Publications

October 2013 (Revised November 2018)
Background Note

Note on the Leveraged Loan Market

By: Victoria Ivashina

This note provides an introduction to the process of loan syndication and the evolution of the leveraged loan market. The note emphasizes the role of banks as loan originators and the evolution of the institutional investors' entry into the leveraged loan market. In... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Banks and Banking

February 2006 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Kevin McCarthy and Westlake Chemical Corporation (A)

Examines forecasting earnings/performance for a commodity chemical firm during a period of high uncertainty, highlighting the combined effects of input process (natural gas), industry capacity/utilization, and cyclicality. Assuming the role of Kevin McCarthy (the top... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Futures and Commodity Futures; Forecasting and Prediction; Chemicals; Chemical Industry

March 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Daniel Dobbins Distillery, Inc.

A distiller increases whiskey production and income declines because of accounting methods in use. Questions are raised regarding the treatment of expenditures which can be classified as production, inventory, or period costs. The necessary aging process raises added... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financing and Loans; Cost; Accounting; Food and Beverage Industry

April 2002 (Revised September 2003)
Case

Stephen Brown at John Hancock Financial Services

By: Robin J. Ely

Describes a major organizational transformation process at John Hancock Financial Services in which CEO Stephen Brown takes a series of measured steps to turn the old-line mutual insurance company into a competitive, performance-oriented financial services firm. At the... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leadership; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Alignment; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

April 1985
Case

SEEQ Technology--1984

By: Kim B. Clark

Examines a decision about product and process technology facing a small, three-year old semiconductor company. The company must decide between pursuing a well-defined technology (N-MOS) with significant short-term advantages or an advanced technology (CMOS) that has... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Semiconductor Industry

April 1991 (Revised July 1991)
Supplement

RJR Nabisco Board: Guardians of the Gate? (B)

By: Jay W. Lorsch

The special committee of the RJR Nabisco board has extended the bidding deadline for the company by 10 days. The case explains the process by which Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the management group bid against one another for ownership of RJR Nabisco. The board of... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Situation or Environment; Bids and Bidding; Decision Making; Managerial Roles; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

May 1997 (Revised July 1997)
Case

Vermeer Technologies (F): FrontPage 97

By: Ashish Nanda

Vermeer engineers work at the breakneck pace of "Internet time" to develop the next version of their software product, winning accolades from Microsoft management. Even before this version ships, however, they are faced with another punishing development schedule for... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Product Development; Information Technology Industry

Program

Growing as a Purposeful Leader

larger classroom, driven by the renowned HBS case method. Review Our Campus Health & Safety Protocols Admissions Criteria and Process We admit candidates to specific sessions on a rolling, space-available basis, and encourage you to apply... View Details

Web

Employment | Harvard Business School

unmatched opportunity to work closely with world-renowned faculty on the research, case studies, and coursework that shape the world's leaders. Working at HBS Benefits & Compensation Hiring Process Departments Diversity Affinity Groups... View Details

2013
Working Paper

Managers and Market Capitalism

By: Rebecca Henderson and Karthik Ramanna

In a capitalist system based on free markets, do managers have responsibilities to the system itself? If they do, should these responsibilities shape their behavior when they are engaging in the political process in an attempt to structure the institutions of... View Details

Keywords: Market Design; Economic Systems; Managerial Roles; Government and Politics

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April 2021
Case

ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Ashiana Jivraj and Jane Barrow

The case illustrates the application of value-based health care to dental medicine. ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers was a rapidly-growing network of dentist-owned independent implant clinics. The targeted market included 23 million people, 15% of the US adult... View Details

Keywords: Value-based Health Care; Dental Medicine; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Business Strategy; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Focus and Relationships; Health Industry; United States

2011
Article

Organizational Errors: Directions for Future Research

By: Paul S. Goodman, Rangaraj Ramanujam, John S. Carroll and Amy C. Edmondson

The goal of this paper is to promote research about organizational errors—i.e., the actions of multiple organizational participants that deviate from organizationally specified rules and can potentially result in adverse organizational outcomes. To that end, we advance... View Details

Keywords: Research; Organizations; Interests; Managerial Roles; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Management Practices and Processes; Learning

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February 2016 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Labor, Capital, and Government: The Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902

By: David Moss and Marc Campasano

In late October 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt felt relieved after months of anxiety and uncertainty. Workers in Pennsylvania's anthracite coal industry had been on strike for five months, threatening to leave eastern cities in the cold without enough heating fuel... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Agreements and Arrangements; Business and Government Relations; Labor; Law; Policy; Mining; History; Mining Industry; Pennsylvania

Research Summary

The Learning As BehaviorS (LABS) Model

The Learning As BehaviorS (LABS) Model of Expertise Development integrates research from management, cognitive psychology, educational psychology and neuroscience to describe the process of how a novice achieves expertise. Defining expertise as the ability to... View Details

March 2016
Case

Preparing a Concession Bid at TAV Airports Holding

By: C. Fritz Foley and Çiğdem Çelik

In 2013, TAV Airports Holding prepared a bid for the concession to build and operate the third Istanbul airport. This process involved input from various parts of the firm with operating and financial expertise. Burcu Geriş, the CFO of TAV Airports Holding, and her... View Details

Keywords: Project Finance; Infrastructure Development; Equity Cash Flows; Capital Budgeting; Valuation; Financial Management; Financing and Loans; Turkey

Article

Aligning Strategy and Sales

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Much current opinion asserts that strategy is less important (and may, in fact, be an impediment) in an era of constant change. This publication discusses why claims about business change are often overstated and misunderstood, why strategy is even more important as... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Sales