Publications

2007
Other Unpublished Work

Probabilities as Similarity-Weighted Frequencies in Presence of Irrelevant Observations

By: Jacob Dov Leshno

A decision maker is asked to express her beliefs by assigning probabilities to certain possible states. We focus on the relationship between her database and her beliefs. BGSS\cite{BGSS} show that if beliefs given a union of two databases are a convex combination of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Cognition and Thinking

January 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Background Note

Antitrust and Competitive Strategy in the 1990s

Describes U.S. antitrust policy, including major judicial decisions and their impact on competitive strategy. View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Competitive Strategy; Laws and Statutes; Policy; United States

Find at Harvard

20 Jul 2018
News

James Sebenius on Henry Kissinger As Negotiator

The Poor Payoff of Pleasure Postponed

A need to feel efficient, and a tendency to feel guilty when we do something “just for fun,” may be universally human. But the Israeli-born Keinan says productivity-obsessed Americans take this to an extreme, viewing pleasurable pastimes as wasteful, irresponsible,... View Details

May 1989 (Revised October 1989)
Supplement

Dow Corning Corp.: Business Conduct and Global Values (C)

Assumes that the reader has also read Dow Corning Corp. (A). Presents two difficult decisions faced by Dow Corning's Business Conduct Committee. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making

January 2016 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Airbus Versus Boeing (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Looks at the development of the competitive actions between Airbus and Boeing from 1992 to 2006. Begins with the question of whether Airbus and Boeing should collaborate on the development of a VLCT (Very Large Commercial Transport) or whether Airbus should develop... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competition; Cooperation; Strategy; Air Transportation Industry

Teresa Amabile is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor, Emerita, at Harvard Business School. Originally educated and employed as a chemist, Teresa received her Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University. Her current research investigates how people approach and... View Details

February 2007 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Bancaja: Developing Customer Intelligence (A)

In 1996, CEO Fernando Garcia Checa wanted to make customer analytics a part of Bancaja's new strategy. Bancaja, a savings bank based in Valencia, Spain, was expanding and wanted to exploit customer information to increase commercial effectiveness. At the same time, it... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Banking Industry; Spain

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Elon Musk at Tesla

By: George Serafeim and Amram Migdal

This case gives an overview of Elon Musk’s career arc through the lens of the 2003 founding of Tesla and its growth through 2022. Background information is included on Tesla’s unique strategic decisions, its operational and reputational struggles and successes, and the... View Details

December 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Circles.Life at a Crossroads of Growth

By: Juan Alcácer and Adina Wong

In June 2022, the founders of Singapore mobile operator Circles.Life had a crucial decision to make. Circles.Life developed a new business model in mobile telecommunications—a digital telco—built around its proprietary operating system. After expanding its brand in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Applications and Software; Business Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Singapore

July 2025
Case

Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Akiko Saito

In 2025, Kenichi Hori, President and CEO of Mitsui & Co., Ltd.—one of Japan’s most prominent Sogo Shosha (investment and trading companies with sprawling global footprints)—reflected on the company’s record-breaking profits. Its operations spanned multiple... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Management; Operations; Organizations; Japan

March 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Corporate Solutions at Jones Lang LaSalle (2001) (A)

By: Ranjay Gulati and Luciana Silvestri

This case describes the strategic and organizational challenges that Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) faced at the turn of the millennium. Until then, JLL sold piecemeal commercial real estate services to its corporate clients, who maintained relationships with a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Strategy; Integration; Real Estate Industry; North America; South America; Central America

October 2003
Case

Storm King Mountain

Describes the Colorado fire tragedy that resulted in 12 deaths. Examines leadership, decision making, and team dynamics in a high-stress, crisis situation. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Decision Making; Crisis Management; Colorado

June 2005 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Alex Montana at ESH Manufacturing Co.

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Michael Kernish

Alex Montana sat at his desk pondering the career decision before him. Alex was director of the North American division of ESH Manufacturing, a $4.6 billion, Cleveland-based company with operations on three continents. ESH's CEO had just offered Montana a promotion to... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Work-Life Balance; Manufacturing Industry; Cleveland

April 2020 (Revised May 2020)
Case

NTT DOCOMO's Race to 5G

By: Juan Alcácer, Horst Melcher and Akiko Kanno

The case, based on extensive interviews with NTT DOCOMO’s technology leaders, focuses on the opportunities and challenges that NTT DOCOMO faces with the launch of infrastructure and services for 5G wireless telecommunication technology. With higher data rates and... View Details

Keywords: 5G; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Product Launch; Strategic Planning; Decision Making; Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry

19 Apr 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Top Executive Background and Financial Reporting Choice: The Case of Goodwill Impairment

Keywords: by Francois Brochet & Kyle Welch; Accounting

Article

Unexpected Benefits of Deciding by Mind Wandering

By: Colleen Giblin, Carey K. Morewedge and Michael I. Norton

The mind wanders, even when people are attempting to make complex decisions. We suggest that such mind wandering—allowing one's thoughts to wander until the "correct" choice comes to mind—can positively impact people's feelings about their decisions. We compare... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Satisfaction; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cognition and Thinking

Read Now

06 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Updating a Classic: Writing a Great Business Plan

uncertainty in the market, investors become quite risk averse. They will only back proven entrepreneurs with truly compelling ideas. People make the numbers, not conversely. So, I still think the people View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

January 2016 (Revised January 2019)
Case

The Allergan Board Under Fire (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan, John C. Coates and David Lane

In 2014, the Allergan Inc. board of directors received a surprise takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals in alliance with hedge fund activist Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management. In the unprecedented arrangement between an acquirer and a hedge fund... View Details