Publications

07 Jun 2004
What Do You Think?

How Important are Big Ideas?

Summing Up Judging from responses to the June column, big ideas rank high on a list including technology and intellectual property as sources of competitive advantage. But they are only a starting point, outweighed by methods and the state of the "managerial... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

July 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

RiskMetrics Group

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Kaitlyn Simpson

RiskMetrics Group, a risk and governance consultancy, had a great deal of influence on U.S. companies. This case examines the history and growth of the company, the governance services it offers, the extent of its impact on shareholders, the controversy surrounding its... View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Risk Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Power and Influence; Consulting Industry; United States

March 1997 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Incidents in Foreign Direct Investment

By: Louis T. Wells Jr. and Courtenay Sprague

Presents seven examples (i.e., incidents) of conflict concerning foreign direct investment. The incidents lay the framework for discussion of issues such as the jurisdiction of the WTO and the U.S. position, the Helms-Burton Act of 1996 and its political implications,... View Details

Keywords: Trade; International Finance; Foreign Direct Investment; Laws and Statutes; United States

27 Feb 2018
News

Uber’s culture fixer, Frances Frei, is leaving the company

May 2000 (Revised July 2000)
Case

World Trade Organization, The: After the Seattle Protests

By: Louis T. Wells Jr.

Representatives of the World Trade Organization (WTO) met in Seattle to plan the next round of trade negotiations, only to face protestors and fail to reach agreement on an agenda. This case discusses the evolution of the WTO, its rules, and some of the controversy... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Agreements and Arrangements; Failure; Northwestern United States

February 1999 (Revised February 2001)
Case

CAMPFIRE Program, The: Wildlife Management in Zimbabwe

By: Robert E. Kennedy and Karen Beth Kaufman

Examines an innovative, village-based management program in Zimbabwe. While the program has been quite successful, executive director Steven Kasere is concerned about the future. The program has become quite controversial in the environmental community, and the U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Programs; Financing and Loans; Environmental Sustainability; Conflict and Resolution; United States; Zimbabwe

February 1983 (Revised May 1984)
Case

Managing Product Safety: The Ford Pinto

Presents an accounting of Ford Motor Company's handling of a product safety controversy (1970-77) surrounding its Pinto subcompact car. May be used as part of a series, Managing Product Safety, that provides an opportunity to compare and contrast the social response... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Crisis Management; Product; Auto Industry; United States

28 Mar 2015
News

The End of Starbucks’ “Race Together”

April 2008 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Leading Citigroup (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Aldo Sesia and Carin-Isabel Knoop

The (A) case describes a series of controversial events and alleged misdeeds that placed Citigroup in the public spotlight and launched investigations into the company's business practices by regulators in Japan and Europe in the fall of 2004. CEO Chuck Prince must... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Business and Government Relations; Reputation; Japan; Europe

July 2006
Case

Citigroup: Euro Zone Bond Trading (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Christopher Bruner and Aldo Sesia

Describes the development and execution of a bond trading strategy by a London-based team of Citigroup eurozone bond traders. The trades, which involved two of Europe's leading electronic trading platforms, gave rise to a European-wide controversy over the traders'... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Financial Markets; Bonds; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Decision Making; Lawfulness; Business Strategy; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Europe

22 Feb 2012
News

How to tax US companies' foreign profits

January 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Jay Gould, 'The Most Hated Man in America'

By: Tom Nicholas, John Masko and Matthew G. Preble

Railroad magnate Jay Gould, a controversial figure in the history of U.S. capitalism, was a disruptive influence on an industry that had previously relied on formal and informal agreements to move traffic long distances across lines operated by different companies.... View Details

Keywords: Railroads; Gould; Vanderbilt; Rail Transportation; History; Consolidation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; Strategy; Rail Industry; United States

June 6, 2019
Article

Tesla's Advantage? 'It's the Software, Stupid.'

By: Lou Shipley

Without question, entrepreneur, innovator and engineer Elon Musk is a controversial figure, but there is no disputing that his first-to-market Tesla electric vehicles are not only revolutionizing the high-end driving experience, but also disrupting the automobile... View Details

Keywords: Tesla; Elon Musk; Autonomous Vehicle; Transportation; Software; Technology; Disruption; Auto Industry

Read Now

09 Nov 2017
News

Teaching business within the liberal arts could help avoid the next Uber or Harvey Weinstein

April 1999 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Al Dunlap at Sunbeam

By: Brian J. Hall, Rakesh Khurana and Carleen Madigan

Al Dunlap was one of the best-known corporate turnaround artists of the 1990s. In 1996, he was hired at Sunbeam to effect a restructuring, but was fired almost two years later when the company's financial performance and stock price began to decline. Many of the... View Details

Keywords: Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Restructuring; Stock Shares; Performance Evaluation; Leadership Style; Resignation and Termination; Motivation and Incentives; Executive Compensation; Outcome or Result; Consumer Products Industry; United States

06 Sep 2019
News

Walmart CEO's decision on guns is the kind of corporate courage we need

November 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Supplement

Bridge International Academies in 2020: Battling Headwinds to Solve Africa's Education Problems

By: Caroline M. Elkins, Tarun Khanna and Joyce J. Kim

By 2020, Bridge International Academies and its "school in a box" model had achieved great scale. By leveraging digital technology and public-private partnerships, they had reached one million children across Africa and India through hundreds of schools. However, the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship In Africa; Entrepreneurship In Emerging Markets; Bottom Of The Pyramid; Education In Africa; Scale; Partnerships; Education; Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Health Pandemics; Problems and Challenges; Education Industry; Africa