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new for spring 2009

Teaching Materials Newsletter

in this issue
New Web Site for Educators 01 new web site

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators 02 harvard business for educators

This february, we will launch a new


version of the Harvard Business for 03 new simulations

Educators web site. The site, which has


04 new brief cases in accounting
long offered business educators access
to case studies and other classroom
05 New Cases, NOtes, Articles & Books
materials, will feature improved search
functions, access to a range of tools for 05 Accounting & Control
viewing and delivering content, and a
05 Business & Government
completely revamped “My Library” for
organizing and sharing both print and 05 Competitive Strategy
eLearning course materials.
07 Entrepreneurship
A new search interface and taxonomy
10 Finance
will let educators view all available
content formats (e.g., PDF, hard copy, 12 General Management

DVD, eLearning, Spanish, English) and 15 Human Resource Management


quickly add content to folders or courses
16 Management of Information Systems
from anywhere on the site. Advanced search will allow educators to define their
inquiries by length, discipline, region, publication date, and more. We will 16 Marketing
also make it easier to find cases and articles from other institutions, including
18 Negotiations
Stanford, Darden, Kellogg, and Ivey, among others.
18 Operations Management
The new “My Library” section of the site will give educators a flexible home
base for planning and delivering course material: instructors can view or update 20 Organizational Behavior & Leadership

current courses, create new ones, deliver material to students, and share course 22 Service Management
ideas with colleagues.
22 Social Enterprise & Ethics
It will now be possible for instructors to deliver both digital print material and
23 Teaching & the Case Method
online courses and simulations directly to students from the site—at special
student rates unavailable elsewhere.
23 contact information
Visit the site and apply for Educator Access:
www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators
BC  ew ONLINE COURSE:
n
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In addition, educators can apply for Educator Access.
1. updated AND advanced search
William Ellet
Benefits include: Use our updated search or new
The business case is a powerful learning tool. But analyzing cases and writing about
advanced search to quickly find
4
• Educator Copies
them can be challenging, especially for students new to the method. The Case Study • Teaching Notes
Handbook covers how to read, analyze, write about, and discuss cases effectively. • Student Pricing APPLY NOW the right course materials.
VIEW DETAILS

TEACHING RESOURCES 2. See a wide range of tools for


• Accounting & Control
Participant-Centered Learning
DISCIPLINES
• Business & Government & the Case Method.
• Competitive Strategy
eLEARNING CASES
LEVELS
• Entrepreneurship
Online Simulations Citibank: Performance Evaluation
Each simulation is easy to set up, has powerful Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton
• Finance 3. Browse by primary types of
GUIDES • General Management
administration tools, and comes with a detailed
Teaching Note: • HR Management
course materials:
Citibank has introduced a new,
comprehensive performance-scorecard • MIS Articles, Cases, Books and Chapters,
• Operations Management: Benihana
• Strategic Innovation: Back Bay Battery
• Supply Chain Management: Root Beer Game
CASE system. A regional president struggles
with a tough decision: how to evaluate 5 • Marketing
• Negotiations
Online Courses, Online Simulations,
• Pricing: Universal Rental Car
an outstanding branch manager who has
scored poorly on an important customer
• Operations Management Role Plays
• Leadership and Team: Everest • OB & Leadership
satisfaction measure.
LEARN MORE & SEE DEMOS • Service Management
VIEW DETAILS
• Social Enterprise & Ethics 4. organize materials and
create courses:
n Users can register for Basic Access
SIGN UP to My Library for easy storing and
THE TEACHING POST BLOG FOR UPDATES
APPLY FOR organizing of materials.
DEDICATED TO PARTICIPANT-CENTERED LEARNING IN ACTION
BY DISCIPLINE
EDUCATOR GO NOW n  Instructors can apply for
ACCESS NOW Using Cases
in Undergraduate Classes
6 Educator Access to receive:
LEARN MORE
In his latest entry to the Teaching Post, Professor
Fatal Ascent: Leadership Lessons oF  ree educator copies of cases,
from the 1996 Everest Tragedy
Jim Heskett offers tips and advice on how to
integrate case study learning in an undergraduate
Michael Roberto, Professor, Bryant University articles and chapters, and demos
setting. He addresses some of the challenges faced of eLearning programs
THE CASE STUDY by students and professors, as well as case
selection, setting expectations, and ways to introduce oT  eaching Notes
HANDBOOK excitement into classroom case discussions.

READ MORE & POST A COMMENT


oA  ccess to My Courses to organize
Paperback
for students
materials and deliver them to
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RELATED PRODUCTS students at a special price.
CASES BOOK CHAPTERS
Participant-Centered Analyzing a Case
Learning and the Case Outlines different types of 5. Several ways to browse:
Method
PARTICIPANT- This online program helps
case situations and describes
a process students can use to  y academic Discipline
oB
CENTERED instructors develop skills and
confidence in leading case
analyze them. 00:11/ 02.34
 y Level: See recommended
oB
LEARNING & THE discussions. VIEW DETAILS
materials for MBA, undergraduate,
CASE METHOD VIEW DETAILS
and Exec Ed courses.
LEARN MORE APPLY FOR
EDUCATOR ACCESS  ith Guides: See recommended
oW
TO RECEIVE: cases and articles for specific
ED S o Educator copies of cases, articles, textbooks or by course topic.
R T
U UC and chapters
E AT D
F R O
P o Teaching Notes
o Preview access to online courses 6. join our community of
and simulations case teachers
o Access to course planning tools
to organize materials and get
In The Teaching Post, HBS professor
student pricing
APPLY NOW
Emeritus Jim Heskett writes regular
columns on topics related to
1 2 3
Participant-Centered Learning.
THE CASE STUDY THE CONCISE GUIDE TO ON COMPETITION: Join the discussion and share ideas.
HANDBOOK: MACROECONOMICS: Updated and expanded
How to Read, Discuss, What Managers, edition by Michael E. Porter
and Write Persuasively Executives, and Students (Hardcover)
About Cases (Paperback) Need to Know (Hardcover)

2 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


New Online Simulations new simulation
Supply Chain
in Finance Management:
Root Beer Game
Available this Semester, two new online simulations in Finance: Blackstone/
Celanese and M&A in Wine Country. Both simulations are designed to be easy Shipments Shipments Shipments

to administer and engaging to students. Each is accompanied by a detailed


Orders Orders Orders

Teaching Note, including screen-by-screen instructions. Factory Distributor Wholesaler Retailer

Finance: Blackstone/Celanese Based on the classic Beer Game


developed at MIT in the 1960s, this
This simulation recreates the
team-based simulation illustrates how
landmark acquisition of Celanese
oscillations arise in a simple supply
AG by the Blackstone Group in
chain and how they amplify as one
2003. Students play the role of either
moves up the chain (the “bullwhip
Celanese or Blackstone and conduct
effect”). Students play one of four roles
due diligence, establish deal terms,
in a root beer supply chain: factory,
and respond to bids and counter-
distributor, wholesaler, or retailer.
bids. The simulation includes chat
functionality so students can negotiate “live.” Ideal for 2nd-year MBA Students place orders each round
elective courses in Private Equity, Valuation, and Mergers and Acquisitions. (simulated week) in order to manage
Product #3712 inventory. The objective of the game is
to minimize cost across the supply
chain. Inventory holding costs are set at
Finance: M&A in Wine Country $0.50 per case per week, and stockout
In this team-based simulation, costs are $1.00 per case per week.
students play the role of one of three The game begins with untimed rounds
wine producers: Starshine, Bel Vino, but moves to shorter, timed rounds to
or International Beverage. Students increase pressure on decision making,
progress through 3 rounds of valuation, mimicking suboptimal real-world
negotiation, and bidding before they conditions.
must decide to accept (or reject) final
offers. Ideal as a capstone experience Faculty can run multiple supply chain
for a 1st-year MBA Finance course or after a module covering M&A. Students configurations within one class to
should have exposure to fundamentals in Finance before playing. Available for accentuate the differences in resulting
classes in March 2009. data and illuminate key learning points.
Product #3289 Faculty can also monitor student
progress in real time, and results
Teaching faculty can receive preview access to online simulations.
are available immediately for class
Contact customer service at 800-545-7685 (Outside the U.S. and
discussion following play.
Canada, 617-783-7600).
Ideal for courses in Operations
Management and Supply Chain
Management.

Supply Chain Management Simulation:


Root Beer Game
> Learn more on our web site: www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators Product #3101

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 3
New Brief Cases in Accounting & Control
Additional Cases in Marketing and OB & Leadership
Harvard Business Publishing continues to expand its Brief Cases collection with new offerings in
Marketing, Organizational Behavior, and Accounting. A Brief Case typically contains 3–7 pages of text
plus a few exhibits, portrays a protagonist who confronts a complex and critical decision, and requires
rigorous analysis—often quantitative—by students. Every Brief Case is accompanied by a detailed
Teaching Note.

New Brief Cases in Accounting & Control


The Talbots, Inc., and Subsidiaries: Merrimack Tractors and Mowers: Lyons Document Storage:
Accounting for Goodwill LIFO or FIFO? Bond Accounting
Focusing on the firm’s acquisition of A CFO proposes use of FIFO to A manager must analyze the refunding
J. Jill, the case demonstrates what maintain earnings growth, accepting of bonds issued in 2000, when interest
goodwill is, how it originates, how it possible tax consequences. The case rates were higher. Students must
is measured at acquisition, and how demonstrates that firms often have calculate the present value of interest
it is amortized or impaired. choices about accounting policies. and principal payments.

Key topics: goodwill accounting, Key topics: financial reporting, Key topics: accounting procedures,
intangible assets, nonfinancial inventory valuation, LIFO, FIFO, bonds, financial analysis, financial
performance decision making reporting, interest rates, present value
#3254 • Teaching Note #3257 #3217 • Teaching Note #3219 #3215 • Teaching Note #3216

Marketing OB & Leadership

Harrington Collection: Sizing Up the Stone Finch, Inc.: Young Division,


Active-Wear Market Old Division
In the wake of sagging profit margins, A young executive arrives at
a leading manufacturer and retailer of Stone Finch as head of a new
high-end women’s apparel, Harrington consulting division that quickly
Collection, must evaluate an opportunity eclipses the old manufacturing
to expand into the high-growth active- unit as a growth engine, making
wear market. some managers wealthy. The
cash-cow manufacturing unit is
Key topics: industry analysis, breakeven
drained of profits to fund growth
analysis, consumer behavior, product
elsewhere, and resentment builds
development, brand management
over organizational and financial
#3258 • Teaching Note #3259
dysfunctions.

