• November 1999 (Revised January 2000)
• Case

Mexican Foundation for Rural Development

By: James E. Austin and Gerardo Lozano

The Mexican Foundation for Rural Development (MFRD) is a nonprofit network of 32 rural development centers servicing low-income farm families. Management plans to expand its operation dramatically, forming 10,000 rural cooperatives in ten years. It faces major issues... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Cooperative Ownership; Nonprofit Organizations; Society; Strategy; Mexico

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Austin, James E., and Gerardo Lozano. "Mexican Foundation for Rural Development." Harvard Business School Case 300-082, November 1999. (Revised January 2000.)

• August 2012 (Revised January 2013)
• Case

Public Health Insurance Exchanges: The Massachusetts Experience

By: Regina Herzlinger and Jordan Bazinsky

The CEO of Tufts Health Plan, James Roosevelt, is wondering whether to offer insurance products on the Massachusetts Connector, the first U.S. exchange. He wonders if he should enter these uncharted waters at all. And, if yes, with a broad network or a narrow network... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance Exchange; Healthcare Reform; Public Health Insurance Exchange; Decision Making; Market Entry and Exit; Emerging Markets; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

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Herzlinger, Regina, and Jordan Bazinsky. "Public Health Insurance Exchanges: The Massachusetts Experience." Harvard Business School Case 313-043, August 2012. (Revised January 2013.)

• September 2009
• Case

The Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions, Inc.

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Stephen P. Bradley and Natalie Kindred

Through its uniquely proactive approach to medical malpractice risk management, the Risk Management Foundation (RMF) has decreased claims—and premiums—for the Harvard hospitals it insures. The RMF is the captive medico-legal insurer of the Harvard medical institutions... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Risk Management; Performance Improvement; Safety; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; Boston

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Bohmer, Richard M.J., Stephen P. Bradley, and Natalie Kindred. "The Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 610-014, September 2009.

• January 2023 (Revised January 2023)
• Case

Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Klopfenstein

This case concerns the industrial automation division at Belden, a hardware manufacturer. While Belden historically sold products such as cables, wires, and other networking devices, EVP of Industrial Automation Ashish Chand recognized that IT vendors were entering the... View Details

Keywords: Implementation; Sales Cycle; Digital Transformation; Sales; Product Positioning; Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Supply and Industry; Technology Industry; North America; United States

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Cespedes, Frank V., and Amy Klopfenstein. "Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales." Harvard Business School Case 823-002, January 2023. (Revised January 2023.)

• January 2022
• Case

Bee-ing Better at Bombas

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Youngme Moon and John Masko

David Heath and Randy Goldberg founded Bombas in 2013 to serve two missions: to deliver the “best socks in the history of feet,” and to donate socks (the most requested item in homeless shelters) to Americans experiencing homelessness. Eight years later, Bombas had... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Digital Marketing; Distribution; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Quality; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Human Needs; Poverty; Growth and Development Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; New York (city, NY)

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Keenan, Elizabeth A., Youngme Moon, and John Masko. "Bee-ing Better at Bombas." Harvard Business School Case 522-038, January 2022.

• September 1998 (Revised September 2001)
• Case

IBM's Reinventing Education (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Describes IBM's national innovation strategy to transform K-12 public education through new solutions developed by IBM engineers and consultants using information technology. Examples are: data warehousing in Broward County, FL schools, tracking software for the... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology; Education; Business and Community Relations; Information Technology Industry; Education Industry; San Jose; Philadelphia; Ohio; Florida

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Kanter, Rosabeth M. "IBM's Reinventing Education (A)." Harvard Business School Case 399-008, September 1998. (Revised September 2001.)

• 2009
• Chapter

Organizational Design: Balancing Search and Stability in Strategic Decision Making

By: Jan Rivkin and Nicolaj Siggelkow

Managers often must make decisions that depend on decisions in other parts of the organization. These interactions create a network of interdependent choices and make strategizing difficult. In this chapter, the authors explore the intersection between organizing and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Strategy; Balance and Stability

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Rivkin, Jan, and Nicolaj Siggelkow. "Organizational Design: Balancing Search and Stability in Strategic Decision Making." In The Network Challenge: Strategy, Profit, and Risk in an Interlinked World, edited by Paul R. Kleindorfer and Yoram Wind. Wharton School Publishing, 2009.

