Publications

15 Apr 2016
News

First African American Woman to Receive Harvard MBA Talks Power of Persistence, Resilience, and Courage

(Image: Cathy Walsh) (Image: Cathy Walsh) The first African American woman to earn an MBA at Harvard Business School, Lillian Lincoln Lambert (MBA 1969) attended the School at a time when women weren’t allowed to live on campus. Instead,... View Details

Keywords: Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

March 2003
Case

Compaq's Struggle

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and David Lane

In 1997, Compaq Computer was locked in price competition with industry leader Dell. Although Compaq sought to escape difficulty by acquiring Digital Equipment Corp. ,a maker of more lucrative servers and minicomputers, in 1998 the simultaneous effort to remain a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Asset Pricing; Alliances; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry

22 Sep 2022
News

The Beauty Guide

Freyre learned early on the importance of mentorship in the corporate world. “Mentors have helped shape my career. They have pushed me to explore new areas of the business, to take risks, to not stay in one lane because I was... View Details

Keywords: Maureen Harmon

March 1999 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Hundred-Year War, A: Coke vs. Pepsi, 1890s-1990s

By: Chiaki Moriguchi and David Lane

Through their competitive battle, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have created a stable and highly profitable duopoly in the U.S. soft drink industry. As the domestic industry matured and the cola wars moved to international markets, Coke and Pepsi tried to redesign their... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Industry Structures; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Jun 2010
News

A Remarkable Life Story

Lillian Lincoln Lambert (MBA ’69) credits much of her business confidence and acumen to her years at Harvard Business School, where she was the first black woman to receive an MBA. But those two years, exhilarating and educational as they... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Professional Services

March 2021
Case

The U.S. Home Improvement Sector in 2020

By: José Alvarez and David Lane

Provides an overview of the U.S. home improvement sector in 2020, reviewing sources of growth in the decade ending in 2020, with special attention to the impact of COVID-19 on market leaders Home Depot and Lowe’s and the spike in online revenues for both. Also noted... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Trends; Leading Change; Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance; Technology; Construction Industry; United States

January 2011 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Tombstones

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and David Lane

This case consists primarily of excerpts from term sheets and prospectuses for six securities offerings made by US companies during 2009-2010, just after the financial crisis and recession of 2008-09. There are three issues of senior unsecured notes, one floating rate... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Equity; Debt Securities; Bonds; Motivation and Incentives; United States

06 Mar 2018
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, March 6, 2018

provide insights into why and how investors use reported environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information. Relevance to investment performance is the most frequent motivation for use of ESG data followed by client demand and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2014 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Marketing Marijuana in Colorado

By: John A. Quelch and David Lane

Colorado's 2014 legalization of marijuana for adult recreational (not just medical) use created a new market that entrepreneurs rushed to enter, channeled by regulations that aimed to minimize marijuana's access to minors while not stifling the emergent new industry.... View Details

Keywords: Public Health; Regulation; Marijuana; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Public Sector; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Health Industry; Colorado

December 2006 (Revised January 2009)
Case

METRO Cash & Carry

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu, Carin-Isabel Knoop and David Lane

Analyzes the globalization of Metro Case & Carry, a German wholesaler, which has flourished in many foreign markets but struggled to gain traction in India. Considers Metro's experience in Russia and China to put the company's challenges in India in comparative... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; China; India; Russia; Germany

November 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Miles Everson at PricewaterhouseCoopers

By: Robert G. Eccles and David Lane

Miles Everson, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), is the Global Engagement Partner (GEP) for a large U.S. financial institution and about to take over this role for a much larger global financial institution. The GEP role is a critical one at PwC. GEPs have... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Customer Relationship Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Managerial Roles; Consulting Industry

Web

Technology & Operations Management Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Feasibility Drive Technological Innovation? Evaluator Expertise Range, Architectural Knowledge, and Preferences for Existing Technologies” with J. Lane, Z. Szajnfarber, J. Crusan, and M. Menietti. Himabindu Lakkaraju : Named a 2023 Kavli Fellow View Details

30 Mar 2021
News

The message Microsoft is sending to managers after a decline in team connectedness

June 2017 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Goodbye IMF Conditions, Hello Chinese Capital: Zambia's Copper Industry and Africa's Break with Its Colonial Past

By: Rafael Di Tella, Vincent Pons, Sarah Mehta and David Lane

Over the past several decades, rapid growth in Chinese investment and trade has created for Africa a new development partner. China represents an alternative to U.S. and European nations whose past imperialism, resource avarice, and economic dictates—through the... View Details

Keywords: Copper; Imperialism; IMF; World Bank; ODA; Debt Relief; Growth and Development; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Labor and Management Relations; History; Development Economics; China; Zambia; Africa

November 2013 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Endeavor: Miami Heats Up

By: William A. Sahlman, Ramana Nanda, David Lane and Lisa Mazzanti

Endeavor Global was a nonprofit that for 15 years had worked to nurture entrepreneurship in emerging markets by selecting local high-impact entrepreneurs for mentoring and aid in scaling up their businesses from committed local business leaders. In summer 2012,... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Entrepreneurs; Scaling; Emerging Market Entrepreneurship; Not For Profit; Entrepreneurial Finance; Mentoring; Business Networks; Hybrid Nonprofit Funding; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Finance; Miami

19 Dec 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 19, 2017

is likely to have a meaningful effect on health care spending patterns. In addition, precision medicines can change the expected profitability of therapies both by allowing more sophisticated pricing systems and potentially decreasing the... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

26 Oct 2018
News

A Chance to Lead

Lillian Lincoln Lambert (MBA 1969) is a retired business executive and author of The Road to Someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond. In this interview, she talks about using her position as a... View Details

10 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 10

within markets: When sentiment is high, future returns are low on relatively difficult to arbitrage and difficult to value stocks. Private capital flows appear to be one mechanism by which sentiment spreads across markets and forms global... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Case

Chemours (A)

By: David G. Fubini and David Lane

The July 2015 spin-off of DuPont’s performance chemicals division as the independent company Chemours burdened new CEO Mark Vergnano and his team with perilous challenges. Despite market-leading offerings in several areas, the company faced a glutted market for its... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Chemicals; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Chemical Industry; United States