Publications

15 Aug 2005
HBS Case

Classic Cases Live On at HBS

Everyone talks about how quickly business changes, yet some HBS cases remain reliably relevant decades after they are written. We take a behind-the-scenes look at five cases that are at least twenty years old, are still regularly taught... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

February 2008 (Revised September 2010)
Case

LeapFrog Enterprises

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Explores the success factors leading to the company's rise to the number three ranking in the aggressively competitive toy industry. LeapFrog has made the strategic decision to expand beyond the toy industry and enter the educational technology and services industry.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry; Education Industry

2006
Working Paper

Democratizing Entry: Banking Deregulations, Financing Constraints, and Entrepreneurship

By: William R. Kerr and Ramana Nanda

We examine entrepreneurship and creative destruction following US banking deregulations using Census Bureau data. US banking reforms brought about exceptional growth in both entrepreneurship and business closures. The vast majority of closures, however, were the new... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Market Entry and Exit; Capital Markets; Entrepreneurship; Outcome or Result; Business Startups; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; United States

Read Now

November 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Food Distribution in Russia: The Harris Group and the LUX Store

By: David E. Bell, Walter J. Salmon and Dinny Starr

Discusses the challenges facing businesses entering the Russian business environment, especially focusing on food retailing and distribution in that country. Highlights one small, entrepreneurial company, The Harris Group, which, with the help of both Russian partners... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Distribution; Partners and Partnerships; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; Russia

Find at Harvard

March 2002 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Genzyme: Engineering the Market for Orphan Drugs

Genzyme has made money with external technology in orphan drug markets generally considered to be too small to be attractive to other drug companies. Now competition is entering these same markets, placing Genzyme's business model under new pressures. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

November 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Patrimonio Hoy

By: Arthur I Segel, Michael Chu and Gustavo Herrero

Patrimonio Hoy is a program targeting the housing needs of the low-income population by CEMEX, a major Mexican company and a leading global cement producer. Originally conceived as a project to understand the customers in the self-construction segment better, a major... View Details

Keywords: Housing; Construction; Product Design; Globalized Firms and Management; Microfinance; Income; Market Entry and Exit; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Construction Industry; Mexico

09 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Got a New Strategy? Now Make it Happen

originally adopted a functional organization structure. This enabled them to exit many marginal, local businesses and focus on the opportunities that were most promising from a global perspective. It also... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer & Russell A. Eisenstat

April 1993 (Revised May 1993)
Case

Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal

By: Robert J. Dolan

The business products division has developed a business proposal asking for $50 million to fund the creation of a new telephone system for the small business market. The company's last entry into this marketplace lost $70 million. The new product would face 100... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Communication Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Product Development; Telecommunications Industry; Canada

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01 Jun 2023
News

Pet Project

Illustration by Shane Cluskey Like pet owners everywhere, Katie Spies (MBA 2019) would do anything for her dog. In 2014, when her Italian greyhound, George, started experiencing seizures and other health problems that didn’t respond to medications, the vet recommended... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade; Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores; Retail Trade

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

business model for small independents is often elusive. So when a crisis of the magnitude of the COVID-19 global pandemic forces restaurants to close, and their revenue drops to zero overnight, things get particularly dire. Unlike the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

27 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

IPO or M&A? How Venture Capital Shapes a Startup's Future

company to a larger one. In contrast, startups funded by a VC syndicate with less familiar co-investors are most likely to exit through a potentially splashy IPO that could let founders retain more control, says Harvard View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

January 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Ganeden Biotech, Inc.

By: Robert C. Pozen, Dale Alan Winger and Matthew Kenneth Ahlers

The CEO of Ganeden Biotech, a small firm with several viable probiotic products but limited resources, must decide what markets to invest in and what intellectual property strategies will best serve its immediate and longer-term business interests. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investment; Intellectual Property; Market Entry and Exit; Business Strategy; Biotechnology Industry

10 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Time to Move On? Career Advice for Entrepreneurs Preparing for the Next Stage

loud or in your mind as you let these things go. What will be different once you let them go? What do you wish to teach others? Whether your transition is related to a great exit or awesome promotion or because you feel you failed in some... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

09 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

Six Keys to Building New Markets by Unleashing Disruptive Innovation

minimills entered the rebar market, the integrated mills were happy to exit it. Their gross margins in the rebar business were a mere 7 percent, and rebar accounted for only 4 percent of the industry's... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor & Scott D. Anthony

November 1986 (Revised April 1993)
Case

Fox Broadcasting Co.

Describes an attempt by Fox Broadcasting to enter the U.S. television broadcasting industry as a fourth network. Intended to integrate the analysis of major investment decisions with business strategy. Leads to a discussion of the investment decision based on industry... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Business Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States