Publications

November 1994
Case

Dow Corning and the Breast Implant Controversy (A)

By: Willis M. Emmons III, Monica Brand and Greg Keller

In early 1994, Dow Corning Corp. debates whether to participate in a proposed $4.2 billion product liability settlement. Specifically, the firm must decide whether to contribute $2 billion to end a class action suit filed by women suffering from connective tissue... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Ethics; Health Disorders; Government Legislation; Crime and Corruption; Legal Liability; Risk and Uncertainty; Business Strategy; Communication Strategy; Lawsuits and Litigation; Health Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

Web

Clusters - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

01 June 2006 HBS Case Collection MassMEDIC: The Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council by Willis M. Emmons III, Michael E. Porter and Spencer Wallace 04 May 2012 HBS student project Tennessee Music... View Details

December 1992 (Revised September 1995)
Exercise

Negotiation Exercise on Tradeable Pollution Allowances: General Background Information

Designed to teach students about the trade-offs faced by firms exploring alternative approaches to complying with pollution control regulations. The setting is the U.S. electric utility industry in 1993. In accordance with the provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act,... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Pollutants; Laws and Statutes; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governance Compliance; Utilities Industry; United States

Web

About the Center - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

Christensen, longtime HBS faculty member and legendary case method teacher, the Center's focus is helping faculty develop as teachers. It augments the School's traditional system of faculty-to-faculty mentoring by providing additional... View Details

01 Oct 2002
News

Michael F. Cronin

Women & Enterprise. Cronin also funds four HBS fellowships. “Helping deserving people help themselves is as exciting as working on a deal,” he says. And for Cronin, that's fundamental. — Garry Emmons (send... View Details

March 1993
Supplement

Burroughs Wellcome and AZT (B)

Describes Burroughs Wellcome's response to protests over the pricing of its AIDS drug AZT in September 1989. Also presents short-term reactions by government officials, AIDS activists, and investors to Burroughs Wellcome's strategy. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Health Pandemics; Multinational Firms and Management; Price; Crime and Corruption; Risk and Uncertainty; Business Strategy; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Pharmaceutical Industry

September 1992 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Empresas ICA and the Mexican Road Privatization Program

By: Willis M. Emmons III and Monica Brand

Mexico's largest construction company, Empresas ICA, makes an initial public offering to international equity investors in April 1992 to help fund its participation in an ambitious new private-sector approach to highway development. Under the new program, launched by... View Details

Keywords: Construction; Transportation Networks; Infrastructure; Privatization; Private Equity; Investment; Initial Public Offering; Private Sector; Government and Politics; Policy; Construction Industry; Mexico

October 1993 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Paragould City Cable

Unhappy with the prices provided by the local, privately owned cable television operator, the city of Paragould, Arkansas constructs a competing municipally owned cable system. Once in operation, Paragould City Cable faces vigorous competition from the incumbent... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Television Entertainment; Competitive Strategy; Distribution Channels; Media; Public Sector; Programs; Growth and Development Strategy; Cost; Performance Improvement; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Arkansas

April 1999 (Revised June 1999)
Case

1-800 Buy Ireland

By: Willis M. Emmons III, Adele S. Cooper and J. Richard Lenane

After decades of poor economic performance, the Irish government adopted major changes in economic policy in 1987. By the end of the 1990s, Ireland's real GDP growth rate of almost 10% per year exceeds that of all member nations of the European Union (EU). A key... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Development Economics; Supply and Industry; Policy; Foreign Direct Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Macroeconomics; Republic of Ireland

30 May 2023
News

Finding PRIDE

Edited by Jen McFarland Flint; Illustrations by Anthony Gerace In the late 1970s, a dozen or so gay men found one another at HBS and decided to band together, calling themselves the Alternative Executive Lifestyles group. They posted notices around campus, discreetly... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

30 Jun 2023
Blog Post

Finding Pride

Someone had written, “Ric, I wish we’d known.” —Virginia Smith (MBA 1982) 1990s “I assured them I was a lesbian, and I wasn’t there to out them. That’s what the climate was like at the time.” By second semester of my first year, I was a... View Details

September 1991 (Revised August 1994)
Background Note

Note on Pharmaceutical Industry Regulation

Traces the evolution of U.S. regulatory policy towards the pharmaceutical industry over the course of the twentieth century. A major theme is the steady shift away from a policy of 'let the buyer beware' to the creation of a complex and time-consuming review process,... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Industry Growth; Marketing; Research and Development; Health Testing and Trials; Economics; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

September 1999
Case

New Zealand: The Wonder Down Under

By: Willis M. Emmons III and Kevin W. W. Glasgow

Long regarded as the most extensive welfare state among the world's industrialized nations, New Zealand embarked on a strategy of radical economic reform/liberalization following a severe foreign exchange crisis in 1984. This case examines the initial reform strategy... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Development Economics; New Zealand

01 Mar 2010
News

Analyze This

Story ideas sometimes come from unexpected places. I would hazard to guess that this issue of the Bulletin offers a first in the magazine’s long history. Inspired by a copy of our international mailing list, Senior Associate Editor View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services; Information

October 1990 (Revised March 1993)
Background Note

Note on Cable Television Regulation

Examines the evolution of the U.S. cable television industry since its inception in the early 1950s. Particular emphasis is given to the roles played by technology, consumer demand, and regulation at both the local and federal level. Designed to facilitate a conceptual... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Demand and Consumers; Government Legislation; Business Growth and Maturation; Monopoly; Television Entertainment; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

February 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique (CSEM)

By: Michael E. Porter, Willis M. Emmons III and Christian Fenner

Le Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique S.A. (CSEM)--the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology--was a major nonprofit research institution located in Neuchatel, Switzerland, with roots in the Swiss watch industry. CSEM maintained close links to... View Details

Keywords: Cooperation; Information Technology; Alliances; Research and Development; Performance Productivity; Innovation and Invention; Nonprofit Organizations; Electronics Industry; Switzerland

June 1998 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Clear Communications Ltd. vs. Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Ltd. (A)

By: Willis M. Emmons III and Martin Calles

Features the challenges facing an entrant in the New Zealand telecommunications market during the period 1989-1994. Clear Communications Ltd. (CCL), a joint venture owned by Bell Canada, MCI, New Zealand Television Corp., and Todd Companies, begins offering long... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competition; Emerging Markets; Privatization; Monopoly; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Corporate Strategy; Business or Company Management; Expansion; Law; Telecommunications Industry; New Zealand