Publications

November 2008
Case

The StarNight Hotel Construction Bid: Real Time Competition on Schedule, Scope, and Cost

By: John D. Macomber

The case is intended for use with the HBS Educational Technology Group "Construction Bidding Simulation." Material that can be taught includes quantity survey methodology (from the case); analyzing preliminary estimated costs per building trade (from the discussion... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Construction; Cost; Contracts; Bids and Bidding; Real Estate Industry

February 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Barry Riceman at NetD (A)

Brandon Fogg must solve two seemingly unrelated problems in his management of creative R&D professionals. First, despite having hired brilliant research professionals, his firm is having problems commercializing their ideas. Second, his most brilliant engineer has... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Knowledge Management; Contracts; Research and Development; Creativity; Commercialization

Profile

Eric Chavez

built his own commercial contracting business. “My parents came here to have a prosperous future they wouldn’t have otherwise in Mexico,” Eric says. Eric’s initial calling was in engineering. Through work at General Motors and an... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing/Energy; Tech

01 Jun 2024
News

Turning Point: On the Line

the larger entertainment landscape remains unsettled. The next contract negotiation comes in 2026, and nobody wants another strike. I’ve been blessed to live the creative life I’d dreamt about and make a career out of it. So if... View Details

Keywords: labor strike; television; media; unions

Profile

Ben Steiner

the phone with VCs, and negotiating contracts with suppliers. I had one sectionmate who had used Zipcars and wanted to take the idea to the next level of efficiency. He’s founded a company called RelayRides that will allow anyone to rent... View Details

01 Sep 2003
News

Incentives and Operational Excellence

on the retailer’s shelf, however, is less than $3. Demand for an individual movie is highly uncertain and usually declines rapidly after the first few weeks, Narayanan said. One contracting solution to bridge the divide between studios... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Retail Trade

January 1994 (Revised July 1998)
Case

Repligen Corporation: January 1992

By: Josh Lerner and David Kane

Sandford Smith, CEO of Repligen, faces the breakdown of negotiations about a proposed joint venture with a large pharmaceutical firm. He must decide whether to proceed using his firm's internal resources or whether to seek to revise the proposed collaboration. If the... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decisions; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Value

1989
Other Unpublished Work

Twelve Mini-Case Studies of Defense Acquisition - HBS Analysis and Decision Case

By: J. Ronald Fox

Keywords: National Security; Contracts; Policy; Business and Government Relations

February 2003 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Sheila Mason & Craig Shepherd

Describes a marketing executive and an engineer who are starting a company together. Each is still at his/her former employer, and each has signed a different employment agreement that, on paper, may prohibit soliciting customers or employees. Focuses on how... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Intellectual Property; Contracts; Legal Liability; Entrepreneurship; Ethics

May 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

H-Soft Mumbai

By: Ramana Nanda

Siddharth Kapoor, the Founder and CEO of H-Soft Mumbai reflected on his meeting as he walked out of VC Ventures' offices in Mumbai. After a few months of intensely pitching his startup to several different investors, he finally had a term sheet in hand. Despite this... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Venture Capital Term Sheet; India; Business Startups; Investment; Venture Capital; Contracts; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Offer; Decision Making

Web

Deals - Course Catalog

creatively address those challenges through contract and deal design. Career Focus: This course is restricted to JD and MBA students and is geared towards preparing those students to face complex deals of many different natures. In the... View Details

10 Apr 2019
HBS Case

How Entrepreneurs Can Turn Lead Into Gold

focus too much on formal contracts in order to transfer knowledge or other resources to their company, rather than less formal arrangements, the researchers learned. “With early stage tech companies, there is a huge emphasis on working... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

02 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

Networked Incubators: Hothouses of the New Economy

technology experts, one of whom was able to help them. Gustafson and Yacovone obtained the advice they needed without having to conduct a time-consuming search and without having to negotiate a contract up front. (Reach had already View Details

Keywords: by Morten T. Hansen, Henry W. Chesbrough, Nitin Nohria & Donald N. Sull

23 Mar 2016
News

Building a Biotech Business from Farmed Fish

research being done at the University of Pennsylvania, on a contract basis; the University of Louisville has been working with our fistula patches; and the University of California has helped us with neuron regeneration. “We’re taking... View Details

24 Apr 2014
News

Reinventing perceptions of Africa through wine

winery Seven Sisters, produced the first South African wine served on American Airlines. The South African government helped to negotiate a land purchase for Seven Sisters, which, until that point, owned no vineyards and had to contract... View Details

03 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 3, 2009

Contractibility and Contract Design in Strategic Alliances Authors: Josh Lerner and Ulrike Malmendier Publication: American Economic Review (forthcoming) Abstract We analyze how variations in View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2008
Teaching Note

The Big Easy, Not So Easy (TN)

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas and Ben Creo

Teaching Note for [208068]. View Details

Keywords: Projects; Risk Management; Partners and Partnerships; Natural Disasters; Contracts; Buildings and Facilities; Housing; New Orleans