Publications

May 1996
Case

China Internet Corporation: http://www.China.Com

Tells the story of the China Internet Corp. (CIC), which was founded to serve both businesses wishing to conduct electronic commerce within China and those intending to trade with companies within China. The company provides access and advertising to companies; it does... View Details

Keywords: Internet; Growth and Development Strategy; Web Services Industry; China

Benson P. Shapiro is a well-known authority on marketing strategy and sales management with particular interests in pricing, product line planning, and marketing organization. He is also the Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing Emeritus at the Harvard Business... View Details

December 2020
Case

XP: Dual Track Financing Alternatives

By: Marco Di Maggio, Pedro Levindo and Carla Larangeira

XP, an investment platform, was on the verge of defining whether to do an IPO or selling off a majority stake to Itaú Unibanco, Brazil´s largest financial conglomerate. Under the leadership of Guilherme Benchimol, XP´s co-founder and CEO, XP had risen to become the... View Details

Keywords: Financing Decisions; Expansion; Decision Choices and Conditions; Latin America; Brazil

09 Nov 2020
News

Best Business Books 2020: Technology & innovation

October 1993 (Revised February 1995)
Case

MCI Vision (A) (Condensed)

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Concerns the development, introduction, and first-year sales performance of Vision, a telecommunications service aimed at small- and medium-sized businesses. Introduced in 1990, Vision surpassed goals in that year, but was significantly below target in the first... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Cost vs Benefits; Decision Choices and Conditions; Goals and Objectives; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Product; Sales; Competitive Strategy; Valuation

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

What Really Drives Your Strategy?

"While companies might have an intended strategy, the strategy that actually emerges can be very different," says HBS professor Clark G. Gilbert. It is a topic that Gilbert and professor Joseph L.... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Web

Employment Data

Employment Data Employment Data Review HBS Hiring Trends Browse industry, function and location destinations and gain insights around compensation. Class of 2024 Career Data Internship Data What do students... View Details

March 2011
Article

Zoom In, Zoom Out

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Zoom buttons on digital devices let us examine images from many viewpoints. They also provide an apt metaphor for modes of strategic thinking. Some people prefer to see things up close, others from afar. Both perspectives have virtues. But they should not be fixed... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Cognition and Thinking; Perspective; Leadership; Opportunities; Decisions

27 Jul 2017
News

The Revolution in Advertising: From Don Draper to Big Data

04 Feb 2020
Cold Call Podcast

Why Backstage Capital Invests in ‘Underestimated’ Entrepreneurs

Keywords: Financial Services

April 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Jazztel

By: Marc L. Bertoneche, Laurent Jacque, Kenneth Hynes and Jennifer Woolman

Jazztel--an upstart Spanish telecom--is considering an IPO on the NASDAQ (rather than the Madrid Bolsa) for funding its ambitious capital expenditure program estimated at $750 million over the next 10 years. The alternative would be another round of high-yield debt.... View Details

Keywords: History; Initial Public Offering; Valuation; Privatization; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Spain

June 2020 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Majid Al Futtaim Retail Geographic Expansion: Brick or Click?

By: Juan Alcácer and Alpana Thapar

This case illustrates the challenges that retailers face when they aggressively pursue geographical growth by expanding both their physical store network and their online presence. It features Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Retail, a franchisee of Carrefour hypermarkets in the... View Details

Keywords: Stores; Ecommerce; Strategy; Expansion; Geographic Location; Decision Making; Internet and the Web; Digital Transformation; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Middle East

03 Dec 2007
Research & Ideas

Authenticity over Exaggeration: The New Rule in Advertising

Consumers," HBS professor John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld, research director of Canada's Mobile MUSE Consortium, pinpoint 5 qualities of success in this new world of digital media marketing. In this new... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Publishing; Advertising

October 2022
Case

Single.Earth

By: Rembrand Koning and Emer Moloney

Estonian greentech company Single.Earth is launching a nature-backed token that is linked to and funds the protection of a specific plot fo land. The first landowners had been onboarded to the company's Digital Twin, a virtual representation of the planet's natural... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Assets; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology; Natural Resources; Pollution; Analytics and Data Science; Marketing; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Markets; Market Timing; Strategy; Green Technology Industry; Estonia

March 2013
Article

Do You Really Want to Be an eBay?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Julian Wright

Most companies that serve as intermediaries between buyers and sellers face a fundamental strategy decision: Should they be resellers (like supermarkets), acquiring and then reselling products or services? Should they operate as multisided platforms (like eBay),... View Details

Keywords: Multi-sided Platforms; Business Models; Strategy; Digital Platforms

September 1999 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Eggrock Partners, LLC (A)

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Myra M. Hart and Sharon Peyus

Explores the challenges of choosing how to grow a professional services firm (PSF). Before developing a growth strategy, the partners need to agree on what business(es) the company should be in. Each of the three partners has differing views of what the company should... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Expansion; Business Processes; Industry Structures; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Partners and Partnerships; Service Industry

August 2004 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Allianz (A1): An Insurer Acquiring a Bank?

By: Joseph L. Bower, Marc L. Bertoneche, Anders Sjoman and Sonja Ellingson Hout

The deal of the year in 2002, was the acquisition of Dresdner Bank by Allianz. Written from the perspectives of Allianz's CEO, Henning Schulte-Noelle, before and after the deal and a regional manager implementing the concept of a full-line financial service provider.... View Details

Keywords: Management; Corporate Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Acquisition; Financial Institutions; Corporate Finance; Banking Industry; Germany

April 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Best Buy Co., Inc.: Customer-Centricity

By: Rajiv Lal, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Irina Tarsis

With FY2005 sales of $27.3 billion, Richfield, Minn.-based Best Buy Co., Inc. was the leading retailer of consumer electronics, home-office products, and related services in North America. Its operations included the distinct store formats Best Buy, Future Shop in... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Service Operations; Business Earnings; Financial Crisis; Failure; Business Model; Leadership; Segmentation; Value Creation; Electronics Industry; United States; Canada; Mongolia