Publications

17 Dec 2018
News

J&J is a company of the 'highest integrity.' Investors overreact to asbestos report

September 2018
Article

When and Why Randomized Response Techniques (Fail to) Elicit the Truth

By: Leslie K. John, George Loewenstein, Alessandro Acquisti and Joachim Vosgerau

By adding random noise to individual responses, randomized response techniques (RRTs) are intended to enhance privacy protection and encourage honest disclosure of sensitive information. Empirical findings on their success in doing so are, however, mixed. In nine... View Details

Keywords: Truth-telling; Lying; Privacy; Information Disclosure; Survey Research; Surveys; Attitudes; Behavior

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July 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Narayana Murthy and Compassionate Capitalism

By: William W. George, Shailendra Jit Singh and Andrew N. McLean

Narayana Murthy's roles at Infosys Technologies--as a co-founder, longtime CEO, and nonexecutive chairman and chief mentor--has been marked by explosive growth, demanding management challenges, and widely lauded company leadership. His personal leadership philosophy... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Economic Systems; Ethics; Values and Beliefs; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Biography; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Information Technology Industry; India

February 2025
Case

Abiomed: A Change of Heart

By: Satish Tadikonda, Faith Robertson and William Marks

After acquiring Impella CardioSystems AG in May 2005, Abiomed Inc., a company focused on cardiac care, ran into a dilemma. Its Impella 2.5 device was approved for use in the European Union, but CEO Michael Minogue had seemingly bet the company's future on the ability... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Business and Government Relations; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; European Union; United States

June 2008
Journal Article

Strategic Alliances: Bridges Between 'Islands of Conscious Power'

By: George P. Baker, Robert Gibbons and Kevin J. Murphy

Strategic alliances range from unstructured collaborations, through consortia and joint ventures that superimpose new governance structures on existing firms, to transactions that restructure firm boundaries and asset ownership. In this paper, we draw on detailed... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Alliances; Strategy; Theory

Article

Your Visual System Provides All the Information You Need to Make Moral Judgments about Generic Visual Events

By: Julian De Freitas and George A. Alvarez

To what extent are people's moral judgments susceptible to subtle factors of which they are unaware? Here we show that we can change people’s moral judgments outside of their awareness by subtly biasing perceived causality. Specifically, we used subtle visual... View Details

Keywords: Moral Judgment; Perceived Causality; Visual Illusions; Moral Sensibility; Judgments

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11 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 11

its effect was quantitatively dominated by inequality-raising effects of population growth. The land distribution program lowered landlessness, but this was partly offset by targeting failures and induced... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Case

QuantumScape's Mission to Revolutionize Energy Storage for a Sustainable Future

By: William A. Sahlman, Allison M. Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga

QuantumScape CEO Jagdeep Singh juggles the many activities required to lead the next-generation battery pioneer. Founded in 2010, QuantumScape’s mission was to develop new “solid-state” car batteries that would improve upon traditional lithium-ion batteries in key... View Details

Keywords: Batteries; Electric Vehicles; SPACs; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Science-Based Business; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Energy Industry; California; San Jose

28 Feb 2022
Blog Post

Making an Impact on the Media Industry with my MBA

advocate for artists’ stories to come to reality. After Yale, I started in the mailroom at William Morris Endeavor (WME) in Beverly Hills. I spent the last five years at WME, working my way up to talent agent. As an agent, I represented... View Details

October 1995
Case

Centex Telemanagement, Inc. (B)

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

Contains a description of the events surrounding the financing of Centex Telemanagement, Inc. by Sierra Ventures, a venture capital fund. The case is written from the perspective of the venture capitalists and is designed to teach students about the process of venture... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Financial Institutions; Business Startups

July 1997 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Lille Tissages, S.A.

By: William J. Bruns Jr.

The marketing director and finance director must set the price for an expensive yet competitive fabric. Recent price increases have not been matched by competitors, and market share has been lost. The case provides an opportunity to practice contribution analysis... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Competition; Price; Accounting

16 Nov 2023
News

Dean Datar Meets with Alumni in Boston

Starting last fall and continuing through this coming year, Dean Srikant Datar is traveling to meet with alumni around the world. On November 8, more than 170 alumni and guests gathered in Klarman Hall to hear the dean discuss how the School is addressing today’s... View Details

September 1976
Case

Del Norte Paper Co. (B)

By: William A. Sahlman

Serves two roles: first, provides a reasonably comprehensive description of an ongoing budgeting and reporting system for the international operations of a large American company. Second, allows the student to focus on and critically analyze a series of specific... View Details

Keywords: International Accounting; Financial Reporting; Budgets and Budgeting; United States

02 Mar 2018
News

A salute to the Mayo Clinic's retiring servant-leader

14 Oct 2016
News

How Wells Fargo Could Have Saved Its Hard-Earned Reputation

July 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Technical Note

The Future of Mobility: Economic, Environmental, and Social Implications

By: George Serafeim and David Freiberg

This technical note explores how advancements in technology are fundamentally transforming how consumers interact with mobility. Transformation is being driven by three independent trends: the emergence of affordable electric vehicles, the development of autonomous... View Details

Keywords: Oil ＆ Gas; Automobile Manufacturing; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Mobility; Inequality; Electric Vehicles; Ride-sharing; Ambidexterity; Transformation; Disruption; Change; Technological Innovation; Transportation; Equality and Inequality; Auto Industry; Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; Distribution Industry

2014
Book

Can China Lead? Reaching the Limits of Power and Growth

By: Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby and F. Warren McFarlan

At the time of the American Revolution, China was the strongest, richest, and most powerful civilization in the world. The Great Qing Empire ruled China and dominated East Asia by a combination of power and cultural prestige. China's economy was the world's largest.... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Leadership; Power and Influence; China

February 1991 (Revised October 1991)
Case

Fenchel Lampshade Co.

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes the proposed purchase of a lampshade manufacturer by Steven and Michele Rogers, recent graduates of the Harvard Business School. Focuses on their plans to raise the capital necessary to buy the company. Among the issues raised are how to structure the deal... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Negotiation Deal; Business or Company Management; Cost vs Benefits; Manufacturing Industry