Publications

Research Summary

Overview

By: Frank Nagle

Professor Nagle studies how competitors can collaborate on the creation of core technologies, while still competing on the products and services built on top of them. His research falls into the broader categories of the futures of work, the economics of IT, and... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Economic Growth; Entrepreneurship; Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Technology Adoption; Technology Networks

10 Aug 2015
Research & Ideas

New Medical Devices Get To Patients Too Slowly

market has grown at a rate of 6 percent annually in the United States. Government approval of new medical devices seems slower than it needs to be, according to a new study. ©iStock.com/basha The FDA has only regulated medical devices... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health; Technology

June 1980 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Parker House (B)

The management of Boston's historic Parker House, owned by Dunfey Hotels, has received a request from a tour wholesaler to book a large number of rooms at the hotel during summer and fall 1980. This booking is tied to bookings at two other Dunfey hotels that need this... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Segmentation; Accommodations Industry; Boston

August 1999 (Revised October 1999)
Case

RCA Records: The Digital Revolution

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In 1995, Bertelsmann-owned RCA Records was considered a "tired and old" record label. By 1999, the company represented a number of the "hottest" acts in the music industry. Nevertheless, the company's position (as well as that of the entire music industry) was under... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Business Model; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Internet and the Web; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

November 1992 (Revised November 1993)
Case

Anheuser-Busch and Campbell Taggart (Abridged)

In 1984, the SEC accused Paul Thayer and eight others of insider trading. Some of Thayer's inside information came from his position on the board of Anheuser-Busch, where he had learned about Busch's 1982 merger with Campbell Taggart before the merger was publicly... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Capital Markets; United States

July 2010 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Vereinigung Hamburger Schiffsmakler und Schiffsagenten e.V. (VHSS): Valuing Ships (CW)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Albert W. Sheen

After booming for more than five years, the global shipping (maritime) industry experienced a dramatic crash in late 2008 as the global financial system froze and the global economy slid into recession. Ship charter rates (revenue) fell by as much as 90% causing prices... View Details

Keywords: Fair Value Accounting; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Capital Markets; Cash Flow; Financial Liquidity; Banks and Banking; Price; Price Bubble; Contracts; Crisis Management; Market Transactions; Valuation; Shipping Industry

13 Nov 2006
Working Paper Summaries

A New Framework for Analyzing and Managing Macrofinancial Risks of An Economy

Keywords: by Dale F. Gray, Robert C. Merton & Zvi Bodie

April 2010
Supplement

The Auction for Travelport (B)

By: Andrei Hagiu and Misha Sanwal

This short case presents the epilogue of The Auction for Travelport (A). Blackstone decided to bid on its own, acquired Travelport for $4.3 billion and subsequently went on to acquire another GDS, Travelspan, for $1.4 billion. It then merged the two GDSs and partially... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Private Equity; Mergers and Acquisitions; Industry Structures; Initial Public Offering; Capital Markets; Market Transactions; Change; Auctions; Travel Industry

April 1998 (Revised May 2001)
Supplement

Acquisition of Consolidated Rail Corporation (B), The

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Lori A. Flees and Mathew M Millett

Eight days after CSX announced it was going to buy Consolidated Rail (Conrail) for $88.65 per share, Norfolk Southern made a hostile $100 per share bid for Conrail. Over the next several months, the potential acquirers upped their bids while exchanging criticism in the... View Details

Keywords: Law; Valuation; Rail Transportation; Bids and Bidding; Governance Controls; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Corporate Finance; Rail Industry; United States

July 1991 (Revised August 1991)
Case

Philip Morris Companies, Inc. (A)

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

This large tobacco and diversified food processor is seeking to refinance debt funds raised to accomplish a large acquisition. It has filed a large "shelf" registration that authorizes it to issue during the subsequent two years. At the time of the case, the market... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Initial Public Offering; Consumer Products Industry; United States

March 2003
Case

Investing in Japan

By: Peter A. Hecht and Luis M. Viceira

The evolution of the macroeconomic environment, capital markets, financial institutions (including banks, public and private pension funds, and mutual funds), and financial regulation in Japan during the period 1980 to 2002, are examined long-term demographic... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Investment; Financial Institutions; Macroeconomics; Japan

06 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

How South Africa Challenges Our Thinking on FDI

with the financial market system. Johannesburg has a stock market as it has had for over a century, and business executives I spoke with said that you can get a future contract... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Article

MIT Roundtable on Corporate Risk Management

By: Robert C. Merton

Against the backdrop of financial crisis, a distinguished group of academics and practitioners discusses the contribution of financial management and innovation to corporate growth and value, along with the pitfalls and unintended consequences of such innovation.... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Market Participation; Finance; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Value; Distribution; Capital Structure; Risk Management; Business Ventures; Business Model; Strategy

March 1994
Article

Expropriation and Inventions: Appropriable Rents in the Absence of Property Rights

By: J. Anton and Dennis Yao

We analyze the problem faced by a financially weak independent inventor when selling a valuable, but easily imitated, invention for which no property rights exist. The inventor can protect his or her intellectual property by negotiating a contingent contract (with a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Intellectual Property; Rights; Sales; Contracts; Negotiation

Read Now

July 2005 (Revised September 2020)
Case

The U.S. Current Account Deficit

By: Laura Alfaro, Rafael Di Tella, Ingrid Vogel, Renee Kim, Sarah Jeong, Matthew Johnson and Jonathan Schlefer

Investors and policymakers throughout the world were confronted with the risk of painful economic consequences arising from the large U.S. current account deficit. In 2007, the U.S. current account deficit was $731 billion, equivalent to 5.3% of GDP. The implications... View Details

Keywords: World Economy; Macroeconomics; Borrowing and Debt; Currency; Foreign Direct Investment; Business and Government Relations; United States

October 2004 (Revised October 2005)
Case

ORIX KK: Incentives in Japan

In the context of Japan's struggling economy of the 1990s, ORIX, a leading Japanese financial services company, implemented a new performance evaluation and compensation system. At the time, many higher-paying western firms were entering the Japanese market and... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Compensation and Benefits; Financial Services Industry; Japan

September–October 2023
Article

The New Era of Industrial Policy Is Here

By: Willy C. Shih

Governments around the world are increasingly intervening in the private sector through industrial policies designed to help domestic sectors reach goals that markets alone are unlikely to achieve. Companies in targeted sectors—such as automakers, energy companies, and... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations; Research and Development; Economic Sectors