Key topics: leadership, employee


motivation, growth management,
organizational design, human
resources management
#3214 • Teaching Note #3211

> Learn more on our web site: briefcases.hbsp.harvard.edu

4 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


acco un tin g & Con tr ol | BUSINESS & GOVERNMENT | competitive st rat egy

Cases

Newly released
N ot e s
A r t i cl e s
Boo k s

ACCOUNTING & BUSINESS & COMPETITIVE STRATEGY


CONTROL GOVERNMENT
Betfair vs. UK Bookmakers
New Century Financial Corporation Korea: On the Back of a Tiger Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan, (Abridged) Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Aldo Sesia Jr. Yasheng Huang Product #709417 (23 pages)
Harvard Business School Case (Library) Teaching Note #709418
Harvard Business School Case
Product #109034 (27 pages) (Secondary Source) Betting exchanges provide an electronic plat-
Product #708052 (28 pages)
After years of rapid growth and stock price form that allows ordinary consumers to not
appreciation, New Century Financial Corpora- What caused the 1997 Korea crisis? Did the only back teams to win, but also lay odds for
tion, one of the largest subprime loan origina- International Monetary Fund (IMF) help other punters to back. This business model
tors in the United States, reported accounting or hinder recovery? Did democracy help allows punters to cut out the middleman—
problems in early 2007. The resulting or hinder recovery? Previously seen as an the bookmaker—and leads to a much more
liquidity crisis forced the company to file for economic miracle, Korea succumbed to the efficient two-sided market. In fact, Betfair.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Accord- wave of currency crises sweeping Asia in late com’s domination of the betting exchange
ing to the bankruptcy examiner assigned 1997. Did the same state-led export growth has threatened to undermine the core of the
to investigate New Century, the company’s strategy that had brought about such spectacu- traditional bookmaker’s business model. The
troubles “were an early contributer to the lar success cause this financial meltdown? case examines two aspects of the industry:
subprime meltdown” that fueled a financial Conversely, what role had foreign investors (1) What specific choices did Betfair make
crisis in the United States and beyond. The played in setting up the crisis by pouring to become the dominant betting exchange,
case study examines New Century’s business short-term capital into Korea’s partially and winning the competitive battle over Flutter.
model and accounting practices and focuses unevenly liberalized financial system? When com? (2) At what stages do Betfair.com’s
on the role of management, audit commit- it arrived on the scene, did the IMF do more business model and those of the bookmakers
tee, and external auditors in the problems at to help Korea recover from its economic interact? Will Betfair.com naturally come to
New Century, based on the findings of the distress or did it just bail out foreign investors dominate the industry, and if so, how should
bankruptcy examiner. and prepare the way for Wall Street to buy up the bookmakers react?
Korean banks and firms? Had Korea’s long Learning Objective: This case has been
Learning Objective: This case introduces
move toward democracy helped or hindered designed to be taught in the third module of
students to the subprime mortgage industry,
government efforts to reform its economic the EC course “Competing through Business
helps them understand the business model,
strategy and to resolve the current crisis? This Models.” It allows a rich discussion of compet-
and shows how the economic transactions of
case explains the background for the explora- itive interaction between players with different
subprime mortgage originators are captured
tion of these questions. business models (Betfair vs. bookmakers) and
by their accounting. It illustrates the risk
management roles of management, the audit Learning Objective: To explore causes and players with similar business models (Betfair
committee, and the external auditor. ramifications of financial crises. vs. Flutter). The case illustrates the power
of business models that exploit the indirect
network effects present in platform industries.

Cases, articles, chapters, exercises, notes, and Teaching Notes:


$6.95 Executive Education ($3.95 for degree-granting academic programs)

Supplements: $3.75 Executive Education


($2.30 for degree-granting academic programs)

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 5
COMPETITIVE STRATEGY

Fidelity Investments’ House of Tata: opportunities; to recruit job candidates; to


Charitable Gift Fund (A) Acquiring a Global Footprint find suppliers, partners, and customers; and
to seek out expert advice. The company was
Robert C. Pozen Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu
also expanding into corporate services that
Harvard Business School Case (Field) Harvard Business School Case (Field)
would enable businesses to build and manage
Product #309002 (11 pages) Product #708446 (33 pages)
their own online networks. With revenue
Teaching Note #309018
Chronicles the globalization of the Tata Group, sources that included advertising, premium
Supplement #309003
one of India’s largest business groups. Since subscriptions, job posting services, and busi-
Deborah Pege, an attorney at Fidelity Invest- 2000, many Tata Group operating companies ness solutions, LinkedIn was on track to bring
ments, needs to decide whether Fidelity have aggressively built international busi- in revenues in 2008 of up to $100 million.
should attempt to patent business processes nesses, particularly through overseas acquisi- A new funding round in mid-2008 yielded
involved with its new charitable gift fund. The tions. After describing the globalization a $1 billion valuation for the company. Three
case explores the conditions that must be rationales and approaches of the major Tata key dilemmas confronted LinkedIn, however.
satisfied in order to receive a patent and raises Group companies, the case asks students to First, at a time when the “walled garden”
issues about the value of the patent versus consider whether Tata Motors should pursue model of online community building was
other ways to protect intellectual property. the acquisition of the Jaguar and Land Rover under siege, LinkedIn had to decide how far
Learning Objective: To educate students about brands owned by U.S.-based Ford Motor it should open its platform to users. Second,
patents and other aspects of intellectual Company. in light of competition from highly popular
property protection. social network services such as Facebook and
Learning Objective: To consider the use of
MySpace, LinkedIn had to decide whether to
acquisitions as a tool for emerging market-
incorporate social networking into its value
Hilton Hotels: based companies to globalize their businesses.
proposition. Third, in an increasingly global
Brand Differentiation through business environment, it had to weigh the
Customer Relationship Management LinkedIn Corp., 2008 option of merging with its leading interna-
Lynda M. Applegate David B. Yoffie tional competitor, XING.com.
Harvard Business School Case (Field) Harvard Business School Case (Field) Learning Objective: To depict the strategic
Product #809029 (18 pages) Product #709426 (22 pages)
dilemmas that confront a successful tech-
This case analyzes the Hilton Hotels Corpora- In June 2008, the online professional net- nology company in a fluid, fast-changing
tion’s CRM strategy at a key juncture in its working service LinkedIn became a $1 billion competitive field.
history, immediately after the firm had been company. But CEO Dan Nye understood that
taken private by Blackstone. The case provides LinkedIn faced several strategic dilemmas. mixi
students with a comprehensive history of Founded in 2002, LinkedIn by 2008 had
Mikolaj Jan Piskorski
Hilton’s CRM initiative—its evolution and become the world’s leading professional
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
the role of IT enablers—and its proprietary networking service (PNS), with more than 23
Product #709413 (20 pages)
OnQ enterprise system. The case offers a million members. Aiming to “dominate the
rare opportunity to engage in a longitudinal business of business networking,” in Nye’s Kenji Kasahara, founder and CEO of mixi,
evaluation of the firm’s CRM initiative and to words, LinkedIn allowed individual members the most successful Japanese online social
enable students to propose the future evolu- to post a profile on the LinkedIn site and network, is deciding between two strategic
tion of the initiative, based on their analysis. then to use the site’s tools to search for job options in order to leverage the power of the
social network: (1) B2C, or (2) C2C. In the
B2C option, mixi would become a portal for
Competitive Strategy online shopping for both digital content and
tangible goods and would charge the business
sellers a fee. In the C2C option, mixi would
On Competition
facilitate exchanges between mixi’s members
Updated and Expanded Edition
through online flea markets or auctions and
Michael E. Porter would charge the members for successful
transactions. In choosing between the two
For the past two decades, Michael Porter’s work has towered
over the field of competitive strategy. On Competition,
options, Kasahara has to consider other
Updated and Expanded Edition, brings together more than upstart networks, particularly in the field of
a dozen of Porter’s landmark articles from Harvard Business mobile social networking.
Review. Five are new to this edition, including a major revision of the strategy classic
Learning Objective: To help students under-
“The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy,” as well as new work on health
care, philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, and CEO leadership.
stand when social networks add the most
value to exciting business models.
Product #2696 • ISBN-13: 978-1-4221-2696-7 • Hardcover • 576 pages • 2008 • $39.95

6 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


COMPETITIVE STRATEGY | en tr epr en eu rship

Affinity Labs, Inc.


PCCW now VMware Inc., 2008
Joseph B. Lassiter
Andrei Hagiu David B. Yoffie, Andrei Hagiu
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Harvard Business School Case (Field) Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Product #809019 (28 pages)
Product #709405 (20 pages) Product #709435 (27 pages)
In 2006, Chris Michel left Military.com, which
In 2007, PCCW had to formulate a strategy Paul Maritz took the helm of VMware in July
he founded in 1999, to start Affinity Labs, a
for the growth of its successful now TV 2008, just as the company confronted a radi-
global network of online communities. Michel
platform and its quadruple-play implementa- cally new competitive environment. Since its
raised a Series A round of venture funding
tion outside of Hong Kong. Launched in founding in 1998, VMware had been the lead-
and established a partnership with Monster.
September 2003 by PCCW (Hong Kong’s ing provider of virtualization software. Now
com, to which he had sold Military.com.
largest telecommunications operator), now TV it faced the kind of threat that every software
Within its first year of operations, Affinity
had swiftly become the world’s most success- company dreaded most: Microsoft, the world’s
Labs launched eight vertical portals, including
ful commercial IPTV deployment. By the end largest software maker, was taking direct aim
PoliceLink, NursingLink, TechCommunity,
of June 2007, the service had an installed sub- at VMware’s core market. As of June 2008,
and IndiaOn. While the company was well
scriber base of almost 820,000 and offered a buyers of Microsoft’s Windows Server 2008
ahead of its original plan to release four
choice of 143 TV channels, 71 of which were operating system received a free, bundled
portals in 2007, Michel still faced a number of
exclusive. However, opportunities for growth version of Hyper-V, an advanced virtualization
challenges. He had learned a great deal from
were inherently limited to Hong Kong (7 platform product. Looming over the impend-
the first launches of Military.com and Affinity
million inhabitants), which meant PCCW had ing competition between these two companies
Labs, but in the case of each new community,
to find ways to expand its now TV platform or was the history of the “browser wars,” in
he now faced how best to construct the vertical
seek to license parts of it internationally. which Microsoft overwhelmed browser maker
and attract a sufficiently large audience. While
Netscape Communications by bundling the
Learning Objective: To illustrate challenges of the model seemed highly scalable because
Internet Explorer browser with the Windows
formulating growth strategy for a multi-sided each vertical used the same core technology,
operating system. Did a similar fate await
platform. every sector had its unique features. In 2007,
VMware? Maritz moved quickly and boldly to
executives from Monster.com opened up a
respond to the Microsoft threat—by deciding
The University of Texas MD dialogue with Michel about either selling the
to offer a version of VMware’s own virtualiza-
company or expanding their relationship.
Anderson Cancer Center: tion platform product for free. But he still
Michel wondered if the time was right to sell
Interdisciplinary Cancer Care had to determine whether VMware’s overall
or if he should grow Affinity Labs further with
Michael E. Porter strategy was the right one.
the hope of creating a company that could
Harvard Business School Case (Field) Learning Objective: To provide material for command the high valuations seen recently by
Product #708487 (29 pages) the evaluation of strategy for a successful a number of social networking concerns.
In 2006, The University of Texas MD Ander- high-tech company facing a newly competitive
Learning Objective: To illustrate the tech-
son Cancer Center was a leading international environment.
niques and tools used to accelerate customer
institution for cancer care, education, and adoption in an e-commerce/social networking
research. Since 1996, it had successfully setting.
restructured itself from a cancer hospital
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
that was physically organized around clinical
specialties into one that was organized into Amazon.com:
disease-based integrated practice units called Abraaj Capital The Brink of Bankruptcy
“multidisciplinary care centers.” These units Josh Lerner Lynda M. Applegate
were supported by a construction project that Harvard Business School Case (Field) Harvard Business School Case
had created new disease-specific facilities Product #809008 (30 pages) (Secondary Source)
and a widely supported administrative plan Product #809014 (11 pages)
Abraaj Capital addresses issues of how to
in which physicians reported to leadership of This case enables a thorough analysis of
respond to the fast-growing Middle East
both specialty-based academic departments the Amazon.com business model and its
market. Questions of scaling, institutionaliza-
and disease-based clinical centers. evolution from 1994 to 2001. This study ends
tion, and geographic scope are among those
Learning Objective: To develop an understand- considered. with the company poised on the brink of
ing of value-based health care delivery. bankruptcy and facilitates discussion of how
Learning Objective: To examine strategy in to turn around the company and leverage
private equity. proprietary assets.

Learning Objective: To enable discussion of


business model analysis and evolution.

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 7
e n tr e p r e n e u r sh i p

Frank Addante, Serial Entrepreneur


Cases, articles, chapters, exercises, notes, and Teaching Notes: Noam Wasserman
$6.95 Executive Education ($3.95 for degree-granting academic programs) Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Supplements: $3.75 Executive Education Product #809046 (13 pages)
($2.30 for degree-granting academic programs) Frank Addante is a 28-year-old serial entre-
preneur who is in the process of building his
fifth venture. Of his first four ventures, two
tion. Also facing Mao was the forthcoming were sold and one went public; he decided
Big to Small:
deregulation of the telecommunications to close the last venture and return unused
The Two Lives of Barry Nalls
industry on the island, which would introduce capital to his investors. With the passing of
Noam Wasserman each venture, he has learned about forming
new competitors on fixed-line services to
Harvard Business School Case (Field) founding teams, splitting equity with his
a field that already included a competitive
Product #808167 (22 pages) co-founders, hiring executives to work for him,
mobile communications segment where the
Barry Nalls describes lessons learned during company’s once dominant market share was and taking (or refusing) outside funding. Now,
his 25-year career, including his rise at heavily eroded. Mao had to decide on the he’s facing pressure from investors who aren’t
GTE and shorter-lived ventures and how pricing strategies for the company’s various happy with the way he is building his current
these prepared him to found MASERGY, a product lines, including fixed-line, mobile team and are questioning whether he should
telecommunications start-up. Even as a young services, and data communication. He also remain CEO.
boy in a family of entrepreneurs, Nalls had needed to ponder how to revise the company’s Learning Objective: To examine the lessons
a reputation as a hard worker, but instead compensation system to better motivate its learned by a young serial entrepreneur during
of becoming an entrepreneur himself, he staff in a deregulated market and to com- each of his five ventures, including lessons
built a long career at “the biggest company municate all these changes to the unionized regarding working with older co-founders,
around.” After years of working in sales and labor force. splitting the equity with co-founders, hiring
marketing at GTE, he decided to venture out executives to work for him, and when to take
on his own. His GTE experiences armed him outside funding.
elBulli: The Taste of Innovation
for some entrepreneurial challenges but also
caused additional problems as he tried to Michael Norton
start, build, and grow MASERGY. Four years Harvard Business School Case (Field) How Serial Entrepreneurs Build and
after founding the venture, he now feels that Product #509015 (21 pages) Manage a Board of Directors in a
he should have “taken the entrepreneurial Venture-Backed Start-up
Ferran Adrià, chef at elBulli, the highest-
plunge” much earlier in life. ranked restaurant in the world for two Michael J. Roberts,
consecutive years, faces two related decisions. William A. Sahlman
Learning Objective: To explore when to
First, Adrià and his team must continue to Harvard Business School Case (Field)
become an entrepreneur and what career path
develop new and different dishes for the Product #808163 (27 pages)
to build before becoming one. To examine the
advantages and disadvantages of developing groundbreaking cuisine at elBulli in order This case includes structured interviews with
deep functional expertise in sales and market- to guarantee a continuous stream of innova- four serial entrepreneurs about the way in
ing, and of being an entrepreneur in a big tion, the cornerstone of the restaurant’s which they built and used their boards in
company before founding a company yourself. success. In addition, they face the challenge each of their companies and what they have
of growing the business, exploring whether learned through that process. These entre-
the core concepts from elBulli—this “taste preneurs were asked similar questions, such
Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. (A) of innovation”—can be applied to domains as “How do you build a board of directors
Paul W. Marshall ranging from consulting to fast food. The case in a venture-backed start-up?” “What do you
Harvard Business School Case (Field) walks readers through an evening at elBulli, expect of the board, and how do you ensure
Product #808137 (17 pages) using the rave reviews of patrons to capture those expectations are met?” “What are the
Supplement #808138 the full experience. most and least value-added board activities?”
In late November 2000, Chunghwa Telecom Learning Objective: This case highlights a suc- “How do you manage the board?” “How does
Co., Ltd., the once-monopolized telecom cessful process for continuous innovation in a board composition change over time?” “What
operator owned by the Taiwanese government, creative industry, as well as offering guide- were your biggest surprises about boards?”
was on its way to privatization. Chairman C. K. lines for successful implementation of a “good and “What advice would you give first-time
Mao had accepted the job only three months experience” marketing strategy as opposed to entrepreneurs?”
earlier, after the prior chairman resigned a more standard product. The case includes Learning Objective: To highlight the unique
unexpectedly in the midst of chaos brought several elBulli recipes, which students can governance issues in small, new firms.
on by the resistance of staff who feared attempt to recreate.
losing their civil servant status after privatiza-

8 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


en tr ep ren eu rship

Jadelink and the Luxury Goods Marc Abrahams: Annals of an two months ago, when they completed a
Market in China Improbable Entrepreneur one-page “November Agreement.” Since then,
Michael has found an angel investor and
Kevin Au, Barbara Li Boris Groysberg
has worked nonstop on the business, while
Ivey School of Business Case Harvard Business School Case (Field)
one co-founder has been off enjoying the
Product #908M52 (19 pages) Product #409013 (25 pages)
winter break with his family and the other
Teaching Note #808M52
Marc Abrahams was a media entrepreneur worked on lucrative consulting contracts for
The chief executive officer of Jadelink who specialized in science humor. In 2008, other companies. Michael has just sent his
International Limited strives to create a he sought to boost the scale and monetiza- co-founders a proposal that would reallocate
modern jewelry brand that represents a new tion potential of his business. That business, the equity within their founding team, and all
perception of jade. The CEO has achieved called Improbable Research, encompassed three founders are getting ready to reopen a
early success, growing sales rapidly and a magazine (Annals of Improbable Research), negotiation they thought had been finalized.
bringing Jadelink products to Shanghai, the a high-profile annual event (the Ig Nobel
Learning Objective: To give students firsthand
trendiest city in China. But the company Prize Ceremony), a web site (improbable.
experience in negotiating with team members,
wants to expand business to the Asian and com), a series of books, and various public
in the context of a founding team splitting
international luxury goods markets. This appearances. This case uses the story of the
the equity within a new venture. Also, to
requires intensive capital to continue to build “improbable” emergence and expansion of
provide insight into the issues involved when
up the company scale. This case examines the that business to investigate the challenges
renegotiating in the shadow of a previous
consideration of venturing a new business and opportunities faced by an individual
arrangement. This is the core case in a series
in the China market, managing business who seeks to build an enterprise around his
that is useful for negotiation exercises.
growth, and acquiring venture capital. It also own human capital. It includes background
encourages discussion of factors that lead to a information on Abrahams’s early career, a
successful entrepreneurship and deal with a summary of the various segments of his Robert Wessman and Actavis’
business highly associated with industry tradi- company, and a discussion of recent efforts “Winning Formula”
tion, people connection, and product design by Abrahams to break free of constraints that Daniel J. Isenberg
and innovation. have limited the size and revenue-generating Harvard Business School Case (Field)
ability of Improbable Research for many Product #808127 (24 pages)
Learning Objective: This case is suitable for
years. Among those efforts are a decision to
use in teaching MBA students and senior Robert Wessman took over Actavis in 1999
distribute magazine content over the Internet
undergraduates in an entrepreneurship when it was a failing 90-person generic
for free and a major investment in producing
course. It can also be utilized in a new venture pharmaceutical maker in Iceland. Within
video content for the web. The case concludes
creation course because of the strong associa- 7 years he had taken Actavis to number 5
by presenting various options under con-
tion with product design and innovation. worldwide, a $1.6 billion global manufacturer
sideration by Abrahams—options that dealt
with both external challenges (How should with 11,000 people active in 40 countries. The
Keeping Google “Googley” he define his brand? Which markets should case explores the reasons for the success of
Boris Groysberg, David A. Thomas he target?) and internal challenges (Should this global venture.
Harvard Business School Case (Field) he hire to fill certain key positions?). The
Product #409039 (23 pages) case also features lively exhibits that illustrate Starbucks Coffee Company
Abrahams’ value proposition and analyze his in the 21st Century
This case examines how Google has worked
business model and revenue sources.
to avoid the potential negative by-products Nancy F. Koehn
of rapid growth, such as bureaucracy, slow Learning Objective: To explore key issues of Harvard Business School Case
decision making, lack of visibility, and human capital management, with a focus on (Secondary Source)
organizational inconsistency. When the case how individuals manage their own human Product #808019 (45 pages)
protagonist, Kim Scott, started with Google capital. This case explores the opportunities and
in 2004, she wondered if she would still be challenges confronting Starbucks in the
there in several years, as she preferred small, Negotiating Equity Splits at early 21st century. For more than 15 years,
entrepreneurial companies. In 2008, she UpDown Starbucks has grown swiftly and successfully,
was pleased that Google still had the same helping to create a large, dynamic market for
Noam Wasserman, Deepak Malhotra
entrepreneurial energy it had when she joined. specialty coffee, building one of the world’s
She and her colleagues reflect on how Google Harvard Business School Case (Field)
most powerful brands, and forging a new
Product #809020 (12 pages)
has been able to maintain its culture even as business model based on industry repair
Supplement #809021
the company keeps doubling in size. and responsible global citizenship. In 2008,
Supplement #809022
Learning Objective: To illustrate how a com- Supplement #809023 Starbucks leadership faces a range of issues
pany can maintain its entrepreneurial culture from inside and outside of the company that
Michael Reich is having severe doubts about relate to its success. This case examines these
amidst rapid growth.
how he split the equity with his co-founders

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 9
ENTRE P RENEURSHI P | FINANCE

issues in the context of a changing economy, FINANCE HSBC Credit Card Rewards Program
increased competition, evolving consumer Robert J. Fisher
priorities, and the organization’s place on the
Aurora Capital Group—Douglas Ivey School of Business Case
larger global stage.
Product #908A17 (22 pages)
Dynamics
Learning Objective: To help students under-
Nabil N. El-Hage At the start of the previous decade, competi-
stand the possibilities and problems of rapid
Harvard Business School Case (Field) tion in the credit card market was based
growth and industry leadership.
Product #209010 (11 pages) on price (i.e., interest rates and annual
fees). After Chase and American Express
System on a Chip 2008: Aurora Capital, a U.S. private equity firm, launched bonus-point programs in 1993,
contemplates whether to acquire Douglas
Global Unichip Corp. HSBC was forced to follow in 1994. The
Dynamics, the leading U.S. maker of snow- original program was targeted at high-income
Willy Shih, Chen-Fu Chien plows. Does a seasonal business that is highly consumers, as with luxury-brand redemp-
Harvard Business School Case (Field) dependent on the weather make a good lever-
Product #608159 (9 pages)
tion items. The competition reacted and
aged buyout candidate? This case provides a consumers quickly learned to expect a points
Teaching Note #609033
good introduction to the LBO business. What program as a standard feature. Again, HSBC
Though much of the semiconductor industry are the characteristics of a successful LBO? differentiated its credit card products by
has shifted to a horizontal model, complexity And how do successful PE firms create value adding a wider range of redemption items
driven by technological evolution is driving a by acquiring such companies? and lowering redemption levels. Problems
shift in the perceived boundaries in the value Learning Objective: To introduce students to emerged in 1997 and 1998 as the HSBC
chain. Global Unichip sees itself as a “virtual the concept of an LBO, to analyze price sensi- program became a source of complaints,
integrated device manufacturer,” a throwback tivity for an LBO, to explore characteristics of due to operational difficulties in fulfillment
to the vertically integrated model that fell a good LBO candidate, and to analyze how the and a lack of competitive advantage in the
out of favor for most chips. This case offers successful PE firm generates value in an LBO. marketplace. In 1999, HSBC’s credit card was
an opportunity to examine a highly modular rated poorly, largely because of the problems
industry and the impact of technology shifts with the bonus point system. Research was
on those boundaries, with significant implica- Finansbank 2006
used to understand consumers and revitalize
tions for the incumbents. C. Fritz Foley the program. Significant changes were made
Harvard Business School Case (Field) in the features, operations improved, and the
Learning Objective: To examine extreme value
Product #208108 (18 pages) selection of redemption items grew. By 2002,
migration in a modular system.
Teaching Note #208149 the program was rated as one of the best in
Supplement #208724 the industry. The challenge is, where does
Work Is Good: Branding the HSBC go from here?
This case provides students with an opportu-
Employ+Ability Mission
nity to analyze the restructuring of a Turkish Learning Objective: To illustrate how consum-
Lynda M. Applegate, Susan Saltrick, multinational business group by way of a ers and competitors change as markets evolve;
Monica Higgins merger. Finansbank is a bank headquartered to consider ways to differentiate products
Harvard Business School Case in Turkey, with additional operations in that have become commoditized; to examine
Product #809028 (23 pages) Holland, Switzerland, Russia, Romania, and a context in which an organization has
Employ+Ability, a small company that Ukraine. It was founded by Hüsnü Özye in transformed a product from worst to best in
employs developmentally disabled adults, 1987, and in April 2006, the National Bank of market through marketing activities; and to
finds itself competing with low-cost producers Greece (NBG) offered to buy part of the bank. consider the implications of using rewards
of its core products—therapeutic hot and cold Students consider factors that contribute to programs and promotional tactics to drive
packs. How might an innovative branding Finansbank’s growth and success. In order consumer behaviors. The case is designed for
campaign, centered on the company’s core to assess the terms of NBG’s offer, students marketing management courses at the senior
value of “Work Is Good,” enable it to effec- can evaluate given valuations of the bank and undergraduate, MBA, and executive levels. It
tively contend with its competitors? analyze why the proposed deal is structured is designed for a single 80-minute class.
so that Özye retains a stake and buys back
Learning Objective: To help students under- the non-Turkish operations. Students also
stand the challenges of social entrepreneur- consider the offer from the perspective of Iceland (A)
ship, especially in low-margin, cost-conscious minority shareholders. Aldo Musacchio
industries. Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Learning Objective: To illustrate how capital
Product #709011 (24 pages)
requirements create a need for restructuring
Supplement #709012
in environments where the benefits of owner-
ship concentration are high. In May 2008, a team of sovereign debt
analysts at Moody’s needed to decide whether
to downgrade the country’s sovereign long-

