Publications

April 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

BlackRock (D): Organizing for the Future (with video links)

By: Ranjay Gulati, Jan W. Rivkin and Aldo Sesia

By the end of 2015, BlackRock had succeeded beyond any of the early dreams of its founders. The firm remained the world’s largest asset manager, with more than $4.6 trillion under management, and other financial services companies used BlackRock’s Aladdin platform to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competition; Information Technology; Asset Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; United States

05 Mar 2012
Research & Ideas

Is JC Penney’s Makeover the Future of Retailing?

future of retailing, as the industry grapples with how to entice shoppers away from their keyboards and back to the sales floor. Johnson could make his plan work, but it won't be easy, says Rajiv Lal, the Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Retail

29 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Organizations of the Future

and team creativity, entrepreneurship, organizations, and society. To develop a research agenda that identifies new questions and approaches relevant to both academics and practitioners. The underlying assumption of the colloquia was that organizations of the View Details

Keywords: by Teresa M. Amabile & Mukti Khaire

13 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Why Public Companies Underinvest in the Future

opportunities relative to similar private firms. A blow to the stock price induced by today's investment might be impossible to avoid, says Farre-Mensa. Ideally, public-firm managers would be able to convey to analysts and investors that lower profits near term would... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

10 Nov 2008
Research Event

Social Media Leads the Future of Technology

Internet-connected televisions, social media, and the power of simplicity were all cited as launch pads for future innovation in technology, according to a panel of experts that convened at Harvard Business School as part of the HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

October 2018
Case

The Drone Racing League: Building the Sport of the Future

By: Robert F. Higgins and James Barnett

Drone Racing League (DRL) sees itself as the world’s preeminent professional drone racing league. The company is in its third season of racing and is focused on future seasons and the negotiation of a new media agreement. How should the company proceed? View Details

Keywords: Drones; Racing; Sports; Entrepreneurship; Media; Strategic Planning; Sports Industry

December 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Asian Agri and the Future of Palm Oil

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

For Asian Agri and other Indonesian palm oil producers, the future promised rising demand from fast-growing Asian populations, but also intensifying criticism from environmental groups. With the highest yield and lowest production cost of any edible oil, palm oil... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Social Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Natural Environment; Marketing Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Indonesia; Malaysia

September – October 1973
Article

Computer Data Bases: The Future Is Now

By: R. L. Nolan

Keywords: Information Technology; Information

Find at Harvard

March 2025
Case

Stagwell: AI and the Future of Marketing

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Radhika Kak

In early 2025, Mark Penn, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Stagwell, a global marketing company with a network of over 70+ agencies that served over 4000 blue-chip customers across 40 countries, was looking at ways that marketers should navigate the disruption emanating... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Innovation Strategy; Change Management; AI and Machine Learning; Digital Transformation; Technology Adoption; Marketing Strategy; Service Delivery; Creativity; Business Model; Advertising Industry; Technology Industry

September 2020
Teaching Note

Miami's Tech Future (C): Reaching Another Miami

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Joyce J. Kim

The effects of Miami’s startup scene have not reached many “left-behind” lower-income Black communities, which are disproportionately affected by problems such as segregation and racial discrimination, lack of transportation access, crime, education quality, government... View Details

May 2020
Case

Numenta in 2020: The Future of AI

By: David B. Yoffie, Cameron Armstrong, Mei Tao and Marta Zwierz

In 2020, Numenta’s co-founder, Jeff Hawkins, completed his pathbreaking research on artificial intelligence. His co-founder and CEO, Donna Dubinsky, had to find a business model to monetize the technology. This case explores the challenges of building a business... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Monetization; Information Technology; Strategy; Intellectual Property; Business Model; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry

November 1994 (Revised August 1995)
Supplement

Canadian Airlines: Reservations About Its Future (B)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Duncan G. Copeland and Chris L Marshall

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Air Transportation Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2012 (Revised June 2013)
Teaching Note

Montague Corporation: Unfolding the Future in Cycling

By: Mary Tripsas

July 2003 (Revised August 2005)
Teaching Note

Future of Hybrid Electric Vehicles, The (TN)

By: John T. Gourville

Teaching Note for (9-502-025). View Details

Keywords: Natural Environment; Customers; Behavior; Energy; Auto Industry; United States

December 2002
Case

National Economic Accounting: Past, Present, and Future

By: David A. Moss and Sarah A. Brennan

Presents the fundamentals of GDP accounting (including definitions, etc.), examines the history of national accounting, and surveys the international debate over "Green GDP." The first section explains the basic rules and definitions of national economic accounting and... View Details

Keywords: History; Natural Environment; Quality; Accounting; Forecasting and Prediction; Environmental Sustainability; Economy; United States

November 2001
Case

Tobacco and the Future of Rural Kentucky

By: Ray A. Goldberg and James M Beagle

Governor Patton decides how to use settlement funds to develop a long-term plan for Kentucky's tobacco producers and rural communities. View Details

Keywords: Financial Instruments; Social Issues; Laws and Statutes; Rural Scope; Policy; Business and Community Relations; Government and Politics; Kentucky

02 May 2008
What Do You Think?

What is the Future of State Capitalism?

Summing Up In state capitalism, is the operative word "capitalism"? State capitalism is neither to be applauded nor feared, judging from the tone of responses to this month's column. That is, "as long as the key decisions are in favor of making money for... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

Research Summary

Leading The Finance Function in the Future

Marc L. Bertoneche is analyzing, for research and teaching purposes, the trends of the finance function in various parts of the world and its increasing role as a strategic partner in business decisions. View Details

June 2025
Case

Roku and The Future of Television, 2025

By: David B. Yoffie, Julie Cruz and Samari Gilbert