Publications

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September 2015 (Revised February 2016)
Supplement

Novell (B): Board of Directors Aftermath of Hedge Fund Attack

By: Richard L. Nolan

No corporation and its board of directors is immune to a disruptive shareholder activist attack. The Novell (A) and (B) cases take students through a shareholder activist attack and its aftermath—a saga that spanned 5 years. The cases outline the activist playbook in... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Decision Making

May 2009 (Revised August 2013)
Case

The DiagnoFirst Opportunity

By: Robert C. Pozen and Rukmini Balu

John Mason, a principle at Oldwell Partners, was facing a decision of whether or not to invest in DiagnoFirst, a molecular diagnostics firm. DiagnoFirst's key product was a genetic test that identified a subset of prostate cancer patients with a high risk of clinical... View Details

Keywords: Genetic Engineering; Genetically Modified; Genomics; Venture Capital; Patents; Genetics; Decision Choices and Conditions; Laws and Statutes; Investment; Science-Based Business; Biotechnology Industry

Program

Investment Management Workshop

changes could affect your strategies and your business. You will emerge better prepared to navigate the industry landscape, make optimal investments, manage risk, and create value. Read More Gain strategic insight into all segments of the... View Details

Article

Managing Perceptions of Distress at Work: Reframing Emotion as Passion

By: Elizabeth Baily Wolf, Jooa Julia Lee, Sunita Sah and Alison Wood Brooks

Expressing distress at work can have negative consequences for employees: observers perceive employees who express distress as less competent than employees who do not. Across five experiments, we explore how reframing a socially inappropriate emotional expression... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Emotions; Perception

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07 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 7, 2007

studying markets with tendencies toward "early" hiring. Our data make clear that the movement of the clerkship market back to the third year of law school is highly valued by judges, but we also find that a strong majority of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Pershing Square's Pandemic Trade (A)

By: Emil N. Siriwardane, Luis M. Viceira, Dean Xu and Lucas Baker

This case explores the decision that Bill Ackman, CEO and founder of the hedge fund Pershing Square Capital, was considering in late February 2020 about hedging the exposure of the fund’s portfolio from the potential financial fallout ensuing from an extreme event like... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Financial Liquidity; Cost Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk Management

March 2021
Article

Opting-in to Prosocial Incentives

By: Daniel Schwartz, Elizabeth A. Keenan, Alex Imas and Ayelet Gneezy

The design of effective incentive schemes that are both successful in motivating employees and keeping down costs is of critical importance. Research has demonstrated that prosocial incentives, where individuals’ effort benefits a charitable organization, can sometimes... View Details

Keywords: Incentives; Prosocial Behavior; Behavioral Economics; Field Experiments; Recycling; Prosocial Motivation; Decision Making; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior

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14 Nov 2013
Working Paper Summaries

What Shapes the Gatekeepers? Evidence from Global Supply Chain Auditors

Keywords: by Jodi L. Short, Michael W. Toffel & Andrea Hugill; Financial Services; Legal Services

March 2003 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Hudson Manufacturing Company

By: Paul A. Gompers and Vanessa del Valle Broussard

Concerns the decision by Brett Keith and Owen Colligan to purchase Hudson Manufacturing, a maker of heaters and air filtration units for the military. Keith and Colligan have organized a search fund and identified Hudson as a potential buyout. The decline in the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Pollutants; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry

December 1998 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Singulus

By: Walter Kuemmerle and Chad S Ellis

Describes Singulus, the compact disk metallizer business of Leybold AG, a large German company, which has been put up for sale. In April 1995, buyout firm Schroder Ventures has to decide whether to acquire the business. The investment decision is complicated by a... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Decision Choices and Conditions; Manufacturing Industry; Germany

02 Jun 2003
What Do You Think?

What Can Aspiring Leaders Be Taught?

(and law schools, medical schools, etc.) should attempt to teach students ways to reconcile their actions when ethics seemingly compete with profit or another targeted outcome." As Ken Coleman pointed out, "business students need to understand that View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

January 2019
Case

First Aid Beauty

By: Karen Mills and Annie Dang

In 2008, Lilli Gordon, an experienced financial and skincare entrepreneur, founded First Aid Beauty (FAB). She had discovered a white space in the prestige beauty market: high-end skin solutions that were suitable for sensitive skin. After initial success through... View Details

Keywords: Prestige Beauty; Skincare; Preferred Shares; Common Stock; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

March 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Hotwire.com: Navigating Through Turbulence

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Manny de Zarraga and Eric Levine

On September 10, 2001, after speaking at an industry conference at New York’s World Trade Center, Hotwire co-founder Spencer Rascoff boarded a flight from Newark to San Francisco. After returning home, Rascoff awoke the next morning to a phone call informing him that... View Details

Keywords: September 11; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Disruption; Decisions; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Growth Management; Digital Platforms; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Leading Change; Leadership Style; Air Transportation Industry; Tourism Industry; San Francisco

15 Mar 2024
News

Let's Talk: Why It's Time to Stop Avoiding Taboo Topics at Work

27 Sep 2016
First Look

September 27, 2016

Abstract—We survey 885 institutional venture capitalists (VCs) at 681 firms to learn how they make decisions across eight areas: deal sourcing, investment selection, valuation, deal structure,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2024
Case

Aidoc: Building a Hospital-Centric AI Platform

By: Ariel D. Stern and Susan Pinckney

In 2023, Israel-based AI health care company Aidoc evaluated its future. The company, founded in 2016, had grown from commercializing a single AI product for radiologists to a software platform that could detect 20 conditions and immediately notify care teams of... View Details

November 2006
Case

Tickle

By: William A. Sahlman and Dan Heath

Describes a set of decisions confronting the management team of a rapidly growing online psychological testing and social networking company. They can either sell the company to a large public company, raise another round of capital from a preeminent venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Internet and the Web; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy; Corporate Finance