Publications

04 Oct 2004
What Do You Think?

Does Speed Trump Intellectual Property?

intellectual property? Does it discourage innovation by limiting the rewards to such efforts? Should it be discouraged by either new laws or the more diligent application of existing ones? Or does it provide a spur to the development of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

March 2019
Supplement

Gender and Free Speech at Google (B)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Sarah Mehta

In November 2018, 20,000 Google employees participated in a walkout to protest the company’s decision to grant a $90 million exit package to a former executive accused of sexual misconduct. The case explores organizers’ demands and asks how the company’s senior leaders... View Details

Keywords: Free Speech; Ethnicity; Gender; Race; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Labor; Employment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Technology Industry; United States; California

February 2010 (Revised June 2014)
Supplement

CityCenter (C): Turmoil and Choices

By: John D. Macomber

"CityCenter (C)" follows the (A) and (B) cases chronologically. The (C) case explores the decisions facing MGM MIRAGE following a lawsuit by partner Dubai World and suspension of Dubai World's cash contributions to the project in early 2009. Issues include the... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Private Equity; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Decisions; Partners and Partnerships; Conflict and Resolution; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Nevada

28 Jun 2016
First Look

June 28, 2016

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51195 Spring 2016 Business History Review California Fair Trade: Antitrust and the Politics of 'Fairness' in U.S. Competition Policy By: Sawyer, Laura Phillips Abstract—In the decades before World War II, U.S. antitrust... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2004
Article

Trust in Agency

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Existing models of the principal-agent relationship assume the agent works only under extrinsic incentives. However, many observed agency contracts take the form of a fixed payment. For such contracts to succeed, the principal must trust the agent to work in the... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Agency Theory; Relationships; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Contracts; Business Model; Emotions; Forecasting and Prediction; Ethics; Standards; Risk and Uncertainty

Find at Harvard

February 2020
Supplement

Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (B)

By: Nien-he Hsieh, Christina R. Wing and John Masko

This supplemental case tracks the results of the Colman and Taubman-Dye class action suit against Theranos as well as Theranos’ other legal challenges and chronicles the final demise of the company in 2019. View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business Exit or Shutdown; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; California; United States

May 2010 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Data.gov

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Robert D. Austin and Yumi Yi

This case presents the logic and execution underlying the launch of Data.gov, an instantiation of President Obama's initiative for transparency and open government. The process used by Vivek Kundra, the federal CIO, and his team to rapidly develop the website and to... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Rights; Analytics and Data Science; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Cost vs Benefits; Innovation and Management; Information Management; Public Administration Industry; Information Industry; United States

August 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Focuses on modifying operations to increase profitability at an upscale senior care facility in California. Jennifer Raiser, president of Raiser Senior Services, opened the Stratford in 1992 as a high-end, continuing-care retirement community. Ten years later, the... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Profit; Saving; Health Care and Treatment; Age; Management Teams; Problems and Challenges; Ethics; Legal Liability; Business Growth and Maturation; Health Industry; Service Industry; California

May 2014 (Revised July 2016)
Case

RCA: Color Television and the Department of Justice (A)

By: Willy C. Shih and Gregory Dieterich

This case examines the early history of the color television receiver market and the global consequences of an historic 1958 consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice that opened RCA's patents to licensing by domestic competitors royalty-free. This externality... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Patents; Rights; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Business History; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Communications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Electronics Industry; United States; Japan

Article

Consequences of Financial Reporting Failure for Outside Directors: Evidence from Accounting Restatements and Audit Committee Members

By: Suraj Srinivasan

I use a sample of 409 companies that restated their earnings from 1997 to 2001 to examine penalties for outside directors, particularly audit committee members, when their companies experience accounting restatements. Penalties from lawsuits and Securities and Exchange... View Details

Keywords: Outcome or Result; Business Earnings; Financial Statements; Lawsuits and Litigation; Labor; Markets; Financial Reporting; Accounting Audits; Cost; Reputation

SSRN

Find at Harvard

19 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 19, 2009

and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) Harvard Business School Note 209-133 In 2005, new legislation was passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by the President that introduced a number of major amendments to U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Apr 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

Chris Christensen: Legend of the Classroom

Sloan School of Management, Harvard Law School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the University of South Africa, and the Iran Center for Management Studies. His books on teaching, Education for Judgment: The Artistry of Discussion... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Education

01 Feb 2012
What Do You Think?

Is Support for Small Business Misplaced?

farms of Europe and the US. It helps explain laws to protect small business from the ravages of the A&Ps and Walmarts. It increasingly drives politics as well as government policy. It is especially attractive at times of low growth... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

20 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 20, 2007

capabilities approach and postulates that "legal astuteness"—defined here as the ability of the top management team to communicate effectively with counsel and to work together to solve complex problems—is a valuable dynamic capability. This paper posits that... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 2010
Teaching Note

Vereinigung Hamburger Schiffsmakler und Schiffsagenten e.V.: Valuing Ships (TN)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Albert W. Sheen

Teaching Note for 210058. View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Financial Crisis; Price; Financing and Loans; Contracts; Asset Pricing; Cash Flow; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Shipping Industry; Germany

September 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Norway Sells Wal-Mart

By: Robert C. Pozen and Aldo Sesia

In June 2006, Norway's Pension Fund decided to divest its position in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. after an investigation by the Fund's Ethics Council. According to a spokesperson of Norway's Finance Ministry, "The recommendation to exclude Wal-Mart cites serious and... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Ethics; Insurance; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Government and Politics; Rights; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Power and Influence; Retail Industry; Norway

April 1993
Teaching Note

Grupo Industrial Alfa, S.A.,1982 (TN)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Teaching Note for (9-292-008). View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Borrowing and Debt; Restructuring; Rights; Business Strategy; Negotiation; System; Business Conglomerates; Currency Exchange Rate; Energy Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Mexico

November 2021 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Kermit PPI

By: Kyle Myers, Matt Grennan and Sarah Mehta

Launched in 2011, Kermit PPI helped hospitals save money on expensive orthopedic implants and devices by enabling them to renegotiate their contracts with device manufacturers and better monitor compliance. In 2021, as they look to grow, they are entertaining two... View Details

Keywords: Health; Health Care and Treatment; Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Contracts; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States; Maryland

November 1997
Case

Borden Ranch: Balancing Private Property Rights and Social Interests in Ag

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Don Daniels and Diane Richmond

Angelo Tsakopoulos wanted to convert grazing land to crop agriculture. He received different advice from different government agencies and became involved in legal battles. View Details

Keywords: Property; Social Entrepreneurship; Rights; Agribusiness; Social Issues; Interests; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Business and Government Relations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry