Publications

December 2006 (Revised December 2008)
Case

Wireless Generation

Reflecting on an innovative joint venture that his company executed with a public school district in 2004, the CEO of Wireless Generation, a five-year-old, privately held educational technology company, is contemplating the company's product development strategy in... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Education; Government Legislation; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Business and Government Relations; Education Industry

March 2018
Case

Chaudhary Group: Rebuilding Nepal

By: Christopher J. Malloy, Lauren H. Cohen and Inakshi Sobti

After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the Chaudhary Group, a billion-dollar conglomerate in Nepal, decides to play a pivotal role in rebuilding the country. The Group's philanthropic arm (Chaudhary Foundation) works with stakeholders and develops a blue print for short- and... View Details

10 Feb 2003
Research & Ideas

Commodity Busters: Be a Price Maker, Not a Price Taker

Business is about making money, not measuring macho. The scrap heap of business disasters is littered with managers whose ego drive overwhelmed good business sense. Founder and... View Details

Keywords: by Benson P. Shapiro

02 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Not All M&As Are Alike—and That Matters

activity sponsored by Harvard Business School. That study sought to examine questions of M&A strategy and execution with a new rigor. Our in-depth findings will emerge over the next year or two, in the form of various books, articles,... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Bower

April 2009 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Oprah Winfrey

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Erica Helms, Katherine Miller and Rachel Wilcox

The case explores the entrepreneurial journey of Oprah Winfrey, examining how she built an audience for one of the most successful television shows in history; how she created the company, Harpo Productions, that produces that show as well as other media offerings; how... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Personal Development and Career; Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

Program

Family Office Wealth Management—Virtual

Summary Wealth management for high-net-worth families has grown increasingly complex. For some families, the responsibility of wealth management has shifted to younger generations who have less experience investing. For other families, the early liquidation of View Details

September 2020
Case

Drinkworks: Home Bar by Keurig

By: Sunil Gupta, Jonathan Levav and Julia Kelley

In the summer of 2018, Drinkworks CEO Nathaniel Davis needed to make a number of go-to-market decisions ahead of his company’s upcoming product launch. Formed through a joint venture between Keurig Dr. Pepper and Anheuser-Busch InBev, Drinkworks had developed an... View Details

November 2017
Teaching Note

Facebook Fake News in the Post-Truth World

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 717-473. In January 2017, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, was surrounded by controversy. The election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States in November 2016 had triggered a national storm of protests, and... View Details

Keywords: Facebook; Fake News; Mark Zuckerberg; Donald Trump; Algorithms; Social Networking; Social Networks; Partisanship; Social Media; App Development; Instagram; WhatsApp; Smartphone; Silicon Valley; Office Space; Digital Strategy; Democracy; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Controversy; Tencent; Agility; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Messaging; Monetization Strategy; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Trends; Advertising Industry; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Journalism and News Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; United States; California; Sunnyvale; Russia

07 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovation Corrupted: How Managers Can Avoid Another Enron

Legacy of Enron's Collapse (Harvard University Press), the devastation of Enron was total—yet there is much that business today can gain from a postmortem of the once-triumphant company. Salter had access to an extensive library of public... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

Web

Technology & Operations Management - Doctoral

courses in the areas of business management theory, economic theory, quantitative research methods, academic field seminars, and two MBA elective curriculum courses. In addition to HBS courses, students may take courses at other Harvard... View Details

December 1997
Case

Wriston Manufacturing Corporation

By: Janice H. Hammond

Wriston Manufacturing is a broad-line maker of components for the automotive industry. It has developed a network of nine plants as its product line has grown. Newer, higher-volume products tend to be made in newer, focused, high-volume plants, while older product... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost Management; Business or Company Management; Production; Performance Efficiency; Auto Industry

August 2013 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Amazon in 2024

By: Sunil Gupta and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Amazon launched its website in July 1995 to sell books online and by 2020 it has grown to become a digital giant with over $280 billion in annual sales. A large part of its growth came from expanding into a variety of businesses that some see as unrelated. Has it... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Complements; Showrooming; Ecosystem; Growth Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Network Effects; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry

September 2019
Supplement

pymetrics (B)

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In March 2013, pymetrics CEO Frida Polli visited Harvard Business School to listen to a section of MBA students from the class of 2013 discuss her business plan and provide feedback on the tests they had taken to identify career opportunities. Polli had developed a... View Details

Keywords: BrainTech; Hiring; Hiring Of Employees; Recruiting; Personality; Personality Traits; Startup; Start-up; Startups; Start-ups; Employment; Strategic Evolution; Psychodynamics; Psychology; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Business Startups; Strategy; Personal Characteristics

May 2004
Supplement

Slingshot Technology, Inc. Supplement: Partnership Agreements

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Slingshot Technology Inc. (STI) is a privately held software start-up founded in 1995 focused on identifying emerging spaces in the IT services industry and partnering with vendors selling promising but unproven technologies in those spaces. The vendors used STI to... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Emerging Markets; Partners and Partnerships; Intellectual Property; Information Technology Industry; Consulting Industry

March 2011
Case

Valuation of AirThread Connections

By: Erik Stafford and Joel L. Heilprin

This case can be used as a capstone valuation exercise for first-year MBA students in an introductory finance course. A senior associate in the business development group at American Cable Communications, one of the largest cable companies in the U.S., must prepare a... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Present Value; Tax Accounting; Capital Costs; Synergy; Telephony; Wireless Technologies; Communication Technology; Assets; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Cash Flow; Capital Structure; Accounting; Wireless Technology; Communications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

June 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Course Overview Note

Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise

By: Willy C. Shih

This Module Note for Instructors outlines the structure and content of the Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise MBA second year elective course at the Harvard Business School. The course focuses on giving students a solid grounding in the construction of... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation