Publications

August 2024
Case

The Walt Disney Company: Management Guidance

By: Joseph Pacelli and James Weber

In November 2023, financial analyst Aurora Fee was forecasting The Walt Disney Company’s earnings and stock price, with the goal of providing an investment recommendation to her clients. Disney, one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies, had just... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Accounting; Investment; Communication; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Earnings; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States

May 2020
Teaching Note

Kraft Heinz: The $8 Billion Brand Write-Down

By: Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-076. On Friday, February 22, 2019, following an unexpected and disappointing earnings report, The Kraft Heinz Company’s stock price fell 27%, wiping out $16 billion in market value. CEO Bernardo Hees had announced that the company had... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

October 2009 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Cosan: Thinking Outside the Barrel

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Noel Maurer and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

The Cosan case introduces students and executive education participants to political economy and business strategy in the biofuels industry. Cosan, based in Brazil, is the largest grower and processor of sugarcane in the world and the largest sugar and ethanol producer... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Global Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Industry Structures; Business and Government Relations; Business Strategy; Vertical Integration; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Brazil

Web

Browse All Articles, Research, & Case Studies - HBS Working Knowledge

extensive experience in climate negotiations and industry collaboration, Paul and Tom share insights on how COP29 fits into the broader climate agenda, what business leaders should expect, and how they can best engage. The conversation... View Details

Program

Changing the Game

skills needed to bargain more effectively, make better decisions on the spot, and consistently deliver results. You may also be interested in the related program: Changing the Game: Negotiation and Competitive Decision-Making—Virtual.... View Details

10 Jan 2018
Blog Post

EXPERTS SHARE 5 TIPS TO BECOME A BETTER MANAGER

How can you become a better manager? What are the steps you need to take to get there? Below, we've compiled five management tips from Harvard Business School faculty and industry leaders who are featured in the new HBX course Becoming a... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

Willis M. Emmons

WILLIAM (WILLIS) EMMONS is Senior Lecturer and Director of the C. Roland Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard Business School, a position he has held since 2004. As Director of the Christensen Center, Emmons oversees programs to... View Details

Keywords: infrastructure industry; infrastructure industry; infrastructure industry; infrastructure industry; infrastructure industry

June 1996
Case

Armscor: Life After Apartheid?

After taking office, South Africa's new president, Nelson Mandela, must decide whether to dismantle or support Armscor, South Africa's state-owned arms company, which has been a pillar of the apartheid regime. Complicating matters is the fact that the arms industry was... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Competitive Advantage; State Ownership; Government Administration; Business and Government Relations; Public Administration Industry; South Africa

June 2013 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Ensina!

By: John J-H Kim, Alejandra Meraz Velasco and Christine An

In 2011, a group of passionate social entrepreneurs in Rio de Janeiro, with the support and encouragement of several prominent philanthropists and members of government, launch Ensina!, seizing Brazil's unprecedented economic growth and national commitment to... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Teaching; Business and Government Relations; Education Industry; Brazil

18 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 18, 2007

modularized. Instead these areas should be located in transaction-free zones so that the costs of transacting do not overburden the system. The boundaries of transaction-free zones constitute breakpoints where firms and industries may... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2022
Teaching Note

Supreme: Remaining Cool While Pursuing Growth

By: Jill Avery and Sandrine Crener

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 522-006. Following VF Corporation’s acquisition of cult streetwear brand Supreme, consumers and industry pundits were nervous that becoming part of a large, public corporation would put an end to Supreme’s slow and careful growth... View Details

Keywords: Cultural Branding; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Growth Management; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

January 2001 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Russia: The End of a Time of Troubles?

By: Rawi E. Abdelal

Describes Russia's troubled economic transition since 1991, highlights the problem of institutional development, and surveys the challenges President Vladimir Putin faced in 2000. The first section provides a brief synopsis of liberalization, stabilization, and... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Public Sector; Privatization; Economy; Developing Countries and Economies; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations; Russia

November 2004
Case

Technology Commercialization at the Massachusetts General Hospital

The Department of Corporate Sponsored Research & Licensing (CSRL) at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) serves as the primary interface between the hospital and the private sector. Examines the range of issues related to the commercialization of MGH's... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Conflict of Interests; Commercialization; Higher Education; Health Care and Treatment; Education Industry; Education Industry; Massachusetts

13 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

Picture the Jamaican bobsled team going for the gold at the Winter Olympics. Or competitors in what seem fundamentally unbalanced battles: the Chicago Cubs versus the New York Yankees, Apple versus Microsoft, and Southwest Airlines versus United. In the View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Web

Placement - Doctoral

Andrei Shleifer , Ludwig Straub , and David Baqaee Hanbin Yang Business Economics, 2024 Placement: London Business School, Finance Department Dissertation: Essays in Finance and Industrial Organization Advisors: John Campbell , Ariel... View Details

February 1999 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)

By: Stephen A. Greyser

Chronicles the background of the founding of the WNBA, its basic business concept, some of the key research information used by the NBA in launching it, and other related information. Students must analyze the "basic business model" involved and compare it to that of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Research; Outcome or Result; Sports; Gender; Sports Industry

Find at Harvard

October 2007
Article

The Effectiveness of Pre-Release Advertising for Motion Pictures: An Empirical Investigation Using a Simulated Market

By: Anita Elberse and Bharat N. Anand

One of the most visible and publicized trends in the movie industry is the escalation in movie advertising expenditures over time. Yet, the returns to movie advertising are poorly understood. The main reason is that disentangling the causal effect of advertising on... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Stocks; Investment Return; Price; Revenue; Quality; Mathematical Methods; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

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September 2021
Case

Vignettes on Professional Service Firm Governance

By: David G. Fubini, Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

The two vignettes within “Vignettes on Professional Service Firm Governance” (HBS No. 122-024) present various issues relating to governance in professional service firms (“PSFs”). In the first, the Managing Director of a U.S. consulting firm contemplates whether to... View Details