Publications

December 2021
Case

Slice Labs: Creating a Fraud-free Online Insurance Platform

By: Amit Goldenberg, Max Bazerman and Ruth Page

"Slice Labs: Creating a Fraud-Free Online Insurance Platform" engages students with the challenge of how to influence other parties to not engage in fraud in the context of digital insurance. The case is centered around Slice, a digital insurance company that was... View Details

April 2023 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Dena Almansoori at e&: Fostering Culture Change at a UAE Telco Transforming to a Global Techco

By: Emily Truelove, Michelle Zhang and Alpana Thapar

Dena Almansoori, the first female and one of the youngest members of the United Arab Emirates-based e&’s leadership team, joined in 2020 just before e& began a strategic transition from being a regional telecommunications company to becoming a global technology... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Culture; Transformation; Technology; Telecommunications; Employee Mobility; Talent; Leading Change; Human Resources; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Middle East; United Arab Emirates

2013
Book

Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment

By: Anita Elberse

What's behind the phenomenal success of entertainment businesses such as Warner Bros., Marvel Enterprises, and the NFL—along with such stars as Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, and LeBron James? Which strategies give leaders in film, television, music, publishing, and sports an edge... View Details

Find at Harvard

September 2013 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Claritas Genomics

By: Robert F. Higgins and Matthew Preble

Claritas Genomics was formed in January 2013 when BCH spun out its Genetics Diagnostic Lab into a fully commercial entity. Claritas offered over 100 genomic tests to detect a range of conditions, including autism and intellectual disabilities, and was developing new... View Details

June 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Teaching Note

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Teaching Note

By: Feng Zhu

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 623-092. Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complimentary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides—consumers and those providing applications or services—need access... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategy; Customer Acquisition; Technology Platform; Competitive Strategy; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Management Skills

June 2023
Exercise

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise Instructions

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complimentary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides - consumers and those providing applications or services - need access to the same platform to interact. A... View Details

Keywords: Platform Strategies; Technology Platform; Customer Acquisition; Network Effects; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Strategy

May 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Apple Inc. in 2015

By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin

At the end of 2014, Apple Inc. recorded the most profitable quarter of any firm in history, and its market capitalization soon topped $700 billion. 'Apple Inc in 2015' explores the history of Apple, its successes under Jobs, its continued growth under Tim Cook, and the... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Innovation; Market Positioning; Marketing Implementation; Planning; Products; Strategy; Strategic Positioning; Technology; Information Technology; Strategic Planning; Product Positioning; Leadership; Communication; Competitive Advantage; Product; Innovation and Invention; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry

29 May 2021
News

Try Integration, Not Balance

Keywords: parenting; leadership; IPO; strategy; technology; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services

2016
Working Paper

Pivoting Isn't Enough: Principled Pragmatism and Strategic Reorientation in New Ventures

By: Rory McDonald and Cheng Gao

New technology ventures often experience deviations from their original plans that oblige them to reorient in pursuit of better fit between their evolving products and target customers. Yet research is largely silent on how entrepreneurs explain and justify their... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Reorientation; Technology Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Product Development Processes; Organizational Adaptation; Qualitative Methods (General); Information Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Communication; Entrepreneurship; Alignment; Innovation and Invention; Product Development

14 May 2014
News

(Re)moving the Needle

sure that the technology you develop will be used properly to help people." The concept of achieving personal success through helping others is the driving force that has cut across all of Anquetil's... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley; medical technology; Scientific Research and Development Services

December 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Supplement

Michael Ku and Global Clinical Supply at Pfizer Inc.: Bringing Hope to Patients (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

In 2011, Michael Ku became Pfizer’s Vice President of Global Clinical Supply (GCS) after the company had undergone three large-scale mergers and acquisitions. As Ku and his new leadership team set out to build a proactive, end-to-end, digital and physical clinical... View Details

Keywords: Digital Technology; Customer-centricity; Innovation; Customer Focus; Talent; Talent Management; Leadership; Innovation and Invention; Transformation; Organizational Culture; Customer Focus and Relationships; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Supply Chain; Mission and Purpose

July 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Case

AT&T, Retraining, and the Workforce of Tomorrow

By: William R. Kerr, Joseph B. Fuller and Carl Kreitzberg

By the late 2000s, rapid changes in the telecommunications industry forced AT&T’s management team to take on a task that CEO Randall Stephenson called the “biggest logistical challenge” they had ever seen: retraining 100,000 workers by 2020. In 2012, internal company... View Details

December 2024
Case

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM): The AI Journey

By: Shikhar Ghosh

In early 2024, Bill Fandrich, Executive VP and CIO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), faced a critical decision about AI adoption within the organization. Fandrich had championed AI implementation at BCBSM. After successfully developing three AI... View Details

March 2018
Case

Sachem Head's Activism at Autodesk

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

In 2015, activist hedge fund Sachem Head Capital, led by founder Scott Ferguson, launched an activist campaign at computer aided design (CAD) software maker Autodesk. The activist campaign, waged mainly in private, was over Autodesk's lackluster financial performance,... View Details

Keywords: Shareholder Activism; Investing; Activist Investing; Technology; CEO Turnover; Hedge Fund Activism; Benchmarking; Corporate Governance; Information Technology; Investment Activism; Performance Improvement; Management Succession; United States

July 2016
Case

Spotify

By: Anita Elberse and Alexandre de Pfyffer

In November 2014, Spotify's chief content officer Ken Parks learns that record label Big Machine Records has requested the immediate removal of superstar artist Taylor Swift's entire catalogue from Spotify's music streaming service. Is it time for Spotify to reconsider... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Marketing; Superstar; Music; Entertainment Marketing; Media; Digital Technology; Creative Industries; Product Portfolio Management; General Management; Management; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Open Source Distribution; Creativity; Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Music Industry

17 Sep 2016
News

Keeping an Ear Out for Disruption

Keywords: disruptive innovation; currency exchange; management; leadership; technology; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments; Securities, Commodities, and Other Financial Investments

September 2013
Case

Vogue: Defining the Culture of Fashion

By: Anita Elberse, Joseph Ferrer, Elizabeth Gough and Victoria Katsarou

In March 2013, Susan Plagemann, vice president and publisher of Vogue—widely regarded as the world's most influential fashion magazine, and publishing conglomerate Condé Nast's marquee title—is seeking answers to two questions. First, how she can best approach the... View Details

Keywords: Creative Industries; Fashion; Publishing; Digital Technology; Entertainment; Product Portfolio Management; Magazines; Journals and Magazines; Internet and the Web; Change Management; Resource Allocation; Creativity; Media; Advertising; Fashion Industry; Publishing Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry