Publications

July 2014 (Revised December 2016)
Case

EcoMotors International

By: John D. Macomber and Hermes Alvarez

Eco-Motors, funded in part by Khosla Ventures, has to decide how to go to market with a new technology for internal combustion engines for automotive and industrial use. The OPOC engine has opposed pistons and is a two-stroke engine, as compared to a more traditional... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business Model; Customer Value and Value Chain; Engineering; Manufacturing Industry; Green Technology Industry; Auto Industry

August 2011 (Revised November 2015)
Case

CFW Clinics in Kenya: To Profit or Not for Profit

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Katharine Lee

Ten years after having launched a chain of non-profit health clinics, its founder is now debating the merits of scaling the operation by converting to a for-profit enterprise. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Model; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Transformation; For-Profit Firms; Health Industry; Kenya

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Professor Elton Mayo; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

01 Jun 2017
News

Supercharged

GM invested half a billion dollars last year. Shen, at WM in China, is thinking along similar lines. In fact, his entire business model hinges on selling drivers smart, cloud-connected, mass-market electrics... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; illustrations by Tavis Coburn

02 Mar 2023
News

Carbon's Second Act

market which is expected over the next 20 or 30 years. DM: And that business opportunity is vital, believes Brix. TB: Because if you don't have an economically sustainable business model, the environmentally... View Details

01 Jun 2016
News

Case Study: On the Table

possible, then a change in your business model may be necessary. Go local: pre-sent choices to customers only from local suppliers so that the delivery and logistics is managed by the seller, but monitored... View Details

27 May 2009
First Look

First Look: May 27, 2009

organizational change, examining how U2 and colleagues navigated such change, built a very powerful brand, and created a successful business model. The final part of the case traces lead singer Bono's involvement in political and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Jun 2001
News

"Unheard Voices" Brings to Light Three Centuries of American Women at Work

Business Age,” is a survey of the library’s manuscript collections that pertain to women’s history. Launched in 1999 with support from Rysia de Ravel (MBA ’83) and a grant from the Harvard University Women’s Matching Fund, the survey is... View Details

25 Aug 2022
News

Research Brief: Paying the Price for Remote Work

research also measured “offshorability” across occupations; those that require specialized local knowledge are more difficult to perform remotely, he found. Cavallo hopes to dig deeper over time, with particular interest in how wages and remote work View Details

Keywords: Jill Radsken; Market Research, Photo, Translation, Veterinary and Other Services; Professional Services

September 2021 (Revised June 2023)
Case

Mission edX: Balancing Social Good and Financial Sustainability

By: John J-H Kim, David J. Collis and James Barnett

In March 2021, online education platform edX considers how to achieve financial sustainability without compromising its mission to provide universal access to high-quality education. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Education; Values and Beliefs; Internet and the Web; Financial Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Education Industry; United States

15 Dec 2015
News

The Year in Ideas 2015

business: Investing in employees keeps churn rates down and distinguishes Hello Alfred in a moment when quantity of transactions often wins out over quality of service. “If we serve our employees well, then the users will be happy,” Sapone says. “We built a View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna, Christine Lejeune, Dan Morrell, and April White

01 Jun 2002
News

Faculty Debates Lessons from Enron's Collapse

and an espoused belief system that stressed respect, integrity, and communication end up in such a situation? How could an innovative business model that showed so much promise have gone wrong so suddenly?... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Enron; faculty; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

October 2024
Case

Parexel: Scaling Up and Industry Dynamics

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ben Creo

Through the lens of biopharmaceutical contract research organization (CRO) PAREXEL, this case traces the evolution of the firm as it reinvents itself in response to the transformation of the CRO sector from a small, secondary cluster of firms into a major player with... View Details

Keywords: Research; Innovation and Invention; Business Model; Transformation; Globalization; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Pharmaceutical Industry

1990
Chapter

Measurement, Coordination and Learning in a Multi-plant Network

By: W. B. Chew, K. B. Clark and T. Bresnahan

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Organizational Structure; Networks; Business Model; Measurement and Metrics; Cooperation

06 Dec 2021
News

Leadership in the Digital Age

As Professor Linda Hill set out to study “digital leaders,” the first thing she learned is that there is no such thing. All leaders—regardless of their sector—must think differently to lead a successful company in the digital age, explains Hill, the Wallace Brett... View Details

Keywords: April White

15 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 15

Tequila Mobile SA, a mobile gamers developer, publisher, and service provider, had to make some important strategic decisions. Tequila Mobile SA had already decided to shift to a new "free2play" revenue model but needed to... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

July 2008 (Revised January 2013)
Teaching Note

eHarmony (TN)

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Hanna Halaburda

Teaching Note for eHarmony [709424]. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Valuation; Industry Structures; Competitive Advantage; Web Services Industry

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Priceline WebHouse Club

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jon K Rust

Priceline empowered consumers to "name their own price" for airline tickets and hotel rooms; then it shopped these offers to marketers. Priceline's founder Jay Walker described the resulting transactions as a new ecosystem, that helped consumers realize lower prices... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry