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- June 2025
- Case
TagHive: Edtech Pricing and Distributor Decisions
By: Isamar Troncoso, Frank V. Cespedes and Stacy Straaberg
Education technology (edtech) company TagHive, founded in 2017, used a direct sales team and third-party distributors to sell its Class Saathi hardware and software solution to 300 clients, mainly primary and secondary schools in India. The product aimed to improve... View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Social Marketing; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Technology Adoption; Education; Teaching; Price; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Satisfaction; Growth and Development; Technological Innovation; Education Industry; Technology Industry; India; South Korea
- 2025
- Chapter
Critical Choices in Designing a Board: An Overview
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Lynn S. Paine
Board design is never one-size-fits-all. It’s a series of critical choices—each with trade-offs—that can define how a board functions, governs, and delivers strategic value.
That’s the premise of "Critical Choices in Designing a... View Details
Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards
- June 2025
- Article
Integral Outside: The Financial Curb Market, the Electric Telegraph, and the Politics of Pricing in Second Empire France
Financial markets in nineteenth-century France were far more complex than an analysis of the official Bourse or its state-authorized brokers would suggest. Most financial transactions occurred on an illegal yet tacitly tolerated curb market called the coulisse, which... View Details
- June 2025
- Case
Vail Resorts: Responding to Activist Pressure (A)
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Edward A. Meyer
On January 27, 2025, the head of a relatively small hedge fund named Late Apex Partners sent a highly critical letter to the board of directors of Vail Resorts, the world’s largest ski resort operator. In his letter, and the 88-slide presentation that accompanied his... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Finance; Capital Budgeting; Corporate Governance; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Leading Change; Valuation; Investment Activism; Climate Change; Management Succession; Financial Management; Risk Management; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Travel Industry; United States; Australia; Canada
- May 2025
- Case
Dell Med: Transforming Care Delivery & Payment
By: Robert S. Kaplan, David N. Bernstein and Mary L. Witkowski
Health care in the U.S. and globally continues to undergo massive transformation, surging towards a system that rewards value for patients. However, widespread adoption of value-based health care remains a challenge. This case study focuses on the care delivery... View Details
- May 2025
- Case
Wilburn Medical USA
By: David Ager, Lynda M. Applegate and James Barnett
In September 2024, Emily Wilburn Andrews, CEO of Wilburn Medical USA, is five years into her tenure leading the medical equipment supply company since taking over for her father, the company’s founder. She considers approaches to grow the company while maintaining the... View Details
- May 2025
- Case
'Net Zero in Action': Impact Investing at the McKnight Foundation
By: Lauren Cohen, Christina R. Wing and Sophia Pan
Elizabeth McGeveran, Vice President of Investments at the McKnight Foundation, reflected on how to effectively advance the organization’s net-zero strategy. The foundation had committed 10% of its endowment to building a portfolio of impact investments and was among... View Details
Keywords: Investment Fund; Philanthropy; Charitable Donations; Sustainability; Foundation; Impact Investing; ESG; Family Business; Forecasting and Prediction; Private Sector; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Institutional Investing; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Private Ownership; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Social Issues; Sustainable Cities; Financial Services Industry; Minnesota; United States
- April 2025
- Case
Campbell's Recipe for Advancing School Nutrition
By: Hise O. Gibson, F. Christopher Eaglin and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone
In 2021, The Campbell’s Company launched Full Futures, a collective impact initiative aimed at advancing school nutrition environments in underserved communities. The program started in Camden, NJ—home to Campbell’s headquarters—and later expanded to Charlotte, NC, and... View Details
- April 2025
- Case
Thrivent: From Insurance Agents to Financial Advisors
By: Hubert Joly, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Tom Quinn
Thrivent, a midwestern financial services company with a centuries-long history rooted in Lutheranism, had reached $10 billion in revenue mostly by selling life insurance. In the 2020s, however, CEO Terry Rasmussen began a transformation process centered around the... View Details
Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Talent and Talent Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Forecasting and Prediction; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Selection and Staffing; Job Design and Levels; Human Capital; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Insurance Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States; Minneapolis
- April 2025 (Revised May 2025)
- Case
Adobe: GenAI Opportunity or Threat?
By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Allison Ciechanover
In December 2022, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen faced a pivotal strategic decision due to the rapid rise of generative AI image models from OpenAI, Midjourney, and StabilityAI. Adobe, a leader in digital media and marketing software with a 40-year legacy of innovation and... View Details
- April 2025
- Case
Lisa Su and AMD (A)
By: Joshua D. Margolis, Matthew Preble and Dave Habeeb
This multimedia case study focuses on CEO Lisa Su’s turnaround and subsequent transformation of the technology company Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD). When Su accepted the top position in 2014, AMD was on the verge of collapse. Su focused the company’s culture,... View Details
Keywords: Turnaround; Artificial Intelligence; Semiconductors; Change Management; Transformation; Decision Making; Globalized Markets and Industries; Government and Politics; AI and Machine Learning; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Leadership; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Management; Product Design; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Strategic Planning; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Research and Development; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; Computer Industry; United States; California; Texas
- April 2025 (Revised May 2025)
- Background Note
Customer Acquisition and the Cash Flow Trap
By: E. Ofek, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller
Startups as well as existing firms recognize the need to invest in order to acquire customers for their new ventures. And as each customer is expected at some point to have generated sufficient gross margins to cover their CAC, management expects that, soon enough, the... View Details
- April 2025
- Case
Techint: Strategic Choices for Community Impact
By: Lauren Cohen, Virak Prum, Kenneth Charman, Pedro Levindo and Mariana Cal
In early 2024 Erika Bienek, Chief Community Relations Officer at Techint, had to decide whether to invest in a new company-owned and operated technical school in Veracruz, Mexico, or invest instead in strengthening the city’s public education system. Techint, a global... View Details
Keywords: Technical Institutes; Community Relations; Social Impact; Argentina; Mexico; Brazil; Conglomerate; Stakeholder Management; Government And Business; Community Impact; Philanthropy; Business Conglomerates; Business Subsidiaries; Business Headquarters; Family Business; Decision Making; Private Sector; Public Sector; Education; Curriculum and Courses; Middle School Education; Secondary Education; Teaching; Training; Learning; Energy; Engineering; Construction; Values and Beliefs; Geography; Global Range; Local Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Government Legislation; Recruitment; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Knowledge; Resource Allocation; Industry Clusters; Infrastructure; Family Ownership; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Creativity; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Poverty; Strategy; Construction Industry; Education Industry; Energy Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry; Europe; Italy; Latin America; North and Central America; Mexico; North America; United States; South America; Argentina; Buenos Aires; Brazil
- April 2025
- Teaching Note
ZEISS: Commercializing Science
By: Maria P. Roche
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 725-359. View Details
Keywords: Business Model; Business Organization; Decisions; Business Strategy; Competition; Business History; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Independent Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Knowledge Sharing; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Organizational Culture; Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Risk and Uncertainty; Adaptation; Commercialization; Resource Allocation; Corporate Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; Technology Industry; Germany; Europe
- April 2025 (Revised June 2025)
- Case
Governing Sustainability in a Shifting Context (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz
In early 2025, boards of directors had to rethink corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts amid rapidly-shifting social, legal, regulatory, and economic forces. While just a few years earlier, calls to address racial justice and climate change reached into... View Details
Keywords: Climate Change; Corporate Governance; Diversity; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Mission and Purpose; Social Media; Race; Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Measurement and Metrics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Shareholder Relations; Social Issues; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Banking Industry; United States
- April 2025
- Case
Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics (A)
By: Linda A. Hill, James I. Cash and Lydia Begag
Joe Mazzulla's leadership journey with the Boston Celtics began in 2016 when he served as an assistant coach for their NBA G-League affiliate. In 2019, he was promoted to a "behind-the-bench" assistant coaching role with the Celtics, before being asked to become the... View Details
Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Change Management; Communication; Values and Beliefs; Innovation and Invention; Decision Making; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Leading Change; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States
- April 2025
- Supplement
Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics (B)
By: Linda A. Hill, James I. Cash and Lydia Begag
This case is a supplement to “Joe Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics” (A) and is set against the backdrop of the 2024 NBA Finals. It describes the impact of Mazzulla’s decision to rally his team with an aggressive “go for the kill” mindset instead of choosing language... View Details
Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Change Management; Communication; Values and Beliefs; Innovation and Invention; Decision Making; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Leading Change; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States
- April 2025
- Case
Giving Up on a Passion: Elizabeth Rowe at the Boston Symphony Orchestra
By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon and Alexis Lefort
For 20 years, Elizabeth Rowe was a world-renowned principal flutist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. But in 2024, Rowe decided to leave her position to pursue a new full-time career as a leadership coach. At 50, Rowe was well under the typical retirement age, and,... View Details
Keywords: Arts; Small Business; Social Media; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Learning; Music Entertainment; Values and Beliefs; Creativity; Happiness; Identity; Interests; Satisfaction; Motivation and Incentives; Prejudice and Bias; Reputation; Culture; Resignation and Termination; Personal Development and Career; Consulting Industry; Fine Arts Industry; Music Industry; United States
- 2025
- Working Paper
Navigating Choppy Waters: How U.S. Trade Policy Uncertainty Affects Small Businesses
By: David Atkin, Zoë Cullen and Ebehi Iyoha
This paper explores the impact of recent changes in the US trade policy environment
on small businesses. Drawing on a survey of more than 4,000 small businesses conducted
between March 22 and 31, 2025, we examine firms’ knowledge, expectations, and
decisions during... View Details
- April 2025
- Case
Breezm: Innovative 3D-Printed Eyewear (A)
By: Juan Alcácer, Brian Mao Fu and Adina Wong
In 2023, Breezm, a South Korean startup, faced a strategic decision about how to grow its innovative 3D-printed, custom-fit eyewear business. Co-founded in 2017 by Zenma Park and Wooseok Sung, Breezm combined facial scanning, AI, and in-house production to solve the... View Details