Publications

May 2006 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Icebreaker: The China Entry Decision

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Dan Heath

Jeremy Moon, CEO of Icebreaker, maker of merino-fiber activewear, thinks about the strengths and weaknesses of staying focused on his rapidly expanding U.S. and European markets vs. broadening his attack to include China. If he enters China, should he continue his... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Global Strategy; Expansion; Decision Choices and Conditions; Market Entry and Exit; Marketing Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; China; United States; Europe

January 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Scott Taylor, CEO & founder of NLM, is a serial entrepreneur faced with an important decision. As his industry consolidates, he knows that his company must grow quickly, yet he believes he has reached the limit of what organic growth can achieve. Should he accept the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply and Industry; Supply Chain

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March 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Frederick Douglass Charter School: The Renewal Decision

Five years after the launch of the Frederick Douglass Charter School, the school's performance is under review by the state board of education as part of a decision about whether to renew the school's charter for a school as well as the implications of a... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Accountability; Urban Development; Education; Business Startups; Education Industry; United States

May 2024
Case

Naked Wines: The Profit vs. Growth Decision

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer

Nick Devlin faced a difficult strategic decision in October 2022. As the CEO of a UK-based subscription business connecting wine drinkers in the US, UK, and Australia with winemakers from around the world (which one journalist called the “Netflix of Wine”), he had to... View Details

Most executives think of decision making as a singular event that occurs at a particular point in time. In reality, though, decision making is a process fraught with power plays, politics, personal nuances, and institutional history. Leaders who recognize this make... View Details

01 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

How IT Shapes Top-Down and Bottom-Up Decision Making

What determines whether decisions happen on the bottom, middle, or top rung of the corporate ladder? New research offers a surprising conclusion: The answer often lies in the technology that a company uses. Information-based systems, such... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

October 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Boeing 737 Industrial Footprint: The Wichita Decision

By: Willy Shih and Margaret Pierson

The case examines the circumstances leading up to the Boeing Company's decision to spin-off its Wichita Division. This case is intended to be taught with two other notes: "On the Use of Capital Efficiency Metrics," HBS No. 612-034, "Modularity in Design and... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Capital; Standards; Design; Production; Air Transportation Industry

06 May 2015
News

Don’t Let Emotions Screw Up Your Decisions

25 Jan 2013
News

Decision Making 101: Reflection, Followed by Action

Research Summary

Democratic Governance and Decision Making

By: David A. Moss

Under what conditions are public policies in a democracy determined by special interests or, alternatively, by the general interest? A good deal of academic work, particularly associated with the economic theory of regulation, suggests that special interests... View Details

January 2008
Teaching Note

Hewlett-Packard-Compaq: The Merger Decision (TN)

By: Krishna G. Palepu

Teaching Note for [104048]. View Details

Keywords: Computer Industry

March 2001 (Revised June 2017)
Teaching Note

Vyaderm Pharmaceuticals: The EVA Decision

By: Robert Simons and Indra A. Reinbergs

Teaching Note for (9-101-019). View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Industry; Washington (state, US)

February 1996 (Revised November 1998)
Case

Brown Group, Inc.--The Dividend Decision

By: Joseph L. Bower

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Restructuring; Investment Return

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06 Jun 2018
HBS Conference

Behavioral Decision Research in Management

31 Oct 2014
News

Identifying the Biases Behind Your Bad Decisions

29 Oct 2013
News

How Anxiety Can Lead Your Decisions Astray

28 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Making the Decision to Franchise (or not)

challenge of serving customers with different preferences and behaviors when that model is stretched across multiple markets." As a starting point in their research, the authors focused on the organizational decision to franchise or not... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

Article

How to Tackle Your Toughest Decisions

By: Joseph L. Badaracco

The toughest calls managers have to make come in situations when they have worked hard to gather the facts and have done the best analysis they can, but they still don’t know what to do. Then judgment—a fusion of thinking, feelings, experience, imagination, and... View Details

Keywords: Management; Judgments

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October 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Exercise

Participant and Leader Behavior: Group Decision Simulation (D)

This series provides the instructions for a group decision-making simulation in which students experience four different methods for leading a group decision process. In the simulation, all students work in groups, with one person designated as the team leader. All... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Decision Making