Publications

September 2019 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Gap, Inc., 2019

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2000, The Gap, Inc. (Gap) was the world’s largest player in specialty fashion retailing, and companies such as Inditex of Spain, H&M of Sweden, and Fast Retailing of Japan were less than a quarter of Gap’s size. But after two decades of growth, Gap’s progress... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Fashion; Multinational; Brands; Fast Fashion; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Performance Improvement; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Change Management; Strategy; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sweden; Spain; United States

January 2017
Teaching Note

The Park Hotels: Revitalizing an Iconic Indian Brand

By: Jill Avery and Chekitan S. Dev

Priya Paul, chairwoman of The Park Hotels, an award-winning portfolio of thirteen boutique hotels scattered across India, was in the midst of a brand revitalization program. Landor Associates, a leading brand consultancy, had identified three areas of concern: the... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Brand Portfolio Strategy; Brand Architecture; Brand Repositioning; Target Market; Hospitality; Hotel Industry; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Service Delivery; Travel Industry; Service Industry; India; Asia

June 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Intel 2006: Rising to the Graphics Challenge

By: Willy C. Shih and Elie Ofek

Examines the evolution of the PC hardware industry over the span of two and a half decades. The open architecture design of the IBM Personal Computer followed by the rapid appearance of clones drove a high level of standardization and modularity in the industry, and... View Details

Keywords: History; Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Technology Industry

February 2024
Case

Nuwa Capital: Investing During Uncertainty

By: Paul A. Gompers and Fares Khrais

Nuwa Capital (Nuwa) was a venture capital firm based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The business was founded in 2020 by Khaled Talhouni and his partners Sarah Abu Risheh, and Stephanie Nour Prince (they were later joined by Nitin Reen... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Decisions; Middle East; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; Dubai; Bahrain

September 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Honest Jobs: A Path to Redemption

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey Barkas

Founded by a formerly incarcerated job seeker, Honest Jobs' mission is to be the hub where people with criminal records come to build careers and employers come to find great talent. Honest Jobs faced early challenges as a two-sided platform for justice-involved job... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Recruitment; Entrepreneurial Finance; Selection and Staffing; Digital Platforms; Job Search; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Employment Industry; United States; Colorado; Ohio; Texas

10 Nov 2015
First Look

November 10, 2015

innovation, by encouraging workers to cultivate their individual strengths and to speak up when they have ideas for improvements. And they can develop and empower their employees to solve problems instead of turning automatically to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Mar 2011
First Look

First Look: March 29

unsolicited gifts will be equally appreciated. At the root of this dilemma is a difference of opinion about what purchasing an unsolicited gift signals: gift givers expect unsolicited gifts will be considered more thoughtful and considerate View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 1998
Case

Advent Israel Venture Capital Program, The

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey M. Anapolsky

Explores the decision by Advent, an international venture capital firm, to start a fund focused on Israel. Advent must decide who to hire to run the fund and how much money to raise. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Global Strategy; Recruitment; Expansion; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Israel

Find at Harvard

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

establishments outperform those owned by public firms. We highlight implications for institutional theory, managers, and policymakers. Download the paper: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1879248 The Stock Selection and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

16 Apr 2013
First Look

First Look: April 16

Publications 2006 Stanford University Press Wall Street Research: Past, Present, and Future By: Groysberg, Boris, and Paul M. Healy Abstract—Wall Street equity analysts provide research products and services on publicly traded companies... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 24

mitigate these frictions. Read the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-116.pdf Sustainable Cities: Oxymoron or the Shape of the Future? Authors:Robert G. Eccles, Annissa Alusi, Amy C. Edmondson, and Tiona Zuzul Publication:Chap. 18 in Infrastructure... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

August 2019
Case

Simón Cohen at Henco: Sustaining 'High Performance, Happy People'

By: Francesca Gino, Jeff Steiner, Arianna Camacho and Paul Green

Simón Cohen—Founder of Henco Logistics—transformed a small Mexican logistics company into a major player within the industry. Cohen credits the firm’s focus on employee happiness as the key ingredient to its success, an approach he developed following a personal... View Details

Keywords: Work/life Balance; Growth Strategy; Corporate Culture; Motivation; Values; Authentic Leadership Development; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Motivation and Incentives; Values and Beliefs; Service Operations; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Industry

28 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 28

Publications Individuals' Decision to Co-Donate or Donate Alone: An Archival Study of Married Whole Body Donors in Hawaii Authors: Michel Anteby, Filiz Garip, Paul V. Martorana, and Scott Lozanoff Publication: PLoS ONE 7, no. 8: e42673... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 7

experiment to measure the value of shareholder proxy access. We find that firms that would have been most vulnerable to proxy access, as measured by institutional ownership and activist institutional ownership in particular, lost value on... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2008
Article

Where Will We Find Tomorrow's Leaders?

By: Linda A. Hill

Unless we challenge long-held assumptions about how business leaders are supposed to act and where they're supposed to come from, many people who could become effective global leaders will remain invisible, warns Harvard Business School professor Hill. Instead of... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Globalization; Innovation Leadership; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Situation or Environment; Personal Characteristics

Find at Harvard

31 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 31, 2017

overseas, while Chinese innovations rarely made it out of China. Interestingly, growth in applications varies by IP tool, with industrial designs experiencing the most growth. Download working paper:... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

April 2023
Case

Drive Capital: A New Road for Venture

By: Paul A. Gompers and Alicia Dadlani

Founded by two former Sequoia Capital partners, Columbus-Ohio-based Drive Capital’s mission was to build a world-class venture capital firm in the middle of the U.S., an area historically overlooked by VCs. Drive faced early challenges of attracting investors, sourcing... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States; Ohio

19 Jul 2016
First Look

July 19, 2016

might be appropriate to redesign (“refactor”) a system, to reduce what has been called “architectural debt.” Unfortunately, we lack robust data by which to evaluate the relationship between architectural design choices and system... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2014
Case

WeaveTech: High Performance Change

By: Michael Beer and Paul Swiercz

WeaveTech, formerly Johnson-Ware, is a clothing company that produces jackets, coats, overalls, coveralls, and fire-resistant clothing for the military. A private equity firm renamed the company after it acquired Johnson-Ware several years ago. WeaveTech now faces a... View Details