Publications

13 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Diagnosing the Public Health Care Alternative

private plans need to increase the value they provide to patients and the system as a whole. To read more: Robert Huckman and Gary Pisano, "The Firm Specificity of Individual Performance: Evidence from Cardiac Surgery," [PDF] Management... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Health

08 Jul 2002
What Do You Think?

Have We Carried the Concept of Alignment Too Far?

Summing Up Don't throw out alignment while fighting greed and ignorance in corporate governance Respondents to this month's column have spoken: The cause of investor mistrust of management is not the concept of alignment; it is, among... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2004 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Innovation at the Treasury: Treasury Inflation-Protection Securities (A)

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Peter A. Hecht and Christopher Edward James Payton

In 1997, the U.S. Treasury was deciding whether to proceed with a proposal to issue inflation-indexed bonds. This case explores the challenges facing innovation in the financial markets as the Treasury tries to determine whether to introduce Treasury... View Details

Keywords: Inflation; Innovation; Federal Government; Securities; Debt Securities; Risk Management; Bonds; Investment Portfolio; Capital Markets; Inflation and Deflation; Government and Politics; Innovation and Invention; United States

May 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Ultra: The Quest for Leadership (A)

By: Dwight B. Crane and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

Ultra is one of a small group of competing Brazilian petrochemical companies, each of which buys raw material and is a minority owner of Copene, a "cracking" company that provides ethylene and other materials. Because of an industry restructuring, an auction of shares... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Capital Budgeting; Investment; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Industry Structures; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Bids and Bidding; Economy; Ownership Stake; Chemical Industry; Brazil

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19 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Do I Dare Say Something?

How can managers encourage and create such a setting? A: Our own and others' research have shown that two beliefs are essential preconditions for the free expression of upward voice: first, the belief that one is not putting oneself at... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

13 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

Corporate Venturing: Entrepreneurship on the Inside

"is the extreme form of change that management teams within companies have to go through. The degree to which that change is hard is tied to how well you are doing when you attempt to do something like that within the company.... View Details

Keywords: by Kenneth Liss

December 2010
Teaching Note

Cresud S.A., Farmer or Real Estate Developer? (TN)

By: Arthur I Segel and Andrew Pierson Terris

Teaching Note for 211-011. View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk Management; Competition; Motivation and Incentives; Corporate Strategy; Opportunities; Decisions; Performance Effectiveness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Paraguay

March 2000
Exercise

Developing Products on Internet Time: A Process Design Exercise

By: Stefan H. Thomke

This team exercise allows students to experience some of the dynamics of developing products in the fast-paced Internet environment and was inspired by the browser war between Netscape and Microsoft. Designed to be taught in a single class session, the exercise... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Internet and the Web; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Design; Decisions; Management Practices and Processes; Integration; Organizations; Competition

October 2018
Case

Zenefits Board of Directors (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

In early 2018, the time seemed right for Zenefits investor and director Lars Dalgaard to reflect on whether Zenefits had the right board of directors to shepherd the company through its next stages of growth. For the company whose name combined the words “benefits,”... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Business Model; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Leadership; Risk Management; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; California

February 2000 (Revised April 2000)
Case

RadioShack

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Youngme E. Moon and Marie Bell

Outlines the transformation of RadioShack stores from a parts and accessories business to a provider of high bandwidth Internet access. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Risk and Uncertainty; Internet

October 2008
Teaching Note

Samoa Tala (TN)

By: Joshua D. Coval, Bhagwan Chowdhry and Konark Saxena

Teaching Note for [209053]. View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Risk Management; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Microfinance; Strategy; Borrowing and Debt; Currency; Cash Flow; Samoa

02 Feb 2015
Research & Ideas

Disruptors Sell What Customers Want and Let Competitors Sell What They Don’t

develop their own infrastructure first. "We used to say that auto companies, telecoms, and big retailers weren't at risk of disruption within their industries, because there were such high barriers to entry; you could never compete with... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

10 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty Views on Debt Crisis

United States is no exception. So rather than focus on whether S&P called the downgrade a little too soon, let's focus more on figuring out how to get the US fiscal house in order. robert Steven Kaplan, Professor Of Management... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

02 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 2

Incentives, and Explicit Incentives Authors:Romana L. Autrey, Shane S. Dikolli, and D. Paul Newman Publication:Journal of Management Accounting Research (forthcoming) Abstract We examine a setting in which View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

09 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The Matchmaker of the Modern Economy

outcome. In addition, war transformed the capital markets. The extraordinary results of wartime technology "prepared many individual investors and institutional fund managers to take greater risks in... View Details

Keywords: by Spencer E. Ante

November 2009
Article

Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies

By: Erin Marie Reid and Michael W. Toffel

The challenges associated with climate change will require governments, citizens, and firms to work collaboratively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a task that requires information on companies' emissions levels, risks, and reduction opportunities. This paper... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Problems and Challenges; Pollutants; Risk and Uncertainty; Business and Shareholder Relations; Management Practices and Processes; Social Issues; Corporate Disclosure; Values and Beliefs; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government and Politics

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Read Now

22 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 22

and overly restricting access to credit and consumer choice. Nicolas Retsinas, Eric Belsky, and their colleagues aim to stimulate debate based on analysis of the opportunities and challenges presented by the various components of global capital markets: financial... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 1998
Case

Cephalon, Inc.

By: Peter Tufano

In early 1997, Cephalon, awaited an FDA panel's decision on whether its drug, Myotrophin, would be approved. If the drug was approved, the firm might need substantial additional funds to commercialize as well as to buy back rights to it (which had been sold earlier to... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Financing and Loans; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States