Publications

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March 2018 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Edward Lewis: Essence Magazine

By: Steven Rogers and Jacqueline Adams

Essence, the first magazine aimed at African-American women, was created by four, young, Black entrepreneurs in the aftermath of massive racial and political upheaval in the United States in 1968. The venture was a financial, branding and cultural success. By 2005, the... View Details

Web

Faculty & Research

efficient firm—thereby diversifying its production technologies while increasing concentration—can lower prices by prompting the leader to expand output and competitors to aggressively defend market shares. However, large transfers prove... View Details

June 2021 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Equity Bank: Charting the Future

By: Lauren Cohen, Michael Chitavi and Spencer C. N. Hagist

After climbing the ranks among Kenya's financial institutions from 66th to 1st, and toppling a quarter of the market share held by mobile money giant Safaricom, CEO James Mwangi must now guide Equity Bank into its next stage of development beyond "Equity 3.0." Should... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Leadership; Decision Making; Market Entry and Exit; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Institutions; Economics; Kenya

September 2004 (Revised February 2010)
Case

The Passion of the Christ (A)

By: John A. Quelch, Anita Elberse and Anna Harrington

Bob Berney, president of Newmarket Films, must decide on a distribution and marketing strategy for Mel Gibson's controversial new movie, The Passion of the Christ. Fueled by Gibson's star power as well as an extensive prescreening campaign among Christian leaders and... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Film Entertainment; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Distribution Channels; Religion; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

October 2017 (Revised August 2020)
Case

RB

By: Joshua Margolis, Vincent Dessain and Jerome Lenhardt

As 2016 was approaching its end, Rakesh Kapoor, CEO of RB, one of the world’s major fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, envisioned the prospect of a major acquisition that would add a line of health-related products that promised growth in the developing... View Details

Keywords: Organization Behavior; Corporate Culture; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Growth; Geographic Development; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; France

2019
Article

Go-Shops Revisited

By: Guhan Subramanian and Annie Zhao

A go-shop process turns the traditional M&A deal process on its head: rather than a pre-signing market canvass followed by a post-signing “no shop” period, a go-shop deal involves a limited pre-signing market check, followed by a post-signing “go shop” process to find... View Details

Keywords: Go-shop Process; Mergers and Acquisitions; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Deal; Performance Effectiveness; Technological Innovation

Find at Harvard

03 Feb 2017
News

Is greed slowing the NFL's growth?

20 Mar 2012
Working Paper Summaries

The Stock Selection and Performance of Buy-Side Analysts

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Paul Healy, George Serafeim, Devin Shanthikumar & Gui Yang; Financial Services

August 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Developing an App for That

By: Hanna Halaburda, Joshua Gans and Nathaniel Burbank

At a time when ever-rising smartphone sales are driven as much by demand for devices that run must-have third-party "apps" as by the quality of traditional voice and data services, there is a myriad of challenges facing the software developer who is looking to choose... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Competitive Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Banking Industry; Information Technology Industry

Speaker's Box, Journal of Advertising Research

“Speaker’s Box” invites academics and practitioners to identify potential areas of research affecting marketing and advertising. Its intention is to bridge the gap between the length... View Details

January 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Index

By: Jose Alvarez and Julia Kelley

In December 2017, Marc Freed-Finnegan and Jonathan Wall, the co-founders of retail technology company Index, had to discuss the company’s direction as they entered 2018. Five years earlier, Freed-Finnegan and Wall had founded Index after observing the technological... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Product Positioning; Sales; Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry; Technology Industry

November 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

PureCircle

By: David E. Bell and Aldo Sesia

In December 2008, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that high-purity Rebaudioside A (Reb A), a natural and calorie-free product that a young company named PureCircle manufactured from the Stevia plant, could be used in beverages, foods, and as a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Investment; Globalization; Leadership; Risk Management; Product Launch; Production; Performance Productivity; Business and Shareholder Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Reinventing Savings Bonds

Keywords: by Peter Tufano & Daniel Schneider; Financial Services

January 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

General Electric Medical Systems 2002

By: Tarun Khanna and James Weber

Discusses one of General Electric's flagship divisions--the world's leading provider of medical diagnostic imaging equipment. Provides an opportunity to examine a multinational confronting massive technological and demographic changes around the world. Genomics has... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Business Model; Change Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Genetics; Customer Value and Value Chain; Age; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; China; United States

10 Jan 2020
News

Competing in the Age of AI

February 2025 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Align Partners and SM Entertainment: Korean Shareholder Activism Meets K-Pop (A)

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Billy Chan

For years, institutional investors had experienced very limited success in influencing the management of listed companies through shareholder activist campaigns in Korea. The common practice of circular ownership and public resentment toward foreign shareholder... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Public Equity; Stocks; Investment Activism; Music Entertainment; Corporate Governance; Success; Business and Shareholder Relations; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; South Korea

June 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Sequoia Capital

By: Jo Tango, Christina Wallace, Srimayi Mylavarapu and Johnson Elugbadebo

Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm founded in 1972, quickly grew to become one of the most storied venture capital firms in the world. Fueled by a strong culture, Sequoia's investment track record included the names of some of the largest global successes.... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry

November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand

By: Jill Avery and Joseph B. Fuller

Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth trajectories to maximize its potential? Three... View Details

2012
Case

UFIDA (F)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Guo Jia

As an extension of UFIDA (A-E), UFIDA (F) using early 2012 as the time node, looks at UFIDA's major steps taken during 2010-2011, accomplishments, and major future opportunities and challenges. The case focuses on the new market development of Cloud Computing and the... View Details

Keywords: China; Strategy; China