• 19 Dec 2006
• First Look

First Look: December 19, 2006

demand. Download working paper: http://www.nber.org/papers/w12756 The Value of a 'Free' Customer Authors:Sunil Gupta, Carl F. Mela, and Jose M. Vidal-Sanz Abstract Central to a firm's growth and marketing policy is the revenue and profit... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

• March 2023
• Case

Mirakl: Growing The Marketplace Economy

By: Antonio Moreno, Santiago Gallino and Emilie Billaud

Mirakl provided the technology and seller network required for companies like Macy's, Best Buy, Walmart, Siemens, or Carrefour to simply design, launch, and administer a marketplace that included products from third-party sellers. What began as a basic business idea in... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Transformation; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Sales; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry; Europe; France; Paris; United States

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Moreno, Antonio, Santiago Gallino, and Emilie Billaud. "Mirakl: Growing The Marketplace Economy." Harvard Business School Case 623-054, March 2023.

• September 1984 (Revised February 1989)
• Case

Benetton (A)

By: James L. Heskett

The world's largest manufacturer of woolen outerwear garments seeks to extend its retailing network to the United States from its base in Europe. A number of issues concerning marketing, manufacturing, and logistics strategy are raised by the proposed move along with... View Details

Keywords: Logistics; Brands and Branding; Networks; Production; Marketing Strategy; Globalization; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States; Europe

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Heskett, James L. "Benetton (A)." Harvard Business School Case 685-014, September 1984. (Revised February 1989.)

• December 1996 (Revised June 1998)
• Case

Midnight Networks, Inc.

By: H. Kent Bowen and Marilyn Matis

Midnight Networks, Inc., is a small computer network validation company. This case describes how the five founders built their business from operations earnings and how they established "best practices" operational processes to run their firm successfully. Operational... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Operations; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Information Technology Industry; Massachusetts

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Bowen, H. Kent, and Marilyn Matis. "Midnight Networks, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 697-019, December 1996. (Revised June 1998.)

• September 1996 (Revised June 1997)
• Case

QVC, Inc.

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Illustrates the "Service Profit Chain" in action. QVC, whose initials stand for Quality, Value,, and Convenience, demonstrates clearly how a strong customer focus can lead to establishing a strong franchise in the retail sector and a highly profitable business whose... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Service Delivery; Retail Industry; United States

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Rayport, Jeffrey F., and Dickson Louie. "QVC, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 897-050, September 1996. (Revised June 1997.)

• May 2016 (Revised March 2020)
• Case

Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model

By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride as opposed to the 20-30%... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Transportation; Business Startups; Business Model; Transportation Industry; Boston

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Zhu, Feng, and Angela Acocella. "Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model." Harvard Business School Case 616-062, May 2016. (Revised March 2020.)

• September 2018
• Article

Aggregation of Consumer Ratings: An Application to Yelp.com

By: Weijia Dai, Ginger Jin, Jungmin Lee and Michael Luca

Because consumer reviews leverage the wisdom of the crowd, the way in which they are aggregated is a central decision faced by platforms. We explore this "rating aggregation problem" and offer a structural approach to solving it, allowing for (1) reviewers to vary in... View Details

Keywords: User Generated Content; Crowdsourcing; Yelp; Social and Collaborative Networks; Information; Internet and the Web; Learning; Mathematical Methods; E-commerce

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Dai, Weijia, Ginger Jin, Jungmin Lee, and Michael Luca. "Aggregation of Consumer Ratings: An Application to Yelp.com." Quantitative Marketing and Economics 16, no. 3 (September 2018): 289–339.

• February 2016 (Revised August 2021)
• Case

Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Black Voting Rights

By: David Moss and Dean Grodzins

In January 1965, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., the most prominent leader of the civil rights movement in the United States, launched a campaign of civil disobedience in Selma, Alabama, to bring national attention to disenfranchisement of black voters in the South. On... View Details

Keywords: Rights; Voting; Race; Government and Politics; Conflict and Resolution; Leadership; History; Alabama

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Moss, David, and Dean Grodzins. "Martin Luther King and the Struggle for Black Voting Rights." Harvard Business School Case 716-042, February 2016. (Revised August 2021.)