Publications

31 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

A Scholarly Crowd Explores Crowdsourcing

industry, finding that 17 percent were funding direct competitors in the same portfolio. One result: 30 percent fewer product introductions. McDonald's advice: Make sure your investment partner is acting in the best interests of your... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2017
Case

Cantel Medical

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Cantel Medical Corporation provided infection prevention and control products and services for patients, caregivers, and other healthcare providers. In 2016, Cantel generated sales of $665 million and net profits of $60 million, double the levels of five years earlier.... View Details

Keywords: Cantel; Charles Diker; Furniture Industry; Matrix Organization; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Chemicals; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges; Research and Development; Opportunities; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Information Technology; Biotechnology Industry; Chemical Industry; Health Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; New Jersey

December 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

By: David E. Bell and Brian Matthew Milder

In 2006, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation joined together to form a new organization, AGRA, to tackle the historic challenge of increasing agricultural production in Africa. Launched with much fanfare and led by former U.N.... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Investment Funds; Food; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Government Relations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Poverty; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa

July 2022 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Birla Carbon Egypt: Building Soft Power in a Foreign Country

By: Jeremy Friedman and Malini Sen

Birla Carbon, a flagship business of the nearly $60-billion global conglomerate and India-headquartered Aditya Birla Group (ABG), is one of the world's top manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality carbon black. The largest among its 16 manufacturing plants is Birla... View Details

October 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Dove: Evolution of a Brand

By: John A. Deighton

Examines the evolution of Dove from functional brand to a brand with a point of view after Unilever designated it as a masterbrand, and expanded its portfolio to cover entries into a number of sectors beyond the original bath soap category. The development causes the... View Details

Keywords: History; Expansion; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Digital Marketing; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

15 Sep 2015
First Look

September 15, 2015

pricing decisions on a daily basis. Rue La La is in the online fashion sample sales industry, where they offer extremely limited-time discounts on designer apparel and accessories. One of the retailer's main challenges is pricing and predicting demand for View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2023
Case

Fixie and Conversational AI Sidekicks

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In March 2023, Fixie Co-Founder and Chief Architect Matt Welsh and co-founders had the kind of meeting no founders want to have. The president of leading artificial intelligence (AI) research and deployment firm OpenAI, which had catapulted into fame with its ChatGPT... View Details

Keywords: Large Language Model; Entrepreneurship; Decision Choices and Conditions; AI and Machine Learning; Technological Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry; United States

April 2014
Article

Who Lives in the C-Suite? Organizational Structure and the Division of Labor in Top Management

By: Maria Guadalupe, Hongyi Li and Julie Wulf

Top management structures in large U.S. firms have changed significantly since the mid-1980s. While the size of the executive team—the group of managers reporting directly to the CEO—doubled during this period, this growth was driven primarily by an increase in... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Functions; Centralization; M-form; Hierarchy; Top Management Team; C-Suite; Activities; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Diversification; Managerial Roles; Organizational Design; Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Management Teams; United States

November 2007 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar: A Rural Business Initiative

By: David E. Bell, Nitin Sanghavi, Virginia Fuller and Mary L. Shelman

In rural India, farmers historically had limited access to quality input items for both their fields and homes. Indian conglomerate DSCL has undertaken a Rural Business Initiative to address this issue, establishing a chain of retail outlets throughout rural India... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Conglomerates; Agribusiness; Rural Scope; Customer Relationship Management; Business Strategy; Service Operations; Networks; Alliances; Retail Industry; India

2012
Book

Commentaries and Cases on the Law of Business Organization

By: William T. Allen, Reinier Kraakman and Guhan Subramanian

This fourth edition is completely updated throughout. It now includes excerpts from important recent cases such as "Air Products v. Airgas" and "In re CNX Gas" and provides commentary on current developments, such as "Say on Pay," proxy access and the Dodd-Frank Act of... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Laws and Statutes; Lawsuits and Litigation

Find at Harvard

14 Feb 2019
News

Want to Foster Prosperity? Focus on Market-creating Innovations

Video

For the Hotel Business, It’s TripAdvisor or Bust

Program

Succeeding as a Strategic CFO

program, you will learn what it takes to meet the demands of the CFO role. You will begin to build a robust set of skills in strategy, communication, and leadership that will enable you to drive innovation and lead organizational change.... View Details

Research Summary

Information Technology and Vertical Integration: Evidence from Plant-level Data (with Chris Forman)

We study the relationship between different margins of information technology (IT) use and vertical integration using plant-level data from the U.S. Census of Manufactures. Focusing on the short-run decision of whether to allocate production output to downstream plants... View Details

09 Feb 2016
First Look

February 9, 2016

strategy and its product line strategy? Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/316085-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 616-007 Streaming Over Broadband: Why Doesn't My Netflix Work?... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 1993 (Revised November 1993)
Case

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: Marketing Strategy for the Debut Bond Offering

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the first supranational financial institution of the post-Cold War era, is planning its debut in the international capital markets through a bond issuance of $500 million. The bank must determine its marketing... View Details

Keywords: Bonds; Marketing Strategy; Capital Markets; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Europe