Publications

Research Summary

Innovating in Energy: Learning from High-Potential Ventures

By: Joseph B. Lassiter

My work at HBS has always focused on high-potential ventures. Most recently, these have been professionally financed start-ups and buyouts in newly emerging energy and cleantech businesses. These ventures tend to be based on innovative insights into technology and... View Details

December 2024
Case

AC Milan

By: Anita Elberse

In April 2024, Giorgio Furlani is nearing the end of his first full season as chief executive officer of Italian soccer club AC Milan. A Harvard Business School Class of 2007 graduate with a finance background, Furlani was appointed by RedBird Capital Partners’ founder... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Soccer; Football; Entertainment; Media; Talent Management; Superstars; Marketing; Strategy; General Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Leadership; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Business or Company Management; Sports Industry; Milan

March 2017
Case

Swagbucks

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

In early 2016, Chuck Davis, chairman and CEO of Prodege LLC, parent company of the brand promotion business Swagbucks, and Josef Gorowitz, Prodege’s founder and president, must decide whether to acquire MyPoints, a competitor to Swagbucks, after the company’s... View Details

12 Jul 2016
First Look

July 12, 2016

forecasts as an input into the government budgeting-making process would probably reduce official forecast errors for budget deficits. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51324 College Tuition, Public View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

Quantifying the Economic Impact of the Internet

hours a month on the Internet. A conservative valuation of this time is an estimated $680 billion. The advertising-supported Internet also helps the economy by fostering innovation, entrepreneurship, and productivity, particularly among View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Advertising; Publishing

May 2016 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group

By: William C. Kirby and Nancy Hua Dai

This case describes the megafarm model launched by the CP group as part of their efforts to ensure the safety and quality of their supply chain of agricultural products (particularly, eggs) in China while also promoting the welfare of Chinese farmers. This model was... View Details

Keywords: China; Poultry; Public-private Partnership; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Family Business; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China

September 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Anthony Soohoo at Dot & Bo: Bringing Storytelling to Furniture E-Commerce

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Allison M. Ciechanover and George Gonzalez

The case provides students an opportunity to examine the founding of an e-commerce startup that used storytelling and compelling images to sell furniture and home accessories to millennials. The case describes the rapid sales growth the company experienced, as well as... View Details

Keywords: E-commerce; Startups; Furnishing; Leadership; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Failure; United States

26 May 2023
Blog Post

Bringing Space Tech Back to Earth

Sciences (SEAS) and Harvard Business School, will soon head to SpaceX, where she’ll work in the direct-to-cell connectivity department. Along with enabling normal cell phone features such as text messaging and phone calls, that technology... View Details

2014
Teaching Note

Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant: Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Culture (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Weiku Wu and Jia Guo

Meizhou Dongpo is a large catering group in China. On June 6, 1996, the first Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant was opened in Beijing. The enterprise entered the stage of rapid development in 2000, and set up Beijing Meizhou Restaurant Management Co., Ltd. In June 2003 the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Leadership; National Culture; China; Restaurants; China

30 Aug 2018
Blog Post

My Difficult Decision to Leave Google for HBS

can mean a lot of things, but which I came to define as very sharp, very passionate, and very kind. Both before and during my time at Google, I had casually considered an MBA. I was a few more years into my career than most MBA applicants, so many of my Google peers... View Details

24 Oct 2016
News

Apple Has Designs on Stifling Innovation

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Bankers, Industrialists, and Their Cliques: Elite Networks in Mexico and Brazil During Early Industrialization

Keywords: by Aldo Musacchio & Ian Read; Banking

October 1998 (Revised May 2001)
Case

Preview Travel (A)

By: William A. Sahlman, Nicole Tempest, Daniel H Case III and Robert Keller

Preview Travel was a leader in the online travel industry, having generated $80 million in bookings in 1997 and growing at a 34% compound annual growth rate per quarter. This case describes the evolution of Preview Travel's business plan and financing strategy and... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Business Model; Initial Public Offering; Valuation; Internet and the Web; Business Plan; Capital; Financial Strategy; Travel Industry; United States

August 2010 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Rupert Murdoch: The Last Tycoon

By: Geoffrey Jones and Hari Balkrishna

The case examines the entrepreneurial career of Rupert Murdoch and the growth of News Corporation from a small Australian newspaper to a global media giant. It shows how he expanded geographically to Europe, the United States, and Asia and from newspapers to the film... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Media; Globalized Firms and Management; Business History; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; Journalism and News Industry; Europe; United States; Australia

12 Sep 2016
Blog Post

An Interview with Corporate Relations Director, Jonathan Shepherd

What did you do before coming to HBS? I was lucky enough to have literally stumbled upon my HBS job after spending the prior part of my career working exclusively in finance roles. Before HBS, I worked in investment banking, asset... View Details

April 1994 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Mrs. Fields, Inc. (1977 - 1987)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Keri O. Pearlson

Describes a small company selling freshly baked goods through privately owned specialty stores (each store sells only Mrs. Fields products). The company has about 8,000 employees worldwide and less than 150 information systems people for a unique leverage of MIS... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Organizations; Management Systems; Business Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

July 2001 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Medicines Company, The

By: John T. Gourville

It is early 2001 and the Medicines Co. just received FDA approval to market Angiomax, a blood thinner to be used during angioplasties and heart procedures. It is intended to be a better alternative to Heparin, an 80-year-old drug that costs less then $10 per dose. The... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost Management; Price; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry