Publications

July 2023 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Revenue Recognition at Stride Funding: Making Sense of Revenues for a Fintech Startup

By: Paul M. Healy and Jung Koo Kang

The case explores the challenges of revenue recognition and financial reporting for Stride Funding (Stride), a fintech startup that has disrupted the student loan market. Stride leveraged proprietary machine learning and financial models to underwrite alternative... View Details

Keywords: Revenue Recognition; Financial Reporting; Entrepreneurial Finance; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Governance Compliance; Accrual Accounting; Financial Services Industry; United States

September 1993
Case

Rhone-Poulenc (A)

Rhone-Poulenc, France's largest chemical firm, with revenues of more than $7 billion in 1985, seeks to dramatically expand its presence in the United States. From 1986 to 1990, Rhone-Poulenc undertakes 18 separate acquisitions, ranging from small entrepreneurial firms... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Globalized Firms and Management; Acquisition; Chemical Industry; France

Rohit Deshpandé is a Baker Foundation Professor and Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing, Emeritus at Harvard Business School, where he has been teaching in the Advanced Management Program,... View Details

Keywords: advertising; agribusiness; airline; banking; beauty products; beverage; financial services; home video games; marketing industry; pharmaceuticals; telecommunications; tourism; video games

June 2016 (Revised November 2021)
Case

chotuKool: 'Little Cool,' Big Opportunity

By: Rory McDonald, Derek van Bever and Efosa Ojomo

In 2013, a team led by Gopalan Sunderraman, vice president of corporate development at Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.—one of the companies owned by Godrej Group, a large Indian conglomerate—was preparing to launch an innovative low-cost refrigerator. Developed expressly... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; India

November 2003
Case

Procter & Gamble 2000 (A): The SpinBrush and Innovation at P&G

By: William A. Sahlman and Ryland Matthew Willis

Describes a set of decisions confronting some managers in the oral care division of Procter & Gamble. They must decide whether to buy a company that has developed an inexpensive, battery-operated toothbrush. The company's product has done well in one market, but... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Innovation and Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Mergers and Acquisitions; Product Launch; Corporate Finance; Retail Industry

31 Oct 2007
HBS Case

Climate Change Puts Heat on GMs

What is the responsibility of business regarding social issues? And how does that jibe with maximizing profits? In "UBS and Climate Change—Warming Up to Global Action?" Associate Professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Professor Forest Reinhardt present the... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Utilities

11 Jun 2018
Research & Ideas

Why South Korea's Samsung Built the Only Outdoor Skating Rink in Texas

Kikovic Each year, the small northeast Texas town of Marshall pulls out all of the stops for its annual Wonderland of Lights festival. And for years, South Korean electronics company Samsung also worked hard... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Legal Services

March 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

SCORE! Educational Centers (A)

Describes the start-up, strategy, organizational design, and operations of SCORE! Educational Centers, an after-school tutoring enterprise. Alan Tripp, founder and CEO, is faced with growing organizational stresses and a looming venture capital deadline. Examines... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Management Style; Leadership; Organizational Design; Teaching; Entrepreneurship; Education Industry; United States

February 2011 (Revised December 2022)
Supplement

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah Abbott

One of the leading publishers of textbooks and other educational materials for the U.S. K-12 educational instruction market has suffered a dramatic decline in sales and profits in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial market crisis and economic recession, and it now... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Decisions; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Borrowing and Debt; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Profit; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Sales; Competition; Publishing Industry; United States

16 May 2018
News

Spotify's 'Hateful Conduct' Policy Drags The Music Industry Into The #MeToo Moment

12 May 2020
Research & Ideas

It’s Time To Relaunch Your Remote Team

COVID-19 has made virtual work the new normal. In a few short weeks, meeting tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, and Slack have gone from a useful supplement to the primary enablers for daily interactions with co-workers. Workspaces have transferred from... View Details

Keywords: by Tsedal Neeley

September 1999
Case

Sally Jameson - 1999

By: George C. Chacko, Henry B. Reiling, Peter Tufano and Matthew Bailey

Sally Jameson has a large block of appreciated stock, which she is contemplating selling to purchase a home. She is comparing an outright sale, borrowing against the stock, shorting against the box, and a stock loan proposed by a small financial services firm. View Details

Keywords: Asset Pricing; Asset Management; Financial Liquidity; Stocks; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

October 1999 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Buckman Laboratories (A)

Explores the implementation of a cutting-edge knowledge management system in a midsize, specialty chemical company. The initiative, begun in the early 1990s, has received several awards for its efforts. In early 1999, the company is experiencing severe price pressures... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Trust; Knowledge Management; Chemical Industry

February 2020 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Catalant's Operating System for the Future of Work

By: Christopher Stanton, William R. Kerr, James Palano and Kendall Smith

This case touches on the topics of project-based work, agile methodology, and skill and talent management through Catalant's evolution as a company. Catalant’s journey to becoming a software platform and talent marketplace provides context for students to explore new... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Talent and Talent Management; Business Model; Transformation

13 Dec 2019
Blog Post

All Is Well in Texas: How Julia Cheek Founded Her At-Home Lab Testing Startup, EverlyWell

HBS founded companies including Gilt Group and Birchbox. Julia had gone to Vanderbilt, where she majored in Economics and Psychology. When she started at HBS, she thought she would pursue a traditional corporate path, perhaps in brand... View Details

17 May 2022
News

Robert F. Lanzillotti Prize for Assistant Professor Alex MacKay

May 2003
Case

Sun Hydraulics: Leading in Tough Times (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Jennifer Suesse

Sun Hydraulics, 32-year-old global hydraulics engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Sarasota, Florida; confronts tough choices due to the economic downturn in 2001. The company leadership debates how to maintain profitability and reduce labor costs... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Mission and Purpose; Financial Crisis; Crisis Management; Manufacturing Industry; Florida

29 Jun 2011
News

Reach for the next big thing, or die trying

May 1998 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Komatsu and Dresser: Putting Two Plus Two Together

By: Ashish Nanda

In 1987, Komatsu Ltd., looking to expand its presence in the U.S. earth-moving equipment (EME) industry, enters into a 50-50 joint venture with Dresser. The management of the Komatsu Dresser joint venture faces difficulty in bringing the two halves together. The rift... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Machinery and Machining; Restructuring; Joint Ventures; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; United States