10 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


FINANCE

term debt from Aaa to Aa1 or lower. Investor finance


sentiment toward Iceland had changed
radically in March, and the Moody’s team was
fearful that the situation could spiral out of Ben Bernanke’s Fed
control. The Moody’s team knew that carry The Federal Reserve After Greenspan
traders increased Iceland’s vulnerability to Ethan S. Harris
a confidence crisis, because they were quick
to liquidate their holdings at the first sign of In this first in-depth look at Bernanke’s chairmanship of the
Fed, Lehman Brothers’ chief U.S. economist Ethan Harris
distress. The plunge in the Icelandic krona
demystifies the policy choices and pronouncements of the new
since the beginning of 2008 also forced the
Fed chair—and explains how they influence the global economy.
Icelandic people to confront a decision: Would Harris’ accessible portrayal is the tool students need to understand and anticipate
joining the European Union (EU) protect Bernanke’s decisions and communications by putting his actions into clear context.
Iceland from capricious swings in investor
Product #2584 • ISBN 978-1-4221-2584-7 • Hardcover • 240 pages • 2008 • $26.95
sentiment? What, if anything, should Iceland
do to avoid a future crisis?

International Carbon Finance


and EcoSecurites Funds I ($70 million) and II ($250 million) Martingale Asset Management L.P.
Andre F. Perold, Forest Reinhardt emphasizes careful targeting of sectors and in- in 2008: 130/30 Funds and a
depth work to develop the portfolio companies Low-Volatility Strategy
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
post-acquisition. With the industry’s greater
Product #208151 (22 pages) Luis M. Viceira
velocity and deal size, can Ithmar continue to
In late 2007, EcoSecurities had to decide Harvard Business School Case (Field)
pursue this strategy even with a larger fund?
Product #209047 (22 pages)
whether to undertake a new Clean Develop-
Learning Objective: To introduce students to
ment Mechanism (CDM) project in China. In early July 2008, William (Bill) Jacques,
the private equity environment in the Persian
EcoSecurities, an aggregator of carbon chief investment officer at Martingale Asset
Gulf area.
credits, was also invested directly in projects Management, a quantitative value-oriented
that produced carbon credits, used by investment manager in Boston, Massachu-
governments and firms to fulfill part of their Kmart and ESL Investments (A) setts, was busy preparing for an upcoming
compliance obligations in cutting greenhouse Stuart C. Gilson meeting with the group that made new prod-
gas emissions according to the Kyoto Protocol. uct decisions within the firm. The objective of
Harvard Business School Case
As demand for UN-issued carbon credits (Secondary Source) the meeting was to review the backtesting and
rose, the UN approval process had become Product #209044 (24 pages) real-time investment results of a new mini-
increasingly burdensome. The Ventilation Air mum-variance strategy within the framework
A major retailer is poised to emerge from
Methane Project was an opportunity to break of a 130/30 fund. The performance results
Chapter 11. Two activist hedge funds (“vulture
into a new sector with great potential, and were very encouraging, but Bill still wondered
investors”) will own more than 50% of
EcoSecurities had to assess the economics and if they were a fluke of the data, a result of data
reorganized Kmart common stock, based
risks of the project. mining rather than the reflection of a true
on prior investments in Kmart’s debt claims
Learning Objective: To understand the market market anomaly. He wanted to discuss several
and an infusion of new equity financing. The
for carbon emissions and the pricing of possible explanations of the phenomenon and
Chapter 11 process has generated both costs
carbon credits; to learn about project valuation to decide whether Martingale should offer the
and benefits for the company. Its future
and discounted cash flow; and to think about strategy to its clients.
profitability and the value of the reorganized
investment risk analysis in the context of business, however, are both highly uncertain. Learning Objective: To discuss the mechanics
political uncertainty. and the economic implications of leverage
Learning Objective: To introduce Chapter
and short-selling for investment strategies;
11 and the basics of the U.S. bankruptcy
Ithmar Capital to discuss minimum volatility stock invest-
practices; distressed (“vulture”) investing
ment strategies and quantitative investing in
Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon strategies in bankrupt companies; valuation of
general; and to discuss the management of
Harvard Business School Case (Field) a company about to emerge from bankruptcy;
quantitative funds, especially in the context of
Product #809032 (21 pages) and complicated capital structures, including
new product development and client offerings.
issues around security, subordination, public
The founders of Ithmar Capital, a mid-market
versus private debt, etc.
private equity fund that targets businesses
with concerns and operations in the Gulf
Cooperation Council countries, are about to
raise their third fund, targeting $1 billion. The
firm’s current strategy as demonstrated in

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 11
f in a n c e

SKS Microfinance French multinational. The case allows for a operating results and its credit market condi-
Shawn Cole thorough analysis of buyer types (financial tions made it unclear whether the transaction
vs. strategic), deal strategy, and valuation. could be closed as scheduled in 2007, or
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Among other topics covered in the case are indeed at all.
Product #208137 (21 pages)
the importance of due diligence, the potential
Learning Objective: The case permits a discus-
Vikram Akula, CEO of SKS Microfinance, for value creation by private equity firms
sion of the decline of the U.S. newspaper
seeks a venture capital investment to fund through operational improvements, the use of
industry and an analysis of the advantages
his firm. SKS, one of the largest and fastest- footholds in deal strategy, and the challenges
and disadvantages of the unusual features
growing microfinance institutions in India, is of cross-border acquisitions.
built into this particular transaction. The case
a profitable for-profit institution with a social
Learning Objective: To evaluate the charac- may be analyzed from multiple perspectives:
mission. In what is one of the first commer-
teristics and goals of different buyer types, to Zell’s, the employees’, the shareholders’, and
cial financing deals in the world, Akula must
discuss deal strategy from a private equity Tribune’s pre-existing lenders’.
decide at what value (and to whom) to sell
standpoint, and to analyze how valuation
equity in SKS. The case focuses on valuation,
impacts bidding strategy.
which is difficult because at the time there Venture Capital Vignettes:
were no comparable publicly traded com- Difficult Financings
panies, and the strategic aspects of raising Tribune Company, 2007 G. Felda Hardymon
money. Timothy A. Luehrman Harvard Business School Case
Learning Objective: To teach valuation of Harvard Business School Case (Secondary Source)
(Secondary Source) Product #809003 (6 pages)
financial institutions, particularly microfi-
Product #208148 (24 pages)
nance; to study an entrepreneur’s problem. These three short vignettes depict invest-
Supplement #208723
ment professionals considering difficult
This case describes the proposed acquisi- financings for companies in their portfolios.
Thoma Bravo—Citect Corporation
tion of Tribune Company by Sam Zell in For one reason or another, each company
Take-Private
2007. Tribune Company is one of the largest has underperformed expectations. Should
Nabil N. El-Hage newspapers and broadcasting companies in the protagonist recommend that the firm
Harvard Business School Case (Field) the United States. Zell’s proposed acquisition participate or not, or should he try to revise it?
Product #209022 (22 pages) is unusual in several respects. It is two-tiered, Can the firm exercise any influence, and are
In 2006, Citect Corporation, a publicly employs an ESOP as the acquisition vehicle, the potential gains worth the time and effort
traded Australian software company, was the and involves a high degree of leverage as well that will be required?
target of a takeover battle between a financial as significant asset sales, and Zell himself will
own almost no common stock in the post-deal
Learning Objective: To introduce students to
sponsor and a strategic buyer. Thoma Bravo,
the complex and nuanced decisions about
the U.S.-based private equity firm, had to Tribune. The case is set in late October 2007,
funding companies with uncertain chances of
decide on its acquisition strategy in the face of at which point the first stage of the acquisition
success.
competition from Schneider Electric, a large had been completed, but the second stage had
not. Recent deterioration in both Tribune’s

GENERAL MANAGEMENT
General Management
Absolute Return for Kids
Groundswell Herman B. Leonard
Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Product #309036 (22 pages)
Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) is a charity
Corporate executives are struggling with a new trend: people
with strong financial support. ARK seeks to
using online social technologies (blogs, social networking sites,
transform the lives of children who are vic-
YouTube, podcasts) to discuss products and companies, write
their own news, and find their own deals. The authors explain tims of abuse, disability, illness, and poverty.
how to turn this threat into an opportunity. As one of the 50 largest fundraising charities
in the United Kingdom, the organization’s
“An insightful book that takes a refreshing research-driven approach to helping trustees wrestle with how to meet the needs
businesses transform themselves and successfully navigate this new dynamic of this vast and most vulnerable population
landscape.” through program expansion and delivery in
—Steve Rubel, Senior Vice President, Edelman Digital, and columnist for Advertising Age Eastern Europe, South Africa, and the United
Product #2500 • ISBN-13: 978-1-4221-2500-7 • Hardcover • 304 pages • 2008 $29.95
Kingdom. How can the organization replicate
its existing successful programs faster, within

12 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


GENERAL MANAGEMENT

both new and existing countries? How can


ARK best identify new areas into which it Cases, articles, chapters, exercises, notes, and Teaching Notes:
should expand over the near term and further $6.95 Executive Education ($3.95 for degree-granting academic programs)
down the road, as well as recognize the ones
Supplements: $3.75 Executive Education
that would overstretch ARK’s organizational
($2.30 for degree-granting academic programs)
capacity and risk its failure to maintain the
highest quality of delivery?

