Publications

April 2017
Supplement

Imprimis (B)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Marc Appel

This case is a supplement to Imprimis (A). It describes the company’s decision to enter into the pharmaceutical compounding business in 2013–2014. Imprimis purchased a compounded ophthalmological medication called Dropless Therapy, which was injected into patients’... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Drug Compounding; Drug Development; Pharmaceuticals; Small Business; Decision-making, Business Model; Mark Baum; Imprimis; Decision Making; Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

February 2015 (Revised November 2015)
Supplement

Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (B)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Marianne Van Der Steen and Susan Harmeling

The Crucell (B) case updates events at Crucell since 2009. In September, 2009, Johnson & Johnson acquired 18% of Crucell for $400 million. This investment was part of a business development deal. Subsequently, in 2012, Johnson & Johnson acquired Crucell for $2.8... View Details

Keywords: Biotechnology; Biopharmacy Company; Licensing Agreements In Biopharmacy; Licensing; Human Cell-line Technology; Vaccine; Healthcare Innovation; Global Health; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Acquisition; Innovation and Invention; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry

15 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Five Imperatives for Improving Health Care

conference and survey from Harvard's business and medical schools may prove particularly timely. Delivered by the Forum on Healthcare Innovation, which was formed last year with encouragement from the respective deans of the two... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

Article

One Obstacle to Curing Cancer: Patient Data Isn't Shared

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Kathy Giusti

Precision Medicine requires large datasets to identify the mutations that lead to various cancers. Currently, genomic information is hoarded in fragmented silos within numerous academic medical centers, pharmaceutical companies, and some disease-based foundations. For... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Cancer Treatment; Precision Medicine; Personalized Medicine; Data Sharing; Technological Innovation; Analytics and Data Science; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties; Research and Development; Customization and Personalization; Health Industry; United States

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Teaching Interest

MBA Elective Curriculum: Mastering Strategy Execution

By: Robert Simons

This course teaches future general managers, entrepreneurs, and consultants how to execute strategy and deliver results. Using readings, exercises, and case studies in industries as diverse as healthcare space exploration, and software development, you will learn to... View Details

Article

Trends and Predictors of Biomedical Research Quality, 1990–2015: A Meta-Research Study

By: Maryaline Catillon

Keywords: Biomedical Research; R＆D; Innovation; Technology; Drug Trials; RCT; Health; Healthcare; Health Care And Treatment; Health Care Policy; Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Research and Development; Technological Innovation; Health Industry; Health Industry

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August 1998
Case

HIMSCORP, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael J. Roberts and Laurence E. Katz

Himscorp is an industry consolidation of records storage companies providing management and retrieval services of active medical records to healthcare institutions. Kent Dauten, a former general partner at Madison Dearborn Partners with 15 years of venture capital and... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Initial Public Offering; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consolidation; Information Industry

February 2015 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Building an Integrated Biopharma Company: Crucell (A)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Marianne Van Der Steen and Susan S. Harmeling

By 2009, Crucell had become the largest biopharma company in the Netherlands and a symbol of national pride. The case traces the evolution of the company from a University spin-off into a fully-integrated company. Crucell's success, particularly in the vaccine space,... View Details

Keywords: Biotechnology; Biopharmacy Company; Licensing; Licensing Agreements In Biopharmacy; Human Cell-line Technology; Vaccine; Healthcare Innovation; Global Health; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Netherlands

January 2013 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Pittsburgh

By: Eric Werker, Meg Rithmire, Benjamin Kennedy and Andrew Knauer

The case narrates the development of Pittsburgh from the 1940s to 2012. It analyzes the collapse of the steel industry in the early 1980s, the city's subsequent decline, and the city's later re-emergence as a hub for higher education, the tech sector, and the... View Details

August 2017
Case

RoboTech: Storming into the U.S. Market

By: Christopher A. Bartlett, Rachel Gordon and John J. Lafkas

This case describes the challenges facing the CEO of a small, Singapore-based industrial robotics company that decides to diversify away from its core industrial robot business by leveraging its expertise into the medical-devices industry. It launches an innovative... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Diversification; Product Launch; Competitive Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Singapore; United States

February 2024
Case

FIGS: Scrubbing the Status Quo

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Nicole Tempest Keller

In October 2023, FIGS had revolutionized the medical scrubs industry with its fashionable and functional designs, but the venture was at a critical juncture. The digitally native vertical brand (DNVB) had gone public in a successful IPO in 2021 and reached $500 million... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Channels; Corporate Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles; Europe; Canada

