Publications

August 2015
Case

Yesware (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Christopher Payton and Ali Huberlie

Matthew Bellows founded Yesware, a Boston-based tech startup, to solve a problem that he'd encountered as a sales manager: sales people hate entering data, rarely do it accurately, and almost always input data that can't be synthesized in a way that is useful for the... View Details

Keywords: Firing; Culture Change; Startup; Technology; Hiring; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Sales; Human Resources; Technology Industry; Boston

06 Nov 2017
Research Event

Who is Responsible for the Future of Cities?

The panel was moderated by John Macomber, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School whose work ponders how public/private partnerships can fuel urban development for the better. As a business person, he spends most of his time with... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

12 Feb 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Do Bonuses Enhance Sales Productivity? A Dynamic Structural Analysis of Bonus-Based Compensation Plans

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung, Thomas Steenburgh & K. Sudhir

November 2024
Supplement

AlphaGo (C): Birth of a New Intelligence

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai

This case, the final of a three-part series, explores DeepMind's pivotal transition from mastering games to solving real-world scientific challenges. In December 2020, DeepMind's AI system AlphaFold 2 achieved a breakthrough by solving protein folding—a 50-year-old... View Details

Keywords: Autonomy; Deep Learning; Drug Discovery; Healthcare Innovation; Neural Networks; Scientific Research; Technology Startup; AI and Machine Learning; Technological Innovation; Research and Development; Business Model; Business Strategy; Open Source Distribution; Technology Industry; United States

March 1991 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Bundling

Recent developments in the software business point to some of the reasons why companies offer their products or services in bundles. One is the opportunity to leverage market power, as Microsoft arguably has done by bundling applications software with its operating... View Details

Keywords: Software; Product Marketing; Information Technology Industry

Article

The Social Contract Model of Corporate Purpose and Responsibility

By: Nien-he Hsieh

Of the many developments in business ethics that Thomas Donaldson has helped pioneer, one is the application of social contract theory to address questions about the responsibilities of business actors. In Corporations and Morality, Donaldson develops one of the... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

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October 2016 (Revised July 2017)
Case

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra: Cultural Entrepreneurship

By: Rohit Deshpande and Annelena Lobb

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (LA Phil), under the leadership of Deborah Borda, had enjoyed great successes in the 2000s and 2010s, even as other U.S. orchestras faltered. The architecturally acclaimed Walt Disney Concert Hall had opened its doors. The... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Arts; Music Entertainment; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Los Angeles

April 1996 (Revised June 1996)
Case

City Year Enterprise

City Year, a national, nonprofit, youth-service corps, decided to diversify its funding base by seeking opportunities to gain "earned income." In 1995, the initiative, dubbed "City Year Enterprise," had already launched its first project, a collaboration with the... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Partners and Partnerships; Joint Ventures; Social Entrepreneurship; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

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02 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Where Does Apple Go From Here?

a consequence Apple continues to find pressure on its prices, which makes it harder for them to sustain a big premium over time. This is why Apple has barely generated any real profits out of its core Mac business in the last three years.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

February 2018 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Omar Simmons: Franchising and Private Equity

By: Steven Rogers and Alyssa Haywoode

Omar Simmons, managing director of a private equity fund that owns 53 Planet Fitness Health Clubs, has to choose: continue in private equity or shift his career to managing and growing the health clubs. An African-American graduate of Princeton University and Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Diversity Characteristics; Ethnicity Characteristics; Health Club Franchises; African-american Entrepreneurs; Finance; Private Equity; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Motivation and Incentives; Personal Development and Career; Franchise Ownership; Consulting Industry; Boston

April 2021 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Kitopi: The Brave New World of Cloud Kitchens

By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in February 2021 as Mohamad Ballout, co-founder and CEO of Kitopi, a Dubai-based managed cloud kitchen platform, is looking over the company’s 2020 results. Propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, delivery orders had been on the rise globally and dine-in... View Details

Keywords: Cloud Kitchens; Food; Operations; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Food and Beverage Industry; Middle East; North Africa

06 May 2015
What Do You Think?

Are You Ready for Personalized Predictive Analytics?

Summing Up Personal Predictive Analytics: Should We Be Careful What We Wish For? The world of continuous monitoring of numerous sensors for machines and humans, limitless information storage capacity, and big data combined with rapid... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Research Summary

(formerly Leonard-Barton) Creating and Exploiting Knowledge-Based Assets

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

For the past decade, Dorothy Leonard's research has focused on how companies develop and exploit strategically advantageous knowledge assets. In her 1995 book Wellsprings of Knowledge (HBS Press), she identified and described in depth, activities that create and... View Details

January 2004 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Mondavi Winery

Examines Mondavi Winery's struggle to communicate its value proposition to the market following an apparently successful IPO. The Mondavi Winery had a strong reputation for innovation in the wine industry and had undertaken an IPO to secure the funding needed to... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Initial Public Offering; Innovation and Management; Communication Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

08 Apr 2015
What Do You Think?

Are Technology Companies Ripe for Disruption?

the masters of disruption themselves providing attractive opportunities to those who would disrupt them? Clay Christensen's original concept of disruption is very simple. It concerns the successful development of products and simple... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer; Technology

June 2021 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Equity Bank: Charting the Future

By: Lauren Cohen, Michael Chitavi and Spencer C. N. Hagist

After climbing the ranks among Kenya's financial institutions from 66th to 1st, and toppling a quarter of the market share held by mobile money giant Safaricom, CEO James Mwangi must now guide Equity Bank into its next stage of development beyond "Equity 3.0." Should... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Leadership; Decision Making; Market Entry and Exit; Developing Countries and Economies; Financial Institutions; Economics; Kenya

Research Summary

Overview

By: Shikhar Ghosh

I am focused on exploring the human side of developing early stage entrepreneurial ventures. These enterprises are characterized by the pursuit of opportunity, shortage of resources to pursue their goals and uncertainty at every step of the journey. Some of the... View Details

Keywords: Scale; Exit; Founders' Agreements; Success Measures; Entrepreneurial Risk; Founding Teams; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Europe; Middle East; Asia

July 2012 (Revised August 2015)
Case

SOHO China: Design, Development, and Social Harmony

By: Arthur I Segel and Mukti Khaire

Founded in 1995 by Zhang Xin and her husband Mr. Pan Shiyi, SOHO China has developed into a world-class real estate development firm that has consistently delivered high-quality projects known for their cutting-edge designs and investment potential. Despite the... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Organizational Culture; Leasing; Design; Asset Management; Salesforce Management; Sales; Real Estate Industry; China