Learning Objective: To illustrate the problems


of maintaining focus and disciplined strategy result of management’s attempts to design Enterprise Risk Management
in a resource-rich environment. and use formal control systems to achieve at Hydro One
profit and performance goals.
Anette Mikes
AREVA T&D Learning Objective: To offer a longitudinal Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Ananth Raman, Vincent Dessain study of company attempting to balance Product #109001 (22 pages)
innovation and control.
Harvard Business School Case (Field) An early adopter of enterprise risk manage-
Product #608174 (48 pages) ment, energy giant Hydro One anticipated
The case explores the rapid and highly
Boston Teacher Residency: new threats and opportunities in an industry
effective turnaround at AREVA’s transmis- Developing a Strategy for that faced climate change and carbon legisla-
sion and distribution (T&D) business by Long-Term Impact tion, the deregulation of electricity markets,
focusing on the division’s operations. The Stacey Childress and the greater adoption of renewable tech-
division was struggling in 2004 when newly nologies. CEO Laura Formusa felt that Hydro
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
appointed CEO Philippe Guillemot and his Product #309043 (31 pages)
One’s risk profile had shifted, to the extent
team improved performance substantially by that she had to ask herself: Was the strategy
In June 2008, Jesse Solomon, founding tenable? The case provides a rich description
focusing on four levers—industrial footprint
director of the Boston Teacher Residency of enterprise risk management in action and
realignment, competitive sourcing, process
(BTR), faced an important decision about the shows how Hydro One executives arrived at a
efficiency, and a competitive product offering.
organization’s strategic direction. Since its shared understanding of the risk profile of the
The case challenges students to identify the
founding in 2003, 125 of its graduates had company. In the narrative, a diverse group of
best path forward, starting in 2008. How can
joined the Boston Public Schools (BPS) and managers (the chief executive, the chief finan-
the progress achieved from 2004 to 2007 be
BTR had established a reputation as a provider cial officer, the head of public relations, and
sustained? AREVA T&D hopes to surpass
of some of the district’s best-prepared the chief regulatory officer) voice their views
ABB and Siemens in sales and profitability
new teachers. Yet Solomon wondered if its on the risks, collectively bringing a multiple-
by focusing on superior product offerings,
approach so far was the optimal choice going stakeholder perspective to the risk profile.
through “customer intimacy” (e.g., involving
forward. Carol Johnson, the new superinten- The case challenges students to define the
customers in new product development) and
dent for BPS, was developing a district-wide problems and risks that the company faces,
development of a reputation for environmen-
improvement strategy that prioritized given its strategic objectives, its evolving risk
tally friendly behavior. What is the role of
performance acceleration of the district’s profile, and the changing environment. The
operations management in this context?
lowest-performing schools. But relatively few case also offers a discussion ground for defin-
Learning Objective: To help students under- BTR graduates joined these schools—they ing both the role of the chief risk officer and
stand the role of operational improvement in were free to pursue teaching openings at the relationship between risk management,
a turnaround setting. any school in the district. Solomon knew the strategic planning, and capital budgeting.
potential to partner more closely with the new
superintendent was a time-sensitive oppor- Learning Objective: To provide a rich descrip-
ATH MicroTechnologies: tion of ERM and to expose students to the
tunity that involved a number of questions.
Making the Numbers challenges of risk assessment from a strategic
What were the implications of moving from
Robert L. Simons an open hiring market to the placement of perspective.
Harvard Business School Case (Field) BTR graduates in high-priority schools? Was
Product #108091 (14 pages) BTR’s model sufficient to prepare new teach- Gordon Williams: Clinical Research
Teaching Note #108097
ers to join struggling schools in the absence of at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
An exercise that takes students through five a comprehensive turnaround strategy? How H. Kent Bowen
stages in an entrepreneurial start-up in the could BTR continue to strengthen the quality
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
medical devices industry: founding, growth, of its program while supporting the new
Product #608168 (27 pages)
push to profitability, relocation process, and superintendent’s priorities?
takeover by new management. At each stage, Clinical research is a critical element of bio-
Learning Objective: To analyze the strategy of
students must confront tensions while balanc- medical research and development. This case
an entrepreneurial education venture.
ing profit, growth, and control. They will describes the challenges of clinical research
encounter difficulties in the business as the and its role in bringing breakthroughs to

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 13
GENERAL MANAGEMENT

patients. Dr. Williams leads through his own money nor traditional “goods” are exchanged. Product #909009 (12 pages)
research and special programs to train clinical Kidney exchange is an idea pioneered by Supplement #909010
investigators. HBS professor and market designer Alvin
Pat Fili-Krushel, CEO and president of
Roth along with a small group of innovative
Learning Objective: To understand the role WebMD.com and past president of ABC
doctors. The case follows this group as they
of clinical research within the spectrum of Network, contemplates accepting Richard
grapple with some of the complex questions
biomedical research. Parsons’ offer to become the first executive
associated with launching a national clearing-
vice president of administration at AOL Time
house for kidney exchange. It raises critical
Warner. Accepting this position would be a
InnoCentive.com (A) questions about why and how value is created
move back into mainstream media but also a
Karim R. Lakhani in markets, and about how important moral
career shift from line positions to a corporate
Harvard Business School Case (Field) dilemmas (in this case, the buying and selling
staff role. The case profiles Fili-Krushel’s
Product #608170 (22 pages) of human organs) complicate the connection
media experiences and her use of interper-
between market exchange and value creation.
InnoCentive.com, a firm connecting R&D sonal influence and negotiation, leading up
labs of large organizations to diverse external Learning Objective: To demonstrate that to the critical decision point. After consult-
solvers through innovation contests, has to markets are a powerful vehicle for value cre- ing with colleagues throughout the media
decide if it will enable collaboration in its ation, and to show the complexities of market industry, Fili-Krushel’s decision rests on her
community. The case covers the basics of how design when applied in an unconventional own career aspirations and her expectations
a distributed innovation system works and setting. about the future of AOL Time Warner.
the advantages of having external R&D. It also Learning Objective: To facilitate a discussion
applies concepts of open source to a non- Mattel’s Long Hot Summer around critical decision points faced by
software setting; describes the rationale for individuals at the mid-career point, using
Jane Wei-Skillern
participation by solvers in innovation contests influence and negotiation strategies for career
Harvard Business School Case
and the benefits that accrue to firms; and management and addressing job challenges;
(Secondary Source)
raises the issue of whether a community can Product #308129 (14 pages) and to analyze specific influences and negotia-
be shifted to collaboration when competition tion tactics used in different stages of a career.
was the basis of prior interaction. In the summer of 2007, Mattel performed
three major recalls of toys, mostly due to
Learning Objective: To cover the mechanics the use of lead paint and other manufactur- Sovereign Wealth Funds: For Profits
of open innovation and the rationale for ing issues in China. This case examines or Politics?
participation by firms and individuals. To specifically how those recalls were perceived Laura Alfaro
discover the challenges of moving to a by consumers and responded to by Mattel, Harvard Business School Case (Field)
collaborative model for innovation and the as well as what effect they had on the toy Product #708053 (18 pages)
potential opportunities for participants in a industry, consumer safety, and manufacturing
collaborative setting. in China in general. On March 21, 2008, the U.S. government
secured an agreement from two leading
Learning Objective: To question the trade-offs sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) to adopt a
Kidney Matchmakers between price and quality in manufacturing new set of investment principles to govern
Brian J. Hall practices and strategy. the funds’ activities. SWFs, broadly defined
Harvard Business School Case (Field) as investment funds owned by a nation or
Product #908068 (4 pages) a government, were gaining prominence
Pat Fili-Krushel (A)
This case looks at the design and development across the globe, especially with their recent
Kathleen L. McGinn
of an unconventional market, where neither investments in troubled U.S. financial firms
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
that had suffered significant losses during
the subprime mortgage crisis. Yet SWFs were
viewed with suspicion amid concerns that
General Management they could have potential political interests
behind their investments. Many SWFs also
lacked disclosure or transparency regarding
Control in an Age of Empowerment
their activities or investment goals. Countries
Robert L. Simons such as the United States felt that interna-
tional regulation had to be imposed, but
In this short paperback, Robert Simons explains how to give
employees the freedom to innovate while protecting your firm
would it be possible?
from loose cannons. Clear examples in the book show how to
apply 4 powerful management “levers” to balance autonomy
with control.

Product #2672 • ISBN-13: 978-1-4221-2672-1 • Paperback • 64 pages • 2008 • $8.95

14 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


GENERAL MANAGEMENT | hu ma n r esou r ces m a n ag emen t

System on a Chip 2008: Taiwanese maker of door lock hardware, U.S. more fully within the global WWF
Ardentec Corporation was faced with the question of whether to network and fostering longer-term trust-based
continue to focus on its ODM (original design relationships among all partner organizations
Willy Shih, Chen-Fu Chien
manufacturer) business or start placing more as they work toward their shared conservation
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
emphasis on its own brand development and goals. The case highlights the Tesso Nilo
Product #609026 (16 pages)
growth in global markets. The case explores Conservation Project, which brought together
Ardentec Corporation is a specialist in the bumpy history of the company and raises various WWF partners to stop illegal logging
“wafer probing,” a highly specialized niche questions around the downstream conse- in Sumatra and revive its wildlife environ-
sandwiched between the “front-end” and the quences of global outsourcing strategies. ment, and illustrates a network approach
“back-end” of semiconductor manufacturing. within a global multisite nonprofit.
Learning Objective: To examine some of the
Because the semiconductor industry uses
consequences of outsourcing strategies. Learning Objective: To examine the potential
modular processes and has standard contain-
of implementing networks in an established,
ers for a work-in-progress interchange, it has
mature, global nonprofit to achieve greater
evolved to a highly horizontal structure where Vignettes on Governance of
mission impact. The case examines the
specialists like Ardentec can carve out unique Private Equity Firms
challenges for institutionalizing such an
market opportunities that are less attractive G. Felda Hardymon approach as well as the required leadership,
to integrated manufacturers. The company Harvard Business School Case culture, and mind-set shift that is necessary
has grown rapidly, but as it starts to occupy (Secondary Source)
for building trust and transforming the way
a significant percentage of the total avail- Product #808168 (8 pages)
the organization operates and works with its
able market, its founders are faced with the
In a series of vignettes, Nigella Hardy-Smyth, peer organizations worldwide.
challenge of how to maintain growth. Do they
an employee of an international development
vertically integrate more into the back-end, or
agency that invests partners in emerging Year Up
should they try to do acquisitions in adjacent
markets private equity firms must decide how
markets? The case is intended to be used in Allen Grossman
to handle various situations as they arise. As a
conjunction with the Technical Note “Hori- Harvard Business School Case (Field)
member of the limited partner advisory board
zontal Specialization and Modularity in the Product #308032 (30 pages)
of each of the five firms, she must contend
Semiconductor Industry” (608001).
with a fund manager who has an indistinct Year Up, a nonprofit job-skills training
Learning Objective: To examine an extreme mandate, a manager who wants to exceed the program for low-income urban youth, has run
example of specialization, and to consider the concentration limit in an investment, a star four successful programs in four cities for
implications for company growth. investor experiencing tension with her other the past seven years. Now, after an ambitious
partners, a founding partner who wants to capital campaign, the organization is poised
Symyx Technologies, Inc. fire the rest of his senior team, and a limited to grow into a national program in an attempt
partner seeking preferential treatment that to reach the 4.3 million disconnected youth
H. Kent Bowen
might benefit his fund to the detriment of the in the United States, but will the organization
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
other limited partners. The process of discuss- be able to maintain high-quality results as it
Product #608152 (24 pages)
ing these scenarios helps the class explore the builds to scale?
Symyx is a science-based company spun out nuanced role of a limited partner in a private
Learning Objective: To illustrate the multi-
of Berkeley. Its unique materials technol- equity firm.
faceted challenges of managing growth in
ogy has been exploited for 10 years, but the
Learning Objective: To introduce students to a nonprofit while maintaining high-impact
company needs a new business model. The
the challenges confronting limited partner results.
company concept required the invention of
advisory boards.
hardware and software to do high-throughput
materials discovery, and a business partner-
ship model is needed to support scientific World Wildlife Fund U.S. HUMAN RESOURCES
and engineering development. The public Jane Wei-Skillern MANAGEMENT
company must now find new ways to grow, Harvard Business School Case (Field)
and Isy Goldwasser, a co-founder and the new Product #308035 (33 pages)
CEO, must lead the transition while maintain- Rehabilitation Alliance Hong Kong:
World Wildlife Fund U.S. is a leading Next Step Forward
ing unique scientific resources.
international conservation nonprofit that
Terence Tsai, Barbara Li
operates within a global network of WWF
Tong Lung Metal Industry Co. Ltd. Ivey School of Business Case
organizations. This case examines WWF U.S.
Product #908M26 (15 pages)
Willy Shih strategy to achieve its mission of protecting
Teaching Note #808M26
Harvard Business School Case (Field) natural wildlife and resources. In contrast to
Product #609034 (14 pages) traditional approaches in which WWF country The case describes the unique business model
programs operated relatively independently, of Rehabilitation Alliance Hong Kong (RAHK),
Tong Lung Metal Industry Co. Ltd., a beginning with its strategic alliance with Dairy
the new strategy involves integrating WWF

