Publications

March 1995 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Germany's Evolving Privatization Policies: The Plaschna Management KG

Describes the evolution of the German government's approach to restructuring East German firms. Three organizations and their interactions are examined: 1) the Treuhand, Germany's privatization agency; 2) the Plaschna Management KG, a private organization funded by the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Privatization; Government and Politics; Germany

July 1986 (Revised September 1989)
Case

Sedalia Revisited

The Sedalia Engine Plant was one of the first models of socio-technical work designs. This case is an update of the activities in the plant over its eleven-year history. The main problem facing the third plant manager is a change in world competition and a need to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Mission and Purpose; Change Management; Manufacturing Industry

13 Apr 2021
News

The Small Ways Working Moms Are Scaling Back Will Cost Them Nearly $2 Trillion

January 2016
Case

Open Innovation at Fujitsu (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

This case study examines the open innovation journey at Fujitsu, a global information and communication technology company. The case ends with the location decision between Tokyo, Japan, downtown San Francisco or Sunnyvale, California, regarding establishing a small... View Details

Web

Program Requirements - Doctoral

faculty at other business schools and by TOM faculty, and to observe faculty recruiting seminars (job talks). Doctoral Seminar for Technology and Operations Management (HBS 4840). TOM students are required, starting in their third year, to enroll and View Details

Web

Student Performance - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

class participation, individual written work on papers and exams, and group activities such as projects and presentations. Our focus here is on class participation, which is integral to the case method and often accounts for a significant... View Details

July 2016
Case

Product Portfolio Management at Genentech

By: Kevin Schulman and Jamie Gresh

Genentech, long the darling of the biotechnology industry, was acquired by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche in 2009. The combined company retains the name Genentech in the US, but must now move to achieve the promises made at the time of this merger—to build from... View Details

Keywords: Portfolio Management; Drug Development; Postmerger Integration; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

December 2010
Case

Everything or Nothing: Martti Ahtisaari and the Aceh Negotiations (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Alex Green

In early 2005, Martti Ahtisaari planned negotiations to end the decades-long conflict between Acehnese insurgents and the Indonesian government that had claimed thousands of lives. The "modern" phase of the insurgency by the fighters from the Free Aceh Movement that... View Details

Keywords: Government and Politics; Negotiation; Conflict and Resolution; Conflict Management; Indonesia

September 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Windward Investment Management

By: Luis M. Viceira and Ricardo Alberto De Armas

Windward Investment Management has experienced rapid growth in assets under management in just ten years, from under $30 million at year-end 1999 to $3.6 billion in 2010. Windward is one of the leading firms in the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) industry that... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Valuation; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry

March 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Disruptive IPOs? WR Hambrecht & Co.

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan

Bill Hambrecht faces a dilemma: should he accept a high profile client for his online Dutch auction IPO? Though it would be viewed as a real coup, what would accepting the business mean to WR Hambrecht? Should he seek other high profile clients like this, or should he... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Initial Public Offering; Disruptive Innovation; Auctions; Online Technology; Financial Services Industry; San Francisco

2009
Working Paper

The Devil Wears Prada: Effects of Exposure to Luxury Goods on Cognition and Decision Making

By: Roy Y.J. Chua and Xi Zou

Although the concept of luxury has been widely discussed in social theories and marketing research, relatively little research has directly examined the psychological consequences of exposure to luxury goods. This paper demonstrates that mere exposure to luxury goods... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Judgments; Ethics; Marketing; Behavior; Power and Influence; Luxury

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May 2008
Article

Coerced Confessions: Self-Policing in the Shadow of the Regulator

By: Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel

As part of a recent trend toward more cooperative relations between regulators and industry, novel government programs are encouraging firms to monitor their own regulatory compliance and voluntarily report their own violations. In this study, we examine how regulatory... View Details

Keywords: Governance Compliance; Law Enforcement; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Environmental Sustainability; Programs; Power and Influence; Organizations; Decisions; Business and Government Relations; United States

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June 1993 (Revised April 1998)
Case

COMCO Holding AG (B): COMCO Martech

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

COMCO Martech was a new breed of joint venture for COMCO Holding, a mid-sized Swiss-German company that had grown over a five-year period through tie-ups with small, start-up companies. Whereas a typical COMCO venture provided services to a large German retailer, was... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Business Startups; Trade; Operations; Environmental Sustainability; Business or Company Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Partners and Partnerships; Switzerland; United States; Europe