Publications

May 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Lowe's: Improving the Total Home Strategy

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Alicia Dadlani

In 2023, Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe’s, contemplated enhancements to the company’s Total Home Strategy to accelerate performance and grow market share. In the last five years since becoming CEO, Ellison had championed a turnaround of the company, completing a... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Competition; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; United States; North Carolina

January 2002 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Space Data Corporation

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Jay Wynn

Space Data Corp. plans to partner with the U.S. National Weather Service to place transceivers on weather balloons and thereby create a national mobile communications network. The company is in the late development stages and is planning to launch a regional test that... View Details

Keywords: Wireless Technology; Business Startups; Business Processes; Adaptation; Partners and Partnerships; Opportunities; Telecommunications Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States

26 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 26

workforce is not a quick fix to control costs or improve the quality of care. A poorly planned redesign can even result in increased costs and decreased quality. Changes in skill mix and role definitions should be preceded by a detailed... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2014
Case

Netflix: Designing the Netflix Prize (A)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Wesley M. Cohen, Kynon Ingram, Tushar Kothalkar, Maxim Kuzemchenko, Santosh Malik, Cynthia Meyn, Greta Friar and Stephanie Healy Pokrywa

In 2006, Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, was looking for a way to solve Netflix's customer churn problem. Netflix used Cinematch, its proprietary movie recommendation software, to promote individually determined best-fit movies to customers. Hastings determined that a... View Details

Keywords: Crowdsourcing; Prizes; Digitization; Algorithms; Recommendation Software; Disruption; Transformation; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Sharing; Applications and Software; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States

January 2021 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Snapp: Scaling Under Sanctions in Iran (A)

By: Meg Rithmire and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in November 2019 as Eyad Alkassar and Mahmoud Fouz, co-founders of Iran’s first and leading ride-hailing platform, Snapp, find out about Apple’s and Google’s decisions to remove all Iranian apps from their respective application stores.
The case... View Details

Keywords: Sanctions; Change Management; Disruption; Volatility; Decision Choices and Conditions; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Government and Politics; International Relations; National Security; Risk Management; Crisis Management; Transportation Industry; Iran; Middle East

November 2018
Case

Attijariwafa Bank: Egypt Expansion

By: Victoria Ivashina and Alpana Thapar

This case follows Attijariwafa Bank, a leading Morocco-based commercial bank, giving insight into its risk management practices and its international expansion over time. In particular, the case focuses on its planned acquisition of Barclays Bank Egypt in 2017. At this... View Details

Keywords: Commercial Banking; Risk Management; Small And Medium Enterprises; Acquisitions; International Expansion; Emerging Markets; Africa; SMEs

26 Mar 2020
Blog Post

The Road Untraveled: VC Perspectives on COVID-19

African-American investors across the country. After school, he plans to continue working in the VC industry, partnering with incredible founders to build leading technology platforms of the future. We... View Details

June 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Reversing the AMD Fusion Launch

By: Elie Ofek and Ryan Johnson

AMD management needs to make a critical decision on the launch sequence of its next-generation technology called Fusion. The Fusion processor concept merges the central and graphics processing units (CPU and GPU) onto one chip-- yielding advantages in performance... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Performance Effectiveness; Strategic Planning; Competition; Value Creation; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

September 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Walnut Venture Associates (A): RBS Group Investment Memorandum

The Walnut Group's investigation of the RBS Group, a young software company is described. The RBS business plan is also included. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business Plan; Research; Software; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry

June 2025
Teaching Plan

SWEN Blue Ocean: Impact Investing Goes to Sea

By: Vikram S Gandhi and David Allen

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 325-013 View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Green Technology; Finance; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment; Investment Funds; Science-Based Business; Financial Services Industry; France; Paris; Italy

05 Aug 2015
What Do You Think?

What Happened to the ‘Innovation, Disruption, Technology’ Dividend?

technology is being diverted to the creation of more variations on basic ideas faster instead of “an economy based on new products/platforms/ideas.” Donald Shaw cited “problems in finding qualified people to hire.” He also said that,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology; Technology

16 Jan 2024
Cold Call Podcast

How SolarWinds Responded to the 2020 SUNBURST Cyberattack

Keywords: Information Technology

May 2020 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Amy Klopfenstein and Amram Migdal

In November 2019, Sandra Richter, co-founder and CEO of Soofa, a network of advertising-supported digital bulletin boards, must decide between two different fundraising and expansion plans for her company. One plan entails raising $15 million in a Series A round and... View Details

April 2022
Case

NIO: A Chinese EV Company's Global Strategy

By: William C. Kirby, Shu Lin and Noah B. Truwit

Founded in November 2014 and based in Shanghai, NIO designed, jointly manufactured, and sold premium “smart” EVs. Its mission was to “shape a joyful lifestyle by offering high-performance smart electric vehicles and being the best user enterprise. At NIO Day 2021,... View Details

Keywords: Electric Vehicles; Expansion; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Green Technology; Auto Industry; China; Europe; Norway

August 2022 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Pricing at Netflix: The Sequel

By: Elie Ofek and Amy Klopfenstein

This case continues the themes discussed in "Pricing at Netflix" (Case 521-004). Following the conclusion of the original case, Netflix developed new, high-profile original content, added millions of subscribers, and introduced another price increase in January 2022.... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Advertising; Marketing Strategy; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Finance; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Business Strategy; Adaptation; Internet and the Web; Customers; Customer Satisfaction; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Advertising Industry; North and Central America; United States

February 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Extend Fertility: Conceiving the Market for Egg Preservation (A)

By: Debora L. Spar and Olivia Hull

In April 2003, entrepreneur and MBA student Christy Jones was planning a new venture to help women preserve their fertility. Her company, Extend Fertility, would commercialize a technique known as egg freezing, in which a woman’s eggs were extracted and stored at low... View Details

Keywords: Assisted Reproduction; Entrepreneur; Health And Wellness; Fertility; Infertility; Women's Health; Creating Markets; Egg Freezing; Fertility Clinic; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Marketing Strategy