Publications

July 2024
Case

Jacqueline Cook at Vendasta: Debating an IPO

By: Reza Satchu, Tom Quinn and Andrew Kosc

In May 2021, after a surge in demand for digital services that prompted high valuations for startups across the Canadian tech sector, Saskatchewan-based Vendasta entered the final stages of the initial public offering (IPO) process. COO Jacqueline Cook had invested her... View Details

2022
Article

Improving Efficiency and Reducing Costs of MRI-Guided Prostate Brachytherapy Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing

By: Nikhil G. Thaker, Rajat J. Kudchadker, James R. Incalcaterra, Tharakeswara K. Bathala, Robert S. Kaplan, Ankit Agarwal, Deborah A. Kuban, Benjamin D. Frank, Prajnan Das, Thomas W. Feeley and Steven J. Frank

Integrated quality improvement (QI) and cost reduction strategies can help increase value in cancer care. We applied standard QI and TDABC methods to improve workflow efficiency and reduce costs for MRI-guided prostate brachytherapy. We constructed process maps,... View Details

Keywords: Brachytherapy; Quality Improvement; Prostate; Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing; Cost Accounting; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Efficiency; Health Industry

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October 2024
Case

NextGen CDR Facility: From Davos to Details

By: Peter Tufano, Emily A. Chien and Karina Val

Next Gen CDR is a startup that pools corporate commitments to purchase Tech CDR, which promises to permanently remove and store carbon from the atmosphere to combat climate change. A partnership between South Pole and Mitsubishi Corp., Next Gen has secured initial... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Partners and Partnerships; Corporate Governance; Investment; Agreements and Arrangements

August 2011 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Social Innovation at Salesforce.com

By: Christopher Marquis, Marley C. Kornreich and Bobbi Thomason

Salesforce.com recently implemented an innovative social enterprise business model whereby the Salesforce.com Foundation funds its operations and grant budget by selling discounted salesforce.com software licenses to nonprofits and education clients. The case recounts... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Model; Information Technology; Leading Change; Problems and Challenges

March 2000
Case

Heartport, Inc.

By: Gary P. Pisano and Shoshana Dobrow

Heartport, an entrepreneurial medical device maker, has introduced several innovative systems for conducting less-invasive cardiac surgery. Despite initially high expectations, the company has struggled to get its technology adopted by cardiac surgeons. The company's... View Details

Keywords: History; Product Positioning; Knowledge Acquisition; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Technology Adoption; Health Care and Treatment

April 2012 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Learning About Reducing Hospital Mortality at Kaiser Permanente

By: Anita Tucker

In 2011, Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) region's efforts to reduce mortality in their 21 hospitals is showing promise. They developed and launched a region-wide initiative to improve the treatment of sepsis, a serious and often deadly medical condition.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Improvement; Health Industry; California

Research Summary

Valuation of Business Reorganizations

Business reorganization transactions, such as mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs, are often initiated based on the premise of value creation for shareholders. However, is this premise true, especially in the recent data? Due to the growing share of intangibles... View Details

21 Jan 2016
Video

2016 Precision Trials Challenge

Myra M. Hart

Myra Hart's research focus is high potential entrepreneurship. She has taught MBA and executive programs, co-chaired the entrepreneurship unit, and led several HBS initiatives. As a founding memberView Details

Keywords: consumer products; e-commerce industry; education industry; real estate; retailing

February 2010
Case

Burt's Bees: Balancing Growth and Sustainability (Multimedia)

By: Christopher Marquis

The case examines sustainability initiatives at Burt's Bees, with video segments that detail the company's history, leadership, and implementation of ambitious 2020 sustainability goals. The company traces its roots to 1984, when Roxanne Quinby and Burt Schavitz teamed... View Details

Keywords: Balance and Stability; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Business or Company Management; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Mergers and Acquisitions; Social Enterprise; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Ethics

24 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

SuperCorp: Values as Guidance System

these extremes. Moreover, obtaining strategic value from principles-based guidelines requires attention to the business itself. Values and principles may be invoked to shape approaches, but a "business case" is also important.... View Details

Keywords: by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

October 2015
Case

Transpower New Zealand: Evaluating Board Performance

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Sarah L. Abbott

Mark Verbiest, Chairman of Transpower New Zealand, initiated a performance review of Transpower's board of directors. The review, which took four months to complete, provided board members with individualized feedback on their performance, as well as information on how... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Performance Evaluation; Governance; Leadership; Performance; Organizations; Human Resources; Decision Making; New Zealand

29 Apr 2011
News

Harvard University Announces Appointment of Gordon Jones as Director of Harvard innovation lab

December 2001 (Revised November 2002)
Case

John Smithers

By: Nitin Nohria and Todd Jick

Describes an ill-fated effort to institute a total quality program. Using the vantage point of one of the managers selected to be a quality instructor, the case traces the rise and fall of the quality effort during its very brief existence over the course of six... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Change Management; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Culture; Failure

December 2012
Article

How Much Is Sweat Equity Worth?

By: Christopher Marquis and Joshua D. Margolis

The article presents a case study of a business decision related to the valuing of sweat equity in a start-up business. One man starts a premium vodka business, bringing in his cousin at an early stage, but with no initial discussion of the eventual split of equity or... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Ownership Stake; Business Startups

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February 2012 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Sweet Deal—Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising to Children

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis Yao, Britta Kelley and Lizzie Gomez

In response to growing concern about childhood obesity, in February 2006 the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) announced an initiative to examine its self-regulatory program on children's advertising. The existing program was a voluntary cross-industry program... View Details

Keywords: Food; Advertising; Ethics; Food and Beverage Industry

21 Sep 2021
Cold Call Podcast

Why JPMorgan Chase Is Committed to Improving Racial Equity in Banking

Keywords: Re: Joseph L. Bower; Financial Services; Banking

September 2006 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Tim Keller at Katzenbach Partners LLC (A)

By: Boris Groysberg, Christopher Marquis and Ayesha Kanji

Tracks of the first 6 months of a recent MBA grad, Tim Keller, at Katzenbach Partners, a boutique consulting firm focused on organizational change and strategy. Covers how Keller initially struggles with his assignment and ends with a question of whether or not he... View Details

Keywords: Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Personal Development and Career; Work-Life Balance; Projects; Situation or Environment; Strategy