Publications

March 1996 (Revised August 1996)
Case

Open Market, Inc.: Managing in a Turbulent Environment

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Janis Lee Gogan

Presents the story of Open Market, Inc., one of numerous companies formed in 1994 to engage in electronic commerce over the Internet. This case examines the company's development--its business strategy and organization evolution--as the company increased in size and... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Growth and Development; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizations; Web Services Industry

01 Mar 2016
News

HBS Fund Helps Fuel Faculty Research and New Learning Experiences

the student had interviewed industry leaders to better understand the barriers to growth that Indian private equity firms face — his analysis echoing findings from Sadun’s own research. “It built on... View Details

22 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 22

Glaeser, William R. Kerr, and Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto Publication:Journal of Urban Economics (forthcoming) Abstract Employment growth is strongly predicted by smaller average establishment size, both across cities and across View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Strategic Review at Egon Zehnder International (A)

By: Ashish Nanda

The case describes the history of the executive search firm Egon Zehnder International (EZI) from its inception through 2000. Internal and environmental changes lead EZI leaders to question whether the firm might be at an inflection point in its history. The EZI... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Service Industry

October 1978 (Revised July 1991)
Case

U.S. Pioneer Electronics Corp.

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi

Focuses on the problem of the means by which a manufacturer controls its channel of distribution. U.S. Pioneer's retail outlets have turned "dissident" and management has to decide what tactics to employ to stop further erosion (short-run) and what long-run... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Growth and Development Strategy; Distribution Channels; Production; Problems and Challenges; Software; Electronics Industry; United States

December 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Husk Power: Scaling the Venture

By: Benjamin N. Roth, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Natalia Rigol

In January 2018, Manoj Sinha—founder and CEO of Husk Power—was contemplating raising $20 million to scale operations for a second time. From 2007 through 2013, Husk built 80 biomass waste plants that provided electricity to 250,000 villagers and shop owners spread... View Details

Keywords: Scaling; Energy; Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Energy Industry; India

Article

Survive Another Day: Using Changes in the Composition of Investments to Measure the Cost of Credit Constraints

By: Luis Garicano and Claudia Steinwender

We introduce a novel empirical strategy to measure the size of credit shocks. Theoretically, we show that credit shocks reduce the value of long-term relative to short-term investments. Empirically, we can therefore compare the reduction of long-term relative to... View Details

Keywords: Credit Constraints; Credit Crunch; Spain; Investment Behavior; Credit Squeeze; Financial Crisis; Economic Growth; Investment; Credit; Manufacturing Industry; Spain; European Union

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Web

Supplemental Financial Information - Financial Report 2015

space. Dining, project, and gathering space for Executive Education participants remained constrained, however, as construction of the Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Center continued. The Executive Education group successfully managed this challenge and delivered... View Details

September 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Panda Management Company, Inc.

Panda Management Co. is the largest Chinese restaurant chain in the United States. At the time of the case, Panda is facing multiple problems in operations, mostly stemming from rapid growth, and must choose a path for expansion. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Service Operations; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

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06 Aug 2018
Research & Ideas

Supersmart Manufacturing Tools are Lowering Prices on TVs, Bulbs, and Solar Panels

who they can convince to enter the business. So, the capability to make that complex tool-dependent product becomes accessible to everybody who has the money. Many such cases have been worsened by government subsidies designed to encourage manufacturing View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing; Electronics

26 Apr 2016
First Look

April 26

taken by Kenny starting in 2014 as he sought to reorient the company amidst changes in media, digital, and mobile technologies. Kenny balances promoting new stream digital business growth with managing difficult legacy television View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Dec 2013
What Do You Think?

Is Walmart Defying Economic Gravity?

Original Article There is a body of research that seeks to relate economics to human biology. It's usually associated with the notion that the life cycles of businesses parallel stages of biological life: birth, rapid growth, maturity, and death. Companies are... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail

Edward G. Jefferson

requirements. Though deemed expensive at the time ($7.3 billion), the Conoco acquisition was instrumental in securing duPont’s growth and positioning the company for the future. View Details

Keywords: Chemicals & Industrial

September 2000 (Revised March 2006)
Case

ZOOTS--The Cleaner Cleaner

By: Myra M. Hart and Sharon Peyus

A successful entrepreneur (retailing) starts a new venture in dry cleaning. The case focuses on transferable models, skills, and knowledge from one venture to the next. Areas of emphasis are: managing growth, challenges of operations, financing, and competitive moves. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Competitive Strategy; Operations; Knowledge Dissemination; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; Service Industry; Service Industry