Publications

February 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

PatientsLikeMe: An Online Community of Patients

By: Sunil Gupta and Jason Riis

PatientsLikeMe (PLM) is an online community where patients share their personal experiences with a disease, find other patients like them, and learn from each other. The company was founded by Jamie and Ben Heywood when their 29-year-old brother was diagnosed with ALS... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Health Disorders; Knowledge Sharing; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Launch; Digital Platforms; Social and Collaborative Networks; Health Industry

25 Jul 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: July 25, 2017

case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/902412-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 117-012 ATH Technologies: Making the Numbers An exercise that takes students through five stages of growth in an entrepreneurial start-up in the... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

01 Mar 2021
Blog Post

Exploring Career Passions through Short Intensive Programs – Moving Beyond Direct to Consumer

take away from your SIP? We want students to take away a much deeper understanding of DTCs and the nature of the growth challenges they face. They should also develop an appreciation of the emerging ecosystem of business opportunities... View Details

January 2013 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google 2018

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Four businesses had, by 2012, grown to dominate the infrastructure that all firms rely on to reach online customers. Will the balance of power among the four persist, will one take command at the expense of the other three, or are all four more vulnerable than they... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Competitive Advantage; Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States

October 2005 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Infosys (A): Strategic Human Resource Management

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Jaya Tandon and Ganesh Rengaswamy

Hema Ravichandar, head of human resources, was given a new and aggressive milestone to reach: ensure Infosys is on the Top 10 lists of both Best Performing Companies and Best Employers by 2007. No large organization had ever been able to achieve this distinction... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Transition; Cost; Human Resources; Employee Relationship Management; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry

September 2021
Case

Posse Foundation: Developing Strong Leaders from Diverse Backgrounds

By: John J-H Kim, Robin Mendelson and Julia Kelley

Founded in 1989, Posse Foundation was a nonprofit organization with a mission of developing future leaders who reflected the U.S.’s rich diversity. The organization ran a selective, localized admissions process in 10 U.S. cities to identify outstanding students with... View Details

November 2013
Case

Canyon-Agassi Investing in Charter Schools

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas, Nicole Shomair, Vernon Beckford and Lisa Strope

After an unusual round of doubles in May 2011, real estate investor Bobby Turner, Managing Partner, Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund (CACSFF) and Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors, found himself at a loss for words. Turner was... View Details

Keywords: Charter Schools; Real Estate; Fund Raising; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Real Estate Industry; United States

March 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Ethan Berman at RiskMetrics Group (A)

Ethan Berman, CEO of J.P. Morgan's risk management spinoff, has grown RiskMetrics Group (RMG) from a small team of 30 to a 70-person firm contemplating an IPO. Along the way, the consensus-based decision-making process that he espoused started to prove unwieldy; his... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Making; Service Industry; Service Industry

July 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Pattern Brands

By: Sunil Gupta, Elie Ofek and Julia Kelley

In March 2020, direct-to-consumer (DTC) company Pattern Brands needed to decide how to allocate resources across its different brands. Pattern Co-Founders Nick Ling and Emmett Shine hoped to avoid the pitfalls faced by some DTC companies—such as inability to scale and... View Details

January 2020
Background Note

Climate Change in 2020: Implications for Business

By: Rebecca M. Henderson, Sophus A. Reinert and Mariana Oseguera

This note provides general information about climate change and its implications for business. Included is an overview of climate change science and a number of its impacts, including rising sea levels, changing weather patterns and extreme weather, pressure on water... View Details

12 Nov 2021
News

Alumni Business Leaders on Confronting the Climate Change Challenge

process solutions has become clear. And it is driving new business creation, as well as traditional business adaptation, at far higher than previous rates. With the evolution of our great industrial and financial base, we may at last be... View Details

01 Mar 2023
News

Step Change

had long been part of the cultural mindset. Today’s startup scene in Egypt is hopping. Venture capital funding reached $491 million in 2021, with a compounded annual growth rate of 117 percent between 2017 and 2021, according to Magnitt.... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photographed by Abdelrahman Gabr – Koree; entrepreneurship; women; venture capital; Egypt; developing economies; Finance

03 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 3

growth in 2011 and beyond, executives contemplated how to best apply their purchasing and supply chain knowledge into new international markets. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/512004-PDF-ENG Customer Visits for... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

August 1983 (Revised June 1986)
Case

Johnson & Johnson (A)

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes the Johnson & Johnson culture and the corporate systems, structures, and procedures which reflect and promote it. The principal teaching objectives are to gain an understanding of the impact a strong culture can have on strategic decisions and to consider how... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Management Systems; Organizational Structure; Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Strategy; Growth Management; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

May 2012
Case

Westlake Lanes: How Can This Business Be Saved?

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Alisa Zalosh

Shelby Givens, a new MBA, is the general manager of Westlake Lanes, a near-bankrupt bowling alley that her grandfather founded decades earlier. Givens has been given one year to turn a profit; if the goal is not met Westlake will close. During the first few days on the... View Details

Keywords: United States; Operations Management; Small And Medium-sized Enterprises; Turnarounds; Strategy; Leading Change; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Operations; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States