Publications

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December 1984
Case

Expense Tracking System at Tiger Creek

By: Shoshana Zuboff

Mill manager Carl Adelman learns that a group of senior managers is soon to visit the Tiger Creek mill to learn more about the success of the newly implemented Expense Tracking System. The System had been installed on two paper machines to give workers real time cost... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Success; Cost Management; Technology; Pulp and Paper Industry

31 Oct 2022
Video

Health Minute: Ray Kluender

June 15, 2021
Article

Cutting the Gordian Knot of Employee Health Care Benefits and Costs: A Corporate Model Built on Employee Choice

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Barak D. Richman

President Joe Biden’s promise to give every American access to affordable health insurance is well-intentioned, but his plan’s policy elements—a public option, a permanent expanded tax credit—require congressional approval and would expend significant political and... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance; Health Insurance Marketplaces; Health Care Delivery; Health Care Financing; Health Care Industry; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Service Delivery; Cost Management; Health Industry; United States

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06 Mar 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: Sustainability in Action: Inside Hindustan Unilever’s Public Sanitation and Plastic Recycling Facilities

climate change. In Dharavi, lack of proper sanitation amplifies the impacts of flooding, heatwaves, water contamination, and increased health burdens. Similarly, improper plastic waste management contributes... View Details

13 May 2020
Video

Cas Coovadia

Cas Coovadia, the long-running Managing Director of the Banking Association South Africa, discusses how the banking sector has been crucial to financing SMEs and providing low cost housing, and gives his belief... View Details

January 2020
Case

Celata Bioinnovations

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In December 2019, Jon Hu (HBS ‘19) and Dr. Samantha Dale Strasser, co-founders of Celata Bioinnovations, were raising $1 million to launch their company. They had founded Celata less than six months earlier with the aim of redefining the drug discovery process.... View Details

Article

The Re-Industrialization of the United States?

By: Willy C. Shih

Talk of "re-industrialization" in the United States has been supported by a seeming resurgence in manufacturing, but this is driven more by the end of labor arbitrage and increasing coordination costs of offshore manufacturing. Aggressive restructurings and significant... View Details

June 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

The Fox Islands Wind Project (A)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, James Thomas Corcoran, Max Gazor, Dylan Hogarty and Alexander H. Somers, Jr.

The market for electricity on the Fox Islands of North Haven and Vinalhaven, Maine is unique and costly for residents. Historically, electricity prices on the islands had been three times the national average because of the high cost of importing electricity via an... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Cost; Financing and Loans; Projects; Business and Community Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology Industry; Maine

20 Jul 2021
Research & Ideas

Bankruptcy Spells Death for Too Many Businesses

reorganization, managers can steer firms into liquidations that harm junior creditors, employees, and customers. Under Section 363 of the US Bankruptcy Code, judges may grant that request without creditor... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

April 1981 (Revised January 1987)
Case

Atlantic Aviation Corp.: Westwind Division

Raises issues on monitoring and controlling flight demonstration costs for the Westwind business jet. Atlantic's marketing vice president is concerned about rising demonstration costs, but doesn't wish to deny solid prospects an evaluation ride. He asks the general... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Product Marketing; Air Transportation Industry

24 May 2012
News

Businesses need an image repair

02 Mar 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is the Government’s Role in US Health Care?

Summing Up This month's exchange of ideas regarding U.S. healthcare reform ranged far and wide. Some of us were interested primarily in the issue of cost escalation and how to... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

November 1984 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Mayers Tap, Inc. (B)

Mayers Tap, Inc. has decided to redesign its cost system. In this case, the budgeted costs have to be allocated to the machine level. The teaching objective is to demonstrate two-stage allocation and the sensitivity of cost data to allocation base selection. View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Management Systems

30 Sep 2019
News

WeWork Needs Cash as Botched IPO Scuttles Planned Infusion

March 1996 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Arborite

Describes the competitive position of Arborite, a Canadian manufacturer of high-pressure laminates (HPL) (a product sold under the Formica name in the United States). Arborite's market share has slipped, and a new general manager must evaluate whether a change in... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Consumer Behavior; Manufacturing Industry; Canada

March 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Whole Foods Under Amazon

By: Dennis Campbell, Tatiana Sandino, James Barnett and Christine Snively

In August 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion. Whole Foods was struggling with high costs and faced growing competition from traditional supermarkets offering more organic products. Prior to the acquisition, Whole Foods began rolling out a new... View Details

Keywords: Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Employee Relationship Management; Acquisition; Change Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

March 2000
Case

Lockheed Martin: The Employer of Choice Mission

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Michael D Overdorf

A Lockheed Martin manager is faced with the decision of where to focus the organization's resources in order to develop a world-class employee development system. The manager's recommendation will serve as the basis for the company's goal of becoming an Employer of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Resource Allocation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Employees; Human Resources; Leadership Development; Cost Management; Organizational Design; Aerospace Industry

January 2005 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Gretta Enterprises

Describes Gretchen ("Gretta") Monahan's founding and management of Gretta Enterprises, which has grown to five outlets--salons, day spas, and fashion boutiques--and $10 million in annual revenue in 10 years. Monahan's role as a television host on TLC's A Makeover Story... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

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February 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

BASIX

By: Shawn A. Cole and Peter Tufano

BASIX, an Indian microfinance corporation, must decide whether to continue to sell weather insurance to its clients. A brand-new financial product, weather insurance pays if measured rainfall during the growing season falls below a pre-specified limit. Mr. Sattaiah,... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Microfinance; Insurance; Risk Management; Banking Industry; India