Publications

19 Jan 2022
News

When the Last Thing You Want to Do Is Exercise

10 Sep 2024
Blog Post

Leading with Creative Problem Solving: Ron Kurtz (MBA 1967)

process. To build my management skills and set myself on a path toward executive-level positions, I applied to business school in my final year of undergrad. I was accepted to other business schools right... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

17 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Companies Detangle from Legacy Pensions

"That world has been disappearing," says Luis M. Viceira, the George E. Bates Professor at Harvard Business School. "In the past few years, there have been zero defined benefit plans created... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Aerospace; Financial Services

April 2018 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation

By: Stuart C. Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2016, a trial began to determine the future of Sabine Oil & Gas Corporation’s $3 billion chapter 11 reorganization plan. The plan called for first- and second-lien-secured creditors to receive new claims representing approximately 98% of the reorganized company’s... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Reorganization; Chapter 11; Oil ＆ Gas; Bankruptcy; Bankruptcy Reorganization; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Energy; Restructuring; Valuation; United States

September 1994
Case

BayFunds

By: Alvin J. Silk, Lisa Klein Pearo and Jamie Harper

In June, 1994, the Senior Vice President of BayBank's Investment Management Group is preparing a strategic plan for her organization's line of mutual funds. Sixteen months earlier, BayBank, Massachusetts's leading retail bank, had entered the mutual fund business by... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Investment Funds; Product Marketing; Integration; Financial Services Industry

January 2011
Case

Shar Matin (A)

By: David A. Thomas and Elisa Farri

The head of the subsidiary of a US company faced the decision to present an aggressive growth plan despite his CFO's lack of support. View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Decision Choices and Conditions; Globalized Firms and Management; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; United States

Find at Harvard

05 Dec 2012
What Do You Think?

Should Managers Bother Listening to Predictions?

highly reliable sources, are generally not believed unless they fit the company agenda." Others maintained that planning without prediction is impossible. After all, a plan is a prediction. As Vishu put... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Jul 2008
News

Harvard University Opens Office In Shanghai

March 2001 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Merck Latin America (A)

By: Michael Beer and James Weber

Introduces Grey Warner, the vice president of Merck's Latin America region, and his efforts to improve the organizational effectiveness of the region and to introduce a more global business culture and values. Discusses Merck's ethics and values, its Latin American... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Ethics; Business Processes; Strategic Planning; Change Management; Values and Beliefs; Globalized Firms and Management; Employee Relationship Management; Business Strategy; Government and Politics; Economy; Pharmaceutical Industry; Latin America

03 Mar 2017
News

Hiring an Entrepreneurial Leader

November 2016 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Elon Musk's Big Bets

By: David B. Yoffie, Eric Baldwin and Brandon Kaufmann

Between late 2014 and late 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk undertook several major, and risky, initiatives that would dramatically expand the scale and scope of Tesla’s business. In late 2014, Tesla began construction on a $5 billion “gigafactory” that would manufacture... View Details

October 1984
Case

NIKE (F1)

Concerns a specific strategic decision--should the apparel division expand rapidly? The teaching plan would highlight the pros and cons of such a move. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Cost vs Benefits; Expansion; Business Divisions; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry

Find at Harvard

April 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

The Turnaround at Ford Motor Company

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Olivia Jung

This case describes the corporate turnaround of the Ford Motor Company under the charismatic leadership of Alan Mulally. Ford was in deep trouble in the early 2000s as its prices and debt ratings plummeted and employee morale suffered. In 2006, the company anticipated... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Transformation; Restructuring; Organizational Culture; Leading Change; Performance Improvement; Auto Industry; North America

October 1997 (Revised October 1997)
Case

Egon Zehnder International (B)

By: Michael Y. Yoshino, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In 1994, Egon Zehnder faced stagnation in the U.S. market and needed to discuss plans for intiating growth. Due to market demand the firm was not forced to implement options contemplated in 1994 to initiate growth. View Details

Keywords: Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Growth and Development; Growth Management; Organizational Structure; Strategic Planning; Business Strategy; Consulting Industry; United States

06 Dec 2004
What Do You Think?

Why Do Managers Fail to Act on Their Predictions?

consider future implications for their companies...and then decide what action to take." Muller suggests, alternatively, that "traded companies be required—by regulating authorities—to include in their...financial report an...evaluation [of] View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

June 1987 (Revised May 1990)
Case

John Deere Component Works (B)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Having installed an activity-based system, the division is now exploring the insight provided by that system. In particular, it is studying the economics of lot-size process planning and product mix management. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Production; Business or Company Management; Planning; Cost Accounting; Cost Management; Product Marketing; Management Practices and Processes; Consumer Products Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

November 2001
Case

Tobacco and the Future of Rural Kentucky

By: Ray A. Goldberg and James M Beagle

Governor Patton decides how to use settlement funds to develop a long-term plan for Kentucky's tobacco producers and rural communities. View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Social Issues; Laws and Statutes; Rural Scope; Policy; Business and Community Relations; Government and Politics; Kentucky