Publications

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March 2008
Case

Novartis AG: Science-Based Business

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

Novartis is a science-based drug company, which has important implications for its business strategy. It is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world with over $38B in sales in 2007. Pharmaceuticals account for slightly over $24B of that total. In 2007,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Resource Allocation; Product Development; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Pharmaceutical Industry

December 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Vignette: The Rebar Dilemma

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Martin Smith, a new associate at an LBO firm, must respond to a problem posed by his boss, based on an historical deal that suddenly came undone. After months of negotiation, his firm's plan to buy a bankrupt competitor of one of its portfolio companies and close it... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Competition; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management

July 2012 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Friend Bank: The Time for Hope (Abridged)

By: Clayton Rose and Aldo Sesia

In 2010, Friend Bank was entering the fifth year of Hope Harris Johnson's ambitious 20-year growth plan to transform her family's one-branch community bank into an institution with a substantial presence in southeastern Alabama. Harris Johnson was pleased, so far, with... View Details

Keywords: Banking; Family Business; Strategy And Execution; Banks and Banking; Family Ownership; Financial Institutions; Strategy; Banking Industry; United States; Alabama

December 1998
Case

Casto Travel

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Susan Harmeling

Maryles Casto had the vision to build the largest travel agency in Silicon Valley, mirroring the growth pattern of the entire area. In 1997 the travel business changed dramatically as airlines chose not to pay travel agencies the fees they once did. Simultaneously, the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Finance; Internet and the Web; Change Management; Markets; Travel Industry

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About - Business & Environment

University seeking to learn about business management, industrial environmental management, and environmental policy. Soon after graduating Yale with an MBA and a Master’s degree from its environmental school, Toffel became the director... View Details

Web

Research - Global

Cuneo and Marco Bertini Facing changing consumer behavior and shifting industry conditions, Parque del Sendero, one of largest networks of cemeteries in Chile, considers repositioning its products to appeal to a broader swath of Chilean... View Details

July 2012
Case

New Century Financial Corporation (Abridged)

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan and Ian Cornell

After years of rapid growth and stock price appreciation, New Century Financial Corporation, one of the largest subprime loan originators in the U.S., reported accounting problems in early 2007. The resulting liquidity crisis forced the company to file for Chapter 11... View Details

Keywords: Audit Committees; Financial Management; Control Systems; Securities; Loan Evaluation; Accounting; Value; Financial Services Industry; United States

March 2013
Case

Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Gustavo Herrero and Ricardo Reisen De Pinho

Internationally recognized Brazilian Nizan Guanaes, co-founder of Grupo ABC, a rapidly growing global advertising firm ranked 18th in 2011, had aspirations to be in the top 10 by 2015. Grupo ABC thrived by identifying national (Brazilian) challenges and incorporating... View Details

Keywords: Management; Global Business; Advertising Agency; Opportunities; Globalized Firms and Management; Advertising; Global Strategy; Business Strategy; Digital Marketing; Advertising Industry; Brazil

December 2007 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Real Madrid Club de Fútbol in 2007: Beyond the Galácticos

By: Anita Elberse and John A. Quelch

On June 17, 2007, Real Madrid sealed its first Spanish league championship under new president Ramon Calderon, ending an unprecedented title drought. Real Madrid had seen a significant growth in revenues and now was the world's biggest soccer club and among the largest... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Risk Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Sports; Sports Industry

2019
Working Paper

The Customer May Not Always Be Right: Customer Compatibility and Service Performance

By: Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell and Frances X. Frei

This paper investigates the impact of customer compatibility – the degree of fit between the needs of customers and the capabilities of the operations serving them – on customer experiences and firm performance. We use a variance decomposition analysis to quantify the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Compatibility; Satisfaction; Profitability; Customer Relationship Management; Service Operations; Customer Satisfaction; Banking Industry; Banking Industry

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29 May 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 29, 2018

(BRFSS) data on 2.3 million U.S. respondents, and Eurobarometer data that cover multiple business cycles over four decades. This research provides a new perspective on the welfare cost of business cycles, with implications for growth... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

December 2016
Case

Muñoz Group Faces Brexit

By: Forest Reinhardt and Annelena Lobb

In 2016, Muñoz Group, a multifaceted agribusiness company that developed, produced, packed, imported, and exported citrus, flowers, grapes, juice, and ice cream, faced an unexpected new challenge in the British public’s vote for the United Kingdom to exit the European... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Globalization; Intellectual Property; Government and Politics; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Europe

Research Summary

Corporate Governance

By: Charles C.Y. Wang

The characteristics and structure of boards of directors have important implications for firm performance. Professor Wang has found that firms with well-connected boards whose members have strong network connections provide economic benefits that are not immediately... View Details

01 Aug 2012
News

Face Fears with Courage

March 1992
Case

Amgen, Inc.: Planning the Unplannable

By: Nitin Nohria

By the early 1990s, Amgen--a pharmaceutical company started little over a decade ago as Applied Molecular Genetics--was within range of becoming a billion-dollar company. With two extremely successful biotechnology drugs on the market, Amgen stood as the largest and... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Success; Risk and Uncertainty; Pharmaceutical Industry

Web

Business History - Faculty & Research

Development Strategy ; Knowledge Sharing ; Industry Growth ; Monopoly ; Organizational Culture ; Supply Chain Management ; Partners and Partnerships ; Risk and Uncertainty ; Adaptation ; Commercialization ;... View Details

April 2010
Case

Manchester Bidwell Corporation: the Replication Question

By: Toby E. Stuart, G. Felda Hardymon, James L. Heskett and Ann Leamon

Bill Strickland, CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation, must decide the best way to replicate his innovative, award-winning approach to curing poverty. Manchester Bidwell's approach, which provides both adult job-training tuned to fill the needs of local industries and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development; Social Enterprise; Poverty; Training; Competency and Skills; Jobs and Positions; Human Resources