Publications

August 2024
Case

Zipline: Expanding the World's Largest Autonomous Drone Delivery Network

By: Tarun Khanna and George Gonzalez

Zipline initially established the world's largest logistics network in Rwanda and Ghana by delivering medical supplies to hospitals via automated drones from a centralized hub. The company is now looking to expand to the U.S. home delivery market and designed a... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Expansion; Air Transportation; Business Model; Rwanda; Ghana; United States

April 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Vale: Global Expansion in the Challenging World of Mining

By: Tarun Khanna, Aldo Musacchio and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

In 2009 the management of Vale, a Brazilian diversified mining company and the largest iron ore producer in the world, was under pressure from at least two fronts. First, the emergence of China as the most important consumer of iron ore in the last few years had... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment; Global Strategy; Risk Management; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Mining Industry; Brazil

11 Apr 2014
Blog Post

HBS in San Francisco: Get a Recap on West Coast Recruiting

of the Boston area. CPD provided all logistical support for the 93 interviews that took place on March 17th and 18th in San Francisco easing the interview process for both recruiters View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technology

04 Jan 2016
Video

HBS Operations Administrative Services

October 2012 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Whaling Ventures

By: Tom Nicholas and Jonas Peter Akins

Whaling was a prominent global industry in the nineteenth century and the United States was dominant. By 1850 there were about 900 whaling ships in the world and 700 of these were American. Rates of return on capital were high compared to benchmark investments, at... View Details

Keywords: Whaling; Organization Design; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Finance; Organizational Design; Industry Growth; History; United States

Web

Credits - Coin and Conscience – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

Arnhold and S. Bleichroeder firm made their generous gift during Mr. Carpenter's tenure, and his subsequent efforts to preserve and publicize the collection were considerable.... View Details

March 2025
Case

Hurtigruten: Sea Zero

By: Christian Kaps and Michael W. Toffel

Hurtigruten was deciding whether the next ship they built should be fully electric. But such a vessel's battery, the size of electric cars, needed to be charged on the ship's multi-day voyage along the Norwegian coast. Before making such a $250 million investment, the... View Details

Keywords: Energy Sources; Alternative Energy; Ship Transportation; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Management; Green Technology; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Shipping Industry; Shipping Industry; Shipping Industry; Shipping Industry; Shipping Industry; Norway; Europe

September 1984 (Revised February 1989)
Case

Benetton (A)

By: James L. Heskett

The world's largest manufacturer of woolen outerwear garments seeks to extend its retailing network to the United States from its base in Europe. A number of issues concerning marketing, manufacturing, and logistics strategy are raised by the proposed move along with... View Details

Keywords: Logistics; Brands and Branding; Networks; Production; Marketing Strategy; Globalization; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States; Europe

May 2024
Article

Design of Off-Grid Lighting Business Models to Serve the Poor: Field Experiments and Structural Analysis

By: Bhavani Shanker Uppari, Serguei Netessine, Ioanna Popescu and Rowan P. Clarke

A significant proportion of the world's population has no access to grid-based electricity and so relies on off-grid lighting solutions. Rechargeable lamp technology is gaining popularity as an alternative off-grid lighting model in developing countries. In this paper,... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Developing Countries and Economies; Consumer Behavior; Poverty; Logistics; Business Model; Utilities Industry

February 2022 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Ample Hills Creamery

By: Tom Eisenmann, Lindsay N. Hyde and Tom Quinn

Ample Hills Creamery started in 2010 as a temporary ice cream pushcart in Brooklyn, New York City. On the strength of inventive flavors and clever marketing, husband-and-wife founders Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna built a premium, artisanal dessert empire of 16 retail... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Business Growth and Maturation; Partners and Partnerships; Logistics; Profit; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Food and Beverage Industry

1998
Chapter

Economic Performance, Strategic Position, and Vulnerability to Ecological Pressures among U.S. Interstate Motor Carriers

By: Jack A. Nickerson and Brian S. Silverman

Keywords: Truck Transportation; Environmental Management; Competitive Strategy; Performance; Shipping Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

20 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 20

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/415032-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 115-001 Quiet Logistics (A) This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2015 (Revised July 2016)
Case

SF Express: From Delivery to E-Commerce

By: Feng Zhu and David Lane

Shunfeng Express (SF), China's leading express delivery firm, in May 2014 opened the first 500 of several thousand Heike stores, which allowed consumers to buy and try out SF's own e-commerce offerings, in addition to other services. As an example of China's... View Details

Keywords: Shunfeng Express; Heike; Express Delivery; Alibaba; Tencent; JD.com; China; O2O; Logistics; Strategy; Service Delivery; China

September 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Supplement

Anthony Soohoo: Retrospection on Dot & Bo

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Allison M. Ciechanover and George Gonzalez

The case describes the final year of the once-promising furniture e-tailer, Dot & Bo, that included a challenging fundraising market, troubles with logistics and operations, and a team tragedy. The founder looks back at the experience and shares his learnings about... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Furnishing; Leadership; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Failure; Learning; E-commerce; United States

August 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Fate of the Vasa, The

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Richard Mason

In 1628, the royal warship Vasa was launched. It was Sweden's most expensive naval vessel ever built, costing over 5% of GNP. On its maiden voyage, the ship sailed 1,400 yards in its own harbor, heeled over to the side, and then sank. One third of the 150 crew and... View Details

Keywords: History; Risk and Uncertainty; Technological Innovation; Ship Transportation; Product Design; Technology Adoption; Failure; Business and Government Relations; Product Development; Sweden

23 Apr 2021
News

Expect high product prices amid pandemic, trade disruptions

November 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Uber: Changing the Way the World Moves

By: Youngme Moon

In 2015, Uber is building what may be the largest point-to-point transportation network of its kind; it is literally changing the way the world moves. But unlike traditional transportation logistics companies like FedEx, Uber has an incredibly lightweight... View Details

Keywords: Service; Innovation; Pricing; Customer Loyalty; Uber; Taxi; Sharing Economy; On-demand Economy; Marketing; Operations; Strategy; Disruption; Customer Satisfaction; Transportation; Consumer Behavior