Publications

March 2003
Case

Insurer of Last Resort? The Federal Financial Response to September 11

By: David A. Moss and Sarah A. Brennan

Examines the federal financial response to September 11, 2001: the airline bailout, the victim compensation fund, emergency aid to New York and Washington, and terrorism reinsurance. Less than two weeks after the attacks, the government had committed almost $40 billion... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Insurance; Risk Management; United States

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

05 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 5, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=108012 GE's Imagination Breakthroughs: The Evo Project Harvard Business School Case 907-048 In September 2003, Jeff Immelt challenged the business leaders at GE to come up... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 23, 2008

claims, and an infusion of new equity financing. The Chapter 11 process has generated both costs and benefits for the company. Its future profitability, and the value of the reorganized business, are both highly uncertain. Purchase the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 18, 2007

in the 1970s, HCL had grown into an enterprise with $3.7 billion in revenues and a market capitalization of $5.1 billion. The company had 41,000 employees in 11 countries, but it was ill-prepared for the increasingly competitive market.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 11, 2018

process helps improve the dealer's profit by at least $269. These estimates suggest a potentially high return to taking the "information-based" approach to pricing idiosyncratic products. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54953... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

September 9, 2016
Article

Command under Attack: What We've Learned Since 9/11 about Managing Crises

By: Dutch Leonard, Arnold M. Howitt, Christine M. Cole and Joseph W. Pfeifer

Keywords: Crisis Management; Natural Disasters; September 11; Mass Shootings; Crisis Response Plans

Read Now

17 Sep 2001
What Do You Think?

What Is “Business as Usual” After September 11?

Summing Up According to the immediate and numerous responses to questions raised concerning the impact of the tragic events of September 11 on "business as usual," the consensus is that our lives... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

07 Jan 2002
What Do You Think?

Did Consumer Behavior Tracking Come of Age on September 11?

Summing Up September 11 was no "tipping point" for acceleration in the loss of privacy. That's the conclusion to be drawn from responses to this month's column. Rather the loss of privacy is a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 Feb 2002
What Do You Think?

Will the Societal Effects of Enron Exceed Those of September 11?

Summing Up The question of the relative societal effects of the Enron case and the September 11 attacks elicited some of the most heated responses received to date. But where there was heat, there was not... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

July 2003 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Singapore Airlines: Customer Service Innovation

By: Rohit Deshpande and Hal Hogan

The members of Singapore Airlines' (SIA) management committee needs to decide whether to cancel the implementation of the new lie-flat seats in business class after the effects of the global recession on the travel industry in September 2001. SIA was considered the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Air Transportation Industry; Travel Industry; Singapore

February 2018 (Revised October 2020)
Case

The Marriott-Starwood Merger: Navigating Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture

By: Jill Avery, Chekitan S. Dev and Laure Mougeot Stroock

In September 2016, Marriott completed its $13.3 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which added 11 brands to its already robust 19 hotel brand portfolio. Tina Edmundson, Marriott's global brand officer, was charged with making sense of the brand portfolio... View Details

November 2002 (Revised April 2004)
Case

TCS: An Entrepreneurial Air-Express Company in Pakistan

Introduces Khalid Awan, co-founder of TCS, an entrepreneurial air-express company in Pakistan. Awan has succeeded in building a sizeable company despite serious obstacles, including pressure from the public postal system, an environment prone to corruption, and a... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Leasing; Transportation Industry; United Arab Emirates; Pakistan

November 2023
Case

Nourishing Communities: Brighter Bites Approach to Childhood Nutrition

By: David E. Bell, Forest Reinhardt and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

In September 2023, Brighter Bites, a Houston-based non-profit that distributed fresh produce and nutrition education in underserved communities across 11 cities and 5 states, grappled with identifying the best path forward for continued growth. Brighter Bites proved... View Details

Keywords: Nutrition; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Nonprofit Organizations; Human Needs; Poverty; Houston

May 2020 (Revised October 2020)
Teaching Note

The Marriott-Starwood Merger: Navigating Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture

By: Jill Avery and Chekitan S. Dev

In September 2016, Marriott completed its $13.3 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, which added 11 brands to its already robust 19 hotel brand portfolio. Tina Edmundson, Marriott’s global brand officer, was charged with making sense of the brand portfolio... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Brand Portfolio Strategy; Brand Architecture; Hospitality Industry; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Travel Industry; Accommodations Industry; United States

March 2009 (Revised November 2009)
Supplement

Washington Mutual's Covered Bonds Courseware

By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Robin Greenwood and James Quinn

Washington Mutual issues 6 billion Euro of covered bonds in 2006. The objective of the case is to ask whether these bonds are mispriced in late 2008. The case is set in September 20008, and Washington Mutual is facing considerable distress due to mounting losses on its... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Bonds; Education; Information; Banking Industry

March 2009 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Washington Mutual's Covered Bonds

By: Daniel Baird Bergstresser, Robin Greenwood and James Quinn

Washington Mutual issued 6 billion euro of covered bonds in 2006. The objective of the case is to ask whether these bonds are mispriced in late 2008. The case is set in September 2008, and Washington Mutual is facing considerable distress due to mounting losses in its... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Financial Liquidity; Bonds; Mortgages; Price; Banking Industry; United States

April 2021
Case

Glass-Shattering Leaders: Ilene H. Lang

By: Boris Groysberg and Colleen Ammerman

Ilene Lang started her career in technology at a time when the tech sector was new and women had only recently entered the workplace in large numbers. Over the next thirty years, she built a career spanning large and small tech companies, leading global teams and... View Details

Keywords: Glass Ceiling; Leadership; Gender; Power and Influence