Publications

September 2018
Case

Verisk: Trailblazing in the Big Data Jungle

By: Andrew Wasynczuk, Francesca Gino and Karim Sameh

This case revolves around Verisk Analytics' initiatives to drive innovation throughout the firm's many business verticals. Verisk, originally named ISO, started life as an insurance rating agency in the early 1970s, acting as an intermediary between insurance companies... View Details

August 2010 (Revised March 2012)
Case

The UCLA Medical Center: Kidney Transplantation

By: Michael E. Porter, Jennifer F Baron, Jacob Mathew Chacko and Robin Jian Tang

In 2010, organ transplantation remained among the few sets of medical conditions in the U.S. for which bundled payments were a dominant reimbursement model, and for which patient health outcomes were universally measured and reported. In 1986, UCLA Medical Center was... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Measurement and Metrics; Outcome or Result; Competitive Strategy; Integration; Health Industry; California

November 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

ConAgra Foods: The Next Chapter

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Mary L. Shelman

In 2005, CEO Bruce Rohde has almost completed the integration of ConAgra Foods' collection of 90 independent operating companies into a focused, value-added firm and was beginning to think about his successor. ConAgra had become the second largest food company and No.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Leading Change; Management Succession; Strategic Planning; Brands and Branding; Food; Agribusiness; Product Marketing; Management Teams; Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

August 1990
Case

NASA After Challenger: Restoring an Image

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Norman Klein

In the days following the loss of the space shuttle Challenger and its crew in January of 1986, NASA officials were unwilling to communicate with the media or the public. A siege mentality took hold, and the press and public responded with intense criticism and... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Policy; Business and Community Relations; Situation or Environment; Conflict Management

November 2018
Case

The National Hockey League

By: Robert F. Higgins, John Masko and James Weber

In 2015, National Hockey League (NHL) commissioner Gary Bettman was weighing two major decisions: whether to expand the league to a new city, and whether to conclude a digital media rights deal with Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM). Expansion required a... View Details

Keywords: NHL Expansion; Digital Media Rights; Sports; Expansion; Media; Decisions; Sports Industry; Canada

December 2011 (Revised September 2014)
Case

The Kid Grows Up: Decisions at the Sundance Institute

By: Mukti Khaire and Eleanor Kenyon

The Sundance case raises the question of how markets for innovative cultural products can be created and what the role of intermediaries in creative industries ought to be. The case describes the history of the Sundance Institute, which was founded by actor/director... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Film Entertainment; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States

December 2010 (Revised April 2012)
Background Note

Stalemate at the WTO: TRIPS, Agricultural Subsidies, and the Doha Round

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

This note analyzes disputes over intellectual property enforcement and agricultural trade barriers at the center of the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations. Fundamental principles of intellectual property rights and agricultural subsidies are... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Trade; Globalization; Governance; International Relations; Intellectual Property; Agreements and Arrangements; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

January 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Case

U.S. Steel: Proposed Acquisition by Nippon Steel

By: Willy Shih

The case setting is the proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, which elicited a great deal of controversy. The purpose of the case is to look at the history of the American steel industry since World War II and understand how the steel minimill operators... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Business History; Technological Innovation; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; United States

Web

Research Areas - Doctoral

environment in which businesses operate. Drawing from perspectives of economic theory, political science, and history, they examine the “rules” and policies established by government and other non-business institutions that affect business in the United States; turn to... View Details

11 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 11, 2008

Mexico's long history with authoritarian government shaped its judicial, taxation, and property rights institutions. These institutions, the authors argue, cannot be reformed with the stroke of a pen. Moreover, they represent powerful... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Dec 2007
First Look

First Look: December 11, 2007

Publication:Northampton, Mass.: Edward Elgar, Inc., 2007 Abstract This set of insightful papers demonstrates the importance of historical perspectives in the study of entrepreneurship. By exploring the role of entrepreneurship in the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Apr 2024
HBS Case

Deion Sanders' Prime Lessons for Leading a Team to Victory

Sanders wasn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves to help his team succeed—even mowing the practice fields himself if they didn’t get mowed on time. By his third year at JSU, Sanders had posted the first undefeated season in the school’s View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

2010
Working Paper

Multinational Strategies and Developing Countries in Historical Perspective

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper offers a longitudinal and descriptive analysis of the strategies of multinationals from developed countries in developing countries. The central argument is that strategies were shaped by the trade-off between opportunity and risk. Three broad... View Details

Keywords: History; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Developing Countries and Economies; Business and Government Relations

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2019
Chapter

Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism

By: Sophus A. Reinert and Robert Fredona

N.S.B. Gras, the father of business history in the United States, argued that the era of mercantile capitalism was defined by the figure of the “sedentary merchant,” who managed his business from home, using correspondence and intermediaries, in contrast to the earlier... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; History; Business History

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Web

About - Case Method Project

History of American Democracy, developed mainly for undergraduates. The course quickly became one of the highest-rated classes at Harvard College. Students described the teaching method as highly engaging and credited it with helping them... View Details

Research Summary

Research and Publication Interests

Michelle Craig McDonald is currently writing a Harvard Business School case study on the impact of the International Coffee Act on small producers. She is interested in early American economic development, especially the role of foreign trade and re-exported... View Details

March 2016
Teaching Note

Catalina in the Digital Age

By: Uma R. Karmarkar and Robert J. Dolan

"Catalina in the Digital Age" considers how a company with a dominant market position should evolve its established product lines given the rise of novel digital technologies. Since its founding in 1983, Catalina had enjoyed a distinct position in the world of consumer... View Details

Keywords: Coupons; Information Technology; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Product Marketing; Retail Industry

January 2002 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Computer Associates International, Inc.

In late 2000, Computer Associates (CA) changed its business model and the way it recognized revenue, ostensibly to better serve its stakeholders. The new subscription-based license model offered customers greater flexibility. Clients could subscribe to any CA software... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Valuation; Corporate Disclosure; Revenue Recognition; Corporate Governance; Technology Industry