Publications

October 1976 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Sunkist Growers, Inc.

By: Stephen A. Greyser and John A. Quelch

A new media strategy for lemon advertising involving the concentration of the entire budget in a single-print vehicle, is under consideration. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Advertising

March 1978 (Revised June 1983)
Case

Kennecott Copper Corp.

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves a $550 million cash tender offer by Kennecott Copper Corp. for all of the outstanding common shares of the Carborundum Corp. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Cash; Mining Industry

May 1993 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Involves analysis of a major capital investment proposal, an acquisition of another company, an estimate of the funds required for these two possible outlays, and a recommended course of management action. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Investment

March 2017 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Catalant: The Future of Work?

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Jeffrey F. Rayport and Christine Snively

Catalant, founded in 2013 as an online marketplace where MBAs could bid on consulting projects posted by small- to medium-sized businesses, had expanded by 2016 to provide Fortune 1000 companies with access to over 35,000 independent experts. The founders envisioned... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Recruitment; Labor; Market Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Employment Industry; Consulting Industry; United States

August 2002 (Revised November 2016)
Background Note

Customer Profitability and Lifetime Value

By: Elie Ofek

Introduces the central concepts involved in determining customer lifetime value, with detailed analysis and examples from the realm of direct marketing. Implications for marketing strategy and customer relationship management are briefly discussed. View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Relationship Management; Customization and Personalization; Product Marketing; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Consumer Products Industry

Research Summary

Tom's current research interests involve the role of accounting information in contracting, particularly in the setting of accounting based covenants in debt contracts. View Details

November 1999 (Revised November 2003)
Background Note

Perspective, Institutions and Basic Issues

By: David F. Hawkins

This case describes the basic institutions involved in the setting of generally accepted accounting principles and the fundamental issues that institutions must address. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting

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April 1993
Supplement

McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. (C)

Describes events in 1991 involving Fleet Call, Inc., a potential competitor who plans to introduce an alternative form of mobile communication. View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Competitive Strategy; Telecommunications Industry

June 2014
Article

Get Excited: Reappraising Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement

By: A.W. Brooks

Individuals often feel anxious in anticipation of tasks such as speaking in public or meeting with a boss. I find that an overwhelming majority of people believe trying to calm down is the best way to cope with pre-performance anxiety. However, across several studies... View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Attitudes; Performance

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August 2016 (Revised July 2017)
Background Note

Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture

By: Jill Avery

While companies choose to brand their products and services in many different ways, there are some central tenets that help define an optimal brand portfolio and associated brand architecture. Brand portfolio strategy involves the design, deployment, and management of... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Portfolio; Brand Extension; Brand Portfolio Strategy; Brand Architecture; Consumer Behavior; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy

10 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

Breakthrough Negotiation: Don’t Leave It On the Table

as preordained or fixed. They understand that they cannot afford to get mired down in reacting to counterparts' moves; they must shape their situations. So they work to mold the basic structure of the negotiation by involving the right... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins

September 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Henry Kissinger: Negotiating Black Majority Rule in Rhodesia (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Laurence A. Green

In 1976, a growing crisis in Southern Africa drew the attention of United States Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. White Rhodesian leader Ian Smith's refusal to accede to black majority rule threatened to widen into a regional conflict involving apartheid South... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Race; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Participants; Government and Politics; Africa; United States

November 2017
Case

The Digital Factory – Siemens: Electronic Works Amberg

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott F. Johnson

The Electronic Works Amberg (EWA) was Siemens' most advanced factory. The plant built industrial automation equipment using state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques. Siemens was considering creating a consulting business for its manufacturing clients. Given the EWA's... View Details

Keywords: Siemens; Internet Of Things; Industrie 4.0; Manufacturing; Consulting; Digital Factory; Ewa; Amberg; Electronic Works Amberg; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Internet and the Web; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Technology Industry; Germany

October 2001
Background Note

A Note on Team Process

By: Linda A. Hill and Maria Farkas

When tasks are highly complex, demand a diversity of skills, or require a commitment from the involved parties, teams are usually the most effective way to approach them. But a group of people working together does not automatically equally a team, and groups are often... View Details

Keywords: Competency and Skills; Decision Making; Management; Business Processes; Performance Effectiveness; Performance Efficiency; Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution

October 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Adelphia Communications Corp.'s Bankruptcy

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Belen Villalonga

In 2002, a massive accounting fraud and corporate looting scandal involving the founding Rigas family made Adelphia the 11th largest bankruptcy case in history, and the third-after WorldCom and Enron-among those triggered by fraud. Set in 2005, when Adelphia is... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Corporate Governance; Governance Controls; Family Ownership

2014
Book

Critical Knowledge Transfer: Tools for Managing Your Company's Deep Smarts

By: Dorothy A. Leonard, Walter Swap and Garvin Barton

When highly skilled subject matter experts, engineers, and managers leave their organizations, they take with them years of hard-earned, experience-based knowledge—much of it undocumented and irreplaceable. Organizations can thereby lose a good part of their... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management

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June 2003
Case

In-N-Out Burger

By: Youngme E. Moon, Lucy Cummings, Sonali Sampat, Sam Thakarar and Kerry Herman

In-N-Out Burger is a fast-food chain with 171 company-owned locations in three states--California, Nevada, and Arizona. It has an extremely hardcore customer base and the company appears to be in good financial health. The primary issue in this case concerns expansion:... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Profit; Leadership Development; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Distribution; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry; Arizona; California; Nevada

Article

Reimagining the Balanced Scorecard for the ESG Era

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David McMillan

Companies are increasingly aware that their customers and society in general expect businesses to adopt and work towards social and environmental objectives as well as the traditional financial ones. This involves not only re-evaluating firms’ models but re-imagining... View Details

Keywords: ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Business Ecosystems; Balanced Scorecard; Adaptation; Business Model; Business and Stakeholder Relations