Publications

2012
Working Paper

FollowMe.IntDev.Com: International Development in the Blogosphere

By: Ryann Manning

This article explores online blogs as a new forum for discussing ideas and practices in international development. Based on a qualitative study of conversations that take place across multiple blogs, I conclude that the blogosphere combines features of a public sphere,... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Interpersonal Communication; Knowledge Acquisition; Experience and Expertise; Globalization; Blogs

Read Now

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

October 2010
Teaching Note

From Imitation to Innovation: Zongshen Industrial Group (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for 610057. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Taxation; Information Technology; Selection and Staffing; Talent and Talent Management; Corporate Strategy; Acquisition; Technology Adoption; Supply Chain; Motorcycle Industry

December 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Supplement

Vodafone in Japan (B)

By: Juan Alcacer, Mary Furey and Mayuka Yamazaki

By 2005, Vodafone Group was losing its footing in the sophisticated Japanese telecom market. What were they doing wrong? Should they cut their losses and leave Japan, or could they learn from mistakes and turn things around? View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Profit; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Knowledge Acquisition; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Adaptation; Diversification; Expansion; Telecommunications Industry; Japan

15 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 15, 2017

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53092 April 2017 Stanford Law Review The New Look of Deal Protection By: Subramanian, Guhan, and Fernan Restrepo Abstract—Deal protection in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) evolves in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 30

acquisition of Motorola by Google, the Microsoft-Nokia alliance, the rise of Samsung, and the extensive patent wars-each raised questions about how HTC could continue its upward trajectory. In a rapidly evolving and increasingly... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Jan 2025
News

Tracking Modern Air Travel’s Takeoff

additional costs, we don't look at what we've gained from it. AW: Throughout your career, you thought about growth mostly through acquisitions and mergers, some very successful, some thwarted repeatedly. Why did you pursue this strategy?... View Details

01 Mar 2006
News

The Little Ice-Cream Company That Could

snacks are the company’s most recent innovations.) By mid-1994, Dreyer’s fulfilled its dream of becoming the leading premium ice-cream brand in the United States — a mixed blessing. “As we approached a billion dollars in sales, it was clear that we were a plump target... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Food Manufacturing; Manufacturing

11 Sep 2012
First Look

First Look: September 11

flow situation, should Owen reconsider the acquisition offer? Purchase this case:http://hbr.org/search/813036-PDF-ENG Friend Bank: The Time for Hope (Abridged) Clayton Rose and Aldo SesiaHarvard Business School Case 313-010 In 2010,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Oct 2020
Blog Post

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged

what hasn’t? The four drives themselves, fundamental to human psychology, have not changed. The COVID-19 pandemic has not altered these dynamics as much as it has intensified or complicated them: Cost-cutting and remote work mean that both the View Details

Keywords: All Industries

08 Jun 2018
News

My First Job: Selling Shoes, Surviving Black Monday, and Shaped by Chicken Lenses

wonderful 25-year career. The firm had been founded by three HBS graduates. At the time it had fewer than 20 people. When I joined I was the 25th. And the long story short is, I worked there for 25 years. Today that core, through many, many, many mergers and View Details

08 Dec 2020
Blog Post

Keep Your Weary Workers Engaged

what hasn’t? The four drives themselves, fundamental to human psychology, have not changed. The COVID-19 pandemic has not altered these dynamics as much as it has intensified or complicated them: Cost-cutting and remote work mean that both the View Details

June 2024
Teaching Note

Dirk Nowitzki: Changing the Game

By: Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly Baden and Robin Abrahams

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 420-031. NBA Superstar Dirk Nowitzki was unsure whether the 2018-19 season would be his last as an NBA player. He had not faced such uncertainty since 1998, when he had navigated a difficult decision regarding the timing of his move to... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Practice; Retirement; Work-Life Balance; Success; Knowledge Acquisition; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Growth and Development; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Performance; Sports Industry; United States

17 Jan 2012
First Look

First Look: January 17

correlations between their risk-based return premia, and periodic flights to quality. Read the paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/mbaker/cv/papers/Comovement_RAPS.pdf The Effect of Reference Point Prices on Mergers and Acquisitions... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 1999 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Brita Products Company, The

By: John A. Deighton

Clorox's Brita skillfully exploits a tide of water safety concerns, growing a home water (filtration) business from inception to a 15% U.S. household penetration in ten years. The dilemma in the case arises as the period of increasing returns seems to be drawing to a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Acquisition; Retention; Safety; Natural Environment; Emerging Markets; Investment Return; Equity; Demand and Consumers; United States

March 2011
Supplement

Countrywide plc (CW)

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

One of the world's leading investors in distressed companies, Oaktree Capital Management is contemplating a "loan to own" investment in the debt f Countrywide plc, a financially troubled residential real estate agent based in the U.K. Only sixteen months earlier,... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Restructuring; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Assets; Borrowing and Debt; Private Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Investment Portfolio; Crisis Management; Strategy; Valuation; Real Estate Industry; United Kingdom

February 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

AptDeco: Circular Economy Furniture Marketplace

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jamie Merkrebs

AptDeco, a used furniture marketplace, was growing rapidly in the tri-state area. The co-founders were confident that the business model, financial position, and unit economics positioned AptDeco for scaling in the massive $120 billion furniture market, despite its... View Details