Publications

March 2014 (Revised September 2017)
Case

salaUno: Eliminating Needless Blindness in Mexico

By: Richard Hamermesh, Regina Garcia Cueller and Valeria Moy

In May 2013 the co-founders and co-CEOs of salaUno, Javier Okhuysen and Carlos Orellana, were encouraged by the results of their fledgling start-up. salaUno was founded as a for-profit enterprise in order to have the capital needed for rapid growth and to fulfill its... View Details

Keywords: Medical Services; Developing Countries; Developing Markets; Health Care Industry; Health Services; Healthcare Ventures; Healthcare Startups; Health Care and Treatment; Health; Business Startups; Developing Countries and Economies; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Mexico; Mexico City

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

October 2024
Case

Tonik

By: Andy Wu, Maliha Malek Quadir and Aticus Peterson

This case study examines Tonik, the first digital bank in the Philippines, as it navigates the challenges of scaling its lending operations and achieving profitability in an evolving fintech landscape. It explores Tonik's journey from its launch in 2018 to early 2024,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financing and Loans; Profit; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Product; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry; Philippines

Web

Connect with Clubs - Recruiting

Yoon ryoon@mba2026.hbs.edu General Management & Operations Club Co-Presidents Thomas Cerier tcerier@mba2026.hbs.edu Kaitlyn Haase khaase@mba2026.hbs.edu Karalyn Baird kbaird@mba2026.hbs.edu Mikel Acha... View Details

November 1984 (Revised May 1989)
Case

Wright Line, Inc. (A)

The Wright Line division of Barry Wright sells accessories used to store, protect, and provide access to computer media such as cards, tapes, and diskettes. With the explosive growth in the business computer market and the pronounced trend toward decentralized use, the... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Product Marketing; Computer Industry

Career Coach

Genesia Tang

Genesia is passionate about climate tech and sustainability, and spent her summer working for Blackhorn Ventures, an early-stage climate VC. She has also pursued career pivots multiple times, from consulting to tech operations to VC.... View Details

Article

Discouraging Opportunistic Behavior in Collaborative R&D: A New Role for Government

The traditional role attributed to government in collaborative R&D has been one of funding. This paper explores a new role for government in facilitating collaborative R&D, one of discouraging opportunistic behavior. Given the nature of R&D, concerns about... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Government and Politics; Managerial Roles; Research and Development; Framework; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Opportunities; Italy

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August 2014
Case

Rent the Runway (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Brent Goldfarb and David A. Kirsch

Two months after a successful launch In November 2009, the cofounders of Rent the Runway (RTR), a website that rented designer dresses, are debating whether to grow their startup at a measured pace and focus on improving operational effectiveness, or raise a new round... View Details

Keywords: Lean Startup; Electronic Commerce; Fashion; Expansion; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Fashion Industry

Web

Africa - Global

management issues, trends, and practices, as well as develop locally relevant case studies and course materials for use in business education programs around the world. The Africa Research Center also supports alumni engagement, webinars... View Details

February 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Open Market, Inc.: The E-Commerce Wars

By: James I. Cash Jr., Janis Lee Gogan, Michael Haselkorn and Mani Subramani

Continues the story of Open Market, Inc., a company founded in 1994 to support electronic commerce on the Internet. Despite a very successful initial public offering, the firm had reached a growth plateau, and the management team was considering several strategic... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Product Development; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry

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February 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

TikTok in 2020: Super App or Supernova?

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dan Maher and Dan O'Brien

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around a simple idea – helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. In less than a decade, it had become one of the world’s most valuable private companies, with investors... View Details

2021
Working Paper

The Demand for Executive Skills

By: Stephen Hansen, Tejas Ramdas, Raffaella Sadun and Joseph B. Fuller

We use a unique corpus of job descriptions for C-suite positions to document skills requirements in top managerial occupations across a large sample of firms. A novel algorithm maps the text of each executive search into six separate skill clusters reflecting... View Details

Keywords: Executives; Management Skills; Competency and Skills

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21 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 21, 2018

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54887 forthcoming Production and Operations Management The Operational Value of Social Media Information By: Cui, Ruomeng,... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

June 1993 (Revised April 1998)
Case

COMCO Holding AG (B): COMCO Martech

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

COMCO Martech was a new breed of joint venture for COMCO Holding, a mid-sized Swiss-German company that had grown over a five-year period through tie-ups with small, start-up companies. Whereas a typical COMCO venture provided services to a large German retailer, was... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Business Startups; Trade; Operations; Environmental Sustainability; Business or Company Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Partners and Partnerships; Switzerland; United States; Europe

03 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, October 3, 2017

2017 Emerald Group Publishing Extreme Teaming: Lessons in Complex, Cross-Sector Leadership By: Edmondson, Amy C., and Jean-François Harvey Abstract—Today's global enterprises increasingly involve collaborative work by teams of experts View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

October 2007 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Global Climate Change and BP

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Mikell Hyman

Following the sudden resignation of Sir John Browne, Tony Hayward, BP CEO, must decide how global climate change management will figure into BP's corporate strategy. Climate change management was a major part of BP's strategy under Browne: In 1997 Browne broke from his... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Climate Change; Corporate Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Management Teams; Environmental Sustainability; Government and Politics; Energy Sources; Global Strategy; Operations; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; United Kingdom

June 2021 (Revised November 2024)
Case

MicroStrategy: Accounting for Cryptocurrency

By: Jonas Heese and Annelena Lobb

On February 15, 2021, Alina Moss, an analyst who covered the technology company MicroStrategy, pondered a rise in MicroStrategy’s share price. Moss had dialed into the company earnings call. When it ended, Moss had more questions than answers. MicroStrategy had... View Details

Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Share Price; Electronic Commerce; Intangible Assets; Assets; Accounting; Financial Statements; Financial Management; Financial Reporting; Analytics and Data Science; E-commerce

Web

Middle East & North Africa - Global

equipping participants with strategies for approaching tough conversations with confidence and clarity. The discussion was led by Christina Wing , Senior Lecturer in the Technology & Operations Management... View Details

November 2003 (Revised January 2005)
Case

San Francisco Giants

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Larry Baer, executive vice-president and COO, was eager to improve profitability for the San Francisco Giants baseball team. Over the last few years, the Giants have had a number of successes. They successfully built the first privately financed ball park in over 30... View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business or Company Management; Success; Sports; Sports Industry; San Francisco