Publications

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January 2008 (Revised May 2008)
Supplement

China Netcom: Corporate Governance in China (B)

By: Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Yuen Manty

Supplements the A case [308027]. With its dual listings on the Hong Kong stock market and New York stock Exchange, state-owned enterprise, China Netcom was mandated to meet the listing requirements of these exchanges. From this initial step, China Netcom's Chairman,... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Corporate Governance; State Ownership; Standards; Globalized Markets and Industries; Telecommunications Industry; China

Article

The Collapse of First Executive Corporation: Junk Bonds, Adverse Publicity, and the Run on the Bank Phenomenon

By: S. C. Gilson, H. DeAngelo and L. DeAngelo

In April 1991, regulators seized the major subsidiaries of First Executive Corporation (FE), an insurer that invested heavily in junk bonds. During the junk bond market turmoil of 1989–1990, adverse publicity fueled a bank run at FE, forcing a $4 billion portfolio... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Bonds; Banks and Banking

December 1994 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Ciba Consumer Pharmaceuticals' Acutrim: Challenges and Opportunities in Today's Diet Industry

By: Nancy F. Koehn and Rebecca Voorheis

Since its introduction in 1983, Acutrim has been a major player in the U.S. appetite suppressant market and in the broader diet industry. This case focuses on the strategic, regulatory, marketing, and financial challenges this product and the rapidly changing diet... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Market Design; Industry Structures; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities; Food and Beverage Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Educators

November 1992 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Deere & Co. (A): The Computer Aided Manufacturing Services Division - A Window to the World (Abridged)

By: Robert H. Hayes

The Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) Services Division of John Deere has just received approval to sell their software and computer systems to external customers. These tools, initially developed for internal use, have been widely used throughout Deere. Still,... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Machinery and Machining; Technological Innovation; Markets; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Outcome or Result; Computer Industry; Manufacturing Industry

1994
Book

Adding Value: Brands and Marketing in Food and Drink

By: Geoffrey Jones and Nicholas J. Morgan

Branding is one of the most prominent topics in business today. This volume explores both the impact it has had on major products and the business strategies which have shaped the success, or failure, of these brands. Focusing on the history of marketing in the food... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product; Business Strategy; Value; Food and Beverage Industry

September 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Case

Merck & Co., Inc. (A)

Merck & Co., Inc., a major pharmaceutical company, is in the process of reviewing and evaluating its personnel policies and practices. Employee interviews revealed that rewards for excellent performance were not adequate: outstanding performers received salary... View Details

Keywords: Performance Evaluation; Compensation and Benefits; Pharmaceutical Industry

Educators

16 Mar 2015
News

The 3 Things CEOs Worry About the Most

06 Aug 2014
News

Boards can get better at expecting the unexpected

08 Apr 2020
News

The SBA Can Do This Round, But We Have To Think Bigger In The Next Round

22 Jan 2018
News

Nancy is “Disrupting History”

HBS Case: SANY — Going Global

April 17, 2012, was a special day for SANY Group and for its founder Liang Wen'gen. Headquartered in Changsha, SANY Group had transformed itself in two decades from a small welding material factory in 1989 to a leading global construction equipment manufacturer with... View Details

June 2020
Supplement

RBC: Transforming Transformation (B)

By: Ethan Bernstein, Francesca Gino and Aldo Sesia

In 2017, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), a Canadian financial icon, mandated a swat team of “enablers of collaboration” (their job description) to support the personal and commercial bank in the enterprise-wide RBC Cultural Transformation initiative. Historically,... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Technology; Transformation; Change Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Decision Making; Human Resources; Management Systems; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada

15 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Mobile Money Services-Design and Development for Financial Inclusion

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Ishan Sachdev; Banking

June 2022
Article

The Welfare Effects of Peer Entry in the Accommodation Market: The Case of Airbnb and the Accommodation Industry

By: Chiara Farronato and Andrey Fradkin

We study the effects of enabling peer supply through Airbnb in the accommodation industry. We present a model of competition between flexible and dedicated sellers—peer hosts and hotels—who provide differentiated products. We estimate this model using data from major... View Details

Keywords: Peer To Peer; Airbnb; Digital Platforms; Market Entry and Exit; Competition; Accommodations Industry

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May 2019
Article

Marketplace Lending: A New Banking Paradigm?

By: Boris Vallée and Yao Zeng

Marketplace lending relies on large-scale loan screening by investors, a major deviation from the traditional banking paradigm. Theoretically, participation of sophisticated investors in marketplace lending improves screening outcomes but also creates adverse... View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Lending; Screening; Sophisticated Investors; Adverse Selection; Financing and Loans; Performance; Information

2019
Working Paper

Understanding Different Approaches to Benefit-Based Taxation

By: Robert Scherf and Matthew C. Weinzierl

The normative principle of benefit-based taxation has exerted substantial influence on many areas of public finance, but it has been largely set aside in the modern theoretical approach to optimal income taxation, where welfarist objectives dominate. A prerequisite for... View Details

Keywords: Benefit-based Taxation; Taxation; Theory

SSRN

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Article

The Effects of Media Slant on Firm Behavior

By: Vishal P. Baloria and Jonas Heese

The media can impose reputational costs on firms because of its important role as an information intermediary and its ability to negatively slant coverage. We exploit a quasi-natural experiment that holds constant the information event across firms, but varies the... View Details

Keywords: Media Slant; Reputational Capital; Strategic Corporate Decisions; Media; News; Communication Strategy; Reputation

SSRN

August 2016 (Revised November 2019)
Supplement

eSig: Growth Analysis

By: Mark N. Roberge and Thomas R. Eisenmann

eSig, an early-stage startup, offers an electronic signature application as a "freemium" product, i.e., users can upgrade from a free basic version to a premium version by paying a subscription fee. Using 9 months of data from 50,000 user activations, available as a... View Details

Keywords: Esignature; Computer Software; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Management; Marketing Channels; Applications and Software; Computer Industry; United States

January 2016 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone

By: William C. Kirby, Joycelyn W. Eby, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost

CEO and Founder of Uber Technologies, Travis Kalanick, had made clear to investors and the public that expansion into China was one of his company's major priorities for 2016. Uber had already demonstrated remarkable capacity for rapid, global scaling, and for... View Details

Keywords: China; Uber; Start-up Growth; Regulation; Ride-sharing; Transportation; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; China

Educators