Publications

March 2016 (Revised March 2022)
Teaching Note

Express Scripts: Promoting Prescription Drug Home Delivery (A) and (B)

By: John Beshears

The pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) sector processes prescription drug claims on behalf of companies that offer a prescription drug benefit to their employees. The case associated with this teaching note follows Bob Nease, chief scientist at Express Scripts, as he... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceuticals; Prescription Drugs; Pharmacy Benefit Manager; PBM; Healthcare; Behavioral Economics; Choice Architecture; Active Choice; Service Delivery; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Distribution Channels; Health Care and Treatment; Service Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

August 2003
Case

Mercury Computer Systems: The Evolution from Integrated Technology to Open Standard

By: Rebecca Henderson and Nancy Confrey

For 20 years, Mercury Computer Systems has thrived, providing products and services that support ultrafast processing of real time data. Now Jay Bertelli, the CEO, faces a critical question: How can the firm compete once the standards on which its products are based... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Open Source Distribution; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

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Using his Ford automobile as collateral, Wyatt entered the gas distribution and energy pipeline business with $800 in 1955. His tenacity and determination quickly secured gas contracts throughout Texas, and in short order, Wyatt had built... View Details

Keywords: Utilities & Energy

Jeffrey P. Bezos

Founding his company just as the Internet was gaining widespread usage and credibility, Bezos created the world’s largest on-line bookseller. Realizing that few bookstores, even superstores, carry more than 100,000 books, Bezos created an enterprise that could source... View Details

Keywords: Retail

2018
Working Paper

The State of Open Source Server Software

By: Shane Greenstein and Klaus Ackermann

The study assembles new data to construct a census of worldwide web server use across the globe. We document a large concentration of investment in the United States, and a wide dispersion across scores of countries. We find tens of billions of dollars of unmeasured... View Details

Keywords: Internet; Open Source; Internet and the Web; Policy; Open Source Distribution; Internet and the Web; Global Range

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January 2017
Case

Flatiron School

By: Thomas Eisenmann and Halah AlQahtani

In late 2016, the founders of Flatiron School, a startup offering 12-week coding bootcamps, are formulating their growth strategy. Their new online-only program has matched the excellent job placement results for their in-person bootcamps. Should Flatiron shift... View Details

Keywords: Scaling Start-ups; Growth Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Distribution Channels; Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Diversification; Expansion; Education Industry; United States

Foreseeing the demands of post-war relocation by veterans and their families, Shoen focused his efforts on the development of a cheap one-way truck rental unit, U-Haul. Shoen’s original and innovative ideas allowed him to cheaply and rapidly build U-Haul’s View Details

Keywords: Transportation

David D. Glass

early proponent of automated technology that Wal-Mart has utilized to develop one of the most sophisticated distribution networks in the industry. Under his leadership, Wal-Mart became the largest retailer in the world and the second... View Details

Keywords: Retail

Frank J. Fahey

Fahey created a sales organization to distribute Gillette products throughout the world. By 1917, Fahey was producing 1 million razors per year compared to just 91,000 in 1904, and had established factories in England, France, Germany and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care & Home Products

October 2014
Supplement

Quiet Logistics (B)

By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred

This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details

February 2014 (Revised March 2022)
Case

School Specialty, Inc.

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Kristin Mugford

Set in 2013, School Specialty was a financially troubled supplier of educational products to primary and secondary schools in the United States. The company planned to file Chapter 11 in order to address its excessive debt load, but needed to arrange... View Details

Keywords: School Specialty; Bankruptcy; Section 363; Financing; Chapter 11; Capital Structure; Financing and Loans; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry; United States

June 2005 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Distrobot Systems, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman

Distrobot is a start-up that has developed a new system for warehouse automation. The company is trying to raise money to finance the launch of the product. The founder must decide how much capital to raise, from whom, and on what terms. View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Product Launch; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry

May 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Marshall Industries

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Confounding predictions that the Internet would "disintermediate" commerce, making "middle man" companies all but obsolete, Marshall Industries, a leading electronics distributor, used the Internet and digital technologies to reinvent itself. Marshall continued to sell... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Supply Chain; Emerging Markets; Customer Focus and Relationships; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry

May 1998
Teaching Note

C-Car TN

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Teaching Note for (9-598-064). View Details

Keywords: Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry; United States

April 1998
Teaching Note

WESCO Distribution, Inc. TN

By: Das Narayandas

Teaching Note for (9-598-021). View Details

Keywords: Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry