Publications

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January 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Background Note

The Great Moderation, Dead or Alive?

By: Diego A. Comin

The Great Moderation is a significant decline in the volatility of fluctuations in most macroeconomic variables that the United States and other developed and developing economies have experienced at least since the mid-1980s. This case describes the basic facts,... View Details

Keywords: Volatility; Business Cycles; Macroeconomics; United States

01 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 1

findings that have implications for theory and practice, and that suggest new directions for future research. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-093.pdf Information Technology and Boundary View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

May 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Generating Higher Value at IBM (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

This case analyzes IBM's financial performance and its capital allocation decisions over a 10-year period from 2004-2013, during which IBM returned more than $140B to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases. During this time, CEO Sam... View Details

Keywords: Dividends; Share Repurchases; Earnings Guidance; Financial Statement Analysis; Financial Ratios; Payout Policy; Earnings Per Share (EPS); Earnings Management; Change Management; Leadership; Transformation; Financial Strategy

12 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 12, 2008

The design of the New York City (NYC) High School match involved tradeoffs among efficiency, stability, and strategy-proofness that raise new theoretical questions. We analyze a model with indifferences—ties—in school preferences.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Apr 2007
What Do You Think?

Will Market Forces Stop Global Warming?

Clearly, my effort to frame the discussion around just the third question failed. As George Olsen said, "A lot of the people posting to this discussion appear to have missed the point." But responses have prompted me to wonder... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Energy; Utilities

June 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Utah Symphony and Utah Opera: A Merger Proposal

By: Thomas J. DeLong and David L. Ager

Anne Ewers, general director of Utah Opera, is awaiting the decision of the members of the board of the Utah Symphony and Utah Opera about whether to merge Utah's top two arts organizations. If the vote favors the merger, Ewers will be asked to assume the helm of the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Management; Fine Arts Industry; Music Industry; Utah

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

Theory of Corporate Debt Maturity Choice Authors:Robin Greenwood, Jeremy C. Stein, and Samuel Hanson Abstract We argue that time-series variation in the maturity of aggregate... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Article

Describing Wait Time Bottlenecks for ED Patients Undergoing Head CT

By: Jonathan G. Rogg, Robert S. Huckman, Michael Lev, Ali Raja, Yuchiao Chang and Benjamin White

Study objectives: Facing increased utilization and subsequent capacity and budget constraints, EDs must better understand bottlenecks and their effect on process flow to improve process efficiency. The primary objective of this study was to identify bottlenecks in... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Bottleneck; Health Care and Treatment; Operations; Health Industry; United States

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October 1995 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Executive Shirt Company, Inc.

By: Janice H. Hammond and Sylvie Ryckebusch

The Executive Shirt Co. is contemplating a move into custom-made shirts. The company's general manager has charged two of his managers to come up with plans for incorporating production of custom shirts into the existing manufacturing process. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Production; Strategic Planning; Expansion; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

May 2001
Case

Free Trade vs. Protectionism: The Great Corn-Laws Debate (Abridged)

By: David A. Moss

Examines the extended conflict between free traders and protectionists in 19th century Britain. It culminates with Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel's decision at the end of 1845 about whether to repeal the Corn Laws, a series of acts that had protected British... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Change Management; Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Government Legislation; Market Entry and Exit; Conflict of Interests; Competitive Advantage; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Great Britain

31 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 31

perfect substitutes for equity finance, payout taxes may therefore have an effect on the investment of firms. High taxes will favor investment by firms that can finance internally. Using an international panel with many View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

26 Feb 2001
Research & Ideas

David, Goliath, and Disruption

into a disruptee. Learning To Chicken-scratch If a technology is to succeed, in theory at least, it should not require people to radically change their behavior. Instead, companies that promote the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

24 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: Jan. 24

Authors:Mary J. Benner and Mary Tripsas Publication:Strategic Management Journal (forthcoming) Abstract New industries sparked by technological change are characterized by high technological, market, and competitive uncertainty. In this... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

Election 2024: Why Demographics Won't Predict the Next President

of the paper’s authors. The main reason is that party and candidate positions on key issues subtly or not-so-subtly change from election to election in reaction to shifts in voter sentiment, undercutting the... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

August 1997 (Revised June 1999)
Case

Providian Trust: Tradition and Technology (A)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Melissa Dailey

A major trust company attempts to implement a major software system while simultaneously reengineering business processes. Providian Trust, a previously non-IT intensive organization, must completely reposition its management of technology to deal with IT's new... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Financial Institutions; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Financial Services Industry

November 1994 (Revised May 1996)
Case

Walt Disney's Dennis Hightower-- Taking Charge

By: Ashish Nanda

In 1987, Dennis Hightower, was recruited from outside for a newly created position as head of Disney Consumer Products European operations. Hightower has to win initial acceptance of entrenched country managers, integrate the company's diverse subsidiaries closer... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Consumer Products Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

January 2021
Supplement

Barbara Krakow Gallery (B): Art and the Pandemic

By: José B. Alvarez and David Lane

Updates (A) case by describing the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the art market, the renaming of the gallery as the Krakow Witkin Gallery, and the response of its partners and staff to the pandemic. View Details

Keywords: Art Market; COVID-19; Arts; Business Model; Change Management; Trends; Communication; Customer Focus and Relationships; Human Resources; Marketing; Distribution Channels; Outcome or Result; Health Pandemics; Fine Arts Industry

01 Mar 2009
News

The Case for Studying Financial History

at the current financial crisis in hopes of solving it? I draw a parallel between the natural world and the financial world in the concluding part of the book and sketch out a rough evolutionary View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; federal bailouts; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs; Administration of Economic Programs

October 1988 (Revised April 1993)
Case

Seligram, Inc.: Electronic Testing Operations

Explores the obsolescence of a cost system when technology changes. In particular, it asks students to increase the number of cost center and allocation bases. The firm moves from a one-center, direct labor-hour system to a three-center, direct labor-hour and... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Cost Accounting; Change Management