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 15
ma n ag e m e n t o f i n fo rm ati o n system s | MARKETING

Farm to run 7-Eleven convenience stores that many are also evolving toward becom- unique challenges as it implements a social
in an aim to create job opportunities for its ing information economies in the sense of enterprise (SE) business model; it describes
disabled members. The two managers then both value added (GNP) and jobs. While this the difficulties faced by social entrepreneurs
try out other forms of business, but these are evolution is less advanced in some countries, implementing for-profit business models in
not commercially effective. The case explores the United States is already well past the 60% domains usually populated by nonprofits. The
the challenges of managing a cooperative mark in terms of economic value added. This case is also useful as an introduction to the
relationship with a social conscience and case explores the confluence of these two business of software testing.
achieving social enterprise sustainability trends by examining the double dichotomy
Learning Objective: To examine the challenges
through innovation. of products versus services and information
of growing a for-profit social enterprise
versus material (noninformation) outputs,
Learning Objective: This case is suitable for business. To examine the software testing
thus dividing the economy into four super-
students at all levels, including postgraduate business.
sectors. The data reveal that the U.S. job
students who work in the private and public
market is dominated by information work,
sectors, and NGOs that wish to study social
and that the largest part of the U.S. economy
enterprise (SE) development through strategic
alliances. Instructors can draw from the con-
in terms of GNP value added is the “informa- MARKETING
tion services” super-sector. The largest job
cepts in the strategic management literature,
share in terms of the number of jobs is in the
especially concerning resources, capabilities, Blogging at BzzAgent
“material or noninformation” service jobs, but
core competence, and cooperative strategy David B. Godes
the largest share of the wage bill is in informa-
issues (see the recommended text below).
tion-related service jobs. This article discusses Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Other important concepts and theories are Product #508102 (51 pages)
the reasons behind these trends, identifies
utilized, including corporate social responsibil- Teaching Note #508118
major differences between information and
ity, business ethics, and sustainable business
noninformation sectors, and examines the BzzAgent is a word-of-mouth marketing firm.
development.
implications for management strategy in the The founder, Dave Balter, sees blogs as an
information economy. important way to communicate BzzAgent’s
unique positioning: transparency. He sees the
MANAGEMENT OF SPECIALISTERNE: Sense & Details firm’s blog (the BeeLog) as a way for the firm
INFORMATION SYSTEMS Robert D. Austin, Jonathan Wareham, to participate in conversations with clients,
Javier Busquets employees, and “agents.” However, he has
been unhappy with the level of interaction
Information Services in the Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Product #608109 (20 pages)
the blog has been generating and is consider-
U.S. Economy: Value, Jobs, and
ing shutting it down. The case provides a
Management Implications Three-quarters of SPECIALISTERNE’s expert context for a discussion about word-of-mouth
Uday Karmarkar, Uday M. Apte, software testing staff are diagnosed with some marketing and social media in general, as well
Hiranya K. Nath form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). as about blogs specifically. It also provides
California Management Review Case Usually perceived as a handicap, ASD in fact examples of other corporate blogs and allows
Product #CMR394 (20 pages) conveys talents especially suited to software students to weigh the benefits and drawbacks
testing and other highly repetitive tasks that of this potentially important form of com-
It is well known that almost all of the largest
require extreme accuracy. This case describes munication.
economies in the world are already dominated
a growing company that struggles with
by services. What may be less well known is Learning Objective: To explore word-of-mouth
marketing, social media, and networks.

Management of Information Systems


BMW’s Project Switch (A):
Importers vs. National Sales
IT Risk Companies
Turning Business Threats into Competitive Advantage Das Narayandas
George Westerman and Richard Hunter Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Product #509023 (21 pages)
“I couldn’t put this book down. I’m working on our three-year
IS strategic plan and this book has a great combination of BMW is faced with potential channel con-
high-level concepts and pragmatic information and advice. flicts across several EU country markets. The
It will become a must-read for every manager in my IS case highlights BMW’s approach to redesign-
organization. I plan to give copies to my CEO and CFO.” ing its channel in Greece and provides details
—Debra Jensen, Vice President of Systems Development and CIO, Jack in the Box on the perspectives of both headquarters and
country heads in terms of BMW’s channel
Product #6662 • ISBN-13: 978-1-4221-0666-2 • Hardcover • 240 pages • 2007 $35.00
strategy.

16 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


MARKETING

Learning Objective: To allow students to


discuss a range of issues: selection, hiring, Cases, articles, chapters, exercises, notes, and Teaching Notes:
managing talent, and appraising individual- $6.95 Executive Education ($3.95 for degree-granting academic programs)
organization fit.
Supplements: $3.75 Executive Education
($2.30 for degree-granting academic programs)
Flying J
Rohit Deshpande
Harvard Business School Case (Field) Radiohead: (PRODUCT) RED (A)
Product #508074 (25 pages)
Music at Your Own Price (A) Youngme Moon, Michael Norton
The largest retailer of diesel fuel in the United Anita Elberse Harvard Business School Case (Field)
States, Flying J is rethinking its growth Harvard Business School Case Product #509013 (17 pages)
strategy as the economy goes into a recession. (Secondary Source) Supplement #509014
Its major customer base, owner-operated truck Product #508110 (7 pages)
This case describes the launch and initial
drivers, is facing increasing costs of doing Supplement #508111
results of the (PRODUCT) RED campaign,
business. Yet Flying J is considering whether
In October 2007, the British band Radiohead a social marketing initiative conceived by
to increase its price of diesel fuel.
caused a stir when it announced it would U2’s Bono and Bobby Shriver to combat AIDS
allow customers to decide how much to pay in sub-Saharan Africa. The company licensed
Kenny Kahn at Muzak (A) for its new album, released exclusively as a the (RED) brand to partner companies, which
Linda A. Hill digital download and available only from the initially included Gap, Apple, Motorola,
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
band’s own web site. The pricing plan repre- Armani, and American Express. The business
Product #408057 (23 pages) sented a significant break from the industry model was structured to benefit partner com-
Supplement #408069 standard of fixed prices for music, typically panies by increasing consumer purchases—
$0.99 for individual songs and upward of of (RED)-branded products such as red iPods
Founded in 1934, Muzak pioneered the $9.99 for complete albums. How viable is and phones—while also resulting in increased
industry of background music. Equipped such a “name-your-own-pricing” plan? And donations to the Global Fund.
with proprietary technology and a vast music what does Radiohead’s move say about the
library, over the ensuing decades the Muzak Learning Objective: First, the case focuses
future of the music industry?
franchise organization expanded geographi- on how to create, promote, and manage a
cally. Despite a history of innovation, by the Learning Objective: To examine how digital brand over time. Second, the case focuses on
late 1990s Muzak had anemic financials distribution is changing revenue and power managing a novel social marketing cam-
and low employee morale. When Bill Boyd structures, and how companies and indi- paign, in which consumer purchases benefit
took the helm as CEO in 1997, he assembled viduals can best respond to such changes, not just recipients of donations, but also
a new management team. The new VP of in the context of the music industry. To (RED)’s partner companies. Finally, the case
marketing, Kenny Kahn, worked with design assess whether flexible pricing plans are an integrates these two topics, exploring brand
firm Pentagram to rebrand the company, not adequate response to the significant strategic management when sustainability is crucial
just for customers but to spark organizational challenges in the music industry and other not just for the success of the company but
change. But because Muzak was a franchise creative industries. for saving lives.
organization, Kahn had to convince indepen-
dent affiliates to pay for what turned out to be
an extensive rebranding. This case can be used marketing
to show how branding can be used as a tool
for spearheading culture change, how not to
exercise influence without authority, and how Spanning Silos
businesspeople can effectively work with a The New CMO Imperative
design firm. David A. Aaker

Learning Objective: This case can be used in Individual chapters available on our web site
OB classes in organizational change or in
“David Aaker has brilliantly dissected the CMO role within
marketing classes focused on branding or
complex global organizations and laid out a compelling
how businesspeople can work with design ‘how-to’ manual for success. Aaker offers up pragmatic
firms. The case could also be used in design solutions that will enhance the collaboration and connective tissue between siloed
schools. business units. This book will unquestionably turbocharge the impact of the CMO
and central marketing organizations worldwide.”
—Joseph V. Tripodi, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer, The Coca-Cola Company

Product #2876 • ISBN-13: 978-1-4221-2876-3 • Hardcover • 240 pages • 2008 • $29.95

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 17
ma rket i n g | NEGOTIATIONS | OP ERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Repositioning CARE USA NEGOTIATIONS microprocessors, but now the company is


