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This note analyses and compares the legal definitions and practical applications of Business Method and Software Patents in the United States and European Union.

This note details the use and treatment of Covenants not to Compete in the United States, United Kingdom and France to compete or trade secrets versus patents as alternative ways to protect a business' intellectual property.

This note develops and explains a five-part framework for persuading others to support (or not oppose) a desired course of action.

Well-codified interfaces have enabled horizontal specialization in the global semiconductor industry. This Technical Note describes the modern integrated circuit value chain, and the motivation for the reuse of blocks of intellectual property in modern IC designs. It briefly examines ARM Limited as an example of an IP specialist supplier, and looks at the evolution to complete Systems-on-Chip and Systems-in-Packages so that students may examine the evolution of industry structure in the accompanying case System-on-a-Chip 2008: Global Unichip Corporation.

This case provides background on the U.S. TV industry at the end of the 20th century.

Many of us will at some point in our professional lives encounter situations involving what we believe to be wrongful or injurious activities that may cause harm to innocent parties, our company, or the public. It may be necessary to bring the matter to the attention of someone who can do something about it--to engage in what is sometimes called "whistleblowing." This note outlines some factors that should be considered when that happens.

This note explores the limited partner advisory boards. Based on interviews with seven experienced limited partners who serve on a number of different advisory boards, it presents the roles of the advisory board, the ways it can influence the general partner, and the reasons for limited partners to serve on them. It also contrasts the findings of this survey with a paper on the performance differential between university endowments and other institutional investors and hypothesizes the reasons behind it.

The hotel industry has experienced tremendous growth since the 1980s and has emerged as a global industry. During the expansion period, multinational, multi-brand corporations, such as Hilton Hotels Corporation, were in the process of finding new markets and setting priorities. In emerging markets, such as Russia, most of the national hotel industry had been formed under the pressure of foreign hotel chains. In addition to competing with foreign firms in their own markets, local Russian companies were also planning to enter international markets. In this environment, where competition was strengthening within the global hotel industry and new players were emerging, a number of questions and challenges existed: 1) How could firms effectively leverage their competencies and increase their competitiveness? 2) Would the multinational hotel corporations continue to expand their brand portfolios? 3) How could hotel chains maintain their integrity during the expansion on a global scale? 4) What strategies might apply to convince Western hotel companies to compete in emerging markets? 5) Which direction would further develop the hotel industries in emerging economies?

This note introduces students to the current state of the nonprofit sector around the world. It also provides insight into the sector's origin and purpose as well as the identifying important current trends. The note draws on numerous sources to provide a single resource for readers to gain understanding of this complex sector. The intended audience includes students, prospective professional leaders, those considering joining a board, consultants to the sector, or anyone wishing to learn more about the field.

The purpose of this note is to ground and amplify on the characteristics and challenges of the producing manager role. It is in response to requests from participants for a piece of "take away" material that can be shared with colleagues in professional service firms that is detailed and operational in nature.

This note describes the relationship between organizational alignment and performance in professional service firms and how to use McKinsey 7S Alignment to diagnose a firm's or practice's alignment, identify misalignments and determine how to bring about the changes needed to re-align.

In 2007, JetBlue faced enormous criticism from its customers and the media after a Valentine's Day storm led to delays and cancellations. How did the airliner navigate the crisis? In this case students study communication strategies developed from scientific research on the process of persuasion that can help brands recover from adverse publicity and regain their customers' trust. Six examples illustrate a range of actions - such as the "come clean" response and "polish the halo" response - and teach students how to apply various communication frameworks.

Within the context of a fictitious hedge fund, a new analyst has been asked to use value at risk (VaR) to evaluate two potential additions to its portfolio of funds. The case introduces a number of different methods of calculating VaR using many of the most common parametric and simulation-based techniques.

A new analyst is tasked with characterizing the returns from different funds and using the analysis to draw conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of the different funds for the firm's clients. The case focuses on the examination of financial data using a variety of different statistical techniques.

This note examines the relationship between video gaming devices (console, handhelds, mobile and PC) and gaming software development. The impact of broadband, wireless technologies and other innovations are also presented.

Provides an overview of capital markets in mainland China in 2007, evaluating the up-to-date performance of key components of the markets, highlighting concerns as China strives to modernize its financial system to meet global competition and support its fast growing economy.

The objective of the statement of cash flow is to facilitate an understanding of the financial consequences of business activities by providing detail pertaining to the sources and uses of a company's cash. While the income statement and balance sheet are based on accrual accounting, the statement of cash flow is intended to represent the cash-flow consequences of business activities. Most of the challenge with preparing, and ultimately understanding, the statement of cash flow is due to a failure to appreciate the relation between the statement of cash flow and other financial statements. The purpose of this note is to discuss the conceptual framework underlying the preparation of the statement of cash flow that is based on that relation.

While it is relatively easy to identify why strategies fail, it is much harder to explain how to fix a failing strategy or build an organization that can continuously renew its strategy. This note identifies some patterns that distinguish companies whose renewal efforts made headway from firms whose efforts fell flat.