Publications

December 1993 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Manville Corporation Fiber Glass Group (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Sarah Gant

Manville Corp.'s senior managers must decide how to respond to a new scientific study suggesting that fiberglass, the source of 75% of the company's profits, may be another asbestos and must act under conditions of great uncertainty. In particular, when should a... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Health Disorders; Risk Management; Marketing Communications; Product; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Safety; Consumer Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

October 2020
Case

PraDigi Open Learning: Transforming Rural India

By: John J-H Kim and Malini Sen

Pratham is a non-governmental organization, focusing on high-quality, low-cost and replicable interventions to address gaps in the Indian education system. Co-founder Madhav Chavan is interested in using technology for education but differed in the way it is used in... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Information Technology; Learning; Growth and Development Strategy; Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Issues; Education Industry; India; Asia

February 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Endeca Technologies (A)

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Steve Papa, CEO of Endeca Technologies, must decide among two term sheets raising the same amount of badly needed money for his young software company. One deal is led by insiders and, is offered at a lower price. It continues a board that has worked very well and... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Condition; Financing and Loans; Management Skills; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Technology Industry

April 1995 (Revised May 1995)
Teaching Note

Exercises on the Value of Information (TN)

By: David E. Bell

Teaching Note for (9-893-006). View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Information; Risk and Uncertainty

November 2007
Case

Differences at Work: Emily (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

In Differences at Work: Emily (A) HBS Case No. 9-408-014 Emily, a private equity analyst, reads disturbing, sexually focused emails written about her by work colleagues and acquaintances after they all attended a work-related social event. Emily debates what she should... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Gender

06 Dec 2016
First Look

December 6, 2016

for the retailer. We refer to this phenomenon as the value of concealment. A negative value of concealment is possible and represents the event that rationally acting consumers respond to the additional View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Reinforcing Values: A Public Dressing Down

first few months of a turnaround, when uncertainty is high and setbacks are inevitable. Otherwise, there is little hope for sustained improvement. [...] Effective leaders explicitly reinforce organizational... View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin & Michael A. Roberto

July 1991
Article

The Public-Private Choice: The Case of Marketing a Country to Investors

By: Louis T Wells Jr and A. Wint

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Marketing; Investment

Find at Harvard

24 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

Is Your iPhone Turning You Into a Wimp?

more likely to bid higher on an eBay auction when competing to buy a product? To test their hypothesis, Bos and Cuddy conducted an experiment at the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory, a university-wide... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Consumer Products

October 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

HP Consumer Products Business Organization: Distributing Printers via the Internet

By: Rajiv Lal, Kirthi Kalyanam, Shelby Mc Intyre and Edie Prescott

In spring 1998, Pradeep Jotwani, vice president and general manager of the Consumer Products Business Organization of the Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), was contemplating the increasing success of e-commerce and its implications for his division. The consumer products group... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Marketing Channels; Business Processes; Problems and Challenges; Partners and Partnerships; Sales; Business Strategy; Information Technology; Consumer Products Industry

01 Oct 1998
News

New Releases

Smart Choices by John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, and Howard Raiffa (Harvard Business School Press) Decision-making is a major part of life for every human being. Where should you live? Which house should... View Details

Web

The Founder Mindset - Course Catalog

possible, and change our world. Founders notice problems and can see a potential solution that improves the lives of those around them. It’s an extraordinarily attractive proposition to so many, yet so few... View Details

18 Mar 2008
First Look

First Look: March 18, 2008

Working PapersWhere Does It Go? Spending by the Financially Constrained Authors:Shawn A. Cole, John Thompson, and Peter Tufano Abstract In this paper, we analyze the spending decisions of over 1.5 million... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Mar 2012
Article

Does America Really Need Manufacturing?

School's Pisano and Shih, executives need to examine two things. The first is modularity, or the degree to which product design can be separated from manufacturing. When modularity is low, product designs can't be clearly specified View Details

January 2021
Teaching Note

Shellye Archambeau: Becoming a CEO

By: Tsedal Neeley

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 420-071 and 420-073. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Race; Gender; Leadership Style; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Personal Development and Career; Technology Industry; California

October 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Warner Music Group

TH Lee, a leading private equity firm, needs to decide whether to commit to the acquisition of AOL Time Warner's music group, and whether to commit the entire amount needed, $1.4 billion. The music industry has suffered greatly in recent years, largely as a result of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Music Entertainment; Private Equity; Investment; Music Industry

January 27, 2010
Article

Leadership with a Small 'l'

By: Richard Bohmer

What exactly do we mean by leadership in health care? Does it mean to take formal positions in senior leadership teams in hospitals, trusts, health boards, ministries of health, and professional societies-what might be termed leadership with a big "L?" Or does it mean... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Outcome or Result; Performance Effectiveness; Health Industry