Publications

February 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Tennant Company

By: Toby E. Stuart, Lynda M. Applegate and James Weber

Tennant, a leading producer of floor cleaning equipment, must determine how to create, finance, structure, staff, govern, measure, and manage a new venture for developing a fundamentally new product line. In 2005, Tennant Company had developed an innovative,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Change Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Product Development; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Research and Development

November 2000
Case

Reuters Greenhouse Fund

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Daniel Galvin

Reuters Greenhouse Fund had successfully invested in a portfolio of 79 companies working in areas relevant to Reuters Group's strategic interests. It had itself facilitated a powerful network among the companies and become a respected global venture capital firm.... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financial Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Transition; Partners and Partnerships; Networks; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

January 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

VendQuest (A): The Business Idea

By: Dwight B. Crane and David Foster

A potential founder of a company is considering whether to start up a new enterprise that would link parts distributors with customers in the construction industries via the Internet. This case describes the industry and the potential advantages to distributors and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Corporate Strategy; Business Model; Distribution; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Business Plan; Customer Relationship Management; Business Ventures; Construction Industry

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August 1988 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Norton Group PLC: To Be or Not to Be in the Motorcycle Business (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Jon Skofic

Norton, a once famous motorcycle manufacturer, soundly beaten by Japanese competition, turns its attention to developing rotary engines. The company is acquired by Norton Group PLC, which is headed by a dashing entrepreneur. The new management must decide what... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Crisis Management; Resource Allocation; Production; Competition; Auto Industry; Motorcycle Industry; Japan; United Kingdom

February 2010
Case

Shurgard Self-Storage: Expansion to Europe (Abridged)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Shurgard, a U.S.-based firm that rents storage facilities to consumers and small businesses, is considering financing options for rapid expansion of its European operations. Five years after entering Europe, Shurgard Europe has opened 17 facilities in Belgium, France,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Growth and Maturation; Multinational Firms and Management; Logistics; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Trade; Equity; Corporate Finance; United States; Europe

October 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Background Note

Note on Funding Deep Tech Startups

By: Karim Lakhani, Peter Barrett and Noubar Afeyan

This Background Note provides essential information on funding deep technologies—those technologies that were inherently capital intensive, time consuming, risky, and potentially disruptive. Both dilutive and non-dilutive sources of investment are highlighted, along... View Details

13 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 13, 2009

afield. Planning a Start-Up? Seize the Day...Then Expect to Work All Night Author:Noam Wasserman Publication:Harvard Business Review 87, no. 1 (January 2009) Abstract If you dream of starting your own business, it's better to leave the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

16 Feb 2016
First Look

February 16, 2016

experience. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50573 2015 Shaping Entrepreneurial Mindsets: Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Leadership Development Design Thinking and Innovative Problem Solving By: Datar,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2009
Case

Intel NBI: Image Components Organization

By: Willy C. Shih and Thomas Thurston

The Image Components Organization (ICO) was an internal venture that was part of Intel's New Business Initiatives. It sought to initially develop and sell a high performance integrated CMOS image sensor module for cellular phones. ICO's opening assumptions were that it... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Development; Production; Failure; Diversification; Semiconductor Industry

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November 2008
Case

Adnexus Therapeutics, Inc.: Considering the Exit

By: Vicki L. Sato and Rachel Gordon

Dr. John Mendlein, CEO of Adnexus Therapeutics Inc. (Adnexus), a private biotechnology company, must decide whether to pursue acquisition talks with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) after a successful six-month collaboration or continue with Adnexus' planned IPO. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Initial Public Offering; Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry

June 2006
Case

AtHoc: Dealing With Disruption

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Brian DeLacey

Follows the growth of an entrepreneur from his early startup activities. As the company evolves from 1998 to 2005, looks at key decisions and turning points as AtHoc's strategy adapts in response to changing market environments, business opportunities, and customer... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Disruptive Innovation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Venture Capital

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November 2010 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Innovating into Active ETFs: Factor Funds Capital Management LLC

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Lauren Cohen and Scott Waggoner

Kishore Karunakaran, President and COO of FFCM, faces a variety of challenges in launching an innovative investment management business in the rapidly evolving ETF space. View Details

Keywords: Investment Management; Institutional Investments; Entrepreneurial Finance; Financial Management; Innovation Strategy; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Capital Markets; Investment Funds; Financial Strategy; Management Teams; Financial Services Industry; Boston

June 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Tennant Company: Innovating Within and Beyond the Core

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Toby E. Stuart and James Weber

Tennant, a leading producer of floor cleaning equipment, must determine the business model to use for its new chemical-free cleaning technology. In 2005, Tennant Company had developed an innovative, environmentally friendly cleaning technology that could potentially... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Structure; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Consumer Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

24 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 24, 2009

distribution services (GDSs)—such as SABRE—to reach travel agents. But GDSs held significant tactical advantages. For example, GDSs had signed long-term exclusive contracts with the corporate customers who were American's best customers.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2024
Supplement

gWorks (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In January of 2019, Joe Heieck, CEO of gWorks, was deciding whether to proceed with his acquisition of Data Tech, that was a business roughly the same size as gWorks. gWorks, which provided geospatial software to small city and rural county governments, was acquired by... View Details

05 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

The Changing Face of American Innovation

declining thereafter. During this period, English and European contributions declined somewhat in magnitude. “Recent trends may be a warning flag.” The increased contribution by Asian ethnicities is evident within many institutions, especially public View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Technology

17 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Tales of the Newly-minted MBA

wait until you're desperate to contact mentors," said Sara Crutchfield Clarke (HBS MBA '97), vice president of corporate strategy at Showtime Networks. "Find ways to stay in touch, and have a clear means of articulating your... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

16 Feb 2012
Op-Ed

Nitin Nohria: Why US Competitiveness Matters

economic inequality worrisome. They see that US corporations are skittish about making investments in a time of uncertainty about government policy, taxes, and regulations. They hear too many American CEOs talk about choosing to postpone... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria

September 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Friendster (A)

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In January 2006, the president of Friendster needs to choose between two strategic options to revive the company. Friendster started the social networking industry in 2003, but has been overtaken by MySpace and Facebook. The two options are: 1) offer new features to... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social and Collaborative Networks; Brands and Branding; Service Industry