Risk management

It's not the only startup to make that mistake.

Some years ago, doing some research for our book MarketBusters, my colleague Ian MacMillan and I ran across some interesting experiments Progressive Insurance was doing to change the business model in the car insurance market. The idea was that, rather than basing one’s insurance bill on demographic factors such as how expensive your car is […]

Historically, it’s been a matter of trial and error. There’s a better way.

It will become the problem and the solution.

The only feedback that really matters is the market’s.

In 2019, California showed us how costly a sustained power outage can be.

CEO Peter Walsh faces a classic innovator's dilemma. His company, Crescordia, produces high-quality metal plates, pins, and screws that orthopedic surgeons...

Is there anything you can do before the black swan hisses?

The CFO of a plastics company has been asked to moderate a heated internal debate over a revolutionary technology. The head of R&D thinks the company...

Venture capitalists' unique approach to investment and innovation has played a pivotal role in launching one-fifth of the largest U.S. public companies....

Colossal County Hospital was coming apart at the seams. With dozens of newly hired doctors, nurses, and technicians, millions of dollars of equipment on the road, and patient appointments backed up for months, the new facility was impossible to use. For one thing, construction wasn’t finished, and much of what was complete was faulty. Worse […]

The SolarWinds hack highlights the importance of vetting your vendors.

How is it that so many corporate stars — leaders at Enron, WorldCom, and the major banking institutions, for instance — are so inclined to take outrageous risks that they bring their companies, even entire economies, to the brink of disaster? I believe that it comes down to mindset. Business leadership who take unusual and […]

A shifting legal landscape is making blanket policies a thing of the past.

America’s national security and economic competitiveness are at stake.

Know your employer brand.

A three-part framework for boosting your organization’s resilience in a volatile world.

Editor’s note: This fictional mini case study dramatizes a dilemma faced by leaders in real companies. Please contribute by offering insights and solutions from your own experience. Amanda: Oh my lord, Howard. It’s getting late. We’ve been talking in circles all day. It’s beautiful here by the pool on your little corner of the Cape, […]

Accepting that is part of good risk management.

In 2009, Caterpillar shipped its first D7E tractor, an "electric drive" machine in which electric motors moved the tracks and blade, using electricity...

The case visits the catastrophe insurance business at an interesting time in the history of the insurance markets. A major reinsurer, National Insurance,...

This team exercise allows students to experience some of the dynamics of developing products in the fast-paced Internet environment and was inspired by...

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The release of ChatGPT and other generative AI models marked the beginning of a revolution in various industries by automating work processes. These AI...

Franck-Erik Flegbo and Cyril Le Terrien were already successful executives in a major multinational when they decided that it was time to dream, and to...

Engro Chemicals Pakistan Limited (Engro) was a very large manufacturer and marketer of fertilizer in Pakistan. It had a number of subsidiaries and joint...

This note briefly summarizes the basic intuition and most important implications of Modern Portfolio Theory. It focuses on the equilibrium at the heart...

Presents data relevant to a major capital expenditure--the construction of a shrimp plant. Designed to test student's ability to identify relevant cash...

Long-Term Capital Management, L.P. (LTCM) was in the business of engaging in trading strategies to exploit market pricing discrepancies. Because the firm...

In 2007, the Red Hen Baking Company was deciding whether to move from its cramped and inefficient facility to a new facility. It had been in business...

Examines the overthrow of President Jacobo Arbenz of Guatemala in 1954 in a U.S.-backed coup in support of the United Fruit Co. Over the previous half...

The manager of the Barnstable College Endowment is evaluating proposals to increase the endowment's exposure to stocks based on an analysis that shows...

Presents a discussion of earnings quality --characteristics, relationship to earnings multiple, application and measurement, volatility and risk, as they...

Clearwater Seafoods (Clearwater) is a seafood company located on the east coast of Canada. It is an income trust with operations around the world. As...

The Vanguard Group is one of the largest asset managers in the U.S., with over $1 trillion in assets, ninety percent of which are mutual fund assets,...

In 2002, Baker Hughes was accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). This case describes the actions taken by the company in response...

Flagship Pioneering, located in Cambridge, MA, was founded in 2000 to create ventures focused on solving unprecedented problems in the life sciences....

The U.S.-based executive vice-president (EVP) of Glenmark Generics Inc., the subsidiary of an Indian generic manufacturer, is weighing his options on...

It's not the only startup to make that mistake.

In 2009, Caterpillar shipped its first D7E tractor, an "electric drive" machine in which electric motors moved the tracks and blade, using electricity...

The case visits the catastrophe insurance business at an interesting time in the history of the insurance markets. A major reinsurer, National Insurance,...

Some years ago, doing some research for our book MarketBusters, my colleague Ian MacMillan and I ran across some interesting experiments Progressive Insurance was doing to change the business model in the car insurance market. The idea was that, rather than basing one’s insurance bill on demographic factors such as how expensive your car is […]

This team exercise allows students to experience some of the dynamics of developing products in the fast-paced Internet environment and was inspired by...

...

Historically, it’s been a matter of trial and error. There’s a better way.

It will become the problem and the solution.