Publications

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02 Mar 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is the Government’s Role in US Health Care?

Newman), the high cost of new technology, artificial restrictions on the supply of drugs (Sergey Mirkiin) and healthcare providers (David Stahl and Michael Robbins), the size and complexity of the problem... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

March 1996 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Arborite

Describes the competitive position of Arborite, a Canadian manufacturer of high-pressure laminates (HPL) (a product sold under the Formica name in the United States). Arborite's market share has slipped, and a new general manager must evaluate whether a change in... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Consumer Behavior; Manufacturing Industry; Canada

November 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Case

FleetBoston Financial: Online Banking

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

As the ninth largest bank holding company in the United States in 2000, FleetBoston Financial Corp. provided a myriad of financial services, including retail banking, loan origination, and brokerage accounts. This case explores how FleetBoston responded to the Internet... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Borrowing and Debt; Cost Management; Banks and Banking; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Competition; Online Technology; Banking Industry; United States

October 26, 2015
Article

Measuring and Communicating Health Care Value with Charts

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Robin P. Blackstone, Derek A. Haas and Nikhil G. Thaker

The goal of a health care system should be to deliver the most value to patients: the outcomes achieved for treating a medical condition relative to the costs incurred over a complete care cycle. We have found that a radar (spider web) chart is an effective means to... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Value; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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10 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

Minimum Wage Debate Is Really About Social Values

several decades—and it's hard to argue that a mild increase in a low minimum wage would cause a lot of unemployment. Nevertheless, a minimum wage increase is controversial. Why is that? Because the conversation is really about much more than a technical debate on the... View Details

Keywords: by April White; Retail; Manufacturing

February 2006
Case

Fraikin SA

By: W. Carl Kester, Vincent Marie Dessain and Monika Stachowiak

Provides an example of a so-called "whole business" securitization. In early 2004, Fraikin, France's leading industrial vehicle rental company, compares several alternatives for refinancing a large bridge loan within a year. Presents three primary options: a classic... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Transportation; Renting or Rental; Transportation Industry; Service Industry; France

February 1998 (Revised August 2006)
Case

House of Tata, 1995: The Next Generation (A)

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Danielle Melito Wu

The Tata Group began the 1990s as a confederation of loosely coupled firms. This case considers the rise to prominence of the new CEO of Tata Group, Ratan Tata, and his attempts to strengthen the inter-relationships among the group companies at a time when critics... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Business Conglomerates; Organizations; Corporate Strategy; Consolidation; Business Strategy; Alignment; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry

July 1981
Background Note

Competitive Status of the U.S. Automobile Industry--1981: Crisis and Transition

By: Kim B. Clark

Examines the competitive status of the U.S. auto industry in 1979-80. Provides information on the historical background of the current crisis using data on the United States and Japan. Discusses the competitive position of the U.S. industry in terms of productivity,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Auto Industry

November 1988 (Revised September 1991)
Case

Simmons Japan Ltd.

By: W. Carl Kester and Richard P. Melnick

Concerns the first leveraged buyout to occur in Japan. Analytic tasks include a valuation of the company and an assessment of its debt capacity. Also provides opportunities to discuss agency costs associated with alternative capital and equity ownership structures,... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Cost; Equity; Production; Valuation; Japan; United States

September 2010
Article

Do Inventory and Gross Margin Data Improve Sales Forecasts for U.S. Public Retailers?

By: Saravanan Kesavan, Vishal Gaur and Ananth Raman

Firm-level sales forecasts for retailers can be improved if we incorporate cost of goods sold, inventory, and gross margin (defined here as the ratio of sales to cost of goods sold) as three endogenous variables. We construct a simultaneous equations model, estimated... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Forecasting and Prediction; Distribution; Goods and Commodities; Cost; Public Sector; Profit; Mathematical Methods; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; United States

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29 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

The $1 Trillion Link Between Mental Health and Economic Productivity

In April, the World Health Organization released a groundbreaking study that established a definitive link between mental health and economic productivity. The findings were both depressing and hopeful. On the downside, depression and anxiety disorders View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

24 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 24, 2017

including aging populations and medical technology. But an underlying and misunderstood source of health care’s escalating costs has been the inability of health care provider organizations (such as large... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

Electronic Health Records Were Supposed to Cut Medical Costs. They Haven't.

much evidence for that,” says coauthor Robert S. Kaplan, senior fellow and Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development, Emeritus, at Harvard Business School. The research, conducted at Duke University Medical Center in 2016 and 2017, found that generating a single... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Health

September 1992
Case

Kodak Business Imaging Systems Division

By: Marie-Therese M. Flaherty and Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes Kodak's decision regarding a manufacturing site for some of its products. Compares several types of products (with different cost structures) and several worldwide locations (with different characteristics). Provides a framework (model) for comparing and... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Production; Product; Global Range; Supply Chain Management; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Electronics Industry

August 2, 2016
Article

Uncalculating Cooperation Is Used to Signal Trustworthiness

By: Jillian J. Jordan, Moshe Hoffman, Martin A. Nowak and David G. Rand

Humans frequently cooperate without carefully weighing the costs and benefits. As a result, people may wind up cooperating when it is not worthwhile to do so. Why risk making costly mistakes? Here, we present experimental evidence that reputation concerns provide an... View Details

Keywords: Social Evaluation; Experimental Economics; Moral Psychology; Cooperation; Reputation; Decision Making

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26 Jan 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Marketplace Scalability and Strategic Use of Platform Investment

Keywords: by Jin Li, Gary P. Pisano, and Feng Zhu

February 1992 (Revised July 1992)
Background Note

Note on Cross-Border Valuation

By: W. Carl Kester and Julia Morley

Provides a fundamental technical review of valuation techniques used to assess cross-border investments. Discusses the discounting of free cash flows with a weighted average cost of capital, the use of adjusted present value, and the importance of considering real... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

February 2010
Case

Saginaw Parts Co. and the General Motors Corp. Credit Default Swap

By: William E. Fruhan

This two-page case demonstrates how to unbundle the cost of credit extensions from product prices by observing the price of a credit default swap. It also explores how credit default swaps work, and how trade creditors are treated under U.S. bankruptcy law. Finally it... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Credit; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Laws and Statutes; Risk Management; Auto Industry; United States

August 2009
Supplement

The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (CW)

By: Willy C. Shih

When L.C. Tu receives an emergency order, he is confronted with a range of production scheduling choices, each of which has unique costs and trade-offs. The case was designed to help students understand job-shop style production and the impact of disruptions and... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Disruption; Customer Focus and Relationships; Cost; Cost Management; Business or Company Management; Time Management; Network Effects; Production; Hardware; Manufacturing Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Taiwan