Publications

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October 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

VITAS: Innovative Hospice Care

VITAS, a for-profit hospice, has grown through acquisitions and start-ups. The company considers a rollup strategy, and Deirdre Lawe must decide whether to make a particular acquisition. View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; For-Profit Firms; Service Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Acquisition; Service Industry

May 2024
Case

MStudio and Djoli: Accelerating Startup Growth in Francophone Africa

By: Paul A. Gompers, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Temitayo Lawal

Djoli, a procurement platform, was one of the startups launched and supported by MStudio, a startup studio in Côte d'Ivoire, in 2023. After a year of operations, Djoli must look beyond MStudio, which had supported them financially and in kind in exchange for equity,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Change; Decisions; Demographics; Economics; Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial Finance; Information Technology; Management; Ownership; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Distribution Industry; Technology Industry; Africa; Côte d'Ivoire

June 2019
Case

Monetizing Insurance at Trov

By: Thales Teixeira, Samy Dana and Leandro A Guissoni

Trov is a disruptive startup in the insurance space (“insurtech”). It allows consumers to simply turn on and turn off insurance for each of their possessions on a mobile app with the swipe of a finger. Consumers love the simple, on-demand, single-item coverage product.... View Details

Keywords: Monetization; Decoupling; Business Startups; Insurance; Disruption; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Strategy; Insurance Industry

August 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Clover Food Lab: Building Out the Team

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Christopher Payton and Ali Huberlie

Keywords: Hiring; Firing; Foodservice Industry; Business Startups; Selection and Staffing; Resignation and Termination; Food; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston

November 2012 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Talking Strategy at Greighton Partners

By: Boris Groysberg and Kerry Herman

Since its inception, London-based private equity firm Greighton Partners had managed over $15 billion in investor capital. The firm employed about 150 professionals around the globe and had completed over 175 company acquisitions since its founding. Started with a... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Asia; Europe

November 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

WiTricity: Electricity cuts the cord

By: William A. Sahlman and Evan Wade Richardson

Eric Giler, WiTricity CEO, must decide how to grow a company based around an untested but potentially ground-breaking technology for wireless electricity transmission. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Wireless Technology; Electronics Industry

October 2005
Case

Intel Corporation 2005

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

Buoyed by strong recent sales growth but humbled by failed strategic bets and other missteps, Intel in 2005 initiated a major reorganization. Under its new CEO, Paul Otellini, the company shifted toward a "platform" model, inspired by the success of its Centrino... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Alignment; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Semiconductor Industry

February 2005 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Chuck's Wagon Inc.

By: Paul W. Marshall and Derek Lewis

This case describes the experiences of an HBS student as he takes on the challege of transitioning from an intern to a president at a small consumer packaged goods firm in Southern Texas. This HBS student is confronted with the opportunity to perform an operational and... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Goods; Operations Strategy; Executive Development; Strategy; Small Business; Production; Transformation; Management Skills; Financial Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Texas

May 2003 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Revitalizing Philips (A)

Philips is a major science-based multinational that has been restructuring since the early 1970s. This case provides an historical perspective on earlier efforts as well as a detailed description of the one pursued under Cor Boonstra, CEO from 1996 to 2001, that... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Restructuring; Science-Based Business

November 1980 (Revised August 1986)
Case

Progressive Corp.'s Divisionalization Decision (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles Jr.

Describes a company that is considering whether to establish an experimental division as a relatively independent profit center under a general manager. Data relevant to this decision include the company's strategy, markets, products, current structure, size, and the... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Decision Making; Data and Data Sets; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Situation or Environment

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January 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Endo Pharmaceuticals (A): From LBO to...?

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Brian DeLacey

Endo Pharmaceuticals was formed in 1997 as a leveraged buyout spin-off from DuPont Merck. In 1999, it must decide whether to do an IPO or merge with a smaller company. View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Initial Public Offering; Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

March 1999 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Honda-Rover (C): "The Sting"

By: Ashish Nanda, James K. Sebenius and Ron Fortgang

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Joint Ventures; Alliances; Knowledge Sharing; Strategy; Contracts; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Tactics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Auto Industry; United Kingdom

24 Sep 2015
Blog Post

Why We Recruit: Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation

Nancy Huang (HBS ’96), Director of Outreach, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Describe your organization in three to five sentences. The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation is a global venture philanthropy firm supporting early stage, high... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

June 1991 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Takeover of the Norton Co., The

By: Thomas R. Piper

After a decade of mediocre performance, the Norton Co. enters 1990 with the prospect of increased sales in the next few years. Yet Norton is pursuing slow growth industries, and a lower than expected earnings announcement at the beginning of 1990 has depressed earnings... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Goals and Objectives; Forecasting and Prediction; Performance Evaluation; Revenue; Bids and Bidding; Business Processes; Ownership Stake

2010
Case

Vander Mining Partners, IPADE

By: Roberto Charvel

In 2010 Vander Mining was trying to raise one of the few private equity funds specialized in mining. This was difficult among other things because institutional investors did not have a private equity team specialized in mining and emerging markets. View Details

Keywords: Real Assets; Business Startups; Business Plan; Economics; Metals and Minerals; Mining; Assets; Private Equity; Public Equity; Goods and Commodities; Emerging Markets; Market Participation; Mining Industry; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America

April 1993 (Revised October 1995)
Case

ALZA and Bio-Electro Systems (A): Technological and Financial Innovation

By: Josh Lerner and Peter Tufano

To develop the next generation of risky products, ALZA, a mature and profitable biotechnology firm specializing in drug delivery systems, must raise $40 million. Organizational constraints and competitive concerns demand that the work be done inside the firm. However,... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Technological Innovation; Business Subsidiaries; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Finance; Biotechnology Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

December 1989 (Revised October 1990)
Case

General Electric Co.: Preparing for the 1990s

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes Jack Welch's tenure as CEO from 1981 to 1989 through excerpts of speeches and presentations. Sections include summary of GE's strategy, Welch's quantum leap approach to change, the restructuring of GE, how GE operates (the "GE Growth Engine"), and managing GE... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Policy; Business or Company Management; Change Management; Business Strategy; Restructuring; Operations; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Electronics Industry