Publications

Find at Harvard

September 2011
Case

AXA Private Equity: The Diana Investment

By: Michael J. Roberts and William A. Sahlman

The case focuses on an investment made by AXA Private Equity, a French manufacturer of food ingredients. The investment is made at the height of the financial markets, and financed with significant debt. Soon thereafter, the financial crisis impacted the company's... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Ethics; Investment; Financial Crisis

2007
Working Paper

How Is Foreign Aid Spent? Evidence from a Natural Experiment

By: Eric D. Werker, Faisal Z. Ahmed and Charles Cohen

We use oil price fluctuations to construct a new instrument to test the impact of transfers from wealthy OPEC nations to their poorer Muslim allies. The instrument identifies plausibly exogenous variation in foreign aid. We investigate how aid is spent by tracking its... View Details

Keywords: International Finance; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Asia

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September 1991 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Dore-Dore

By: Janice H. Hammond and Audris Wong

Dore-Dore, a French manufacturer of socks and children's knitwear, has just converted a portion of its knitwear operations to a flexible modular system to allow faster response and greater flexibility. The case provides an opportunity to assess the changes in knitwear... View Details

Keywords: Order Taking and Fulfillment; Logistics; Production; Performance Productivity; Apparel and Accessories Industry; France

December 15, 2023
Article

What Every Leader Needs to Know About Carbon Credits

By: Varsha Ramesh Walsh and Michael W. Toffel

Many companies have begun to look into credits to offset their emissions as a way to support their net zero goals as their target years get closer and closer. As it stands, the carbon credit market is too small to bear the brunt of reducing companies’ impacts on the... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Credits; Climate; Accounting; Carbon Offsetting; Carbon Abatement; Carbon Emissions; Carbon Footprint; Climate Change; Environmental Accounting; Environmental Regulation

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May 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Case

COVID-19: The Global Shutdown

By: Laura Alfaro and Sarah Jeong

In the first months of 2020, a pandemic overwhelmed the world. COVID-19, commonly known as the coronavirus, spread from China and created a severe public health emergency across countries. While an immediate fear of the disease’s impact on human life permeated society,... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Microeconomics; Macroeconomics; Financial Crisis; Economy; Economic Systems; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Economic Sectors; Health Pandemics

20 Apr 2017
Cold Call Podcast

Making Health Insurance That Consumers Actually Like

Keywords: Re: Regina E. Herzlinger; Insurance; Health

March 1981 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Corning Glass Works International (A)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Michael Y. Yoshino

Follows the impact of a change in global strategy on a diversified company's global organization structure. Traces two failed attempts at bringing a business perspective to a geographic organization, and poses the problem of what the international division president... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Framework; Global Strategy; Organizational Structure; Perspective; Power and Influence

2012
Other Unpublished Work

Measuring Shared Value: How to Unlock Value by Linking Business and Social Results

By: Michael E. Porter, Greg Hills, Marc Pfitzer, Sonja Patscheke and Elizabeth Hawkins

Measuring shared value allows companies to maximize opportunities for innovation, growth, and social impact at scale. This article explains the specific purpose of shared value measurement and offers a step-by-step process and pragmatic approaches to measurement with... View Details

Keywords: Society

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June 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Technical Note

Strategic Complements and Substitutes

By: Eric Van den Steen

The framework of strategic complements and substitutes can help companies anticipate competitors' responses. It is particularly helpful in deciding on price- or capacity-commitments (or pre-emption), but it can provide more general guidance for analyzing the potential... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Strategic Substitutes; Strategic Complements; Puppy Dog Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Game Theory; Strategy; Economics

Video

HBS Leadership Fellows

07 May 2014
Video

Maureen Harrington - Making A Difference

Ray A. Goldberg

A native of North Dakota, Dr. Goldberg received his A.B. from Harvard University in 1948, his MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1950 and his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1952.

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Keywords: agribusiness; agriculture; fast food; food; food processing; forest products; grocery; high technology; information; restaurant; retailing; soft drink; textiles; tobacco; transportation; wholesale; wine

July 2007 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Leasing Computers at Persistent Learning

Newly public Persistent Learning is acquiring vital computer assets. They need to determine how the lease or purchase decision will impact their financial statements, and how the market will react given previously forecast earnings and competitor's accounting. View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Financial Statements; Leasing

17 Jul 2015
News

Investors Follow Their Conscience

13 Dec 2013
News

Does Body Language Shape Who You Are?

09 Aug 2013
News

Beyond Ackman, JCP Fights for Survival

01 Oct 2020
News

The Investment Banker Turned Teacher

March 2023
Case

Ransomware Attack at Colonial Pipeline Company

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

On the morning of May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline Company became aware that the company had been the victim of a malicious ransomware attack that had stolen and locked up company data. The extortionists demanded 75 bitcoins (worth about $4.4 million at the time) in... View Details