Publications

March 1992 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Harley-Davidson, Inc.--1987

By: W. Carl Kester and Julia Morley

After an LBO and near bankruptcy in the early 1980s, Harley-Davidson makes an astonishing recovery, going public in 1986. Its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 1987 provides the occasion of an equity analyst to publish a research report in which she must issue... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Currency Exchange Rate; Reports; Crisis Management; Going Public; Research; Competition; Auto Industry; Japan; New York (city, NY)

February 1992 (Revised October 1996)
Case

CUC International, Inc. (A)

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Paul M. Healy

The case series examines the role of financial reporting and corporate finance policies as vehicles for communication between managers and outside investors. This case describes management's concern that the company's stock is undervalued because analysts viewed the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Stocks; Financial Management; Decisions; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Management Style; Management Practices and Processes; Business and Shareholder Relations; Value; Financial Services Industry

April 1989
Case

Norton Auto Supply

By: Janice H. Hammond

Describes a multiechelon distribution system for the distribution of automobile spare parts. An analyst has been hired by the Norton Auto Supply Co. to improve the company's inventory planning and control techniques. Includes demand, cost, weight, and supplier lead... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Operations; Distribution Channels; Management Practices and Processes; Management; Strategy; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

June 1986
Case

Premier Furniture Co.

By: Thomas R. Piper

A credit analyst for a furniture manufacturer is confronted with two customers who have exceeded their credit limits. The financial performance of each has been weak, and one of the customers has a highly leveraged balance sheet. Industry conditions are weak; the... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Financial Statements; Credit; Sales; Manufacturing Industry

April 1985 (Revised March 1986)
Case

Seven-Up Division of Philip Morris

By: Michael E. Porter and Edward J. Hoff

In 1979, Philip Morris acquired the Seven-Up Co., the number three concentrate producer in the U.S. After four years of losses, Seven-Up had registered an operating profit in 1984. Industry analysts were debating the role that Seven-Up would play in Philip Morris's... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Divisions; Debates; Profit; Production; Personal Development and Career; United States

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

Teaching Interest

MBA Elective Curriculum-- Competing Through Business Models

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

The words “business model” are inescapable in our daily fare of business news. These two ubiquitous words seemed to effortlessly rise up to prominence during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. When businesspeople, journalists, academics, and other... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Competitive Strategy

Article

Organizational Emplacement as a Response to Digital Threat: The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores

By: Ryan Raffaelli and Ryann Noe

This study reveals how incumbent actors leverage physical place as source of differentiation in response to the threat of digital commoditization. Through a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of the U.S. independent bookselling industry from 1995 to 2019, we outline... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Place Making; Bookstores; Industry Evolution; Digital; Commoditization; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Digital Transformation; E-commerce; Distribution Channels; Civil Society or Community; Value Creation; Retail Industry