V. Kasturi Rangan faced with the question of whether it can
successfully transplant the highly successful
Harvard Business School Case (Field) Name Your Price: Compensation culture to other global locations because of
Product #509005 (27 pages)
Negotiation at Whole Health favorable investment incentives.
CARE USA, a large ($600 million) interna- Management (A)
Learning Objective: To look at how processes
tional nonprofit/NGO, had recently revamped Brian J. Hall, Deepak Malhotra
and values/culture become established in
its external branding and positioning in Harvard Business School Case (Field) an organization, and the capabilities and
support of its international development work. Product #908064 (10 pages)
disabilities that brings.
This case lays out the challenges facing its new Supplement #908065
CEO, Helene Gayle, as she managed through- Supplement #908066
out the organization’s transition period. Brigham and Women’s Hospital:
MBA student Monroe Davies is asked by a
Shapiro Cardiovascular Center
Learning Objective: To explore the avenues potential employer to determine his own
available to an organization that wants to compensation package. This case follows Michael E. Porter, Robert S. Huckman
adapt itself to changes in its external environ- Davies and Jim Hummer, president and Harvard Business School Case (Field)
ment and assess how it may change to be CEO of Whole Health Management, through Product #608175 (28 pages)
aligned with its new positioning and strategy. a unique recruitment process that raises This case considers the situation facing Gary
questions of compensation and employee Gottlieb, president of Brigham and Women’s
The American Express Card incentives, negotiation strategy, and human Hospital (BWH), prior to the opening of
resources management. BWH’s integrated cardiovascular center. The
John A. Quelch
Learning Objective: To help MBAs manage case allows students to develop an apprecia-
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Product #509027 (23 pages) the recruitment and compensation negotia- tion of the strategic, financial, organizational,
tion process in a way that considers the value clinical, and physical aspects of integrating
Senior executives at American Express are health care delivery around specific categories
proposition to both the employee and the
reviewing the company’s marketing strategy of disease. It provides an opportunity to evalu-
employer.
for charge and credit cards in the United ate BWH’s approach to integration along all
States. A variety of growth options exist for these dimensions and to identify the nature
students to consider, including the further of the trade-offs that hospitals—specifically,
penetration of existing markets and the open- OPERATIONS academic medical centers—face as they
ing of new markets. Historical background MANAGEMENT attempt to create disease-specific models of
information in the case enables instructors to integrated care. Finally, students have the
analyze the phases of American Express’ card opportunity to evaluate the degree to which
strategy over the past 50 years. AMD Dresden: Copy Inexactly!
integrated models of care can be developed
Willy Shih within academic medical centers.
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Ti-Tech (A) Learning Objective: To examine the strategic,
Product #609004 (16 pages)
Benson P. Shapiro, John T. Gourville financial, organizational, clinical, and physical
Harvard Business School Case (Field)
The establishment and growth of AMD’s aspects of integrating health care delivery
Product #508095 (16 pages) manufacturing site in Dresden, Germany, around specific categories of disease.
Supplement #508096 illustrates how processes develop in an organi-
zation and how those processes get institu-
This case concerns the selection and schedul- tionalized into a unique culture. AMD has Chi Mei Optoelectronics
ing of orders by a small industrial titanium made an investment in the region—the Free Willy Shih, Chintay Shih,
fabricator that recently has been plagued by State of Saxony in the eastern part of Germany Jyun-Cheng Wang
poor deliveries and a lack of capacity. In the (the former GDR) that leverages a historic Harvard Business School Case (Field)
case, Ti-Tech must decide which of four orders and rather unique skill base in engineering Product #608123 (25 pages)
to accept, with capacity making it impossible and the sciences and catalyzes the rebirth and Teaching Note #609040
to accept all four. Each order represents a growth of one of the largest semiconductor Chi Mei is a Taiwanese industrial group
different mix of labor, revenues, and potential clusters in Europe. Contrary to conventional that makes a major diversification into the
future work. In this case, students choose wisdom in the semiconductor industry, the technology-intensive TFT-LCD flat-panel
among the four orders, given limited capacity, Dresden team copied from its home corporate display industry. Because the diversification
other business likely to come along, and the locations in the United States only those strays quite a bit from the group’s core com-
requirements of each order. The case is an processes and practices that it felt would petence in petrochemicals, it is an opportunity
updated version of Fabtek (A). work in Germany, rather than follow a copy- to examine how the firm was able to become
exactly strategy. Dresden becomes AMD’s a global leader in the relatively short span
sole worldwide manufacturing location for of 10 years. Such organic diversifications
are relatively unusual by Western standards,

18 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

especially forays into technologies and coupled with overall political and economic
markets that have relatively high entry barri- transition, created major problems in the gas
ers and no deep-rooted national technological trade between the former Soviet republics—
or scientific foundation. As such, Chi Mei is
an interesting vehicle to examine the rise of
problems that emerged with the greatest
intensity in Russian-Ukrainian relations.
role plays
a major Asian industrial cluster with global
scope, one that has no participants or com-
Learning Objective: To provide the relevant and Introducing
background essential for the understanding of
petitors in the West. The case can also be used
current dynamics of the natural gas trade in
RolePlanner
to expose students to the global supply chain
Europe and Eurasia, and to illustrate the effect
for key information technology components.
of political changes over time on the develop- Role plays enable students to
Taiwan and Korea are today the major world
ment of an industry. “learn by doing,” experimenting
centers for the manufacture of semiconduc-
tors (in particular, DRAM and flash memory) with negotiation and decision-
and flat-panel displays. Taiwan is also the Patient Flow at Meldon Hospital (A) making skills under the guidance
center for notebook computer manufacturing, Anita Tucker
of an instructor. But many role
and Taiwanese companies, through their Harvard Business School Case (Field)
China-based manufacturing and assembly Product #608171 (19 pages)
plays require multiple steps and
operations, drive 60% of the IT exports Supplement #608172 roles, and administering them
from China. Yet few students even know the
Meldon Hospital challenged a team of can be challenging. Now the
identity of these major global players. Taiwan
and Korea-based TFT-LCD flat-panels are the
physicians to improve patient flow from the RolePlanner online platform
Emergency Department to intensive care provides a seamless mechanism
critical components in notebook computers,
units (ICUs). One team member, Thornton
computer monitors, and flat panel televisions for distributing role-specific
Burgess, director of the Surgical Intensive
from essentially all well-known global brands.
Care Unit (SICU), encountered workarounds information and timing its delivery.
Learning Objective: To examine diversification by two physicians attempting to transfer their Once an instructor uploads the
in high-tech industries and how it can lead patients to the SICU because the other ICUs
student role assignment list and
companies away from their core competence. were full. Reflecting on the wasted effort
and confusion caused by the workarounds, sets the timing of the various

Gazprom (A): Energy and Strategy Burgess sent an email outlining the situation steps, the platform “runs itself”
in Russian History to the team. His email generated a negative and provides students with a single
backlash and a chain of defensive emails from
Rawi Abdelal home page throughout the activity.
involved staff who felt criticized.
Harvard Business School Case (Field) Instructors are able to monitor
Product #709008 (18 pages)
Pfizer Inc.: progress and assess survey results.
Supplement #709009
Supplement #709010 Building an Innovation Center
Stefan Thomke Currently, 24 role plays are
Critics have accused Gazprom, the world’s
largest natural gas producer, of eschewing Harvard Business School Case (Field) available on the RolePlanner
market principles in favor of the foreign Product #609037 (17 pages) platform.
policy priorities of the Russian government, The case describes Pfizer’s efforts to build
ever since the energy giant cut off its supply and run an innovation center in Cambridge, See a sample role play online
to Ukraine in January 2006. The purported Massachusetts. As the center goes through
motive for the decision, however, seems to (Hamilton Real Estate, #2210)
different periods of leadership and strategic
indicate the opposite: The company claimed models, its relationship with the corporation
that it had no other choice, because the sides and other research sites is explored. The case www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators
failed to conclude a contract on the terms of study describes in detail the challenges of
future trade. The case takes a look back in his- building an innovation center within a large
tory for clues that may resolve this paradox. It corporation, including organization, incen-
highlights how politics shaped the economics tives, and scientific issues.
of the natural gas trade in the former Soviet
Union and Europe from the late 1960s until Learning Objective: To explore how to build
the end of the 1990s; sketches the story of the an innovative organization within a large
creation of Gazprom by the first post-Soviet corporation (for students in the MBA and
government of Russia; and describes how Executive Education programs).
the erection of new sovereign borders in the
wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union,

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 19
O PERATIONS MANAGEMENT | ORGANIZ ATIONAL BEHAVIOR & LEADERSHIP

The Flaxil Label (A) Product #409014 (23 pages) this process in an ideal manner? This case
Supplement #409015 examines the Special Forces training in light
Gregory Barron
of the types of missions soldiers are expected
Harvard Business School Case The case examines the tools a manager
(Secondary Source)
to execute and asks students to consider
can use to keep her project on track and
Product #909001 (10 pages) whether the Special Forces recruitment and
to manage conflict and tension as Adobe
Teaching Note #909004 training process identifies the best possible
prepares to launch Creative Suite 3, the big-
Supplement #909002 candidates for future Special Forces service.
gest software release in the company’s 25-year
Supplement #909003
history. The protagonist, Yvonne Murray, is Learning Objective: To allow students to
This case focuses on the 2001 negotiation a group program manager at Adobe who is discuss a range of issues: selection, hiring,
between Mytex Pharmaceuticals and the U.S. responsible for coordinating the integration managing talent, and appraising individual-
Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The of her business unit’s product—Device organization fit.
outcome of the negotiation would determine Central—in Creative Suite 3. Murray is copied
the new label for Mytex’s blockbuster drug on an email warning the Device Central prod-
Leading Citigroup (A)
for arthritis, Flaxil. The negotiation is rather uct team that Device Central could be pulled
from the Creative Suite 3 marketing materials Lynn Sharp Paine
qualitative and differs from the typical price
negotiation with which students are familiar. and even from the launch entirely because it Harvard Business School Case (Field)
was in danger of missing a deadline. Murray Product #308001 (26 pages)
However, at stake was $500 million in Flaxil
wonders if and how to respond to the email Supplement #308002
sales as well as the safety of millions of
patients. The (A) case presents the perspective that was addressed to her Device Central col- The (A) case describes a series of controversial
of Mytex and the FDA on new data suggesting league, group product manager Carol Linburn. events and alleged misdeeds that placed
that Flaxil may have a side effect. Learning Objective: To understand the tools Citigroup in the public spotlight in the fall of
a manager can use to implement a project 2004 and launched investigations by regula-
Learning Objective: This case facilitates a dis-
or spearhead change within an organization, tors in Japan and Europe into the company’s
cussion of the psychology of rare events and
without relying solely on direct authority business practices. CEO Chuck Prince must
explores positions versus interests, qualitative
or title. decide what to do to right the company and
negotiations, and value creation and agency.
restore its reputation.

Israeli Special Forces: Learning Objective: To illustrate the impor-


Selection Strategy tance of sound business practices, and to
ORGANIZATIONAL develop students’ understanding of the lead-
BEHAVIOR & Boris Groysberg
ers’ roles in shaping corporate behavior.
LEADERSHIP Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Product #409041 (19 pages)
Leading from the Side
Adobe Systems: Working Towards Ron Guntz, commander of recruiting for
Thomas J. Delong
Israel’s Special Forces, had been instructed by
a “Suite” Release (A) Harvard Business School Case (Field)
his superiors to evaluate the process by which
David A. Thomas he selected solders for the 20-month-long Product #409023 (3 pages)
Harvard Business School Case (Field) training program. Was the army conducting Harriet Cornwall, a partner at the law firm of
Kensington Palmer, LLP, is made lead over
a fellow group of attorneys. Put in charge of
Organizational Behavior & Leadership guiding her colleagues in their annual goal-
setting initiative, she notices four attorneys
who need special attention. Cornwall must
Ethics for the Real World address their poor performance and goals as a
Creating a Personal Code to Guide Decisions colleague rather than as a manager.
in Work and Life
Learning Objective: To discuss methods for
Ronald A. Howard and Clinton D. Korver
constructive lateral management.
Individual chapters available on our web site

“This wise book offers wonderful and important guidance. Sloan & Harrison:
Ethics often seem obvious in the abstract and in hindsight. Non-Equity Partner Discontent
But life is not lived that way, and acting ethically is very hard in the day-to-day
Boris Groysberg
moments where choices are actually made. Howard and Korver show all of us how
to do, and be, better.” Harvard Business School Case (Field)
Product #409033 (11 pages)
—Larry D. Kramer, Stanford Law School
The law firm, Sloan & Harrison, was dealing
Product #2106 • ISBN-13: 978-1-4221-2106-1 • Hardcover • 224 pages • 2008 • $24.95
with some discontent among its junior noneq-
uity partners. These partners were concerned

