Publications

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care; Startup; Brand Equity; Brand Valuation; Brand Value; Brand Storytelling; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Japan

March 2022 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Aldrich Capital Partners

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

By July 2016, the Aldrich Capital Partners team had spent over two years trying to raise their inaugural growth-equity fund. They had pitched to over 140 investors, but none had committed. Managing Partners Mirza Baig and Raz Zia each had extensive experience in the... View Details

Keywords: Growth Equity; Investment Evaluation; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Investment; Strategy; Decision Making; United States

13 Feb 2012
News

Wynton Marsalis Connects the Dots between Artists and Entrepreneurs at the Harvard Innovation Lab

SoulCycle: The Road Ahead

Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler founded SoulCycle, an indoor cycling studio chain, in 2006 as more than a health club; they wanted it to become a lifestyle brand that would "empower riders in an immersive fitness experience." By early 2015, SoulCycle had grown to... View Details

June 2023
Exercise

Successful Governance for the Family Enterprise

By: Christina R. Wing

This exercise examines three different family enterprise scenarios to open a conversation on what makes them successful. We look at how there is no strategy that fits all for family businesses, but there are strategies that can influence both the business and the... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Strategy; Success

25 Apr 2016
News

#AirbnbWhileBlack: How Hidden Bias Shapes The Sharing Economy

December 1998 (Revised May 1999)
Case

PlaceWare: Issues in Structuring a Xerox Technology Spinout

Xerox has established a process to spin out technologies it develops that do not fit with its current business needs. To structure these "spinouts," a number of issues arise on how to treat people and intellectual property. PlaceWare is the first technology to go... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Commercialization; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Intellectual Property

October 1997 (Revised April 1998)
Case

C-Car

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

C-Car was the first automobile retailer in the United States to go public. Subsequently the owner, Mr. Gilliland, must decide how to invest the capital raised from the public ownership. This case describes in detail C-Car's highly profitable strategy of managing its... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Cost vs Benefits; Management Practices and Processes; Profit; Acquisition; Business Strategy; Public Ownership; Auto Industry; Retail Industry

07 May 2020
Video

Innovative Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies

04 Mar 2020

Innovative Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies

July 2000
Case

Patent & License Exchange, The: Enabling a Global IP Marketplace

The Patent & License Exchange (pl-x) is a start-up company seeking to create a market for intellectual property over the Web. The company has targeted the United States as its initial market and has developed its services and processes for the United States. Now it is... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Globalized Markets and Industries; Service Industry; Japan; United States

Find at Harvard

02 May 2018
Blog Post

Should Companies Disclose Employee Compensation?

"one size fits all" approach to the practice of making compensation known. These are the views put forth by participants in this month's discussion of transparency in compensation. Disclosing pay ranges vs. individual pay has... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

30 May 2013
Blog Post

Launching into “career discovery” mode

Phew! What a whirlwind of a month. Classes, extra-curriculars, and (more recently) Career & Professional Development (CPD) events are now in full swing here at HBS and it would be difficult to fit anything more in my calendar at this... View Details

17 May 2021
News

Corporate Political Activity

02 Dec 2020
News

A New Case at Harvard Business School Highlights the Real-World Issues for Latinx Considering an MBA

18 Sep 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Using Models to Persuade

Keywords: by Joshua Schwartzstein and Adi Sunderam

July 1996
Case

Craig Parks (A)

By: David A. Thomas and Lisa J. Chadderdon

Craig Parks is a 1992 HBS graduate who, without much deliberation, returns to work for his former employer, Taylor Burton on Wall Street. The choice proves to be a poor fit for Craig. The case documents his decision-making process, personal history, and the dilemma he... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions; Problems and Challenges