Publications

October 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Hulu: An Evil Plot to Destroy the World?

By: Anita Elberse and Sunil Gupta

In July 2009, Jason Kilar, the chief executive officer of Hulu, is debating whether the online video aggregator should move away from a purely advertising-supported model, and whether it should participate in an industry-wide initiative to develop and test... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Business Model; Television Entertainment; Distribution Channels; Service Operations; Internet and the Web; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

December 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Asian Agri and the Future of Palm Oil

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

For Asian Agri and other Indonesian palm oil producers, the future promised rising demand from fast-growing Asian populations, but also intensifying criticism from environmental groups. With the highest yield and lowest production cost of any edible oil, palm oil... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Natural Environment; Marketing Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Indonesia; Malaysia

February 2022
Supplement

SpartanNash Company: The Amazon Warrants (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, E. Scott Mayfield and Daniel Fisher

As of 12/31/21, Amazon held $22 billion of equity and warrants in related companies. In fact, it often requests a free grant of warrants when it enters into a new commercial agreement with a supplier. Over the past 20 years, Amazon has gotten warrants almost 20... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Value Creation; Consumer Behavior; Negotiation; Distribution; Ownership; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Equity; Distribution Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

04 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

How a Juicy Brand Came Back to Life

unfolds. An Endearing Artlessness Some brands just want to have fun, and from birth Snapple was one of them. Operating from the back of his parents' pickle store in Queens, Arnie Greenberg and his friends Leonard Marsh and Hyman Golden... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Food & Beverage

14 Sep 2023
Blog Post

MBAs Accelerate Their Social Enterprise Ventures

investments. Through Solara’s IoT-enabled systems with dynamic pricing, digital payments, and booking features, farmers can operate their own irrigation businesses, serving their non-pump owning neighbors water at rates below current... View Details

Web

Research - Race, Gender & Equity

Edward H. Chang Negotiation, Organizations & Markets 8 results Katherine B. Coffman Negotiation, Organizations & Markets 23 results Alexandra C. Feldberg Organizational Behavior 7 results Sara L. Fleiss Finance Frances X. Frei Technology and View Details

Web

Strategy Execution Online Course | HBS Online

businesses face and create systems for managing and mitigating them. Highlights Your Business's Overall Level of Risk Considering the Balance Between Innovation and Control Operations Risk Show Hide Details Concepts Identifying Sources of... View Details

01 Oct 2000
News

Edward D. Bullard: The Personal Touch

to San Francisco, where he became CFO in 1981 and president in 1983. The calling to be near the company's operations -- which had moved to Kentucky in the 1970s -- then proved irresistible. In 1989, Jed, Sherri, and their two children... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

February 2017
Case

Yemeksepeti: Growing and Expanding the Business Model through Data

By: William R. Kerr, Gamze Yucaoglu and Eren Kuzucu

In October 2016, Nevzat Aydin, co-founder and CEO of Yemeksepeti, the Turkish online food-ordering company, was looking over the company's quarterly results and projections for the upcoming year with his management team. It had been almost a year and a half since Aydin... View Details

16 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Has COVID-19 Broken the Global Value Chain?

dollars (or perceived that payments would be interrupted). Firms operating in the commodity markets also saw their revenues shrinking, and struggled to meet obligations in (dollar) debt. As a result, most of them turn to banks to obtain... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

2019
Working Paper

Rehabilitating Corporate Purpose

By: Malcolm S. Salter

In this paper, I address how the ascendance of the theory of shareholder value maximization into the central consciousness of public corporations and its canonization as the only legitimate expression of corporate purpose has contributed to both a widening breach... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Justice; Corporate Purpose; Shareholder Value Maximization; Ethical Reciprocity; Economic Systems; Business Ventures; Mission and Purpose; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

SSRN

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January 2018
Supplement

Jumia Nigeria PowerPoint Supplement

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Founded in 2012, Jumia Nigeria, a startup effort by Germany-based Rocket Internet, aimed to become an African Amazon. The company entered the nascent market and immediately enjoyed an uptick in consumer spending fueled by the strength of Nigeria’s oil-based economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Marketplace; Inventory; Nigeria; Africa; Ecommerce; Funding; Business Ecosystems; Business Ecosystem; Competition; Business Model; Globalization; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Logistics; E-commerce; Retail Industry; India; Nigeria; Africa

January 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Teaching Note

Jumia Nigeria: from Retail to Marketplace (A) and (B)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

Founded in 2012, Jumia Nigeria, a startup effort by Germany-based Rocket Internet, aimed to become an African Amazon. The company entered the nascent market and immediately enjoyed an uptick in consumer spending fueled by the strength of Nigeria’s oil-based economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Marketplace; Inventory; Ecommerce; Funding; Business Ecosystems; Competition; Business Model; Globalization; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Logistics; E-commerce; Retail Industry; India; Nigeria; Africa

August 2023
Case

Reimagining Hindustan Unilever (A)

By: Sunil Gupta and Rachna Tahilyani

In the fall of 2019, the CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm, is wondering what to do about their experiments to digitize distribution. Despite three years of intense efforts, their apps to empower retailers... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Leading Change; Distribution; Decisions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Consumer Behavior; E-commerce; Competition; Performance; Business Strategy; Marketing; Transformation; Consumer Products Industry; Asia; India

08 Mar 2004
Research & Ideas

Creating Value in Your Business Ecosystem

Fundamentally, they aim to improve the overall health of their ecosystems by providing a stable and predictable set of common assets—think of Wal-Mart's procurement system and Microsoft's Windows operating system and tools—that other... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Roy Levien

February 1985 (Revised September 1988)
Case

Komatsu Ltd.

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Reviews and updates the structure and characteristics of the earth-moving equipment industry presented in the companion case, Caterpillar Tractor Co. After revealing that CAT has suffered major financial losses during the period from 1981 through 1984, the case... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Machinery and Machining; Price; Growth and Development; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Production; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Industrial Products Industry

03 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

Cut Payroll Costs with Transparency, Fairness, and Compassion

Conduct, your jobs are secure. This decision was made with 100 percent support of the Firm’s Operating Committee. At the end of this year, we will know what we are dealing with, and hopefully, the economy will be on the mend by then.”... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

October 2020 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Union Square Hospitality Group: Hospitality Included

By: Peter Boumgarden, Ryan W. Buell, Lamar Pierce and Richard Ryffel

In 2015, Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG), helmed by famous restauranteur Danny Meyer, sent shockwaves through the restaurant industry by announcing the end of tipping in its restaurants. Under its new policy, Hospitality Included (HI), USHG would charge higher... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Tipping; Revenue Sharing; Service Operations; Policy; Change; Human Resources; Management; Food and Beverage Industry