Publications

May 2001 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Submarino.com (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Meredith Collura and Luiz Felipe Monteiro

Enables a thorough analysis of Submarino.com, a B2C e-commerce company with a presence in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and Portugal. Examines the company's global operations as well as its organizational design and operating and management capabilities. Considers... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Globalized Firms and Management; Operations; Organizational Design; Strategy; Internet; Retail Industry; Portugal; Spain; Mexico; Argentina; Brazil

November 2004 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Kodak and The Digital Revolution (A)

By: Giovanni M. Gavetti, Rebecca Henderson and Simona Giorgi

The introduction of digital imaging in the late 1980s had a disruptive effect on Kodak's traditional business model. Examines Kodak's strategic efforts and challenges as the photography industry evolves. After discussing Kodak's history and its past strategic moves in... View Details

Keywords: History; Information Technology; Business Model; Leadership; Disruption; Industry Growth; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

15 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

Remembering Alfred Chandler

Podcast with: Interviewer: Running Time: Alfred D. Chandler Jr., the Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar whom many credited with founding the discipline of business history, died at age 88 on May 9, 2007. His work is legendary, but so too was... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

August 2018 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Oaktree: Pierre Foods Investment

By: Victoria Ivashina and Mike Harmon

This case is a setting to discuss “loan to own” investment strategy that is often pursued by distressed investors. The aftermath of the 2007 financial crisis left many companies with poor liquidity and limited ability to obtain credit. One of these companies was Pierre... View Details

Keywords: Distress Investing; Investment; Debt Securities; Strategy; Restructuring

20 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

Panama Canal: Troubled History, Astounding Turnaround

A favorite topic of historians and palindrome fans alike, the Panama Canal has perpetually changed the international trade business. In their new book, The Big Ditch: How America Took, Built, Ran, and Ultimately Gave Away the Panama Canal (Princeton University Press),... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Transportation

December 2011
Article

EXEMPLARY CONTRIBUTION: Transforming Mental Models on Emerging Markets

By: Charles Dhanaraj and Tarun Khanna

Economic growth in the Western world increasingly depends on meaningful engagement with emerging markets such as Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and Turkey. Business schools are responding with increased attention to these markets in their research and curricula.... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Business Model; Economic Growth; Developing Countries and Economies; Research; Business Education; Learning; Financial Institutions; Framework; Transformation; Perspective; India; China; Brazil; South Africa; Turkey

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March 2018 (Revised July 2020)
Case

Nectar (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Thomas O. Jones

In late 2017, Nectar was a rapidly emerging player in the “bed-in-a-box” online market for direct-to-consumer foam memory mattresses. Barely a year old, it had achieved a revenue run rate of $85M and looked ahead to another year of blistering growth. The founding team... View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Growth and Development Strategy; Product; Diversification; Decision Making; Growth Management; Entrepreneurship

14 Oct 2021
In Practice

Reunited and It Feels (Not) So Good: Tips for Managing a Rocky Return

employees, while maintaining the safety and flexibility to weather an uncertain path ahead. Jeffrey Polzer (@jeffpolzer) is the UPS Foundation Professor of Human Resource Management in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

05 Nov 2019
News

Can the Robin Hood Army Grow with Zero Financial Resources?

Richard G. Hamermesh

Richard Hamermesh was the MBA Class of 1961 Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. While at HBS Richard served as co-chair of the HBS Healthcare... View Details

Keywords: health care

December 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Building Resiliency in McDonald's Supply Chain

By: David E. Bell, Damien McLoughlin and David Lane

Considers McDonald’s efforts to build resilience into its global supply chain so that the company and its suppliers can better navigate the increasing pressures and pace of climate change and regulatory change, including a focus on supplying sustainable beef, while the... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Supply Chain Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Risk and Uncertainty; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Europe; South America

January 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and the Cost of Capital (Abridged)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

In 2000, Eaton Corporation was a broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around “power management” and more recently on “intelligent power,” the use of digitally enabled products and services designed to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

January 2013 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Kunshan, Incorporated: The Making of China's Richest Town

By: William C. Kirby, Nora Bynum, Tracy Yuen Manty and Erica M. Zendell

In 1980, the city of Kunshan was mere countryside, registering neither on the Chinese government's nor the international business community's radar. By 2010, Kunshan had become the richest city per capita in China and a global technology powerhouse, home to companies... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Investment; Entrepreneurship; Competition; Emerging Markets; FDI; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Innovation Leadership; Technology Industry; China; Taiwan Strait

March 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Next Street, LLC

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Next Street Financial, LLC was a modern merchant bank that provided high quality advisory services and capital to small- and mid-sized inner city businesses. Next Street was a for-profit business that aimed to increase the growth, profitability and success of its... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Entrepreneurship; Capital; Commercial Banking; Investment Funds; Urban Development; Financial Services Industry

16 Jul 2019
News

JUUL: Leading the Vaping Revolution

February 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Wainwright Industries (A): Beyond the Baldrige

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Norman Klein

Traces the growth of Wainwright, a small automotive supply company, focusing on its commitment to quality in 1981 and the evolution of its quality culture. Breakthrough programs that stress "trust and belief" in the workforce and commitment to customers result in... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Relationship Management; Ethics; Business or Company Management; Standards; Machinery and Machining; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Auto Industry; Missouri

November 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Natura Cosméticos, S.A.

Rodolfo Guttilla, Director of Corporate Affairs for Natura Cosméticos S.A. (Natura), prepared for a meeting with key stakeholders to discuss the future of integrated reporting at Natura. A cosmetics company with a strong brand, robust growth in international and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Decision Making; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Brazil

January 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

Eaton Corporation: Portfolio Transformation and The Cost of Capital (Abridged)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

In 2000, Eaton Corporation was a broadly diversified industrial conglomerate. But its strategy was evolving and its focus was narrowing around “power management” and more recently on “intelligent power,” the use of digitally enabled products and services designed to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Cost of Capital; Corporate Finance; Value; Valuation; Industrial Products Industry; United States; Denmark; Republic of Ireland

September 1974 (Revised January 1988)
Case

Midwest Ice Cream Co.

Midwest Ice Cream (a disguised name) serves as an example to examine a planning and control system. Useful management information, which otherwise would not be apparent, is derived by preparing a basic profit variance analysis. This illustrates how the company is doing... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Management Systems; Food and Beverage Industry