Publications

03 Dec 2007
Research & Ideas

Authenticity over Exaggeration: The New Rule in Advertising

Imagine the glee of marketers at the dawn of the Internet era—could anyone imagine a more sophisticated, precise way of reaching consumers? By tracking the purchasing habits of its prey, marketers could respond with targeted advertising and special offers, resulting in... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Publishing; Advertising

September 2024
Supplement

Anker Innovations (B)

By: Feng Zhu, Jiangyong Lu and Nancy Hua Dai

An Amazon-native brand, Anker is the world’s No. 1 mobile charging brand and a leading consumer electronics company. Over the years, Anker developed an effective model of proving new products online first by leveraging customer insights from its proprietary Voice of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Product; Distribution; Product Launch; Business Model; Electronics Industry; Consumer Products Industry

June 2022
Case

Zalando: Becoming the Starting Point for Fashion

By: Antonio Moreno, Leela Nageswaran, Emilie Billaud and Federica Gabrieli

Born in 2008 as a small startup selling flip flops, by mid-2021 Zalando had turned into an online fashion company with an assortment of more than 4,500 international brands, 45 million active customers, and a presence in 23 European markets. An essential component in... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Customer Value and Value Chain; Digital Platforms; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Service Operations; Strategy; Business Strategy; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Distribution Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Europe

November 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Mid-Missouri Energy: Ethanol from Corn

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Noel Michele Holbrook, James Weber and Karla Sartor

Mid-Missouri Energy (MME) is a farmer-owned cooperative that produces ethanol from corn. The cooperative has performed well in comparison to other producers, but margins in the industry had declined as industry production levels neared market demand limits. MME farmers... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Renewable Energy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Cooperative Ownership; Business and Government Relations; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

2009
Working Paper

Patent Policy, Patent Pools, and the Accumulation of Claims in Sequential Innovation

By: Gaston Llanes and Stefano Trento

We present a dynamic model where the accumulation of patents generates an increasing number of claims on sequential innovation. We study the equilibrium innovation activity under three regimes: patents, no-patents and patent pools. Patent pools increase the probability... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Patents; Rights; Mathematical Methods

Read Now

May 2008
Case

Sensors Unlimited: Bringing InGaAs Technology to the Market

By: Willy C. Shih

Sensors Unlimited was a small start-up in short-wavelength infrared imaging. Its learning base came out of Bell Labs, RCA's Sarnoff Lab, and the Rockwell Science Center, and as it built its capabilities and ventured into new application areas, it discovered a “killer... View Details

Keywords: Applied Optics; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Aerospace Industry; Technology Industry

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March 2005
Case

Tribune Company: The PHONES Proposal

The Tribune Co. is considering issuing a structured note to monetize its investment in another company, America Online (AOL). Tribune originally invested in AOL in 1991 and currently has approximately 10 million shares left of that investment. However, these shares are... View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Taxation; Investment; Media and Broadcasting Industry

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January 2001 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Ninth House: e-Learning Software

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Frances X. Frei and Corey B. Hajim

Jeff Snipes, CEO of the Ninth House Network, a San Francisco-based E-Learning company, considers a strategy shift to address a recent slump in sales and to attract more customers. The revised strategy would require creating shorter, more directed content that could be... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Culture; Learning; Sales; Service Delivery; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; Education Industry; San Francisco

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September 1999 (Revised September 1999)
Case

Convergys Corporation

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kelley Porter

Focuses on the important issue of capturing the synergies between the two sides of the business, Information Management Group (IMG) and Customer Management Group (CMG). In addition, the case also addresses strategic issues from each of the individual businesses. For... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Information Industry; Service Industry

22 Aug 2016
News

A Refresher on Marketing Myopia

Career Coach

Juan Leung Li

Juan draws on his own career journey and his experience supporting tech entrepreneurs and executives to coach students. Most career paths look like a straight line in hindsight -- those cases are rare. In reality, discovering fulfilling jobs and leading impactful... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Angel Investing; Financial Services (All); Corporate Finance; Financial Services (All); Investment Banking; Financial Services (All); Venture Capital; Financial Services (All); Startup - Founder; Entrepreneurship; Startup - Joiner; Entrepreneurship; Technology

30 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Tracks of My Tears: Reconstructing Digital Music

Mushroom Pillow. So despite selling record numbers of individual songs on online services such as Apple's iTunes, the labels are in an era of declining revenues and consolidation. What happens next? “When consumers start buying music... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music

06 Dec 2006
Op-Ed

India Needs to Encourage Trade with China

remain very far from the historical benchmark of mutual relevance. Advantage China I would venture to say that China gets a lot more out of India than India does out of China currently, both by selling more and better things to India and... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna

September 2021 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Bühler: Mobilizing Industry around a Common Purpose

By: Ranjay Gulati, Franz Wohlgezogen and Malini Sen

Bühler Group, a Swiss multinational processing technology provider, started by selling machines for processing grains and later transitioned into selling food processing solutions. A family-owned business in the fifth generation, Bühler’s high-end milling, grinding,... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Customer Focus and Relationships; Machinery and Machining; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Innovation Leadership; Switzerland

September 2016 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Zhang Xin and the Emergence of Chinese Philanthropy

By: Geoffrey Jones and Amanda Yang

This case examines the recent emergence of Chinese business philanthropy through the case of the SOHO China Foundation established by the wife and husband real estate moguls Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi. It begins by describing the early careers of Zhang and Pan, and how... View Details

Keywords: China; Philanthropy Funding; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Personal Development and Career; Ethics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Higher Education; Real Estate Industry; China

2020
Working Paper

The Myth of the Lead Arranger’s Share

By: Kristian Blickle, Quirin Fleckenstein, Sebastian Hillenbrand and Anthony Saunders

We make use of Shared National Credit Program (SNC) data to examine syndicated loans in which the lead arranger retains no stake. We find that the lead arranger sells its entire loan share for 27 percent of term loans and 48 percent of Term B loans, typically shortly... View Details

Keywords: Syndicated Loans; Lead Arrangers; Financing and Loans

SSRN

December 2018
Case

Choosy

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Julia Kelley

Founded in 2017, Choosy is a data-driven fashion startup that uses algorithms to identify styles trending on social media. After manufacturing similar items using a China-based supply chain, Choosy sells them to consumers through its website and social media pages.... View Details

April 2018
Teaching Note

InsideSales.com (A) and (B)

By: Frank Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 817-018 and 817-042. InsideSales.com (ISC) has been successful selling its software to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMB). But for various reasons, the founders see “the next stage of growth” as building a scalable sales and service... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Customer Relationship Management; Growth Management; Marketing Strategy; Salesforce Management; Talent and Talent Management; Technology Industry