Publications

07 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

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

would be better off flipping a coin to determine a probable winner. “We find that even guessing at a 50-50 level is just as good, if not actually better, than using some demographic forecasts,” says Vincent Pons, the Byron Wien Professor of View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

01 Oct 2009
What Do You Think?

Can the “Masks of Command” Coexist with Authentic Leadership?

concludes that "These are terribly important questions with no easy answers." Bill George, former Chairman and CEO of Medtronic and now a professor at the Harvard Business School, thinks he knows the answers. George lays out the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

August 2020 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Beyond Beer: Brewing Innovation at Molson Coors

By: Derek C. M. van Bever, Stephen P. Kaufman, James Barnett and Shaye Roseman

In March 2019, Molson Coors CEO Mark Hunter considered a request to pull forward $65 million CAD in anticipated future funding for Truss Beverages, a Toronto-based cannabis beverage company that Molson Coors created in a joint venture with a Canadian cannabis... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Joint Ventures; Ethics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Canada; Colorado

February 2016
Case

Banking and Politics in Antebellum New York

By: David Moss and Colin Donovan

After a long period of solid Democratic control, Whigs secured a majority of seats in the New York State Assembly in 1837, the same year that a major financial panic had crippled the banking system and shaken public confidence in the state's governance. The next year,... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Central Banking; Ethics; Laws and Statutes; Business and Government Relations; Government and Politics; History; New York (state, US)

September 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

HBS Class of 2009: All Talk As They Prepare to Walk?

By: Rakesh Khurana, Nitin Nohria and Dalia Rahman

Max Anderson, HBS Class of 2009, founded the MBA Oath Initiative. The oath was a voluntary pledge "to create value responsibly and ethically." Anderson and a team of students and faculty worked to launch the first MBA Oath Ceremony conducted on campus during Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Higher Education; Values and Beliefs; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Social Issues; Value Creation; Education Industry; Massachusetts

December 2003
Case

Antitrust Regulations in a Global Setting: The EU Investigation of the GE/Honeywell Merger

By: Mihir A. Desai, Belen Villalonga and Mark Veblen

Helps students understand the principles underlying competition and antitrust policy in the context of the proposed GE-Honeywell merger. The U.S. Department of Justice has already approved the transaction and it is being considered by the European Commission. The... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decisions; Economy; Fairness; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; Aerospace Industry

March 2021 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Blue Meridian Partners (A): Scaling for Impact

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

In 2018, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in a bold move transferred all its assets to a fund pooled with other General Partners and Limited Partners, called Blue Meridian Partners, to focus substantial long range investments in a few carefully chosen nonprofits.The... View Details

Keywords: Venture Philanthropy; Scaling; COVID-19 Pandemic; Social Justice; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Venture Capital; Business Model; Social Issues; Poverty; Values and Beliefs; Decisions; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Nonprofit Organizations; Investment Portfolio

October 2008
Case

Financial Crisis in Asia: 1997-1998 (Abridged)

By: Huw Pill, Rafael M. Di Tella and Jonathan Schlefer

What caused the 1997-98 Asia Crisis: Asian nations' poor economic management, international financial contagion, close "crony" relations between local politicians and capitalists? This case examines how the crisis erupted in Thailand and spread in a chain of events... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Crisis; Ethics; Financial Institutions; Financial Management; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Asia

October 2008 (Revised September 2009)
Case

Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (A): Becoming Truly Global

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

Since the 1980s, Procter & Gamble had leveraged its purpose, values, and principles (PVP) to create a global company. When P&G faced difficult times in 2000, the new CEO, A.G. Lafley, leveraged the PVP to drive P&G's turnaround, integrate global operations, and guide... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Values and Beliefs; Globalized Firms and Management; Leading Change; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation

June 1987 (Revised September 1997)
Case

Mebel, Doran & Co.

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

Puts the student in the position of a senior official of a major New York investment bank who discovers that information has leaked to the market on a confidential takeover plan that was being developed by a corporate client. The official has to decide how to deal with... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment Banking; Mergers and Acquisitions; Crisis Management; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

December 2008
Supplement

Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (B): Welcoming Gillette (Abridged)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

A.G. Lafley and P&G leaders decided to approach the Gillette integration differently from previous mergers. Using P&G's purpose, values, and principles (PVP) it treated the acquisition as a merger which sought to take the "best of both" from each company. In the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation

December 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Boortmalt: The Master Maltster

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jose B Alvarez, Damien McLoughlin, Lena Duchene and Emer Moloney

By May 2023, Boortmalt was the world’s leading producer of malt, with a production capacity of 3 million tonnes, 15% of global market share, and 27 malting plants across five continents. It had recently acquired a major competitor and had sustained an EBITDA growth of... View Details

November 2013 (Revised September 2015)
Supplement

GlaxoSmithKline in China (B)

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In 2013, Chinese investigators detained four GSK employees for allegedly bribing health care staff to sell GSK pharmaceuticals. A month later, GSK's Asia Pacific regional president, Abbas Hussain, said the company would help identify corrupt practices. Two days later,... View Details

13 Jul 2022
Book

Reimagining the Economy: What Would It Take to Put People First?

What if the way we work could be a catalyst for solving huge problems like inequality and climate change? In the new book Democratize Work: The Case for Reorganizing the Economy, Harvard Business School Professor Julie Battilana and a... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

13 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

5 Weight Loss Tips From Behavioral Economists

Business scholars increasingly hinge their hypotheses on sociological and psychological studies, seeking a true handle on what motivates executives, employees, consumers, and policymakers. For instance, the following studies suggest... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

February 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Wainwright Industries (A): Beyond the Baldrige

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Norman Klein

Traces the growth of Wainwright, a small automotive supply company, focusing on its commitment to quality in 1981 and the evolution of its quality culture. Breakthrough programs that stress "trust and belief" in the workforce and commitment to customers result in... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Relationship Management; Ethics; Business or Company Management; Standards; Machinery and Machining; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Auto Industry; Missouri