Publications

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February 2007
Case

Behavioral Finance at JP Morgan

By: Malcolm P. Baker and Aldo Sesia

Following a successful model in Europe, JP Morgan has introduced a set of five U.S. retail mutual funds with an investment philosophy and marketing strategy grounded in behavioral finance. The asset management group believes that understanding investor biases like... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Investment Funds; Behavioral Finance; Competitive Advantage; Asset Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; United States; Europe

October 2022 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Cigna-Express Scripts: Can a Vertical Merger Rescue an Industry Under Attack?

By: Leemore Dafny

In Fall 2019, Cigna Corporation – a global health services company with a significant presence in the U.S. employer-sponsored health insurance market - was digesting its $54 billion acquisition of Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI), a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM)... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Vertical Integration; Insurance Industry

March 2020
Case

Aereo

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jacey Taft

Aereo aimed to disrupt television program distribution by providing consumers access to local broadcast TV programming using offsite antennas, cloud-based DVRs, and an Internet connection. With Aereo, consumers could “cut the cord” and avoid the high cost of a cable TV... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Failure; Lawsuits and Litigation; Internet and the Web; Media; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

March 2025
Case

The Changing Climate on Wall Street

By: Clayton S. Rose, Maxim Pike Harrell and Michael Norris

Increasing and conflicting regulatory requirements and political pressures regarding climate change tested the leaders of U.S. financial institutions, as they struggled to determine how best to comply while managing their business and its risks. In October 2024,... View Details

14 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Should You Bring Advertising Expertise In-House?

U.S. advertisers large and small operated some form of in-house advertising unit in the 1990s, a trend apparently on the increase. In this decade, Procter & Gamble, Google, and Condé Nast Media Group all introduced internal... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising

February 1999 (Revised March 2004)
Case

JAFCO America Ventures, Inc.: Building A Venture Capital Firm

By: Walter Kuemmerle, Kiichiro Kobayashi and Chad S Ellis

JAFCO, a large Japanese venture capital firm, is making a second attempt to enter the U.S. venture capital market. The U.S. subsidiary, JAFCO America Ventures, is in the midst of a challenging turnaround. Going forward, the U.S. subsidiary's leadership needs to make a... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Market Entry and Exit; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Japan; United States

August 2012 (Revised October 2015)
Case

LinkedIn Corporation, 2012

By: David Yoffie and Liz Kind

Since its inception in 2003, LinkedIn had become a leading Silicon Valley institution with a brand name that was recognizable throughout the U.S. and in many countries overseas. As of March 2012, LinkedIn was the world's largest professional network on the Internet... View Details

Keywords: Social Networking; Media; Technology; Strategy; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Brands and Branding; Social Media; Service Industry; Service Industry; California

16 Jul 2016
News

There's a multitrillion-dollar issue US politicians actually agree on, and it’s making gas, food, and travel more expensive

February 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Catherine Zhang

Shanghai Diligence Law Firm, started in January 2006, is a rapidly growing law firm in China's burgeoning legal services market. In addition to the usual challenges facing all professional service firms (picking and retaining talent and building a desired client... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Compensation and Benefits; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Motivation and Incentives; Legal Services Industry; China

January 2017 (Revised August 2017)
Case

Weathernews

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Akiko Kanno

Tomohiro Ishibashi (Bashi), chief executive officer for B to S, and Julia Foote LeStage, chief innovation officer of Weathernews Inc., were addressing a panel at the HBS Digital Summit on creative uses of big data. They told the summit attendees about how the Sakura... View Details

Keywords: Crowdsourcing; Operations; Globalization; Weather; Forecasting and Prediction; Global Strategy

December 2011 (Revised April 2012)
Case

Transforming Verizon: A Platform for Change

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

A new CEO steps into the shoes of his long-time predecessor who had created the U.S. telecommunications giant via a series of acquisitions and, before departing, had initiated the company's strategic repositioning. The new CEO reflected on Verizon's recent successes,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Globalized Firms and Management; Groups and Teams; Telecommunications Industry

November 2016
Case

ShotSpotter

By: Mitchell Weiss and Sarah McAra

SST, Inc. offered a subscription-based gunfire detection service, ShotSpotter Flex, to cities across the United States in addition to a few abroad. Over its 20-year history, SST had mostly honed a reliable business-to-government sales model, and the company had been... View Details

Keywords: ShotSpotter; SST; Internet Of Things; IoT; Smart Cities; Public Entrepreneurship; Enterprise Sales; Scaling And Growth; Government; Public Sector; Innovation; Ralph Clark; Entrepreneurship; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Public Administration Industry; California; United States

05 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Dowdy Savings Bond

In the family of investment products, a U.S. savings bond might be cast as boring old Uncle Ned, snoozing away in the corner after dinner. There's nothing wrong with that—but HBS professor Peter Tufano envisions a more meaningful role for... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services; Financial Services

December 2017 (Revised April 2018)
Case

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: Network Strategy 2016

By: Michael E. Porter, Thomas W. Feeley and Toyin J. Okanlawon

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) began as a stand-alone hospital in the heart of downtown Philadelphia in 1855. By 2016 the CHOP Care Network stretched across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the New York metropolitan area, providing a wide range of services... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Health Care and Treatment; Service Delivery; Organizational Structure; Networks; Integration; Strategy; Health Industry; Philadelphia

Louis Caldera is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He teaches Leadership and Corporate Accountability, a required first-year course in the MBA program. He has previously taught law school courses on corporate... View Details

October 1990 (Revised March 1993)
Background Note

Note on Cable Television Regulation

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Examines the evolution of the U.S. cable television industry since its inception in the early 1950s. Particular emphasis is given to the roles played by technology, consumer demand, and regulation at both the local and federal level. Designed to facilitate a conceptual... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Demand and Consumers; Government Legislation; Business Growth and Maturation; Monopoly; Television Entertainment; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry