Publications

June 2022
Background Note

FIELD Immersion 2022: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

By: Karen Mills and Tom Quinn

November 1989 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (A): Leveraged Buyouts and Financial Distress

By: Michael C. Jensen, Willy Burkhardt and Brian Barry

Wisconsin Central Ltd. is a regional railroad formed in a leveraged buyout, which is currently in default on its loan covenants. The case uses this situation to examine the financial structure of a typical LBO association and its internal control mechanisms and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Leveraged Buyouts; Financial Condition; Financing and Loans; Corporate Finance; Rail Industry

September 1998 (Revised September 1998)
Teaching Note

Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners Series TN

By: Michael C. Jensen and Brian Barry

Teaching Note for (9-190-062), (9-190-070), and (9-891-509). View Details

Keywords: Rail Industry

November 1989 (Revised December 1996)
Supplement

Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance

By: Michael C. Jensen

Describes the resolution of the default situation. Further examines the internal control mechanisms and distinct role of the board of directors of a typical LBO association. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Leveraged Buyouts; Rail Industry

August 2001
Case

Aurora Health Care: Finding "a Better Way"

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Kevin M. Dwyer

The largest hospital system in Wisconsin is trying to respond to new threats from nontraditional care providers. This case presents the hospital's dilemma as it tries to create change from within. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; SWOT Analysis; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry

November 1991
Case

Monsanto's March into Biotechnology (B)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

Monsanto has yet to receive FDA approval for BST, a growth hormone for cows. Anti-BST groups have successfully lobbied Wisconsin and Minnesota, major milk producing states, to ban milk from BST-injected cows; the FDA has charged Monsanto with improperly promoting BST... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Safety; Food; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Law Enforcement; Conflict and Resolution; Research and Development; Technology; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Minnesota; Wisconsin

2003
Other Unpublished Work

Initiative for a Competitive Milwaukee: A Call to Action

By: Michael E. Porter

The inner city of Milwaukee holds great promise, but is not advancing economically. The inner city has been hard hit by the loss of many of its largest employers as a result of relocation, acquisition and failure. According to the 2000 US Census data, thirty percent of... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Society; Poverty; Economy; Growth and Development; Wisconsin

Read Now

01 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

Good Leadership Is an Act of Kindness

Wisconsin has compared practicing kindness and compassion to weight training: "People can actually build up their compassion 'muscle' and respond to others' suffering with care and a desire to help," he said. Great leaders attest that it... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Susan Seligson

May 2010
Case

Clayton Industries, Inc.: Peter Arnell, Country Manager for Italy

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Benjamin H. Barlow

Clayton Industries, a sixty-year-old U.S.-based firm in the HVAC industry (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), with nearly $1 billion in revenues, has gradually built a presence in a number of countries, including several in Europe. Peter Arnell, previously... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Conflict and Resolution; Sales; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Wisconsin; Italy; United Kingdom

August 2012 (Revised May 2013)
Supplement

Milwaukee (B): Civic Leaders

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Change; Management; Wisconsin

November 2007 (Revised January 2010)
Case

ThedaCare: System Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter and Sachin H. Jain

Over the 1980s and 1990s, America's changing health care payer environment resulted in mergers of numerous community hospitals into hospital systems. Based in Appleton, Wisconsin, ThedaCare stood out among community hospital systems in its pursuit of service... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Health Care and Treatment; Problems and Challenges; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry; Wisconsin

October 2021
Case

Luke Fuszard

By: Leslie Perlow and Matthew Preble

Luke Fuszard (MBA 2010) shares the personal details of his life leading up to the moment when he was unexpectedly fired from his job in early 2021. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Wisconsin

August 2012 (Revised May 2013)
Supplement

Milwaukee (B9): Julia Taylor, President, Greater Milwaukee Committee

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Wisconsin

August 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Supplement

Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Wisconsin

August 2012
Supplement

Milwaukee (B7): Rocky Marcoux, Commissioner of City Development, City of Milwaukee

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Wisconsin

August 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Supplement

Milwaukee (B1): Dean Amhaus, President, Water Council

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Keywords: Management; Change; Wisconsin

August 2012 (Revised May 2013)
Case

Milwaukee (A): Making of a World Water Hub

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

Starting in 2007 Milwaukee leaders from different areas (large established companies, civic organizations, public sector, academia, and entrepreneurs) negotiated a path for converting the region into a global water hub to address economic and environmental concerns.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Growth Management; Business or Company Management; Leading Change; Wisconsin

June 2003 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Molded Dimensions, Inc.

By: H. Kent Bowen, Virginia Fuller and Doren Spinner

Mike Katz, an MBA with several years of manufacturing management experience, talks about purchasing Molded Dimensions, Inc. (MDI), a Wisconsin-based plastics manufacturer, with his wife Linda, who also has a manufacturing background. The case describes at length... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Jobs and Positions; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Negotiation Process; Manufacturing Industry; Wisconsin