Publications

March 2014
Case

Babcock International Plc

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2013, Babcock International Plc (Babcock) was the largest engineering services provider in the UK with sales of over £3 billion. Under the leadership of CEO Peter Rogers, Babcock had grown revenues and profits nearly tenfold over the previous decade as it benefited... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Strategy And Leadership; Diversification; United Kingdom; Military; Nuclear Power; Nuclear; Engineering And Construction; Conglomerates; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Construction Industry; Energy Industry; United Kingdom

30 Nov 2016
HBS Seminar

Melissa Valentine and Michael Bernstein, Stanford University

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Jill J. Avery

Creating Brand Value (MBA elective course)

Overview:

In the consumer/retail space, brands are often companies’ most valuable assets and sources of their sustainable competitive advantage. But, managing brands to achieve their full value potential... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ethan S. Bernstein

I have spent my career studying novel talent management practices and their effect on collaboration and performance. My core research focuses on two interrelated organizational trends that have become salient in the 21st century: workplace transparency (who gets to... View Details

27 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

Managers, Your Employees Don’t Want to Be Facebook ‘Friends’

of the workplace identities people create and the ongoing challenges found in maintaining boundaries in the expanding digital world, especially following the pandemic, when so many professional-personal lines were blurred. “We’re told to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Kim Raczka

March 2022
Supplement

Pakistan Rising: Bazaar's Growth Story (B)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in January 2022 as Hamza Jawaid and Saad Jangda, co-founders of Bazaar technologies (Bazaar), the Pakistani high growth B2B e-commerce marketplace, are looking over the performance of the newly launched “buy now, play later” feature. The traction looks... View Details

Keywords: B2B; Business Model; Emerging Markets; For-Profit Firms; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Pakistan

16 Aug 2018
News

Working with a Giver’s Spirit

Philippine tech incubator behind a number of remarkable companies, including Ayannah, which uses social media and mobile platforms to provide digital commerce and payment services to the world’s unbanked; PawnHero, an online pawnshop that... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman

June 2015 (Revised April 2018)
Case

WeChat: A Global Platform?

By: Willy Shih, Howard Yu and Feng Liu

WeChat was developed by Tencent Holdings as a lightweight messaging platform. As it grew quickly to become the most popular messaging app in China, it added a range of products and services that sat on top that were designed to appeal to a broad range of consumers and... View Details

Keywords: Online Platforms; China; WeChat; Tencent Holdings; Globalization; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Telecommunications Industry; Information Industry; China

November 2015 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Flipkart (A): Transitioning to a Marketplace Model

By: Das Narayandas, Sunil Gupta and Rachna Tahilyani

In 2015, Sachin and Binny Bansal, co-founders of India’s largest e-commerce company, are wondering if it is time to move from a hybrid model to a full marketplace. While Amazon runs a hybrid model, Alibaba operates a marketplace. In addition, Flipkart has been losing... View Details

Keywords: Marketplaces; Online Retail; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; E-commerce; Retail Industry; India

Web

Sarah McConville | About

named co-President in 2023, Sarah was Executive Vice President, Group Publisher of Harvard Business Review Group, where she led the commercial aspects of the consumer media business including all revenue lines, strategic partnerships, View Details

Web

Recruiting Partners - Health Care

Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers University of Pennsylvania Health System V Vecna Technologies Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. Visiting Nurse Service of NY Vizient W Wellcare Health Plans, Inc. Withings - Digital Health Z Zimmer Inc.... View Details

Profile

Kiran Gandhi

What’s the one thing you’re most excited about learning at HBS? The reason I’m here is to be in the classroom! In my previous job, I was the first digital analyst for Interscope Records. My boss had an MBA, and I realized that many people... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment/Media

Profile

Enrico Ferrari

technology, he spent nights and weekends learning how to code; soon, he started developing his own algorithms to scale and automate digital marketing campaigns, a skill he applied to successfully expand a classifieds business into fifteen... View Details

Keywords: Tech

Web

Introducing One-Step Photography - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

New Medium Medium of Artistic Expression A NOBLE PROTOTYPE OF INDUSTRY Harvard Business School and Polaroid Innovation and Entrepreneurship TIMELINE POLAROID FILMS RESEARCH LINKS Digital Archival Resources Archival Collections... View Details

October 2020 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Epic Games: Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite

By: Andy Wu, Miaomiao Zhang and Christopher Zhang

In the midst of intensifying public and political attention towards the market power of big technology, Epic Games in 2020 challenged the status quo that has existed for years in the Apple iOS and Google Android mobile application marketplaces and payment systems.... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Platforms; Mobile App Industry; Mobile Payment Systems; Antitrust; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Lawsuits and Litigation; Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy; Digital Platforms; United States

18 Jul 2019
News

Lessons from the Rise and Fall of VisiCalc

shifted from centuries-old practice of handwritten ledgers to a digital spreadsheet on a personal computer. Which leads to the second lesson, which is that “a killer app doesn’t guarantee enduring success.” When Mitch Kapor left the... View Details

06 Sep 2022
Blog Post

To Go-Go: A Foodtech Startup Serves Up Scale in Latin America

bowls fortified with kale, quinoa, and salmon to traditional Colombian breakfasts packed with rice, beans, and chorizo—cannot rely on customers wandering in off the street. Instead, curious eaters must be enticed to order through Instagram photos and online reviews.... View Details

August 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Facelift at Olay (A)

By: Sunil Gupta, Rajiv Lal and Olivia Hull

By October 2017, Procter & Gamble’s skincare brand Olay has been struggling with declining sales for several years. The team has tried many remedies, but none has returned the brand to growth. As pressure grows from Olay’s competitors, including hundreds of new... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Demographics; Age; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Digital Marketing; Transformation; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States; Ohio