Publications

Article

Elevate Employees, Don't Eliminate Them

By: Ryan W. Buell

The last major global shock—the 2008 recession—led to what economists call a “jobless recovery” as companies found they could get by with fewer employees. But post-pandemic, the author writes, managers should focus on changing employees’ roles instead. He has five key... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Customer Relationship Management; Interpersonal Communication; Value Creation

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December 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Made In Space, Expectations Management, and the Business of In-Space Manufacturing

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Mehak Sarang

After having proven its base technology (3D printing) through NASA solicitations and contracts, Made In Space was searching for a viable commercial application. But the business case for the leading candidate, high-quality fiber optic cable for use on Earth, remained... View Details

Keywords: Aerospace; Space; Space Economy; 3D Printing; Manufacturing; Public-private Partnership; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Aerospace Industry; Manufacturing Industry

November 2019
Case

Chile: Unrest in the Copper Nation

By: Laura Alfaro and Sarah Jeong

For decades, Chile was heralded as South America’s pillar of stable economic growth. Chile was the world’s largest producer of copper and enjoyed a long period of over 30 years of world demand for its resources. In 2013, the commodity boom ended and was replaced by a... View Details

Keywords: Copper Production; Protests; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Metals and Minerals; Production; Price; Mining Industry; Chile

September 2014 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief: What Can We Learn from Commercial Supply Chains?

By: Willy Shih and Margaret Pierson

Organizing speedy and efficient supply operations for unpredictable major natural disasters was a continuing challenge for the U.S. military, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti was both unique in its operational scope and political complexity. As he reviewed the... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chains; Humanitarian Assistance; Disaster Relief; Distribution; Logistics; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Operations; Distribution Industry; United States; Haiti

February 2014 (Revised May 2014)
Background Note

Finding the Money: An Overview of Infrastructure Finance Challenges and Opportunities

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Daniel Fox

This overview describes how the United States funds and finances infrastructure investment to maintain its economic competitiveness. It considers the roles of taxpayers, users, government allocators and lenders, and private investors in the infrastructure funding... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Infrastructure; Technology; United States

August 2011 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Boardroom Battle Behind Bars: Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings—A Corporate Governance Drama

By: William C. Kirby and Tracy Yuen Manty

Despite widespread news of the incarceration of Gome Electronics' CEO, Huang Guangyu, Bain Capital felt they carefully undertook due diligence before making a significant investment in the company. The venture capital firm was confident that it and the current... View Details

Keywords: China; Legal Aspects Of Business; Corruption; Risk; Corporate Governance; Crime and Corruption; Power and Influence; Risk Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Venture Capital; Ethics; Governing and Advisory Boards; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Values and Beliefs; Private Equity; China

September 2010
Case

Freddie Mac: Managing in Conservatorship

By: Robert Steven Kaplan, Nitin Nohria and Ben Creo

Ed Haldeman has recently become CEO of Freddie Mac, one of three major government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) charged with supporting U.S. residential mortgage finance. The company was placed into conservatorship by the U.S. treasury on September 7, 2008.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Financial Crisis; Mortgages; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Business and Government Relations; Financial Services Industry; United States

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January 2009 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation: 'Reverse BOT'

By: Willy Shih

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is executing a strategy that leverages the desires of municipalities in China to build clusters of high technology companies. By partnering with those cities to build new semiconductor fabs that SMIC would... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Clusters; Infrastructure; State Ownership; Business and Community Relations; Semiconductor Industry; China

April 2006 (Revised April 2020)
Case

"The Case of Leadership Inertia"

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

The CEO of an international bank has raised the bank's performance by emphasizing a new culture of leadership that empowers people at all levels. Managers are rated both on their business results and their leadership—how they model new behaviors—but 12 senior managers... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Performance Evaluation; Employee Relationship Management

October 2005 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Pharmaceutical Industry in 2005, The

By: John R. Wells and Elizabeth Raabe

The entire pharmaceutical industry faced uncertain times in 2005. Many of the industry's most pressing issues—patent expirations, new drug pipeline development, price pressures, regulatory issues, and political pressures—were long standing. Fundamentally new... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Research and Development; Framework; Change; Competition; Technological Innovation; Pharmaceutical Industry

16 Apr 2021
News

Tsedal Neeley on Remote Work Revolution: Succeeding from Anywhere

Web

Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

use of alternative data to assess borrowers’ creditworthiness result in broader credit access? Using administrative data provided by a major fintech platform, the authors find that, compared to actual outcomes of the fintech platform’s... View Details

18 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 18, 2008

impact on subjective well-being because of people's tendency to adapt quickly; worse, those events that do have a lasting impact tend to be negative. We suggest that while major events may not provide lasting increases in well-being,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Apr 2024
In Practice

Why Progress on Immigration Might Soften Labor Pains

the current immigration regime would be a major mistake. The US economy would instead benefit from a more flexible, counter-cyclical system that depends on the conditions of labor markets. Relaxing the quotas currently in place for... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

Article

Manuscript Variations of Dabistān-i Maẕāhib and Writing Histories of Religion in Mughal India

By: Sudev J Sheth

A text that has found renewed interest among scholars of early modern India is the Persian compendium of religion called Dabistān-i Maẕāhib. Written between 1645 and 1658, the Dabistān presents a lively ethnographic and historical account of customs and habits of... View Details

Keywords: Manuscripts; Religion; History; India

July 2018 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Donald Trump and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

By: Matthew Weinzierl and Robert Scherf

In January 2018, President Donald Trump was full of optimism. He had just signed the most substantial legislation of his young presidency, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), making major changes to the tax code. Echoing his campaign slogan—Make America Great Again—Trump... View Details

Keywords: Taxation; Jobs and Positions; Government and Politics; Public Opinion; United States