Publications

Find at Harvard

24 Jun 2014
First Look

First Look: June 24

terms shape the impact of economic shocks on trade. Analysis of transaction-level data from a U.S.-based exporter of frozen and refrigerated food products, primarily poultry, reveals broad patterns about the use of alternative financing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: Jan. 20

self-report of a licensee. Self-reporting gives rise to demand for auditing by the licensor or third-party attestation by the licensee. We characterize the optimal royalty contract, accounting system choice by the licensee, View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2010 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Bank of America Acquires Merrill Lynch (A)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Charles E. Beresford

On December 22, 2008, Bank of America (BofA) chairman and CEO Ken Lewis convened a special board of directors meeting to review his company's pending acquisition of investment bank Merrill Lynch. Negotiations for the acquisition had begun a few months earlier, during... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Corporate Governance; Government Legislation; Crisis Management; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry

26 Jan 2024
Blog Post

HBS Alumna Fighting Cancer with a Novel Cell Therapy

Boston, Guardian Bio was accepted into the Y Combinator accelerator program and officially launched in June 2022. Zutshi’s desire to help fight cancer isn’t just a business choice – it’s personal as well.... View Details

August 1998 (Revised August 2002)
Case

MicroFridge: The Concept

By: John A. Deighton

Robert Bennett, who has a Master's degree in engineering, wants to exploit his idea to combine a refrigerator, freezer, and 500-watt microwave into an 87-pound, 4-foot-high appliance to sell to college students. Bennett must decide which markets to serve, which... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership Style; Sales; Product Development; Competitive Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Demand and Consumers; Consumer Products Industry

29 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

How Bonuses Get Employees to Choose Work Over Family

pay—and that has the potential to lay the groundwork for an overworked, unhappy existence, according to research by Ashley Whillans, an assistant professor in Harvard Business School’s Negotiation, Organizations, and Markets Unit. The... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Kim Raczka

27 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Cost of a Product Recall

American emissions tests. Volkswagen estimated that fines, repairs, and legal costs would total more than $30 billion. And worse, the company ceded its command of America’s diesel car market—producing more... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Manufacturing; Consumer Products; Auto; Medical Devices & Supplies

23 Feb 2016
First Look

February 23, 2016

measure. The possibility of value incommensurability is thought to raise deep questions about practical reason and rational choice as well as related questions concerning topics as diverse as akrasia, moral... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way To Hire a Sales Team

hoc process at many firms. Most adopt a simple decision rule: look at the best reps, and try to hire more like them. But you'll never have enough stars for all sales positions and, in fact, don't want stars... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

September 2018
Case

Hunley, Inc.: Casting for Growth

By: John A. Quelch and James T. Kindley

Hunley, Inc. manufactures rods for the niche sport of fly fishing. It specializes in freshwater rods that are perceived as "middle-market" products, targeted at "avid" fly fishers. In the face of declining revenue and a decreasing price per unit sold, the company's... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Sports; Marketing Channels; Distribution Channels

March 2023
Case

Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline Company

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

On the morning of May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline Company became aware that the company had been the victim of a malicious ransomware attack that had stolen and locked up company data. The extortionists demanded 75 bitcoins (worth about $4.4 million at the time) in... View Details

14 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: Dec. 14

country—in areas such as Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Alejandro's looming decision on Los Pozos is, in many ways, reflective of choices facing his company in general.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2021 (Revised February 2021)
Case

TCS: From Physical Offices to Borderless Work

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Malini Sen

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a multinational IT services company headquartered in Mumbai, is a subsidiary of one of India’s most reputed conglomerates, the Tata Group. In 2020, TCS was valued at $144.7 billion, the highest for any company in the IT sector,... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Organizational Structure; Change Management; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Customer Satisfaction; Information Technology Industry; India; Asia; United States; Europe

April 2012 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Dovernet

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This case illustrates the implications of using stringent performance measurement systems to create performance pressure, motivate employee achievement, and sharpen a firm's competitiveness. It opens by describing the downsides of the ruthlessly competitive culture at... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry; Vancouver

07 Aug 2013
What Do You Think?

Is There Still a Role for Judgment in Decision-Making?

that we don't allow our decisions to get sidetracked (or sidetrack them ourselves). In their book Decisive, the Heath brothers cite four major reasons—all linked to common human traits—why we make poor View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Costco Companies, Inc.

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Costco Companies, one of the major players in the wholesale club industry, has developed a new class of membership that offers discounted services--auto, health, and home insurance, business credit card processing, real estate services--in exchange for a higher annual... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Cost Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Supply and Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Risk and Uncertainty; Retail Industry