Publications

October 2007 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Vertex Pharmaceuticals and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation: Venture Philanthropy Funding for Biotech

By: Robert F. Higgins, Sophie LaMontagne and Brent Kazan

In 2001, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated acquired the San Diego-based biotech company, Aurora Biosciences. The combination of Vertex's and Aurora's technologies would improve the flow of novel drug candidates into development. However, several questions related to... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy; Philanthropy Funding; Innovation; Funding Model; Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Acquisition; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; San Diego

16 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist?

voice of the impartial spectator. With my coauthors I applied this framework to designing a savings product for a bank in the Philippines that helps clients act in line with their long-term interests. In... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

October 2012 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Kleiner-Perkins and Genentech: When Venture Capital Met Science

By: Felda Hardymon and Tom Nicholas

Genentech is a rare success story in the biotechnology industry. Hundreds of billions of dollars of venture capital have been invested without the expected transformational effects. Established in 1976, Genentech was to develop the new science of recombinant DNA into... View Details

Keywords: Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Science; Biotechnology Industry; United States

Web

Faculty & Advisors - MBA

she was the CTO for the 2016 Hillary for America Campaign. Stephanie worked at Google as the Director of Product Management, Civic Innovation and Social Impact. She also worked as a Product Manager at... View Details

27 Feb 2024
Cold Call Podcast

How Could Harvard Decarbonize Its Supply Chain?

Keywords: Re: Robert S. Kaplan & Shirley Lu; Green Technology

Web

How I Spent my 2+2 Deferral: Matthew Young - MBA

East and North Africa South America United States 26 Apr 2024 How I Spent my 2+2 Deferral: Matthew Young tag 2+2 Program The HBS 2+2 program is a deferred admission process for current students in their final year View Details

August 1983 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Honda (A)

Describes the history of Honda Motor Company from its beginning through its entry into and subsequent dominance of the U.S. market. The history is explained primarily in terms of strategic factors and quoted from two sources: an earlier case and Boston Consulting Group... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Global Strategy; Business Strategy; Auto Industry; Japan; United States

October 2023
Case

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt: A Curriculum Provider Puts Itself on the Hook for Student Outcomes

By: John J-H Kim, Derek C. M. van Bever, Michael Norris and Max Hancock

Jack Lynch, CEO of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) since 2017, was leading the company’s transformation from a legacy textbook publisher to a digital-first student outcomes provider, which earned subscription revenue from digital products and curriculum. In 2023, HMH... View Details

Keywords: Edtech; Textbook; Publishing; Leading Change; Change Management; Transformation; Digital Transformation; Expansion; Business Strategy; Publishing Industry; Education Industry; United States

Web

Teacher Profiles - Case Method Project

IDEA Edinburg College Prep Edinburg, TX MD Brenda Diaz Gaithersburg High School Gaithersburg High School, MD IL Scott Dick Pritzker College Prep Chicago, IL Subjects: Civics, IB History of the Americas NC... View Details

01 Dec 2023
News

Rounding the Bend

Illustration by Fernando Cobelo To help people visualize what a circular economy could look like and bring the challenges down to a closet-sized scale, Emily Bolon (MBA/MPA 2007) recommends the following exercise. First, make a mental tally of the number of garments... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade; Apparel Manufacturing; Manufacturing

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

Web

The 20th Century Zeitgeist - Leadership

Reconstruction Finance Corp. created to combat bank and business failures Introduction of Federal Deposit Insurance SEC established Federal regulations prohibit false advertising Influence: Low 40 1940 s 19... View Details

13 Nov 2017
Research & Ideas

Want to Be Happier? Spend Some Money on Avoiding Household Chores

makes us happier. To begin their study, the researchers asked more than 6,000 people in North America and Europe, who earned a variety of incomes, whether they spent money on time-saving services. On both... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

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)

September 2010 (Revised July 2013)
Case

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals: Building Value from the IP Estate

By: Willy C. Shih and Sen Chai

The learning objective of this case is to help students recognize the interplay between intellectual property (IP) rights and corporate strategy. We do this by examining what is a fairly atypical circumstance today in which a single firm is able to secure what it... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Rights; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

TeachingInterests

Creating the Modern Financial System

By: David A. Moss

Creating the Modern Financial System offers a vital perspective on finance and the financial system by exploring the historical development of key financial instruments and institutions worldwide. The premise of the course is that students will gain a richer and... View Details

January 2018
Case

Trian Partners' Proxy Contest at Procter & Gamble

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

In July 2017, activist hedge fund Trian Partners announced that it was launching a proxy fight at U.S. consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble. P&G would be the largest company ever subjected to a proxy fight, as Trian sought to have its CEO, Nelson Peltz, elected to the... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

October 1992 (Revised September 1993)
Case

L.L. Bean, Inc.: Item Forecasting and Inventory Management

By: Arthur Schleifer Jr.

L.L. Bean must make stocking decisions on thousands of items sold through its catalogs. In many cases, orders must be placed with vendors twelve or more weeks before a catalog lands on a customer's doorstep, and commitments cannot be changed thereafter. As a result,... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Risk Management; Cost Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Demand and Consumers; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Retail Industry; United States