Publications

January 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Ford Motor Company: Quality of Earnings Growth Analysis (A)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

Even though Ford Motor Co. reports improved profitability, an equity analyst issues a sell recommendation and Standard & Poor's downgrades long-term debt. View Details

Keywords: Quality; Business Earnings; Valuation; Investment Return; Profit; Financial Statements; Revenue; Auto Industry; Auto Industry

January 2016 (Revised April 2017)
Case

The Galaxy Dividend Income Growth Fund's Option Investment Strategies

By: W. Carl Kester

This case is designed to provide an elementary introduction to options and option pricing for beginning finance students. Analysis of the case requires students to compare the prices of put and call options with various exercise prices and maturity dates on two... View Details

Keywords: Options; Option Contract; Option Pricing; Derivatives; Mutual Funds; Call Options; Put Options; Stock Options; Risk and Uncertainty; Volatility; Financial Services Industry; United States

May 2024 (Revised March 2025)
Case

MStudio and Djoli: Accelerating Startup Growth in Francophone Africa

By: Paul A. Gompers, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Temitayo Lawal

Djoli, a procurement platform, was one of the startups launched and supported by MStudio, a startup studio in Côte d'Ivoire, in 2023. After a year of operations, Djoli must look beyond MStudio, which had supported them financially and in kind in exchange for equity,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Côte d'Ivoire

January 2010 (Revised August 2012)
Supplement

Hospital for Special Surgery (B): Continuing Challenges of Growth

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Laura Low Ah Kee

After its successful new U.K. venture, the Hospital for Special Surgery wants to do more of the same, without decimating its core New York City facility. The case provides considerable details about the different options it is exploring. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Health Industry; United Kingdom

November 2016 (Revised November 2016)
Supplement

The Galaxy Dividend Income Growth Fund's Option Investment Strategies

By: W. Carl Kester

Keywords: Options; Option Contract; Option Pricing; Derivatives; Mutual Funds; Call Options; Put Options; Stock Options; Risk and Uncertainty; Volatility; Financial Services Industry; United States

November 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

SANY: Going Global

By: Rajiv Lal, Stefan Lippert, Nancy Hua Dai and Di Deng

April 17, 2012, was a special day for SANY Group and for its founder Liang Wen'gen. Headquartered in Changsha, SANY Group had transformed itself in two decades from a small welding material factory in 1989 to a leading global construction equipment manufacturer with 5... View Details

Keywords: China; Expansion; Business Growth; Heavy Industry; Strategy Development; Globalization; Growth and Development; Emerging Markets; Strategy; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; Construction Industry; Asia; China; Europe; Germany; India; North and Central America; South America

18 Mar 2022
Blog Post

Career Advice: Transforming the Energy Industry

Tell us about what you were doing before HBS and what brought you to HBS. Prior to HBS, I spent six years in the oil and gas industry working primarily on taking technologies in the energy space from the lab to the field. Being exposed to... View Details

February 2004
Supplement

Ford Motor Company: Quality of Earnings Growth Analysis (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Measurement and Metrics; Quality; Business Earnings; Auto Industry

November 2014 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Cravia: Launching High Growth Ventures in the Middle East

By: Lynda Applegate and Michael Norris

Walid Hajj (HBS '95), CEO of Dubai-based restaurant franchising company Cravia considers how best to expand his business in the fast-growing Gulf region. Should he add more American brands, expand to nearby countries, or open more of his current lineup of restaurants? View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship In Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurs; Middle East; Franchise; Food Retail Franchising; Franchise Ownership; Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry; United Arab Emirates; Dubai

January 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Ford Motor Company: Quality of Earnings Growth Analysis (B)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Auto Industry; Auto Industry

November 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Jain Irrigation Systems Limited: Inclusive Growth for India's Farmers

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Matthew Preble

Keywords: Agribusiness; Social Enterprise; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

December 2010 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Kepak and the Future of the Irish Beef Industry

By: David E. Bell, Damien P. McLoughlin and Mary Shelman

As Ireland's third largest beef processor, Kepak faces new opportunities as well as significant challenges from the collapse of the "Celtic Tiger." The government has identified food and agriculture as one way the country could significantly grow exports. However, the... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Economic Sectors; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Competition; Cooperation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Republic of Ireland

01 Sep 2017
News

A Jolt for the African Coffee Industry

Illustration by Jonathan Bartlett In an era of artisanal coffee bars blossoming in neighborhoods worldwide, how could a producer of award-winning beans be struggling to stay afloat? That was the puzzle confronting Chijioke Dozie (MBA 2008) when he cofounded Kaizen... View Details

Keywords: Sasha Issenberg; cafe; Cafe Neo; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

September 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Trader Joe's

By: David L. Ager and Michael A. Roberto

Based on a variety of metrics, Trader Joe's ranked as one of the most successful grocers in the United States in 2013. Experts estimated that the company had the highest sales per square foot of any major grocery chain, even significantly higher than top performer... View Details

Keywords: Core Competencies; Growth Strategy; Strategic Positioning; Industry Analysis; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States

February 2024
Teaching Note

Accelerating with Caution: Forecasting and Managing birddogs' Growth (A) and (B)

By: Mark Egan

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 224-023 and 224-024. As 2017 was drawing to a close, birddogs’ founder and CEO, Peter Baldwin, was working with his CFO Jack Sullivan to prepare for 2018. A nascent direct-to-consumer apparel brand, birddogs had carved its niche in men’s... View Details

Keywords: Inventory Management; Forecasting Demand; Financial Constraints; Apparel; Startups; Corporate Finance; Forecasting and Prediction; Working Capital; Financing and Loans; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Demand and Consumers; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

June 2020
Supplement

Career Karma: Growth in a Time of Global Uncertainty (B)

By: Laura Huang and Elizabeth Jiang

This (B) case expands upon the journey of Career Karma’s three founders by presenting a fictionalized Investor Meeting scenario. View Details

Research Summary

Growth and the Quality of Foreign Direct Investment: Is All FDI Equal? (joint with Andrew Charlton)

By: Laura Alfaro

In this paper we distinguish different qualities of FDI to re-examine the relationship between FDI and growth. Establishing the quality of FDI, however, is a difficult concept. Quality, that is the effect of a unit of FDI on economic growth, is a combination and... View Details

April 2017
Case

China Hospitals Inc.: The Growth of Private Hospitals in China

By: Kevin Schulman, Xiao Yu and Ariel Hwang

This case examines the privatization of hospitals in China. China Hospitals, Inc. has become the largest for-profit hospital company in China, purchasing government owned hospitals in Tier 2 cities. The case profiles CEO Frank Hu. To build his company, he has to... View Details

Keywords: Privatization; For-Profit Firms; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Health Industry; China