Publications

25 Jun 2019
News

"Creative Construction"

August 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Northvolt: Making the World's Greenest Battery

By: Jurgen R. Weiss and Emilie Billaud

In 2021, the demand for lithium-ion batteries increased rapidly, particularly for electric vehicles. Anxious not to be reliant on Asian players, Europe was keen on developing its own home-grown capacity to control the value chain, maintain employment in Europe, and get... View Details

25 Sep 2012
News

Tata Hall Topping Off Ceremony

January 1997 (Revised December 1998)
Background Note

Note on the Balance of Payments

By: Louis T. Wells Jr.

Describes the construction of the balance of payments and defines frequently used measures taken from the balance of payments. View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; International Finance

File

Data Supplement with ESG Factors

2015
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: John Dubinsky and the St. Louis Contractor Loan Fund

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

In May 2015 prominent leaders in St. Louis were celebrating the launch of the Contractor Loan Fund (CLF), a $10 million revolving loan fund meant to help area minority and women-owned construction contractors grow their businesses. John Dubinsky, the leader behind the... View Details

Keywords: Minority-owned Businesses; Women-owned Businesses; Financing and Loans; Growth and Development; Leadership; Construction Industry; Construction Industry

November 1983 (Revised May 1984)
Case

Duke Power Co.: Affirmative Action (A)

Presents the dilemmas faced by the executive vice president of construction who is committed to pursuing affirmative action goals but is required by the financial condition of the company to lay off one-third of its construction workforce, which contains many recently... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Selection and Staffing; Ethics; Utilities Industry

January 2009 (Revised June 2014)
Case

CityCenter (A): Vision and Design

By: A. Eugene Kohn, John D. Macomber and Ben Creo

CityCenter is a $9 billion project for MGM MIRAGE. The project's star architects have a major disagreement about a critical design issue. Bill Smith, head of the MGM MIRAGE Design Group, must resolve this issue to the satisfaction of all the project's stakeholders.... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Cost vs Benefits; Design; Construction; Projects; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict Management; Value Creation

Carolyn Fu is an assistant professor of business administration in the Strategy Unit. She studies innovation strategy in the context of high degrees of social construction – where the value of an innovation is continuously redefined between firms and their... View Details

Summer 2013
Article

Real Estate Prices During the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression

By: Tom Nicholas and Anna Scherbina

Using new data on market-based transactions we construct real estate price indexes for Manhattan between 1920 and 1939. During the 1920s prices reached their highest level in the third quarter of 1929 before falling by 67% at the end of 1932 and hovering around that... View Details

Keywords: Property; Market Transactions; Price; Value; Financial Crisis; Investment; Real Estate Industry; New York (state, US)

Read Now

January 2009 (Revised June 2014)
Supplement

CityCenter (B): Economics and Delivery

By: A. Eugene Kohn, John D. Macomber and Ben Creo

Bill Smith is informed by his general contractor that a key component of the Aria Resort is going to be delayed. Aria is the centerpiece of CityCenter: a $9 billion complex and a bet-the-firm decision for MGM Mirage. Smith must make a decision as to whether to force... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Decision Choices and Conditions; Construction; Finance; Organizational Structure; Projects; Complexity

September 1960 (Revised April 1983)
Background Note

Note on Financial Forecasting

Introduction to basic techniques of constructing pro forma statements and cash budgets. Illustrated by examples, supplemented by exercises. View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Investment

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

July 2017
Case

Magpie: Developing and Using Buyer Personas

By: Frank V. Cespedes

The founders of a start-up platform for publishers have developed preliminary personas of target customers and are evaluating the implications for initial target buyers, messaging, and marketing programs. The case is useful for discussing the process of developing... View Details

Keywords: Buying Process; Marketing; Sales; Distribution Channels; Segmentation; Entrepreneurship; Social Media; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; United States

Research Summary

Environmental and Sustainability Issues in Real Estate

By: Arthur I Segel

Environmental and sustainability issues in real estate from green, brown, and gray fields development to green construction and new patterns of urban planning. View Details

01 Jul 2025
Video

Transatlantic green competition: Racing for planetary health

January 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

VendQuest (A): The Business Idea

By: Dwight B. Crane and David Foster

A potential founder of a company is considering whether to start up a new enterprise that would link parts distributors with customers in the construction industries via the Internet. This case describes the industry and the potential advantages to distributors and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Corporate Strategy; Business Model; Distribution; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Business Plan; Customer Relationship Management; Business Ventures; Construction Industry

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

What Roosevelt Took: The Economic Impact of the Panama Canal, 1903-29

Keywords: by Noel Maurer & Carlos Yu

February 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Travelogo: Understanding Customer Journeys

By: Eva Ascarza and Ta-Wei Huang

Teaching Note for HBS Exercise 524-044. The exercise aims to teach students about 1) Customer Segmentation; and 2) constructing buying personas, 3) Get actionable insights from clickstream data. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Analysis; Analytics and Data Science; Marketing Strategy; Segmentation; Consumer Behavior; Travel Industry; United States