Publications

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September 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Hitachi Rail Limited (A)

By: David J. Collis, Akiko Kanno and Nobuo Sato

Hitachi must decide whether to make a British executive, who has successfully built its European rail business from scratch, head of its global rail division even though the bulk of revenues for the unit still come from Japan. The case describes the history of Hitachi... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Leadership; Values and Beliefs; Human Resources; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Rail Industry; Japan

09 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

A Diagnostic for Disruptive Innovation

the draw anymore. By conducting a series of diagnostics, companies in any industry can quickly identify the most promising opportunities. This article shows how to conduct customer, portfolio, and competitor diagnostics to pinpoint the... View Details

Keywords: by Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson & Matt Eyring

September 1984 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Nestle S.A.: International Marketing (A)

By: John A. Quelch

A senior manager at Nestle's headquarters is reviewing the role of the central marketing staff with respect to Nestle's operating companies around the world. Two specific examples of the role of the central staff in guiding the advertising and packaging decisions of... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Marketing; Operations; Advertising; Management Teams; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Switzerland

06 Aug 2024
Op-Ed

What the World Could Learn from America's Immigration Backlash—100 Years Ago

immigrants favored the increase in industrialization as well as the establishment of more and larger firms, and then grew over time. “After 1880, parts of the US West that were more impacted by the Chinese Exclusion Act grew at... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Tabellini

March 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Supplement

a-connect: In Search of Talent Partners (B)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Penelope Rossano

The a-connect: In Search of Talent Partners (B) case updates company changes since the (A) case. Key updates include leadership and management appointments and organizational changes. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Consulting Industry

12 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

One Report: Better Strategy through Integrated Reporting

Report begins with identifying the most important financial and ESG metrics for the company in its given industry and the strategy it is pursuing to achieve its goals. In some cases, revenue growth may be critical; in others, earnings... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

2014
Working Paper

Management Practices, Relational Contracts and the Decline of General Motors

By: Susan Helper and Rebecca Henderson

General Motors was once regarded as one of the best managed and most successful firms in the world, but between 1980 and 2009 its share of the US market fell from 62.6 to 19.8 percent, and in 2009 the firm went bankrupt. In this paper we argue that the conventional... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Structure; Decision Making; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

Read Now

April 2017 (Revised May 2022)
Case

King Digital Entertainment

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Davide Sola, Federica Gabrieli and Elena Corsi

Riccardo Zacconi was the co-founder and CEO of King Digital Entertainment, the video game company that had quickly established itself as the world’s leading maker of casual games for mobile devices after the sensational success of its game “Candy Crush Saga.” Zacconi... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure; Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Video Game Industry; Europe; Sweden

February 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Supplement

CommonAngels (B)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kaitlyn Simpson

This case discusses changes in CommonAngels' investment model and organization between 2005 and 2009. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Organizational Structure; Social and Collaborative Networks; Financial Services Industry

March 1999
Case

Hans Fritz at Novartis Thailand (A): The First Month

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Dr. Hans Fritz is 37 years old when he arrives in Bangkok on March 1, 1998 to assume his position as general manager of Novartis Thailand. Novartis is the world's largest pharmaceutical company. He had lobbied to transition from a staff position to this line management... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Organizational Structure; Transition; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Working Conditions; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Crisis Management; Decision Making; Pharmaceutical Industry; Thailand

06 Feb 2007
First Look

First Look: February 6, 2007

depression, led to a crisis in the industry. Nonetheless, the pioneering group of forecasters shaped the core problems, and invented many of the techniques, that influenced the maturation of the industry in the decades that followed.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

04 Nov 2008
First Look

First Look: November 4, 2008

Abstract In the continuing quest for business growth, many CEOs are turning to their CIOs and IT organizations because technology is absolutely essential to two compelling sources of growth: innovation and enterprise integration. The speed of innovation often depends... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Going to the Oracle: Goldman Sachs, September 2008

By: Clayton S. Rose and David Lane

On September 23, 2008, in the midst of an historic crisis in the U.S. financial markets, Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs. Goldman CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, said: "We are pleased that given our longstanding relationship, Warren... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Crisis; Capital Structure; Financial Liquidity; Financial Markets; Investment; Performance Capacity; Financial Services Industry; United States

27 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 27

in Developing Countries Authors: Diego Comin, Norman Loayza, Farooq Pasha, and Luis Serven Abstract We build a two-country asymmetric DSGE model with two features: (1) a product cycle structure determines the range of intermediate goods... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2003 (Revised August 2003)
Case

Pension Policy at The Boots Company PLC

By: Luis M. Viceira and Akiko M. Mitsui

In early 2000, the trustees of the pension scheme at Boots considered a proposal to move 100% of the pension assets into a bond portfolio, which would be passively managed. The Boots Co. PLC was a leading retailer of cosmetics and toiletries in the United Kingdom, and... View Details

Keywords: Performance Productivity; Employees; Asset Management; Capital Structure; Investment Portfolio; Consumer Products Industry; United Kingdom

13 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

The Inner Life of Leaders

disguise their character, their traits are recognizable to others. Character is on display as leaders structure their organizations and go about making decisions. Some prefer to be intimately involved in the decision process. Others... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

18 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 18

co-founders' motivations and their strategy for disrupting an industry in the midst of dramatic structural change, and asks whether a16z's success to date has been due to its novel organization structure.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Molycorp: Issuing the 'Happy Meal' Securities (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

Molycorp, the Western hemisphere's only producer of rare earth minerals, was in the middle of a $1 billion capital expansion in its effort to become a vertically integrated supplier of rare earth minerals, oxides, and metals. After reporting lower than expected... View Details