Publications

March 2017
Case

Cantel Medical

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Cantel Medical Corporation provided infection prevention and control products and services for patients, caregivers, and other healthcare providers. In 2016, Cantel generated sales of $665 million and net profits of $60 million, double the levels of five years earlier.... View Details

Keywords: Cantel; Charles Diker; Furniture Industry; Matrix Organization; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Chemicals; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Research and Development; Opportunities; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Information Technology; Biotechnology Industry; Chemical Industry; Health Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; New Jersey

March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Teaching Note

Spotify's Audio-First Strategy: Leading the Podcasting Market

By: Hong Luo and Carol Lin

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-439. Within 15 years, CEO Daniel Ek had led Spotify from an ambitious startup to a multi-billion dollar company that had transformed the music industry. As part of Spotify’s next phase of growth, the platform would invest heavily in... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Divisions; Customer Relationship Management; Revenue; Music Industry

April 2011
Case

Daniel Kim's Dilemma (A)

By: Bill George and Natalie Kindred

Daniel Kim was considering "blowing the whistle" on his friend, the CEO of a fast-growing startup where Kim had spent most of his professional career. When Kim joined the company, called Cardio-Metric, in 2002, it consisted of seven young engineers (including its two... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Fairness; Corporate Accountability; Emotions; Behavior; Leadership Style; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Disclosure

November 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Praava Health: A New Model for Bangladesh

By: Michael Chu

Launched in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2018, Praava Health (‘Praava’) delivered high-quality in-clinic primary and specialist care, backed by its own high quality diagnostic laboratories, imaging and pharmacy. Praava was founder Sylvana Sinha’s response to what she saw as a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Investment Return; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Bangladesh; Asia

23 Dec 2008
First Look

First Look: December 23, 2008

gymnasiums, etc.)? How should they prioritize these items? Purchase the case: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/ b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=207073 The Hong Kong & China Gas Company Ltd.: Negotiating Joint Ventures... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2018
Race & 21st century economy: Access, investments and institution-building

The Importance of Entrepreneurship to the Black Community

December 2006 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Pervasis Therapeutics, Inc.

By: Robert F. Higgins and Virginia Fuller

In May 2005, Steve Bollinger was about to become president and chief operating officer of Pervasis Therapeutics, a small cell therapy start-up in Cambridge, Mass. If proven successful, Pervasis' product, Vascugel, could change the way vascular disease is treated and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Health Industry; Cambridge

October 2019 (Revised August 2020)
Case

The Predictive Index

By: Lynda M. Applegate and James Weber

Mike Zani and Daniel Muzquiz needed to decide next steps to create a new category in the human resources consulting industry and scale their company.
Zani and Muzquiz, serial entrepreneurs, acquired Predictive Index in 2014. Previously, as clients of the... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Talent and Talent Management; Recruitment; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Change Management; Disruptive Innovation; Digital Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Consulting Industry; Service Industry; United States

February 22, 2023
Article

How to Seed Organic Marketing in a Video-First World

By: Ayelet Israeli, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Matt Higgins

Early direct-to-consumer (DTC) companies relied on plentiful capital and low-cost digital marketing to power growth. But as this sector has matured, capital is more constrained, social media is more cluttered, and customer acquisition costs are rising. DTC companies... View Details

Keywords: Online Business; Ecommerce; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Omnichannel Retail; Omnichannel Retailing; Influencer Marketing; Consumer; Organic Growth; Video Advertising; Promotion; Celebrities; Online Advertising; Online Channel; Online Communities; Online Community; Go To Market Strategy; Platform; Media; Media Content; Digital; Digital Culture; Digital Influencers; Direct To Consumer Marketing; Direct-to-consumer; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Sales; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Digital Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web; Advertising; Business Model; Growth Management; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Communication Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; Advertising Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; North America

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Research Summary

Moving Beyond Direct-to-Consumer

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Changing consumer behaviors have redefined what it means to be direct to consumer ("DTC"). What once began online a decade ago as a distribution and disintermediation strategy has since evolved into a multifaceted approach for the modern-day brand.

The... View Details

November 1991 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Body Shop International

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the start-up and rapid growth of a company whose founder holds strong, non-traditional beliefs about the role of the corporation and its responsibility to society. After profiling Anita Roddick as a person, the case describes the anti-mainstream approach she... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Leadership Style; Management Succession; Management Teams; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Values and Beliefs; Global Strategy; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

September 1993
Case

Manufacturing at ALZA: The Right Prescription? (A)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

ALZA, a company specializing in drug delivery systems such as transdermal patches, considers manufacturing its own products. Until now, the company has conducted research and development on its patented system but has then licensed the technology to client-partner... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Production; Research and Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Find at Harvard

11 Jul 2019
Blog Post

Meet the MBA Class of 2020

Design Club Mollie Breen “I WENT TO AN MBA PROGRAM BECAUSE I WAS KICKED OFF A REALITY TV SHOW!” HOME REGION Washington, D.C. UNDERGRAD EDUCATION Duke University, Computer Science/Mathematics, 2015 PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE Department of Defense HBS ACTIVITIES Admissions Rep,... View Details

March 2020
Case

Cafe Kenya

By: Lynda M. Applegate and James T. Kindley

This case describes Café Kenya (CK), a Kenyan-based chain of casual quick-food restaurants. The chain was started in 2011 in Nairobi by Nekesa Kuria. Kuria started Café Kenya and grew it by reinvesting profits into company stores and through franchising. She also... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Kenya

March 2010 (Revised July 2010)
Case

The Economist

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Bharat N. Anand and Lizzie Gomez

In 2009 the Economist continued to experience impressive growth and operating margins while many of its peers reeled from both a cyclical downturn and structural threats to print publishing. The case describes the history, organization, and business model of the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Journals and Magazines; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Online Technology; Publishing Industry; United Kingdom

Web

Finance Curriculum - Faculty & Research

from the Finance unit work with students in the Business Economics doctoral program. Detailed curriculum information for this program can be found on the doctoral programs website: PhD in Business Economics... View Details

Profile

Monica Dodi

As a cofounder and managing director of the Women’s Venture Capital Fund (WVCF), Monica Dodi (MBA 1984) backs female-led, early-stage ventures in digital media and sustainable products and services. Dodi... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity; Venture Capital / Private Equity; Venture Capital / Private Equity

2018
Working Paper

Survival of the Fittest: The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Firm Exit

By: Dara Lee Luca and Michael Luca

We study the impact of the minimum wage on firm exit in the restaurant industry, exploiting recent changes in the minimum wage at the city level. We find that the impact of the minimum wage depends on whether a restaurant was already close to the margin of exit.... View Details

Keywords: Wages; Business Exit or Shutdown; Food and Beverage Industry