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- Faculty Publications (1,480)
- April 1988 (Revised October 1996)
- Case
Home Depot, Inc., The
Home Depot, founded in 1978, pioneered the warehouse retailing concept in the home center industry. The company's niche strategy resulted in rapid growth in sales. By 1986, however, the company began experiencing deteriorating profitability. Students are asked to... View Details
- March 1988
- Article
Tobin's q and the Importance of Focus in Firm Performance
By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Birger Wernerfelt
- Article
Storytelling: A Method for Assessing Children's Creativity
By: B. A. Hennessey and T. M. Amabile
- December 1987
- Case
John Hancock Financial Services: Sports Sponsorship
Senior corporate communications executives of a major financial services firm are reviewing the company's sports sponsorship program and are considering expanding it. Hancock already is the corporate sponsor of the Boston Marathon and has the opportunity to sponsor the... View Details
- October 1987 (Revised November 1994)
- Case
Boston Fights Drugs (A): Designing Communications Research
Describes in detail the research mounted by five individuals with a $20,000 budget to combat drug abuse among Boston's school-going population. Using the focus group methodology they discover that most of the current anti-drug advertising is useless. They create their... View Details
- September 1987 (Revised October 1987)
- Background Note
The Job of the General Manager
By: James L. Heskett
Describes elements of the job of the general manager that are addressed in the Management Policy and Practice course at the Harvard Business School. These include: 1) establishing strategic direction, 2) setting goals and managing standards of performance, 3)... View Details
- July 1987
- Case
Altoona Corp.: Computer Products Division
By: Roger E. Bohn and Robert H. Hayes
A relatively small manufacturer of computer memory disks has achieved a major market position through the use of its statistical quality control (SQC) program. It is now expanding the production of a new line of disks and is encountering problems getting the process... View Details
- March 1987 (Revised October 1993)
- Case
Au Bon Pain: The French Bakery Cafe, The Partner/Manager Program
By: W. Earl Sasser
In recent years, Au Bon Pain (ABP), a chain of upscale French bakeries/sandwich cafes based in Boston, confronted a set of human resource problems endemic to the fast food industry (i.e., a labor shortage which made it difficult to attract and maintain quality crew... View Details
- February 1987 (Revised February 2000)
- Case
Polysar Limited
By: Robert L. Simons
Canada's largest chemical company produces and markets butyl rubber in two divisions, each treated as a profit center. The new plant in the North American Division operates below capacity resulting in a significant volume variance and an operating loss. The European... View Details
- December 1986 (Revised January 1998)
- Case
Chaparral Steel (Abridged)
By: Kim B. Clark
Examines a major capacity expansion proposal of Chaparral Steel, a steel minimill. Gives students the opportunity to evaluate the proposed expansion in the context of the competitive environment, market demand, technological choice, and the demands of a global... View Details
- October 1986 (Revised July 2010)
- Case
Karen Leary (A)
By: Linda A. Hill
Describes the evolution of the working relationship of Karen Leary, a new manager of a Merrill Lynch retail branch, and Ted Chung, a new financial consultant in the branch. Leary has some concerns about her working relationship with Chung and with his performance.... View Details
- September 1986 (Revised August 1987)
- Case
Pressco, Inc.--1984
A marketing representative of heavy industrial equipment needs to evaluate the net present value of his equipment from the perspective of the buyer under changing tax regulations. View Details
- July 1986 (Revised July 1991)
- Case
Nippon-WTI Ltd.
By: W. Carl Kester and Glynn Ferguson
A Japanese joint venture between a U.S. parent and a Japanese parent has proposed that 100% of the U.S. parent's product be produced in Japan rather than the 40% currently being manufactured there. This would require the U.S. parent to give up a dollar profit earned on... View Details
Keywords: Joint Ventures; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Product; Production; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Asia; Japan; United States
- May 1985
- Supplement
Milford Industries (A1)
By: Robert J. Dolan
Presents the salesforce performance data of the Milford (A) case in a format suitable for spreadsheet analysis using a personal computer. View Details
- February 1985 (Revised January 2024)
- Case
Health Stop (A): What Type of Innovation Is It? And Six Factors Alignment
By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Joyce Lallman, Nancy Kane, Jefferson C. Grahling and James Wallace
How can we evaluate if innovative health care ventures can do good—benefit society—and do well—become financially viable? This question is the topic of the first module in the Innovating In Health Care course book.
This note and case series enables readers to conduct... View Details
- February 1985 (Revised September 1988)
- Case
Caterpillar Tractor Co.
Describes the structure and evolution of the earth moving equipment industry worldwide in the post war era, particularly focusing on developments in the 1960s and 1970s. Describes Caterpillar's strategy in becoming the dominant worldwide competitor (industry market... View Details
- July 1984 (Revised September 1986)
- Case
CML Group, Inc.: Going Public (A)
Describes a series of decisions confronting Charles Leighton, co-founder and chairman of the CML Group. CML is a successful participant in the leisure time industry with two lines of business: specialty retailing and recreational consumer products. The key issues in... View Details