Publications

August 2020
Case

Ready for Take-Off at Jet It

By: Gary P. Pisano, Hise Gibson and Nicole Gilmore

This case examines the business model and growth of a start-up company in the private aviation industry. In June 2020, amidst the COVID crisis, the company's co-founder and CEO must make a decision regarding an order of new jets that will significantly expand the... View Details

Keywords: Capacity Planning; Business Startups; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Air Transportation Industry

April 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais, Partners In Health in Haiti

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Bipin Mistry and Karla Bertrand

The case describes the application of Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) at a new tertiary hospital, operated by Partners in Health in Mirebelais, Haiti. A project team mapped the clinical processes for use in estimating the direct costs of personnel,... View Details

Keywords: Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Activity Based Costing and Management; Cost Accounting; Developing Countries and Economies; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Haiti

December 1994 (Revised December 1994)
Case

Physician Sales and Service, Inc. (A): June 1992

A medical products distribution company faces strategic opportunities and challenges in a rapidly changing market. Physician Sales and Service (PSS), founded by Patrick Kelly in 1983, operates in 20 states in the United States and intends to expand to 50 states by... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Distribution 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 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

September 1985
Case

H.J. Heinz Co.: Plastic Bottle Ketchup (B)

By: John A. Quelch

The Heinz Ketchup product manager discovers she does not have sufficient finished inventory and production capacity to meet trade demand for a new plastic bottle ketchup. Alternatives include cancelling promotion events and putting the trade on allocation. View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Crisis Management; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Food and Beverage Industry

09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

The Challenge of the Multi-site Nonprofit

management techniques developed for for-profit companies. "We say this is not a good approach," said Grossman. Instead, nonprofits need their own management practices that recognize the unique... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

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

February 2024
Case

Innovation Strategy at Stanley Black & Decker: Setting the Direction for Growth

By: David L. Ager and Antonio Manuel Oftelie

On July 1, 2022, Don Allan was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Stanley Black & Decker (SBD). Although Allan had been with the firm for 23 years, most recently serving as President and Chief Financial Officer, he recognized that he was stepping into his new role as... View Details

Keywords: Health Pandemics; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Leadership; Growth Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations

22 Apr 2002
Research & Ideas

Profits and Prophets: The Role of Values in Investment

helped pay for scholarships and faculty salaries. But when protestors in the 1980s challenged the board to end investments in companies operating in South Africa during apartheid, Hayes said he was against such a move. Those who provided... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Web

Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

result, there are meaningful externalities in the mutual fund industry due to cash management. A fund family may coordinate the liquidity management efforts of its funds in order to minimize volatility spillovers from fire sales. Related... 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

07 Oct 2015
HBS Seminar

Ann Majchrzak, USC Marshall School of Business

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

17 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Good about Quiet Rule-Breaking

the quiet rule-breaking could mean developing code with management's approval for open-source external company projects. For mail carriers, the moral gray zone might mean finishing duties early yet staying "on the clock" until the workday has officially... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Web

Connect with Clubs - Recruiting

Tiana Clark tclark@mba2025.hbs.edu General Management & Operations Club Co-Presidents Jeff Chen jechen@mba2025.hbs.edu Akanksha Mishra amishra@mba2025.hbs.edu Isabella Anastassoff... View Details

August 2015
Supplement

Sustainability at IKEA Group: Video Supplement

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Michael W. Toffel

This video contains Q&A with IKEA Group's Chief Sustainability Officer Steve Howard and IKEA Group's Industrial Strategy Manager Per Berggren, the two primary case protagonists. They respond to student questions after the case was taught at an executive education class... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Operations; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry

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