Publications

02 Feb 2007
What Do You Think?

Is There Too Little “Know Why” In Business?

Summing Up The central debate among respondents to this month's column was joined early when the first respondent, Aaron Tice, commented, "Without the execution of business objectives in the pursuit of... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

10 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID's Surprising Toll on Careers of Women Scientists

timed experiments—like biological and chemical fields—research time slid 30 to 40 percent. Overall, 55 percent of the respondents reported a decline in total work hours, 27 percent indicated no change, and... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Pharmaceutical; Biotechnology; Health

15 Aug 2005
HBS Case

Classic Cases Live On at HBS

David Godes now teaches Sealed Air in the second-year elective Business Marketing. Says Godes, "There are so many different layers to this case but, in particular, it captures two important concepts: reaction View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

July 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Launching Telmore (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Celso Fernandez and Moritz Jobke

When the Danish mobile phone service provider Telmore entered the market in October 2000, few people took notice. Its business model was not perceived as particularly aggressive or threatening to the industry. Less than three years later, Telmore's creative adaptation... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Creativity; Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Telecommunications Industry; Denmark

21 Nov 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, November 21, 2017

could develop new capabilities to sustain its growth miracle and entry into new technologies, expansion into B2B businesses, and internationalization. Purchase this case:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

10 Mar 2021
Blog Post

COVID Killed the Traditional Workplace

a function of changes in the way many workers—especially those possessed of the skills most in demand—view their relationship with employers. In responding to COVID, employers publicly and unambiguously... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

15 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Rethinking E-Leadership

attentive to how the different generations in your firm are motivated. Develop dynamic reward systems that respond to the changing needs of your workforce. But spend most of... View Details

Keywords: by Melissa Raffoni

12 Apr 2011
First Look

First Look: April 12

limitations of governance and information-intermediation institutions worldwide, should IFRS limit the use of fair-value accounting? How should the IASB respond to the growing power of emerging markets such... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2021 (Revised February 2025)
Teaching Note

Afterpay U.S.: The Omnichannel Dilemma

By: Antonio Moreno and Anibha Singh

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-086. In 2018, Nick Molnar, the founder of the Australia-based online payment service Afterpay began its expansion to the U.S. market. The service had gained a loyal following in Australia by enabling customers to pay for online... View Details

05 Apr 2004
What Do You Think?

Should We Brace Ourselves for Another Era of M&A Value Destruction?

Summing Up In the end, M&A is about buying more volume. It is a flawed process, invented by brokers, lawyers, and super-sized, ego-based CEOs." With this comment, Ellis Baxter summed up the thinking of the majority of those View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Supplement

Bally Total Fitness (B): The Fall, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness clubs to 24 Hour Fitness in 2014 and disappeared from the industry top 100 rankings. After Bally was bedeviled by accounting... View Details

October 2022
Supplement

The SAH Group: The Time is Right, Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019, it expanded... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Decisions; Growth Management; Vertical Integration; Distribution; Competition; Strategy; Supply Chain; Presentations; Market Entry and Exit; Product Positioning; Consumer Products Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Health Industry; Tunisia

August 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

1928 Diagnostics: Fighting Antibiotics Resistance

By: Ariel D. Stern and Daniela Beyersdorfer

In 2019, the co-founders of the Swedish medical start-up 1928 Diagnostics, CEO Dr. Kristina Lagerstedt and COO Dr. Susanne Staaf, had to pick the right business model to commercialize their novel technology to hospitals and health care providers. Developed in... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Science-Based Business; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Information Technology; Digital Platforms; Health Disorders; Market Entry and Exit; Value Creation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Technology Industry; Europe; Sweden

31 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

One Quarter of Entrepreneurs in the United States Are Immigrants

databases are used worldwide to study entry and firm dynamics, but payroll information does not contain ownership structures. As such, they followed a practice used in other settings View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

06 Aug 2024
Op-Ed

What the World Could Learn from America's Immigration Backlash—100 Years Ago

Party in Massachusetts. 1860s and 1870s: Opposition to Chinese immigrants in the US culminated in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned the entry and the re-entry of Chinese immigrants for more than... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Tabellini

06 May 2002
Research & Ideas

A Toolkit for Customer Innovation

"Listen carefully to what your customers want and then respond with new products that meet or exceed their needs." That mantra has dominated many a business, and it has undoubtedly led View Details

Keywords: by Stefan Thomke & Eric Von Hippel

November 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Digital Angel

By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman

Digital Angel is considering the appropriate marketing plan for the launch of its new locator device. The device, a watch and pager worn in combination, provides GPS location information and monitors heart rate and body temperature via body sensors. Parents of young... View Details

Keywords: Information; Safety; Rights; Market Entry and Exit; Ethics; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Product Development