Publications

June 2017
Case

MIA: Profit at the Base of the Pyramid

By: Lynda M. Applegate, José Antonio Dávila Castilla, Sarah Mehta and Aldo Sesia

In January 2016, Guillermo Jaime had just returned home to Mexico City after attending a Harvard Business School executive education program. Jaime was the founder and CEO of Mejoramiento Integral Asistido (MIA), a company providing affordable housing to low-income... View Details

Keywords: Base Of The Pyramid; Social Capitalism; Housing; Emerging Markets; Social Enterprise; Society; Wealth and Poverty; Social Entrepreneurship; Construction Industry; Mexico

March 2015
Supplement

McKinsey & Co. - Protecting its Reputation (A) and (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Emily McTague

The presentation supplement is designed to be used in conjunction with the case "McKinsey & Co. - Protecting its Reputation (A) and (B)," HBS No. 414-021 and 414-022. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Leadership; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Organizational Culture; Construction Industry; North America

June 2007 (Revised July 2007)
Case

USG Corporation (A)

Deals with CEO Bill Foote's decision of how to deal with USG's exposure to asbestos liability. USG was the largest building materials company in the United States, with 14,000 employees and gross revenues of $3.8 billion. Although USG used asbestos in a small subset of... View Details

Keywords: Legal Liability; Construction Industry

January 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

VendQuest (C): Financing the Company

By: Dwight B. Crane and David Foster

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Construction Industry

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January 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

VendQuest (B): Building the Management Team

By: Dwight B. Crane and David Foster

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Construction Industry

March 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

MAC Development Corporation

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Colleen McCaffrey

Deals with MAC Development's efforts to develop a 41-acre site near Chicago. Reviews two years of efforts and highlights the remaining issues of: 1) gaining town approval for development and tax reductions, 2) meeting the bank's debt covenants, including finding a... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Taxation; Financial Instruments; Borrowing and Debt; Asset Pricing; Construction Industry; Chicago

June 1982 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Ellis Manufacturing Co.

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Ellis finds itself in a weakening competitive position largely due to the lack of rationalization in its plants. Driven by a strong traditionally decentralized sales organization, Ellis finds that all plants want control over all product lines. As a result, overall... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Cost; Analytics and Data Science; Brands and Branding; Performance Capacity; Competitive Strategy; Construction Industry

May 1976 (Revised October 1980)
Case

FMC Crane and Excavator Division

By: Paul W. Marshall and Steven C. Wheelwright

Keywords: Construction Industry

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January 1970 (Revised March 1987)
Case

Ace Welding Equipment, Inc.

By: Edward W. Davis and W. Earl Sasser

Keywords: Construction Industry

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June 1995
Teaching Note

Basic Industries TN

By: Joseph L. Bower

Teaching Note for (9-313-121). View Details

Keywords: Policy; Capital Budgeting; Risk and Uncertainty; Organizations; Business Conglomerates; Technology; Construction Industry

Web

Ludcke - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

School was established in 1908, it was not until June 2, 1925, that construction of today’s campus began. Ludcke originally served as the Faculty Club. The original campus plans, based on classical models, were designed by the nationally... View Details

01 Jun 2002
News

East Side Story

and the United Nations and oversee $1.5 billion of new construction planned for the UN's Manhattan headquarters. “The ornate Senate chamber at the state Capitol rang with accolades for the patrician legislator,” the Daily News reported,... View Details

16 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 16

have described as characteristic of the modern neo-liberal regime. 2013 pub Fashioning an Industry: Socio-cognitive Processes in the Construction of Worth of a New Industry By: Khaire, Mukti Abstract—This study of the high-end fashion... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

October 2014
Case

Teckentrup: A Door to Managing Difference

By: Clayton Rose, Jerome Lenhardt and Daniela Beyersdorfer

For Kai Teckentrup, the owner and co-CEO of the German "Mittelstand" door manufacturer Teckentrup, balancing competitive pressures, demographic realities and values were at the heart of the diversity program that he had started and championed at the company. Beyond... View Details

September 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Hearthside Homes

By: Jason R. Barro, Brian J. Hall and Aaron Zimmerman

Investigates the "controllability problem" inherent in bonus systems. Ideally, an incentive system accurately measures performance in areas that the individual can control. But most measures are either too broad, including factors outside the influence of the employee,... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Housing; Performance Evaluation; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; Construction Industry