Publications

Mar 2012
Article

Shattering the Myths About U.S. Trade Policy

A free and fair global trading system can result in economic win-wins. Open borders allow companies to grow in foreign markets and, simultaneously, ensure that businesses remain competitive at home. That’s why U.S. policy makers have... View Details

Laura Alfaro

Laura Alfaro is the Warren Alpert Professor of Business Administration. At Harvard since 1999, she served as Minister of National Planning and Economic Policy in Costa Rica from 2010-2012, taking a leave from HBS. She is Co-Editor of the Journal of International... View Details

July 2020
Article

Recovering the Logic of Double Effect for Business: Intentions, Proportionality, and Impermissible Harms

By: Rosemarie Monge and Nien-hê Hsieh

Business actors often act in ways that may harm other parties. While the law aims to restrict harmful behavior and to provide remedies, legal systems do not anticipate all contingencies and legal regulations are not always well enforced. This article argues that the... View Details

Keywords: Double Effect; Intention; Exploitation; Risk; Practical Ethics; Competition; Risk and Uncertainty; Ethics

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December 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Wyndham International: Fostering High-Touch with High-Tech

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Gabriele Piccoli

Examines a hotel chain's attempt to use information technology to achieve market dominance and build customer loyalty during a period of global industry decline. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Accommodations Industry

22 Dec 2014
Video

Fereshteh Zeineddin

February 2000
Case

E2M Health Services

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Naomi Atkins

Outlines the growth of an innovative diabetes disease management organization from 1994-99. Having demonstrated the success of their model in managing diabetes populations in Texas and New York State, the CEO and president must decide the future strategy of the company... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financial Markets; Revenue; Innovation and Invention; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Internet; Health Industry

March 2016 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Tableau

By: Boris Vallee

Matrix Capital Management, a long-short equity hedge fund based in Waltham, Massachusetts, is assessing its investment in Tableau, a data visualization company. Tableau, which conducted an IPO a few years ago, has been experiencing substantial growth as it aims at... View Details

Keywords: Hedge Fund; Long-short Equity; Growth Investing; Growth and Development Strategy; Investment; Valuation; Technology; Technology Industry; Waltham

05 Sep 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Optimal Reserve Management and Sovereign Debt

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro & Fabio Kanczuk

15 Dec 2016
HBS Seminar

John-Paul Ferguson, Stanford Graduate School of Business

November 2010 (Revised July 2011)
Case

FreshTec: Revolutionizing Fresh Produce

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Ryan Johnson

Entrepreneurial produce packaging firm, which has developed a disruptive technology that keeps fresh produce and flowers fresh for significantly longer, faces strategic growth decisions. CEO Bob Wright must decide how best to bring his company's unique packaging... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Disruptive Innovation; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Launch; Supply Chain; Value Creation; Service Industry

Research Summary

Competing on a Common Platform

Why have over 100 firms joined the Eclipse Foundation to collectively produce an open source platform and tools for software application development? What are they trying to accomplish? This research analyzes IBMs divestment of the Eclipse Java Integrated Development... View Details

April 2000 (Revised September 2001)
Case

Peppers and Rogers Group, The

By: John A. Deighton

Can two successful authors build a scalable consulting practice based on their unique view of customer relationship management (CRM)? Should they emphasize strategy or execution? The case describes how Peppers and Rogers grew from two people earning speaker fees to a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Growth and Development; Information Publishing; Going Public; Strategy; Competition; Internet; Consulting Industry

October 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Recycle & Re-Match: The Future of Soccer Turfs

By: George Serafeim, Lena Duchene and Carlota Moniz

By August 2023, Re-Match, an artificial turf waste-to-value company, had operations in Denmark and the Netherlands and had recycled over 160,000 tons of waste and plastic fiber. With recent capital injection from the VC firm Verdane and a dual revenue business model,... View Details

October 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Cost of Capital at Ameritrade

By: Mark L. Mitchell and Erik Stafford

Ameritrade Holding Corp. is planning large marketing and technology investments to improve the company's competitive position in deep-discount brokerage by taking advantage of emerging economies of scale. In order to evaluate whether the strategy would generate... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Asset Pricing; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Investment; Marketing; Mathematical Methods; Competition; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Financial Services Industry

September 2021 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Harambe: Mobilizing Capital in Africa

By: Anywhere (Siko) Sikochi, Dilyana Karadzhova Botha and Francesco Tronci

Harambe was a non-profit organization whose mission was to build an ecosystem to identify promising young African entrepreneurs and provide them access to training, markets, capital, and support networks. From 2007 to 2021, Harambe had grown to a network of 367... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Nonprofit Organizations; Business Model; Strategy; Organizational Structure; Business Startups; Capital; Venture Capital; Social and Collaborative Networks; Networks; Developing Countries and Economies; Emerging Markets; Africa; South Africa

Web

Giving - Alumni

Fund Help support student financial aid, faculty research, and other HBS priorities. Learn More Advancing the HBS Mission Learn how giving to HBS makes an impact through stories about two alumni who are improving literacy in India, a faculty member’s research on a tech... View Details

January 1998 (Revised February 2006)
Background Note

Creating Competitive Advantage

By: Pankaj Ghemawat and Jan W. Rivkin

A firm such as Schering-Plough that earns superior, long-run financial returns within its industry is said to enjoy a competitive advantage over its rivals. This note examines the logic of how firms create competitive advantage. It emphasizes two themes: First, to... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Management; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Value Creation; Pharmaceutical Industry