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26 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

A New Way to Cut Credit Card Debt: Pay Off One Purchase at a Time

A novel approach to repaying debt could help consumers free themselves from crushing credit card balances faster, according to new research. Rather than asking borrowers to make payments toward their total balances, Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Financial Services

05 Jun 2009
What Do You Think?

What Does Slower Economic Growth Really Mean?

Summing Up If not useful growth, what are we measuring? And why? This column does not thrive on general agreement. And this past month discussants came close to general agreement on the proposition that economic growth is not measured properly by GDP, gross domestic... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

September 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Ocean Carriers

By: Erik Stafford, Angela Chao and Kathleen Luchs

In January 2001, Mary Linn, vice president of finance for Ocean Carriers, a shipping company with offices in New York and Hong Kong, was evaluating a proposed lease of a ship for a three-year period, beginning in early 2003. The customer was eager to finalize the... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost of Capital; Leasing; Corporate Strategy; Valuation; Shipping Industry; New York (city, NY); Hong Kong

October 1981 (Revised June 1986)
Case

Stratus Computer

Bill Foster has assembled a team to begin a new computer company. He must now develop a financing strategy in view of the various kinds of capital available for new ventures. View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Financial Strategy; Computer Industry

03 Apr 2009
What Do You Think?

How Much Obsolescence Can Business and Society Absorb?

existing organization communication patterns" [such as bottom up plus top down, outside in—from customers—plus inside out, etc.]. Challenges of new information technologies and how to deal with them were the focus of several... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Journalism & News; Journalism & News

October 2000 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Z Corporation

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Matthew C. Lieb and Tom Clay

Tom Clay, president of Z Corp., and founder/CEO Marina Hatsopolous must decide between using a direct sales force or using a value-added reseller to begin selling the company's new 3-D printing prototype manufacturing system. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Salesforce Management; Distribution Channels; Conflict and Resolution; Technology Industry

December 1998 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Tele-Communications, Inc.: Accelerating Digital Deployment

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

The top management team at Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI), the largest U.S. cable company, conceived and implemented a dramatic operational turnaround and a radical new technology strategy over an 18-month period beginning in late 1996. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Value Creation; Operations; Information Management; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; United States

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September 1998 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Adventurous Computer Games, Inc. (Abridged)

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A new company that manufactures computer games must begin to capitalize computer software development costs. Issues that must be addressed include the effects of capitalization and decisions about how to match costs with future revenues. View Details

Keywords: Cost; Applications and Software; Accounting; Revenue

02 Apr 2010
What Do You Think?

Why Are Fewer and Fewer U.S. Employees Satisfied With Their Jobs?

wondering whether they have anything to do with one another. The first is a news release from The Conference Board reporting that its most recent periodic poll showed that only 45 percent of workers in the U.S. were satisfied with their... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

August 2002 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Gillette Company (B): Leadership for Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and James Weber

Describes the actions and behavior of a new CEO in his first days and weeks as he sets expectations for his top management team and introduces processes and disciplines to begin the turnaround of a global consumer products company. View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Policy; Change Management; Leading Change; Motivation and Incentives; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry

11 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

10 Rules Entrepreneurs Need to Know Before Adopting AI

However, that’s not the reality of the enterprise world. Big enterprises by default are averse to change unless they are convinced the alternative is worth their business development effort and the time involved of the legal-finance team to negotiate contracts and... View Details

Keywords: by Rocio Wu

2023
Chapter

Market Design Under Weak Institutions

By: Benjamin N. Roth

As market designers begin to address economic inequality, we will necessarily also begin to engage marginalized populations who have so far not been served well by the markets in which they participate. We will need new market designs for participants who may not... View Details

Keywords: Market Design; Equality and Inequality; Trust; Emerging Markets

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07 Jan 2009
What Do You Think?

Is the World Really Flat?

Arnott put it, "Entrepreneurship is the motor that gets technology to market." According to Kamal Gupta, "Scientific research and technological innovations create new products, but the top line and bottom line come from... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

April 2011 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Talismark

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Talismark, which helped its customers manage their waste, was considering re-engineering its business fundamentals to dramatically increase profitability by changing its sales and information processes. Implementing the changes would be expensive and would interrupt... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Business Processes; Information Management; Sales; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Wastes and Waste Processing

March 4, 2021
Article

Are Your Managers in Sync with Your Change Strategy?

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Bill Theofilou

According to new research conducted by the authors, C-suite executives and upper management often don’t agree on how their organizations need to remake themselves for a post-COVID world. As a result, when CEOs and their teams begin implementing their plans, they are... View Details

Keywords: Post-COVID; Leadership; Change Management; Strategy

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March 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Massport (A): The Aftermath of 9/11

This case looks at the turnaround at the Massachusetts Port Authority after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It begins with the situation during the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and then describes how the new CEO restructures the public agency to operate much more like a... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Corporate Accountability; National Security; Governance Controls; Organizational Culture; Public Administration Industry; Massachusetts

October 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Handspring

By: Myra M. Hart and Mary Rotelli

Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins, founders of Palm Computing, have launched a new venture--Handspring. They are preparing for an IPO in the spring of 2000. When the markets begin to collapse and their investment bankers suggest a significantly lower price, they must... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Investment Banking; Initial Public Offering; Valuation; Business Processes; Computer Industry; Technology Industry

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January 1993 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Adventurous Computer Games, Inc.

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

A new company producing computer games must begin to capitalize computer software development cost. To do so requires a cost accounting system, decisions about which costs to capitalize, and how to match costs to future revenues. Teaches accounting standards for... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Applications and Software; Cost Accounting; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry