Publications

August 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Building to a Crescendo

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Vishesh Kumar

Examines the efforts of an early-stage venture capital firm to formalize processes and build a pyramidal organization in an industry dominated by informal, unpyramidal structures. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Organizational Structure; Business Startups

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Initiative Summit: Freeing Patient Data to Enable Innovation

in the industry that have obvious inefficiencies and solving those directly. Corbin turned back to the problem of customer service. "I'd pay attention to hospital systems and how they engage with payers," she said. "Providers are... View Details

Keywords: Re: Karim R. Lakhani; Health

2021
Article

Decarbonizing Everything

By: Alex Cheema-Fox, Bridget LaPerla, George Serafeim, David Turkington and Hui (Stacie) Wang

We analyze how the use of different climate risk measures leads to different portfolio carbon outcomes and risk-adjusted returns. Our findings are synthesized in a rules-based investment framework, which selects a different type of climate metric across industries and... View Details

Keywords: Climate Risk; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Disclosure; ESG Disclosure Metrics; ESG Ratings; Investing; Investing For Impact; Investment Strategy; Environment; Decarbonization; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Management; Environmental Accounting; Investment; Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Investment Return

SSRN

09 Dec 2010
News

Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School to Map Clusters in U.S. Regions

11 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

The Paradoxical Quest to Make Food Look 'Natural' With Artificial Dyes

Historians.) Hisano’s paper looks at how industry players and regulators collectively decided what any given food is supposed to look like—and redefined the marketing meaning of “natural.” The quest for summery butter and orange oranges... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Career Coach

Andrea Kimmel

Andrea (HBS '03) combines expertise from her career adventures in different industries (finance, retail, technology, education and entrepreneurship) and from her quest to find the right career fit to assist students in their career path... View Details

Keywords: Education; Entrepreneurship; Investment Banking; Financial Services (All); Retail

2024
Working Paper

What Do Impact Investors Do Differently?

By: Shawn Cole, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth

In recent years, impact investors – private investors who seek to generate simultaneously financial and social returns – have attracted intense interest and controversy. We analyze a novel, comprehensive data set of impact and traditional investors to assess how the... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment Decisions; Public Goods; Impact Investment; Investment; Private Equity; Venture Capital

SSRN

Read Now

January 2008
Article

Seek Strategy the Right Way at the Right Time

By: G. Gavetti and Jan W. Rivkin

Deliberate, emergent, and analogical approaches to finding the best strategy all have their advan-tages, depending on where an industry is in its life cycle. Be open to the best option at each juncture and wise enough to make the right call. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Supply and Industry

February 2008
Article

Blonde and Blue-eyed?: Globalizing Beauty, c.1945–c.1980

By: Geoffrey Jones

This article examines the globalization of the beauty industry between 1945 and 1980. The industry grew quickly. Firms employed marketing and marketing strategies to diffuse products and brands internationally, despite business, economic, and cultural obstacles to... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Markets and Industries; Product Marketing; Standards; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

Read Now

January 1997 (Revised December 1999)
Case

OXO International

By: H. Kent Bowen, Marilyn Matis and Sylvie Ryckebusch

OXO, a kitchen tools and gadgets company, was started by a businessman who had 30 years of experience in the housewares industry. With his wife and son as founders, he creates a new niche in the gadgets industry for high-end gourmet stores. The company has headquarters... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Supply Chain Management; Production; Design; Ownership; Business Startups; Acquisition; Consumer Products Industry; Asia; New York (city, NY); Connecticut

18 Feb 2002
Research & Ideas

Wrap-up: Software, Telecom, and Recovery

It takes more courage, and by the way, everyone can't do it.—Ed Kania Firms do need to focus more than ever on industries they are good at, said Kevin Jacques, senior associate of Sevin Rosen Funds. "It's probably impossible"... View Details

Keywords: by Wendy Guild & Martha Lagace; Financial Services; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Leemore S. Dafny

U.S. Healthcare Strategy

The U.S. healthcare sector accounts for 17 percent of GDP, and encompasses a diverse set of industries with public, nonprofit, and for-profit buyers and sellers. There are significant concerns about high and rising spending, and... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare; Health; Healthcare Reform; Life Sciences; Health Industry; United States

June 2008
Case

System on a Chip 2008: Global Unichip Corp.

By: Willy C. Shih, Chintay Shih, Chen-Fu Chien and Yuan-Chieh Chang

Though much of the semiconductor industry has shifted to a horizontal model, complexity driven by technological evolution is driving a shift in the perceived boundaries in the value chain. Global Unichip sees itself as a "virtual integrated device manufacturer," a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Boundaries; Semiconductor Industry

August 2014 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Beyoncé

By: Anita Elberse and Stacie Smith

In December 2013, music superstar Beyoncé is about to surprise her fans with the release of her self-titled album. The team at her company Parkwood Entertainment, which general manager Lee Anne Callahan-Longo described as "a management, music, and production company... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Beyoncé; Internet and the Web; Music Entertainment; Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Music Industry

February 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Tata Consultancy Services: High Technology in a Low-Income Country

Explores the development of the software services industry in India and the challenges facing the market leader as domestic competition intensifies and new countries attempt to replicate India's success. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Software; Information Technology Industry; India

November 1987 (Revised March 1988)
Case

Searching for Trade Remedies: The U.S. Machine Tool Industry--1983

By: David B. Yoffie

In 1983 the National Machine Tools Builder Association was predicting a declining market for the United States and rising imports. Machine tool manufacturers had to decide if they should ask the U.S. government for help, and if they did, which administrative channels... View Details

Keywords: Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Machinery and Machining; Government and Politics; Law; Production; Business and Government Relations; Competition; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; Germany; United States

September 2002
Case

Abercrombie & Kent

By: Frances X. Frei, Brian Corbett, Mark Partin and Daniel Rethazy

Describes Abercrombie & Kent, the outdoor adventure company that has provided services throughout the entire history of the outdoor adventure industry. Provides an opportunity to learn how the company successfully grown into a premier player in the industry by adapting... View Details

Keywords: History; Financial Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Service Operations; Marketing Reference Programs; Product Development; Business Growth and Maturation; Balance and Stability; Marketing Channels; Transportation; Growth and Development Strategy; Travel Industry

January 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Jay Gould, 'The Most Hated Man in America'

By: Tom Nicholas, John Masko and Matthew G. Preble

Railroad magnate Jay Gould, a controversial figure in the history of U.S. capitalism, was a disruptive influence on an industry that had previously relied on formal and informal agreements to move traffic long distances across lines operated by different companies.... View Details

Keywords: Railroads; Gould; Vanderbilt; Rail Transportation; History; Consolidation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; Strategy; Rail Industry; United States