Publications

March 2019
Supplement

KITEA (B): Getting Ready to Face IKEA

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in September 2015, when IKEA is about to open its first store in Morocco. It then chronicles the efforts of KITEA CEO Amine Benkirane and his son Othman between 2013 and 2015 to prepare KITEA for IKEA’s entry. After incurring losses for the first time in... View Details

March 2019
Supplement

KITEA (E): IKEA's Opening Day

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in 2016 as Amine Benkirane, CEO of the furniture retailer KITEA, observes KITEA’s dormant sales on the day IKEA opens its first store in Morocco. It then provides information on IKEA’s Morocco store, as well as a detailed pricing comparison between IKEA... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Strategy; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry; Africa; North Africa; Morocco

February 2019
Supplement

KITEA: Democratizing Furniture in Morocco (PowerPoint supplement)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

This PowerPoint accompanies the KITEA cases and the associated teaching note. The KITEA series of cases (A-F) details how the Moroccan furniture company KITEA prepared for the entry of IKEA into the Moroccan market and describes the outcome of that entry. View Details

February 2019 (Revised March 2021)
Case

India: State Capacity and Unity in Diversity

By: Alberto Cavallo, Matthew Weinzierl and Robert Scherf

As 2018 drew to a close, India prepared to once again carry out the largest democratic exercise in human history, as in less than six months more than 850 million eligible voters would have the chance to choose their representatives to the Lok Sabha—the country’s lower... View Details

Keywords: Political Elections; Government and Politics; Leadership; Public Opinion; India

Article

The Right and Wrong Way to Do ‘CEO Activism’

By: Aaron K Chatterji and Michael W. Toffel

CEO activism—where leaders take public stands on controversial social and political issues that aren’t related to their company’s bottom line—has become increasingly common. CEO activism has attracted favorable media attention, but has also resulted in backlash and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Social Issues; Communication Strategy; Performance Effectiveness

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February 2019 (Revised August 2019)
Case

KangaTech

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Patrick J. Ferguson, Sarah Fleischer, Jin Hyun Paik and Steven Randazzo

On a warm January afternoon in 2019, Steve Saunders, Dave Scerri, Carl Dilena, and Nick Haslam (see Exhibit 1 for biographies), co-founders of KangaTech, wrapped up the latest round of discussions about the future direction of their sports-technology start-up. Focused... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Technology Commercialization; Prototype; Business Startups; Technological Innovation; Sports; Health; Commercialization; Research and Development; Decision Making; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Sports Industry; Health Industry; Australia

2019
Article

Reflections on 25 Years of Building Social Enterprise Education

By: James E. Austin and V. Kasturi Rangan

Purpose—This paper aims to reflect on 25 years of the Social Enterprise Initiative at the Harvard Business School, examining the processes and thinking involved at key stages of this pioneering Initiative’s implementation and... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise Initiative; Harvard Business School; Social Enterprise; Education; Programs

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January 2019 (Revised January 2021)
Case

KITEA (A): Democratizing Furniture in Morocco

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in 2013 as Amine Benkirane, founder and CEO of the leading Moroccan furniture company KITEA, contemplates the loss his company has incurred for the first time in its 20-year history. The case then describes KITEA’s origins and provides a detailed... View Details

December 2018 (Revised March 2021)
Background Note

Modern Automation (A): Artificial Intelligence

By: William R. Kerr and James Palano

This primer is meant to be a field guide to the late 2010s' surge in business use of "Artificial Intelligence" (AI), or enterprise software based in machine learning. First, it provides an overview of the key trends—digitization, connectivity, the continuation of... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Digitization; Connectivity; Computing; Future Of Work; Automation; AI and Machine Learning

December 2018
Teaching Note

Autonomous Vehicles: The Rubber Hits the Road…but When?

By: William Kerr and James Palano

The autonomous vehicles have enormous implications for business and society. But, despite the headline-laden attention paid to the technology, there remain more questions than answers. Students will learn about the complex industry and have explicit discussions about... View Details

Keywords: Technology Management; Artificial Intelligence; General Management; Robotics; Technological Innovation; Transportation; Disruption; Information Technology; Management; Decision Making; AI and Machine Learning; Auto Industry; Technology Industry

December 2018
Teaching Note

The Campbell Home (A), (B), and (C)

By: Leslie John

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 918-017, 918-018, and 918-019. Campbell siblings Thomas and Sally are faced with selling their childhood home. They need to make several... View Details

Keywords: Agents; Bidding Process; Negotiation; Negotiation Process; Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Participants; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; United States

December 2018
Case

Corporate Transformation at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Amy C. Edmondson, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Tonia Labruyere

When Stefan Oschmann became CEO and chairman of the executive board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in 2016, the company had started its transformation from a mid-tier traditional German industry player to a global modern science and technology player. The... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance With Family Ownership; Transformation; Change Management; Restructuring; Corporate Governance; Family Ownership

December 2018 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters

By: Alexander MacKay and Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

At the end of 2016, the leadership team of Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters—Robert Peck, Chase Damiano, and Jeremy Martin—had begun an ambitious retail expansion strategy in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for their specialty coffee business. That October, they... View Details

Keywords: Cold Brew Coffee; Specialty Coffee; On-premise Coffee Market; Retail Expansion Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Strategy; Decision Making; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

November 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Investor Relations Practices at Edwards Lifesciences

By: C. Fritz Foley and F. Katelynn Boland

In January 2017, the senior leadership team at Edwards Lifesciences were preparing for the quarterly earnings call that would cover the fourth quarter of 2016. They faced questions about what types of information they should disclose on the call, as well as during... View Details

Keywords: Investor Relations; Medical Devices; Corporate Disclosure; Decisions; Business and Shareholder Relations; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States

October 2018 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Sidewalk Labs: Privacy in a City Built from the Internet Up

By: Leslie K. John, Mitchell Weiss and Julia Kelley

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

By the time Dan Doctoroff, CEO of Sidewalk Labs, began hosting a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session in January 2018, he had only nine months remaining to convince the people... View Details

October 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

Social Finance, Inc.

By: Shawn Cole and Fanele Mashwama

This case begins in February 2019 as Tracy Palandjian, co-founder and CEO of Social Finance Inc., prepares for a board meeting that will determine the future strategy of the social enterprise. Social Finance is a non-profit in the impact investment space founded in... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investment; Social Enterprise; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions

October 2018 (Revised May 2019)
Teaching Note

Intuit: Turbo Tax PersonalPro - A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs

By: Joseph Fuller, Shikhar Ghosh and Monica Baraldi

Teaching Note for HBS No. 816-048. The case tells the story of a product manager within Intuit who develops an idea for a new product that spans two of the company's existing business units—professional tax software, sold to accountants, and the consumer focused... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Business or Company Management; Applications and Software; Accounting; Product Development; Financial Services Industry

September 2018
Teaching Note

City Year at 30: Toward Long-Term Impact

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

This teaching note assists in the classroom instruction of the HBS No. 318-089, “City Year at 30: Toward Long-Term Impact.” It offers to instructors a case summary and analysis, along with student preparation questions and a guide for classroom discussion of the case.... View Details

August 2018
Case

Christine Lagarde (A): A French Prime Minister Calls

By: Julie Battilana and Carin-Isabel Knoop

This case covers formative events and influences in Christine Lagarde’s childhood and her trajectory from studying political science and law to heading the world’s largest law firm. As she prepares to transition back to practice in 2005, the new Prime Minister of... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Decision Making