Publications

Carl Kester is a Baker Foundation Professor and the George Fisher Baker Jr. Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus at Harvard Business School. He is a member of the Finance Unit. He served as Deputy Dean for Academic Affairs (2006-2010), Chairman of the... View Details

Keywords: asset management; banking; education industry; financial services; investment banking industry; pharmaceuticals; private equity (LBO funds)

January 2013 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Pittsburgh

By: Eric Werker, Meg Rithmire, Benjamin Kennedy and Andrew Knauer

The case narrates the development of Pittsburgh from the 1940s to 2012. It analyzes the collapse of the steel industry in the early 1980s, the city's subsequent decline, and the city's later re-emergence as a hub for higher education, the tech sector, and the... View Details

November 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Praava Health: A New Model for Bangladesh

By: Michael Chu

Launched in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2018, Praava Health (‘Praava’) delivered high-quality in-clinic primary and specialist care, backed by its own high quality diagnostic laboratories, imaging and pharmacy. Praava was founder Sylvana Sinha’s response to what she saw as a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Investment Return; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Bangladesh; Asia

2006
Book

Science Business: The Promise, the Reality, and the Future of Biotech

By: Gary P. Pisano

Why has the biotechnology industry failed to perform up to expectations—despite all its promise? In Science Business, Gary P. Pisano answers this question by providing an incisive critique of the industry. Pisano not only reveals the underlying causes of... View Details

Keywords: Science; Business Ventures; Biotechnology Industry

24 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

How Cost Accounting is Improving Healthcare in Rural Haiti

Medical records at a healthcare clinic in Lascahobas, Haiti. Ryan McBain A few years ago, the Boston-based nonprofit health care organization Partners in Health (PIH) set out to quantify the cost of primary... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

September – October 2008
Article

Care Platforms: A Basic Building Block for Care Delivery

By: Richard Bohmer and David Lawrence

Without significant operational reform within the nation's health care delivery organizations, new financing models, payment systems, or structures are unlikely to realize their promise. Adapting insights from high-performing companies in other high-risk, high-cost,... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Systems; Standards; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Business Processes; Organizational Design; Customization and Personalization; Health Industry

July 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

The DivaCup: Navigating Distribution and Growth

By: Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-055. When the mother-daughter founders of DivaCup set out with a mission to disrupt the menstrual care industry with an innovative product form, they initially struggled to gain legitimacy and convince retailers to carry their unique... View Details

March 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

The DivaCup: Navigating Distribution and Growth

By: Ayelet Israeli

When the mother-daughter founders of DivaCup set out with a mission to disrupt the menstrual care industry with an innovative product form, they initially struggled to gain legitimacy and convince retailers to carry their unique product. Fifteen years later, the... View Details

May 2025
Case

Humana Commits to Value-Based Care

By: V.G. Narayanan, Henry Eyring and David Lane

In late 2023, CEO Bruce Broussard reviewed health insurer Humana’s transformation into a value-based care ecosystem. Under its CenterWell brand, the several millions of members in Humana Medicare Advantage plans now had access to Humana-provided primary care, home... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Units; Financing and Loans; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Health Industry; United States

January 2018 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Big Apple Circus: Time to Fold the Tent?

By: David G. Fubini and Matthew Wiger

By 2016, the Big Apple Circus has weathered many storms in its 38 seasons as one of the most well-known New York City nonprofits. Will Weiss, the executive director, has witnessed his share of chaos during four years at Big Apple. After a slight resurgence following... View Details

Keywords: Turnarounds; Bankruptcy; ＂Live Entertainment; Art; Crisis Management; Financial Crisis; Organizational Culture; Entertainment; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Article

Managing Healthcare Costs and Value

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Michael E. Porter and Mark L. Frigo

Rising health care costs are a major global challenge. A number of factors contribute to this trend, including aging populations and medical technology. But an underlying and misunderstood source of health care’s escalating costs has been the inability of health care... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Cost Management; Cost Accounting; Health Industry

Read Now

12 Apr 2021
News

Healthier by Design

November 2023
Case

The Commons Project in Rwanda—Building Digital Infrastructure for the Global Public Good

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Tom Quinn

In September 2022, The Commons Project Foundation (TCP) CEO Zhenya Lindgardt and her team met on a Zoom call to discuss building tools to help Rwandans manage their health data. They believed that helping Africa build digital infrastructure would improve much-needed... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Capital; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Health Care and Treatment; Information Management; Adaptation; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology Industry; Rwanda; United States

January 1983 (Revised February 1988)
Case

Hospital Corp. of America (B)

By: W. Carl Kester

Focuses on HCAs financing options for reaching its target capital structure. The options include new equity conversion of convertible debentures, a debt-for-equity swap, the sale of assets, and fixed-rate debt. Students must address the problem of market timing and... View Details

Keywords: Assets; Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Equity; Debt Securities; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Health Industry; United States

March 2017
Case

PharmAccess and the M-TIBA Platform: Leveraging Digital Technology in the Developing World

By: Kevin Schulman, Sashidaran Moodley and Anant Vasudevan

PharmAccess is an Amsterdam-based NGO working to support the development of the private health care market in Africa. This work is critical as over 50% of care is delivered through the private sector, but well-intentioned efforts to address global health through the... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Online Technology; Health Industry; Africa; Kenya

February 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

SoulCycle: The Road Ahead

By: Ashish Nanda, Eric Van den Steen and Jeffrey Boyar

Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler founded SoulCycle, an indoor cycling studio chain, in 2006 as more than a health club; they wanted it to become a lifestyle brand that would “empower riders in an immersive fitness experience.” By early 2015, SoulCycle had grown to 38... View Details

Keywords: Fitness; Fitness Industry; Exercise; Cycling; Boutique Fitness; Exit Strategy; Growth; Bicycles; Retail; Pricing; Community; SoulCycle; Vision; Health; Leadership; Strategy; Marketing; Decision Making; Health Industry; United States

May 11, 2017
Article

Good Riddance to Big Insurance Mergers

By: Leemore S. Dafny

Federal judges issued preliminary injunctions halting mergers of four of the five largest U.S. health insurers. These decisions provide more precedent to support challenges of mergers between competitors in health care markets—whether payers or providers. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Health Industry

January 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

ZappRx

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Olivia Hull

In October 2015, ZappRx founder Zoe Barry is deciding between two business models for her health technology start-up. Her product, a software application that aims to expedite the prescription fulfillment process for patients with rare diseases, has attracted interest... View Details

Keywords: Speciality Drugs; Hub Services; Pivot; Speciality Prescriptions; Health Care and Treatment; Customization and Personalization; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry; Massachusetts

August 2003 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Old Tex College

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ray Herschman

Requires student to choose among the following health insurance options for employers: number of plans offered, managed care and consumer-driven options, and self-funding vs. full insurance. Teaching purpose: To Understand the design of health insurance. Includes color... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Employees