2023
Article

Conduit Incentives: Eliciting Cooperation from Workers Outside of Managers' Control

By: Susanna Gallani

Can managers use monetary incentives to elicit cooperation from workers they cannot reward for their efforts? I study “conduit incentives,” an innovative incentive design, whereby managers influence bonus-ineligible workers’ effort by offering bonus-eligible employees... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior Modification; Peer Monitoring; Persistence Of Performance Improvements; Crowding Out; Implicit Incentives; Compensation; Healthcare; Social Pressure; Image Motivation; Incentives; Motivation; Performance; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; California

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January 2017
Case

Kada Orthopedics: A Bone of Contention

By: Kevin Schulman and Matt Strickland

Kada Orthopedics is a small implantable orthopedic device manufacturer founded by industry veterans trying to sell stable-technology products to an increasingly cost-conscious healthcare market. Although they have marginally successful product in early 2016, the... View Details

Keywords: Market Design; Growth And Development Strategy; Health Care; Business Startup; Growth and Development; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Specialties; Business Startups; Supply and Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

March 2014 (Revised September 2014)
Supplement

Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (B)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred

This case, a follow-up to Cancer Treatment Centers of America (A), HBS No. 313-012, begins with the debate over New Hampshire's certificate-of-need (CON) law, which restricts hospital expansion. This debate ignited significant public criticism of Cancer Treatment... View Details

Keywords: Cancer; Cancer Treatment; Accountability; Outcomes; Outcomes Reporting; Outcomes Measurement; Survival; For-profit Hospitals; Health Care; Healthcare; Hospital; Certificate Of Need; Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Corporate Accountability; Policy; Health Industry; United States

May 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Headspace vs. Calm: A Mindful Competition

By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne Wilson

By 2021, the mindfulness app wars reached their apex. Over 2,000 meditation apps were available to consumers, but two apps, Headspace and Calm, dominated the space, jointly holding about 70% of the total market. Headspace had established itself as the approachable... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communication; Integrated Strategy; Brand; Brand ＆ Product Management; Brand Communication; Brand Differentiation; Brand Building; Brand Management; E-Commerce Strategy; Ecommerce; App; App Development; Applications; COVID; COVID-19; Pandemic; Pricing; Pricing Strategy; Subscription Model; Subscription; Partnerships; Strategic Partnerships; B2B Vs. B2C; B2B; Health ＆ Wellness; Wellbeing; Digitization; Commoditization; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Mobile Healthcare; Mobile Marketing; Digital Brand; Digital Health; Consumer Health; Apps; Online Business; Online Competition; Online Community; Online Entertainment; Entertainment And Leisure; Meditation; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Price; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Partners and Partnerships; Health; Well-being; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communication; Communication Strategy; Disruption; Consumer Behavior; Digital Marketing; E-commerce; Applications and Software; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry; United States; North America; United Kingdom

2018
Working Paper

Two Hundred Years of Health and Medical Care: The Importance of Medical Care for Life Expectancy Gains

By: Maryaline Catillon, David Cutler and Thomas Getzen

Using two hundred years of national and Massachusetts data on medical care and health, we examine how central medical care is to life expectancy gains. While common theories about medical care cost growth stress growing demand, our analysis highlights the importance of... View Details

Keywords: Mortality; Life Expectancy; Medical Care; Productivity; Public Health; Healthcare Spending; Spending Per Year Of Life Gained; Personal Medicine; Technophysio Evolution; Health; Economics; Health Care and Treatment; Spending; Data and Data Sets; Health Industry

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December 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Transforming Arizona's Health Care System: Developing and Implementing the Health-e Connection Roadmap

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ajay Vinze, T.S. Raghu and Minu Ipe

Addresses the issues of leadership and change management in the process of transforming an industry through an innovative public-private partnership approach to policy making. In 2005, the Governor of Arizona issued an Executive Order to create a roadmap for the state... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Private Sector; Public Sector; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Partners and Partnerships; Information Technology; Health Industry; Health Industry

August 2012 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Cancer Treatment Centers of America® (A)

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Natalie Kindred

Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), a U.S. network of four privately owned oncology focused factory hospitals, was weighing options for growth. CTCA was entirely cancer focused and specialized in treating patients with complex and advanced-stage cancers, who... View Details

June 2014
Article

Improving Value with TDABC

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The article discusses the benefits of time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) combined with outcomes measurement for healthcare organizations. Topics covered include improving resource efficiency, optimizing care over the complete care cycle, and planning and... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Activity Based Costing and Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry