Publications

June 2019
Case

Athena Bancorp

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Sarah Abbott

Athena Bancorp was founded in 2016 by Beth Daniels, a banking professional with 15 years of experience in the industry. Daniels took advantage of what she perceived as a gap in the market caused by recent industry consolidation, a decreasing industry focus on branch... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Strategy; Service Delivery; Banking Industry

January 2021 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Carnival Corporation: Cruising Through COVID-19

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah Abbott

In March 2020, in response to the global pandemic, the cruise industry ceased operations. Carnival was the largest cruise line operator in the world, and CEO Arnold Donald and his management team worked to position the company to survive. They slashed operating... View Details

Keywords: Debt Issuance; Equity Issuances; Convertible Debt; Cruise Lines; Restructuring; Capital; Crisis Management; Cash Flow; Health Pandemics; Borrowing and Debt; Travel Industry; United States

June 1991 (Revised July 1992)
Case

Standard Oil Co.: Combination, Consolidation, and Integration (Abridged) (A)

By: Thomas K. McCraw

The rise of Standard Oil and its relation to the development of the American oil industry and new form of business organization. View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Business History; Industry Growth; Energy Sources; Mining Industry; Mining Industry; United States

June 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Standard Oil Co.: Combination, Consolidation, and Integration (Abridged) (B)

By: Thomas K. McCraw

The rise of Standard Oil and its relation to the development of the American oil industry and new form of business organization. View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Business History; Industry Growth; Energy Sources; Mining Industry; Mining Industry; United States

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Linking the Globe: The Role of Media and Communications

CEO Peter Job from the U.K. and the panel's moderator, HBS Professor Debora Spar, for a look at the critical role of the media industry in how today's global information revolution plays out. "The media industry," said Spar in... View Details

Keywords: by Kenneth Liss; Information; Publishing; Journalism & News; Media & Broadcasting

April 2004 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Real Madrid Club de Futbol

By: John Quelch, Jose Luis Nueno and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In June 2004, Florentino Perez, a well-known Spanish businessman, was elected president of Real Madrid, one of the world's top soccer clubs. In his campaign, Perez had promised to turn around the club's finances, bring in world-class talent, and expand the club's brand... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Change Management; Expansion; Marketing Channels; Sports; Management Teams; Trends; Brands and Branding; Sports Industry; Spain

December 2015
Article

What Is Disruptive Innovation?

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Michael Raynor and Rory McDonald

For the past 20 years, the theory of disruptive innovation has been enormously influential in business circles and a powerful tool for predicting which industry entrants will succeed. Unfortunately, the theory has also been widely misunderstood, and the "disruptive"... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Theory

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April 1999 (Revised February 2001)
Background Note

Offshore Drilling Industry, The

After booming in 1997 and early 1998, the offshore drilling industry slumps in late 1998 and early 1999. Lower oil prices lead oil companies to reduce drilling budgets, and rig utilization falls from essentially 100% to 70% in some markets. Day rates--the prices paid... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Price; Supply and Industry; Mining Industry

April 1983
Case

National Chemical Corp.: Tiger-Tread

A large chemical company has developed a novel industrial maintenance item, for which a marketing program and budget must be prepared. Case requires students to forecast demand at end-user and industrial customer levels to identify elements of the marketing mix, and to... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

Emily McComb is a Senior Lecturer in the Finance Unit at HBS, teaching "Finance 2" in the required curriculum of the MBA program, as well as a co-leader of the HBS Impact Investment Fund in the elective curriculum. Prior to joining the HBS faculty in 2017, Emily was... View Details

Keywords: financial services; health care

05 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

The Accidental Innovator

Companies spend many hundreds of billions of dollars on R&D each year, but the microwave oven was conceived from a melted candy bar, saccharin from an accidental chemical spill, and the Daguerre photo process via a shattered thermometer. Accidents happen—and we're... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

January 2006 (Revised July 2016)
Case

Gordon Bethune at Continental Airlines

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo and Mark Benson

A $385 million loss for the final months of fiscal year 1994 signaled Continental might go bankrupt. Could new CEO Gordon Bethune turn Continental around? Continental was in dire straits because the deregulation of the commercial airline industry in 1978 ushered in a... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Profit; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Labor and Management Relations; Air Transportation Industry

March 2001 (Revised July 2001)
Background Note

Making Sense of the Internet Business Landscape

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Discusses the shift from the industrial to the information economy from a technological, business, and societal perspective. Compares the changes we are experiencing today with the changes experienced during the shift from the agrarian to the industrial age at the turn... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Economy; Information; Perspective; Society; Internet

Mar 04 2016
Testimonial

Finding a New Approach to Success

Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders

Entrepreneurs, Managers and Leaders examines the role that business leaders play in shaping industries and how evolving industries shape leaders. This co-evolutionary process of leadership and industry development is told through the dynamic story of the... View Details

November 1991 (Revised October 1995)
Case

Calyx & Corolla

By: Walter J. Salmon and David Wylie

Describes a new entry into the $8 billion flower industry in the United States. Combining the use of overnight air freight (Federal Express), information technology, an 800 number, and a catalog, Calyx & Corolla was changing the way flowers had traditionally been... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Transformation; Distribution Channels; Business Startups; Problems and Challenges; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States