20 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR & LEADERSHI P

with the transparency of the advancement Nick, a former Hall of Fame football player, Learning Objective: To analyze medical
process, their ability to position themselves when Marc suffered a spinal cord injury. In research and organizational issues, to under-
as both leaders within the firm and rainmak- 2007, with Marc still confined to a wheelchair, stand the particular demands of nonprofit
ers, and the politics of promotion within the the Miami Project had developed into the development, to evaluate the protagonist’s
firm. The firm must find solutions to these world’s largest spinal cord injury research and leadership, and to debate appropriate focus
challenges. Senior partners wondered: Was treatment center. It had 250 employees, oper- and strategy for 2007 and beyond.
the path to partnership structured in the best ated from a $37 million state-of-the-art facility
interests of the firm? What could and should located on the University of Miami Miller The Redgrove Axial Workshop
be done to address the non-equity partners’ School of Medicine campus, and had raised
concerns? What were the ultimate effects of Michel Anteby
in excess of $275 million since its inception.
discontent within the NEP ranks upon the Harvard Business School Case
However, there was still no cure for spinal (Secondary Source)
firm’s functioning overall? cord injury, and many of the project’s support- Product #409034 (13 pages)
Learning Objective: To explore several ers were becoming anxious for a substantial
clinical breakthrough. Fundraising was always Marc Fontaine, a new manager at a global
issues: managing professional service firms;
a concern, particularly as government spend- manufacturing concern, is on a fast track to a
employee development; mentorship; set-
ing on research was declining. Marc and his senior managerial position. One morning, in
ting expectations; managing performance;
father were keenly aware of the challenge of a storage room, he discovers some ornamen-
feedback; employee promotion; up-or-out
maintaining the enthusiasm and financial tal artifacts made with the same materials
promotion systems; employee retention and
backing of the Miami Project’s supporters. used for official production. He suspects
turnover; employee motivation; employee
Yet they needed to avoid overpromising the workers have been making these items with
morale; employee job satisfaction; employee
likelihood of potential breakthroughs, which company materials. At that moment, a worker
commitment; and work/life balance decisions.
required painstaking research and stringent enters the room to fetch a tool. Fontaine asks
clinical trials. The leadership also questioned him what is going on with these items, but
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour (A) whether the mission should remain focused the worker claims ignorance and quickly
Jay W. Lorsch on spinal cord injury or whether it should leaves. Fontaine is meeting his boss and the
Harvard Business School Case (Field) be broadened to include brain trauma and plant director that afternoon. What should
Product #409018 (11 pages) other neurodegenerative diseases such he do? Say something? Pretend nothing hap-
Supplement #409019 as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. The case pened? This case deals with group dynamics,
Supplement #409020 provides an opportunity to discuss the chal- informal behaviors, and ethics at work.

Larry Scott, the new CEO of the Women’s lenges of nonprofit management and medical
Tennis Association, arrives amid turmoil. research and to debate appropriate strategy for
Players and tournaments clash over opposing the Miami Project in 2007.
interests. As a result, the board members
who represent them are equally divided and
feel conflicted about their roles. They aren’t
sure how to help their constituents while also
fulfilling their duty of oversight of the WTA
as a whole. In order to make women’s tennis
more popular and profitable, Scott must find
a way to get the board of directors to resolve
their differences and work together for the Service Management
greater good of the organization.
Learning Objective: To learn how to resolve Ownership Quotient
conflicts among board members, and to Putting the Service Profit Chain to Work for
understand the governance challenges unique Unbeatable Competitive Advantage
to a stakeholder organization. James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser Jr., and Joe Wheeler

Hundreds of large organizations worldwide have used the


The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis groundbreaking Service Profit Chain to improve business
Robert Steven Kaplan, Chris Marquis performance. Now The Ownership Quotient reveals the next
Harvard Business School Case (Field) generation of the chain: customer and employee “owners” of a business. The lifetime
Product #408003 (22 pages) value of a customer-owner can be equivalent to that of more than a hundred typical
customers. And that makes the lifetime value of an employee who can promote
Marc Buoniconti is the co-founder of The customer ownership priceless. This powerful and practical book reveals how to add
Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a nonprofit that value to a company and delight employees, customers, and investors.
medical research organization. The project
Product #1023 • ISBN-13: 978-1-4221-1023-2 • Hardcover • 240 pages • 2008 $35.00
was founded in 1985 by Marc and his father,

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 21
SERVICE MANAGEMENT | SOCIAL ENTER P RISE & ETHICS

SERVICE MANAGEMENT article argues for a more radical service-logic data from several suppliers, and wondered
perspective that challenges the traditional, how this could be used to decide among
attribute-based view of innovation. Rather environmental technology options. Given that
Service Blueprinting: A Practical than innovating products and services, the at least 150 additional company stores were
Technique for Service Innovation focus here shifts toward innovating custom- scheduled for opening or renovation during
Mary Jo Bitner, Amy L. Ostrom, ers’ value co-creation roles. This article the upcoming three years in China, the
Felicia N. Morgan presents a case-based managerial framework project would have long-term implications for
California Management Review Case that reveals how service-logic innovations Carrefour.
Product #CMR397 (30 pages) change the customer’s role as a buyer, payer,
Learning Objective: This case addresses a vari-
or user, and shows how firms can innovate
With the global focus on service-led growth ety of issues related to corporate environmen-
through smart offerings, different value
has come increased need for practical tal sustainability and strategy implementation.
integration approaches, and reconfigured
techniques for service innovation. Services are Depending on its particular course use, one
value constellations.
fluid, dynamic, experiential, and frequently or more of the following teaching objectives
co-produced in real time by customers, could be emphasized: (1) to examine an
employees, and technological entities, often organization’s environmental sustainability
with few static physical properties. However, SOCIAL ENTERPRISE activities in regard to a specific operating
most product innovation approaches focus & ETHICS issue as well as its impact on both the envi-
on the design of relatively static products with ronment and the financial bottom line; (2) to
physical properties. Thus, many of the inven- evaluate the role of the internal and external
tion and prototype design techniques used Carrefour China: environments of a company in regard to
for physical goods and technologies do not Building a Greener Store environmental sustainability activities; and
work well for human and interactive services. Andreas Schotter, Paul W. Beamish, (3) to examine strategy implementation in an
This article describes one technique—service Robert Klassen emerging market context. The course can be
blueprinting—that has proven useful for Ivey School of Business Case taught at the undergraduate, graduate, and
service innovation. Service blueprinting Product #908M48 (19 pages) Executive Education levels.
is securely grounded in the customer’s Teaching Note #808M48
experience, allowing the clear visualization of
Carrefour, the second-largest retailer in the Corruption in Germany
dynamic service processes.
world, had just announced that it would Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella
The technique is described in detail including open its first “green store” in Beijing before Harvard Business School Case
real case examples that illustrate the value the 2008 Olympic Games. David Monaco, (Secondary Source)
and breadth of its applications. Asset and Construction Director of Carrefour Product #709006 (25 pages)
China, had little experience with green build-
Why do managers become corrupt? Does
ing and was struggling with how to translate
Service-Logic Innovations: How to corruption ever pay? When do friendly
that announcement into specifications for
Innovate Customers, Not Products relations cross into bribery? How can CEOs
store design and operations. Monaco has to
Stefan Michel, Stephen W. Brown, manage and prevent outbreaks of corruption?
evaluate the situation carefully from both eco-
Andrew S. Gallan These and other questions are raised by three
logical and economic perspectives. In addi-
California Management Review Case short case studies of corruption in Germany:
tion, he must take China’s infrastructure and
Product #CMR396 (18 pages) at the global engineering firm Siemens,
regulatory situation into account—no official
the automaker VW, and the chemical giant
Service innovations reportedly involve green building standard exists, and only a few
BASF. While German law not only permitted
innovating intangible products, but this suppliers of energy-saving equipment operate.
overseas bribery but even made it tax-
He had already collected energy and cost
deductible until 1999, it was not welcomed
in some nations where Siemens did business,
such as in the United States—or in Germany
Free Exam Copies and Teaching Notes
after 2000. However, the old practices
continued. Cooperative management-labor
Faculty authorized on our web site receive: relations, often seen as key to the post-World
Educator copies of cases, articles, and book chapters War II German industrial powerhouse, went
sour at VW, as a top manager secured key
Preview access to online courses and simulations concessions by paying for union leaders’
Teaching Notes lavish foreign travel and visits to prostitutes.
After vitamin prices sagged in the late
Course planning tools—with special pricing for students
1980s, BASF and the Swiss chemical firm
Hoffmann-La Roche plotted a global cartel
> Apply Online: facultyaccess.hbsp.harvard.edu that lasted a decade and raised the prices of

22 | Teaching Materials Newsletter • Spring 2009


SOCIAL ENTER PRISE & ETHICS | TEACHING & THE CASE METHOD

many vitamins by 50% or more. In the end, This case explores the role that MTV, with
even after record-setting criminal fines and its heavy diet of music and general youth- CONTACT US
jail time for some executives, some observers oriented media content, plays in spreading Customer service is available
argued that such practices were likely to recur. public-service messaging to contain the 8 am to 8 pm, Monday through
scourge of HIV/AIDS worldwide. There is a Friday (Eastern Standard Time)
Learning Objective: To discuss the causes of
focus especially on MTV’s efforts in several
and possible solutions to corrupt business
emerging markets, particularly the parts
practices. Phone:
of Africa that have a heavy incidence of the
1-800-545-7685
disease. MTV has developed a DNA of public
Outside the U.S. and Canada,
Phil Chan (A) service announcements that it claims are of
call 1-617-783-7600
Paul W. Beamish, Jean-Louis Schaan central relevance to its high-risk customer
Ivey School of Business Case base. How core is this to the strategy of a
Fax:
Product #908M38 (8 pages) for-profit firm like MTV? What role can a
617-783-7666
Teaching Note #808M38 multinational play in helping develop the
Supplement #908M39 health care “soft” infrastructure in such
Email:
emerging markets?
The case deals with a scam that has been run custserv@hbsp.harvard.edu
out of Nigeria since 1990. Foreign companies Learning Objective: To explore the role of
are approached for their assistance in facilitat- corporate social responsibility in a multina- Web:
ing an international transfer of funds in order tional’s strategy and the role of a multina- www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators
to receive a very large but unearned commis- tional in fostering health care infrastructure
sion. In this case, a Hong Kong–based man- in emerging markets.
ager who is traveling to Nigeria is unaware
that he is walking into a situation where his Supplement #908409
company is about to be cheated. The objective Supplement #908410
of the case is to raise the issue of ethics in the
TEACHING & THE CASE Supplement #908411
conduct of international business. METHOD Supplement #908412

Learning Objective: To raise the issue of ethics Professor Kenneth Carpenter has received
in the conduct of international transactions. Professors Sven Larson and word that he has inadvertently offended one
It is not a case about doing business in Kenneth Carpenter (A) of his students. He is pondering a possible
Nigeria; rather, it provides an opportunity to James L. Heskett response.
alert students and managers to the dangers Harvard Business School Case Learning Objective: To illustrate participant-
of indiscriminate greed. The case can be used (Secondary Source) centered learning and teaching methods.
in courses on strategic management, ethics, Product #908408 (2 pages)
and international business. Although to
some the case may appear straightforward, its
value may come from the following: (1) Not
Teaching & the Case Method
everyone is sensitive to these issues. Millions
of dollars have been lost to swindlers! (2)
This is not an isolated phenomenon; and (3) The Case Study Handbook
Managers may inadvertently find themselves New for students
in a more sophisticated and less purely greed- By William Ellet, writing consultant,
driven scam. The question then becomes, Harvard Business School
how does one get out of such a situation once
in it? and (4) Managers may inadvertently “By far the best and the most comprehensive case study
be drawn into the fallout from one of these self-help book I have ever read.”
scams through the actions of suppliers, —Rastislav Kulich, graduate, Harvard Business School
affiliates, etc.
Ideal for students new to the case method, The Case Study Handbook covers:
How to quickly establish a base of knowledge about a case
Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll:
How to write persuasive case-based essays
The MTV Approach to Tackling
How to talk about cases effectively in class
HIV/AIDS
Tarun Khanna Faculty authorized on our web site can view a full-length PDF of the book online,
Harvard Business School Case (Field) and individual chapters are available.
Product #709429 (28 pages)
Product #1584 • ISBN 978-1-4221-0158-2 • Paperback • 273 pages • 2007 • $24.95

www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators • 1-800-545-7685 | 23
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