Publications

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June 1990 (Revised August 1995)
Case

RJR Nabisco--1990

By: Andre F. Perold

Describes the situation facing RJR Nabisco one year after the leveraged buyout by Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts. A vehicle for analyzing the financial restructuring of a highly leveraged, but operationally healthy, company. View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Financial Strategy; Problems and Challenges

September 2009 (Revised November 2021)
Case

OnStar: Not Your Father's General Motors

By: Clayton M. Christensen

After two years of less than stellar performance resulting in sales well below plan, senior management at General Motors (GM) mobile telecommunications service start-up, OnStar, recognized that without a substantial change in their strategy, support for the venture... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Technology; Risk and Uncertainty; Joint Ventures; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Positioning; Risk Management; Auto Industry; Telecommunications Industry

November 1999 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Safe Food Act, The: A Consumer Group's Perspective

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Hal Hogan

The Center for Science in the Public Interest is taking a position on creating a new safety leadership vehicle in the U.S. government. How should it plead its cause? What are the position merits and faults? View Details

Keywords: Food; System; Consumer Behavior; Government and Politics; Safety; Leadership; United States

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February 2025
Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).... View Details

February 2025
Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A) (Abridged)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).... View Details

Research Summary

(Avalok @ Harvard)

Bhaskar's research program is aimed at applying and developing methods of computer science, social science and law to problems that significantly have both political and technical dimensions. (Avalok @ Harvard) is the primary vehicle for this research... View Details

January 2021
Case

Toyota and Its Labor Union in Argentina (A)

By: Jorge Tamayo, Erik Snowberg and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

In 2011, Daniel Herrero, CEO of Toyota Argentina (TASA) since 2010, was about to meet with the Secretary-General of the union representing automotive industry workers in the country. The company produced vehicles in Argentina since 1997 at their plant at Zárate, and,... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing Performance; Bargaining; Production; Performance; Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Fairness; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Auto Industry; Argentina

March 2005 (Revised May 2005)
Background Note

Even Bigger Change: A Framework for Getting Started at Changing the World

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Presents a framework for leading change in institutions or society, showing leaders how to manage political, economic, or social change by mapping their targets (policy, programs, or people/culture) and choice of action vehicle (single organizations or coalitions of... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leading Change; Society

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Elon Musk at Tesla

By: George Serafeim and Amram Migdal

This case gives an overview of Elon Musk’s career arc through the lens of the 2003 founding of Tesla and its growth through 2022. Background information is included on Tesla’s unique strategic decisions, its operational and reputational struggles and successes, and the... View Details

February 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Case

The Ford Fiesta

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Executives at Ford wondered if social media could be the marketing solution for the launch of the youth-oriented 2010 Fiesta. But with social media came a ceding of control. Some at the company believed that if Ford was going to move beyond its conservative brand image... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Digital Marketing; Leadership; Goals and Objectives; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Standards; Auto Industry

2022
Case

Tesla's Battery Supply Chain: A Growing Concern

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

In October 2021, the fictional vice president of supply chain sustainability at Tesla is working on finding the best way to achieve Tesla's goal of 100% recycling for the batteries in its electric vehicles (EVs) as they reach their end of life. A major challenge in... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Governance Compliance; Metals and Minerals; Auto Industry

Research Summary

Overview

Dr. Crawford conducts research on innovation in the energy industry, with a special focus on emerging business models. She is developing several cases for the EC course, "21st Century Energy," that specifically examine innovations at the interface of IT and Energy — ... View Details

Research Summary

Working on third edition of textbook on the fund industry

The book explains how mutual funds and other collective investment vehicles are organized, how they manage your money, and how they are marketed to investors. It also addresses the internationalization of funds in terms of global investing and global... View Details

September 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Mercury Athletic: Valuing the Opportunity

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Joel L. Heilprin

In January 2007, West Coast Fashions, Inc., a large designer and marketer of branded apparel, announced a strategic reorganization that would result in the divestiture of their wholly owned footwear subsidiary, Mercury Athletic. John Liedtke, the head of business... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Sensitivity Analysis; Cost of Capital; Restructuring; Valuation; Cash Flow; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Finance; Apparel and Accessories Industry

April 1998 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Hamilton Financial Investments: A Franchise Built on Trust

By: Robert L. Simons and Antonio Davila

Provides a vehicle for students to evaluate risk management in the fast-paced mutual funds industry. A new risk manager has been hired to install new management controls and procedures. A series of decisions will determine how much business and franchise risk the... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment Funds; Performance Evaluation; Corporate Strategy; Change Management; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry

October 1976 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Chemalite, Inc.

A chemical engineer who has set up a company to manufacture and market one of his inventions is trying to prepare his state of the corporation report. This case is designed to serve as a vehicle to introduce students to basic bookkeeping and accounting functions. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Business Startups; Valuation; Chemical Industry

August 2023 (Revised December 2023)
Case

Automating Morality: Ethics for Intelligent Machines

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Tom Quinn

As autonomy became a more significant part of modern life – most notably in autonomous vehicles (AVs), such as Teslas – ethical debates about whether and how to impart ethics to machines heated up. Utilitarians pointed out that autonomous vehicles crashed much less... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Judgments; Fairness; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Disruptive Innovation; Technology Adoption; Risk and Uncertainty; Cognition and Thinking; Technological Innovation; Auto Industry; Technology Industry; Africa; Asia; Europe; North and Central America; Oceania; South America

2001
Other Unpublished Work

Clusters of Innovation Initiative: Wichita

By: Michael E. Porter

This study contains a conceptual framework for assessing the competitiveness of regional economies, an analysis of the Wichita region overall, as well as detailed assessments of two representative clusters—aerospace vehicles and defense and plastics. The report... View Details

Keywords: Clusters; Economics; Industry Clusters; Economy; Growth and Development; Industrial Products Industry; Aerospace Industry; Kansas

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September 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Tata Motors: The Tata Ace

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Vishnu Srinivasan

Considers the strategy and experience of Tata Motors, India's leading commercial truck maker, as it developed a new small commercial vehicle, the Tata Ace. Positioned as a replacement for the three-wheelers that predominated as small commercial vehicles in India, the... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Product Development; Product; Innovation Strategy; Business Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Auto Industry; India