiency; Bank Capital; Bank Debt; CAPM; Banking; Bank Deposits; Bank Funding Advantage; Leverage; Maturity Transformation; Replicating Portfolio; Efficiency; Banks and Banking; Capital Markets; Performance Evaluation; Performance Efficiency; Banking Industry; United States

SSRN

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January 2018
Supplement

In the Eye of a Geopolitical Storm: South Korea's Lotte Group, China and the U.S. THAAD Missile Defense System (B)

By: Andy Zelleke and Brian Tilley

This case explores Lotte Group’s challenge of how to respond to Chinese government pressure in 2017, following the Group’s February decision to transfer land to the South Korean government, on which Seoul intended to deploy the U.S.-built THAAD missile defense system.... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Corporation; Corporate Governance; Leadership; International Relations; Decision Making; South Korea; China; Japan; United States

January 2018
Supplement

Interview with Case Protagonist Wen Li

By: Willy C. Shih

In today's global economy, what are the factors that go into production location choice? This case is set in the world's largest automotive glass producer as it expands from China into the United States. To meet a very aggressive cost target, management is faced with... View Details

Keywords: Globalization Of Supply Chain; Production Management; Production; Globalization; Global Strategy; Auto Industry; China; United States