Publications

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April 2006 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Endeca Technologies: New Growth Opportunities

By: Paul A. Gompers and Kristin Perry

Steve Papa, CEO of Endeca Technologies, must decide whether to expand into a new market with a new application of his company's technology. Endeca has experienced significant success with its information access software in the online retail industry, and in September... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Market Entry and Exit; Production; Organizational Structure; Partners and Partnerships; Opportunities; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry

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November 2009 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Rose Smart Growth Investment Fund

By: Arthur I Segel and Justin Seth Ginsburgh

The Jonathan Rose Companies must decide how to design and launch an innovative new real estate fund focused on green and transit oriented properties. JRC seeks to show through the fund that smart growth and green buildings provide superior economic returns to sprawl... View Details

Keywords: Property; Buildings and Facilities; Transition; Financing and Loans; Investment Funds; Investment; Marketing; Energy Conservation; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Finance; Real Estate Industry

17 Jun 2011
HBS Case

KFC’s Explosive Growth in China

was Su's early decision to downsize his own career. Originally hired to cover the northern Asia-Pacific region, he departed from the usual managerial growth path of taking on larger geographic assignments View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Food & Beverage

Teaching Interest

Marketing Strategies for Profitable Growth—China

By: John A. Deighton

Maintaining quality standards and sustaining profitable growth in China's rapidly evolving marketplace requires powerful marketing strategies that enable organizations to build and nurture long-term customer relationships. To help... View Details

November 2012 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Learning Resources: A Hands-On Toy Company Deals with New Challenges and Opportunities

By: Boris Groysberg and Anahita Hashemi

Learning Resources is a family-owned educational toy company that, by late 2011, was facing a myriad of challenges, including increased competition, entry into new markets, new distribution methods, rising costs of production in China, and changing customer behavior.... View Details

Keywords: Leading Teams; Strategy Formulation; Strategy And Execution; Innovation; Corporate Culture; Industry Analysis; Organizational Alignment; Entrepreneurs; Sales Channels; Leadership; Strategy; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Product Design; Sales; Retail Industry; United States

July 2021 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Supreme: Remaining Cool While Pursuing Growth

By: Jill Avery, Sandrine Crener, Marie-Cecile Cervellon and Ranjit Thind

Following VF Corporation’s acquisition of cult streetwear brand Supreme, consumers and industry pundits were nervous that becoming part of a large, public corporation would put an end to Supreme’s slow and careful growth trajectory as pressure for quarterly results... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Growth Management; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; United States; North America

January 2013 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Affinity Labs: Valuing Customer Growth

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Elizabeth Kind

In November 2006, Chris Michel left Military.com, which he founded in 1999, to start Affinity Labs, a global network of online communities. That month, Michel raised a Series A round of venture funding and established a partnership with Monster, which he had sold... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Social and Collaborative Networks; Online Technology

March 2022
Supplement

Pakistan Rising: Bazaar's Growth Story (B)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in January 2022 as Hamza Jawaid and Saad Jangda, co-founders of Bazaar technologies (Bazaar), the Pakistani high growth B2B e-commerce marketplace, are looking over the performance of the newly launched “buy now, play later” feature. The traction looks... View Details

Keywords: B2B; Business Model; Emerging Markets; For-Profit Firms; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Pakistan

Teaching Interest

Senior Executive Leadership Program—Middle East

By: Andy Wu

Change is everywhere in the Middle East today, as many countries seek to diversify their economies and encourage new industries. The region's complex business environment includes distinct political and economic conditions in each country—and... View Details

20 Sep 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Updating the Balanced Scorecard for Triple Bottom Line Strategies

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan and David McMillan; Accounting

January 2025
Case

Davivienda Bank's Upskilling and Reskilling Strategy in Colombia (Abridged)

By: Jorge Tamayo, Raffaella Sadun and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Set in 2022, this abridged case examines the digital transformation strategy of Davivienda—a leading player in Colombia’s commercial banking sector and one of the companies belonging to Grupo Bolívar, a major Colombian conglomerate—and the bank’s upskilling and... View Details

November 2011
Compilation

VCPE Strategy Vignettes: 2012

By: Josh Lerner, Felda Hardymon, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, Ann Leamon and Lisa Strope

This compilation of five vignettes depicts common challenges confronting venture capital and leveraged buyout groups. They range from when to deviate from a strategy and how to manage an inept but well-connected executive to equity splits among founders and whether to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy

March 2018
Teaching Note

Mavi: Fashioning a Path to Brand Growth

By: Jill Avery and Gamze Yucaoglu

Mavi, a leading Turkish apparel retailer, had sales of $419 million in 2015, up 20%. Growth rates like these were becoming routine at Mavi. But, its path to growth was getting more challenging, and Turkven, Mavi’s private equity partner, was planning its exit options... View Details

Keywords: Retailing; Fashion; Brand; Brand Management; Brand Extension; Brand Equity; Private Equity; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Turkey; Europe

August 2017
Supplement

Quiet Logistics: CEO Bruce Welty Discusses New Robotics Company

By: Robert L. Simons and Jennifer Packard

This is a video supplement to Quiet Logistics A (HBS No. 115-001) and Quiet Logistics B (HBS No. 115-003). View Details

Keywords: Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk and Uncertainty

18 Jul 2023
Interview

Jeffrey Rayport on Product Market Fit, Profit Market Fit and Whiplash, and More

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Doug Levin

This episode of "Lessons from Startup Life" podcast features Jeffrey Rayport, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. Jeffrey specializes in teaching and researching growth-stage technology ventures and their scalability. Prior to... View Details

Keywords: Scaling And Growth; Start-up; Diversity; Equity; Inclusion; Technology; Business Startups; Product Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation

Teaching Interest

Executive Education - Owner/President Management Program

By: Martin A. Sinozich

Delivered in three units that span 24 months over three calendar years, the Owner/President Management (OPM) program is a transformative learning experience that boosts leadership skills and the value of participants’ enterprises. Sinozich teaches the Finance... View Details

September 2014
Supplement

HGRM (B): Launching Hoxell, a New IT Venture

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Gabriele Piccoli and Arnold Peinado

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Strategy; Growth Strategy And Execution; Business Models; Disruptive Technologies; Customer Relations; International Business; Entrepreneurship; Management Systems; Operations; Competitive Strategy

December 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

21Seeds: Taking Shots at Breakout Growth

By: Elie Ofek, Julian De Freitas, Michael Moynihan and Nicole Tempest Keller

21Seeds, a female-founded flavor-infused tequila startup launched in 2019, had made inroads into the alcoholic beverage industry by focusing on an underserved consumer segment in spirits—women, primarily in their 30s and 40s, many of whom were moms—and by following a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution Channels; Sales; Food and Beverage Industry