Publications

April 2008
Exercise

Exercise: Customer-Operator Letter Writing

By: Frances X. Frei

The exercise involves having students write letters to an organization of their choice describing their operating experience at a detailed level. The companies' responses are paired with the students' letters and the entire collection is made available to the class.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Customer Satisfaction; Customer Value and Value Chain; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Performance Improvement

May 2005 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Inniskillin and the Globalization of Icewine

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Jillian Hirasawa

Deals with the growth of the icewine industry and follows Vincor International as it creates an international market for its Inniskillin Icewine--a luxury alcoholic beverage consumed as a dessert wine. Gives the history of the alcoholic beverage industry in Canada and... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Luxury; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada

July 2003
Article

Probabilistic Representation of Complexity

By: Nabil I Al-Najjar, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Emre Ozdenoren

We study individuals' behavior in an environment that is deterministic, but too complex to permit tractable deterministic representation. Under mild conditions, behavior is represented by a unique probabilistic model in which the agent's inability to think through all... View Details

Keywords: Complexity; Behavior; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Planning

Find at Harvard

June 2006 (Revised July 2009)
Case

MassMEDIC: The Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council

By: Willis M. Emmons III, Michael E. Porter and Spencer Wallace

Set in 2004, as Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council (MassMEDIC) President Tom Sommer contemplates the future direction of a successful medical device cluster association. Focuses on the formation of cluster organizations and their roles and effectiveness,... View Details

Keywords: Economic Growth; Industry Clusters; Nonprofit Organizations; Social and Collaborative Networks; Cooperation; Massachusetts

March 2019
Teaching Note

KITEA (A)—(F)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This Teaching Note accompanies the KITEA series of cases, which details how the Moroccan furniture company KITEA prepared for the entry of IKEA into the Moroccan market and describes the outcome of that entry. View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Strategy; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Retail Industry; Africa; North Africa; Morocco

December 1990 (Revised December 1993)
Supplement

Australian Paper Manufacturers (B)

By: David M. Upton and Joshua D. Margolis

Describes events that occur after the decision point in Australian Paper Manufacturers (A). With these facts and more detailed market projections, this case intensifies the long-term financial, strategic, and ethical decisions confronting the invader. View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Finance; Strategy; Ethics; Pulp and Paper Industry; Australia

January 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

United Breaks Guitars

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

When social media propagate a complaint about poor customer service, an international media event ensues. How do viral videos spread and what can firms do about them? This case dissects an incident in which a disgruntled customer used YouTube and Twitter to spread a... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Network Effects; Service Delivery; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet; Air Transportation Industry

June 1980 (Revised December 1992)
Case

Parker House (B)

The management of Boston's historic Parker House, owned by Dunfey Hotels, has received a request from a tour wholesaler to book a large number of rooms at the hotel during summer and fall 1980. This booking is tied to bookings at two other Dunfey hotels that need this... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Segmentation; Accommodations Industry; Boston

January 2008 (Revised January 2010)
Background Note

Finding Information for Industry Analysis

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Ann Cullen

This note provides detailed instructions on finding resources for conducting industry analysis, with a special focus on resources available at Harvard Business School. It allows students to transition from doing a Five Forces analysis on the basis of a case, where all... View Details

Keywords: Information; Five Forces Framework; Research; Competitive Strategy; Internet

February 2010
Case

Foxwoods: Turning Data into Insights in the Hospitality Industry

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Deborah L. Soule

This case describes how an IT director identified an opportunity and implemented an innovative business solution designed to enable line managers and executives to convert data to information to insights. The case also details how the company partnered with an emerging... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Partners and Partnerships; Information Technology; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Connecticut

November 1991 (Revised April 2002)
Background Note

Note on Foreign Currency Swaps

By: W. Carl Kester

Provides descriptive background about the development of an international market for currency swaps and, by means of a detailed example, instructs readers in the determination of swap flows and all-in costs of financing using market swap rates. A rewritten version of... View Details

Keywords: Currency

June 1987 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Textile Corporation Building, The

By: William J. Poorvu

Describes the potential acquisition of a downtown office building in Boston through a sealed bid auction. The prospective buyer analyzes in detail all elements of the income and expense statements, calculates the effect of all improvements, and imputes a purchase price... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Property; Bids and Bidding; Auctions; Price; Asset Pricing; Real Estate Industry; Boston

April 2003
Case

Sunk Costs: The Plan to Dump the Brent Spar (A)

This case explores the conflict between Shell Oil and Greenpeace over Shell's plans to sink the aging Brent Spar oil platform in the North Atlantic. It details the tactics Greenpeace employed and examines Shell's responses. View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Crisis Management; Environmental Sustainability; Mining Industry; Energy Industry; North America

March 2000 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Thomas Weisel Partners (B): Year One

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scott D Landry

After its launch in February 1999, Thomas Weisel Partners experiences rapid growth in its first year. This case details the inaugural year's development and probes what steps the firm should take to continue the momentum. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Financial Institutions; Management Teams; Growth Management; Financial Services Industry

February 1988
Case

Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc. (Condensed)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Richard S. Rosenbloom

A condensed version of Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc. The principal changes are the elimination of details about the early history of the company and condensation of the final section, Outlook for the Future. View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Industry Growth; Environmental Sustainability; Business Strategy; Trends; Manufacturing Industry

August 2000 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Sara's Options

By: Peter Tufano, Brian J. Hall and Joshua Musher

This case describes the pay packages offered to Sara Becker, a graduating MBA student, including detailed information about two stock option packages (one of which is an indexed option package). She gathers the information and attempts to compare those compensation... View Details

Keywords: Stock Options; Compensation and Benefits; Recruitment; Information; Valuation