Publications

2011
Teaching Note

UFIDA (A) (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Bin Yang and E. Chen

The five-case UFIDA series is about China's largest supplier of management/ERP software, its 20-year evolution, and current strategic challenges. The (A) case is the cornerstone of the series. It introduces the company's history, strategic turning points, current... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Competition; Computer Software; Emerging Markets; Strategy; Applications and Software; China

04 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 4

Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51635 forthcoming Journal of Financial Economics Cost of Experimentation and the Evolution of Venture Capital By: Ewens, Michael, Ramana Nanda, and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Background Note

Social Enterprise in Latin America

By: Brian L. Trelstad and Karina Souza

This research note provides an overview of the social enterprise ecosystem in Latin America, exploring current dynamics across key markets, including country-specific insights on Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and Central America. In a region characterized... View Details

2020
Article

A Practical Approach to Sales Compensation: What Do We Know Now? What Should We Know in the Future?

By: Doug J. Chung, Byungyeon Kim and Niladri B. Syam

Personal selling represents one of the most important elements in the marketing mix, and appropriate management of the sales force is vital to achieving the organization’s objectives. Among the various instruments of sales management, compensation plays a pivotal role... View Details

Keywords: Sales Compensation; Sales Management; Sales Strategy; Principal-agent Theory; Structural Econometrics; Field Experiments; Machine Learning; Artificial Intelligence; Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; AI and Machine Learning

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Read Now

October 1998 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Preview Travel (A)

By: William A. Sahlman, Nicole Tempest, Daniel H Case III and Robert Keller

Preview Travel was a leader in the online travel industry, having generated $80 million in bookings in 1997 and growing at a 34% compound annual growth rate per quarter. This case describes the evolution of Preview Travel's business plan and financing strategy and... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Business Model; Initial Public Offering; Valuation; Internet and the Web; Business Plan; Capital; Financial Strategy; Travel Industry; United States

28 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 28

contains a selection of 42 foundational articles on the discipline of business history written between 1934 and the present day by scholars based in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. A wide-ranging editorial introduction describes the formation and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Nov 2015
First Look

November 17, 2015

Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50066 Cost of Experimentation and the Evolution of Venture Capital By: Ewens, Michael, Ramana Nanda, and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf Abstract—We study adaptation by financial... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2014
Article

Industrial Policy and the Creation of New Industries: Evidence from Brazil's Bioethanol Industry

By: Santiago Mingo and Tarun Khanna

Industrial policy programs are frequently used by governments to stimulate economic activity in particular sectors of the economy. This study explores how an industrial policy program can affect the creation and evolution of an industry and, ultimately, the long-term... View Details

Keywords: Economic Sectors; Policy; Economic Growth; Government and Politics; Energy Sources; Green Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; Brazil

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June 2020
Background Note

Customer Management Dynamics and Cohort Analysis

By: Elie Ofek, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller

The digital revolution has allowed companies to amass considerable amounts of data on their customers. Using this information to generate actionable insights is fast becoming a critical skill that firms must master if they wish to effectively compete and win in today’s... View Details

Keywords: Cohort Analysis; Customers; Analytics and Data Science; Segmentation; Analysis; Customer Value and Value Chain

16 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 16

operations cover food and home and personal care, and its brands include Lipton Tea, Hellmann's, Bird's Eye, Wall's, Ben and Jerry's, Surf, Domestos, Comfort, Dove, Sunsilk, Pond's, Signal, Axe, and Calvin Klein. In particular the book focuses on the View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

26 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 26

Bioethanol Industry By: Khanna, Tarun, and Santiago Mingo Abstract—Industrial policy programs are frequently used by governments to stimulate economic activity in particular sectors of the economy. This study explores how an industrial policy program can affect the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

I have spent my career studying novel talent management practices and their effect on collaboration and performance. My core research focuses on two interrelated organizational trends that have become salient in the 21st century: workplace transparency (who gets to... View Details

25 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

How Disruptive Innovation is Remaking the University

against the same criteria applied to his or her predecessor. The way things are done is determined not by individual preference but by institutional procedure written into the genetic code. There is evolution in the university, though its... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen & Henry J. Eyring; Education

23 Jul 2007
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: How Wikipedia Works (or Doesn’t)

concept of "Enterprise 2.0"—a term coined by McAfee on the general idea of how Web 2.0 technologies can be used in business—popped up on Wikipedia, McAfee beamed. "I was bizarrely proud when my work rose to the level of inclusion in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Publishing

31 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 31, 2009

economy stagnated for a decade if none of the shocks that arguably hit the economy seemed to have persisted for much more than three years or so? In this paper I show that the endogenous development and adoption of technologies can... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

12 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 12

public education linking an employer, the New York City K-12 public education system, and the city's two-year colleges. P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) was a new concept, a six-year high school running to grade... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2025 (Revised June 2025)
Supplement

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

By: Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

This fourth installment in the Pfizer Global Clinical Supply (GCS) transformation case series highlights how over a decade of cultural and digital evolution positioned GCS to meet unprecedented global challenges. In 2011, Michael Ku became the Vice President of GCS and... View Details

20 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 20

PublicationsCapitalism: Its Origins and Evolution as a System of Governance Author:Bruce R. Scott Publication:Springer-Verlag, 2011 Abstract Two systems of governance, capitalism and democracy, prevail in the world today. Operating... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

2U: Higher Education Rewired

By: Yael Grushka-Cockayne and Karim R. Lakhani

In its 2019 Partner Symposium, 2U, an online program management provider (OPM), showcased its new vision: “Career. Curriculum. Continuum. A construct for lifelong learning in the 21st century.” 2U, founded in 2008 and went public in 2014, was looking to expand beyond... View Details

Keywords: Digital Innovation; Architectural Innovation; Make V. Buy; Learning; Higher Education; Internet and the Web; Innovation Strategy; Transformation; Digital Transformation