Publications

September 2006 (Revised February 2010)
Supplement

Airbus vs. Boeing (E): 2001

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Erich Alexander Voigt and Jordan Mitchell

Keywords: Business Model; Air Transportation Industry

September 2006 (Revised February 2010)
Supplement

Airbus vs. Boeing (D): 2000

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Erich Alexander Voigt and Jordan Mitchell

Keywords: Business Model; Air Transportation Industry

2020
Working Paper

Building the Professional Firm: McKinsey & Co.: 1939-1968

By: Amar Bhidé

This case history analyzes how the founders of McKinsey & Co. built one of the world's leading management consulting firms by developing a “system” of professional norms, approach to serving clients, personnel policies, organization, governance, and ownership. The... View Details

Keywords: McKinsey ＆ Co.; Company History; Professional Norms; Vision; Organizations; Business History; Business Model; Strategy; Consulting Industry

SSRN

Read Now

01 Dec 2020
News

The Camel and the Unicorn

what Alex calls the “camel approach”—a sort of counter to the Silicon Valley unicorn model. Lazarow: It is this notion of building sustainability and resilience into the business model from day one. Of... View Details

October 1998
Case

Conduit Communications

By: William A. Sahlman and Jon Biotti

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; United Kingdom

Find at Harvard

January 2009 (Revised June 2009)
Case

KenCall - Can Nik Nesbitt's Venture Succeed in Kenya?

Nik Nesbitt is preparing a presentation of his Kenyan contact center startup to a group of angel investors visiting for the first time. The task has given him cause for some soul searching: has it been worth it to battle the impoverished infrastructure and... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Kenya

January 2003 (Revised April 2003)
Case

KIPP National, 1999 (A): Designing a School Network

Covers the origin, evolution, and nature of the KIPP Academies, two high-performing public middle schools founded in 1995 by Michael Feinberg and David Levin in Houston and New York. In January 2000, Feinberg and Levin meet with Scott Hamilton, managing director of the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Middle School Education; Expansion; Education Industry; Houston

01 Dec 2015
News

Research Brief: What Makes a Mobile Money Service Thrive in an Emerging Market?

Sachdev (MBA 2013) found that the companies that thrived shared five common traits. In a recent working paper, Lal and Sachdev lay out these best practices, which include an open and flexible regulatory structure, business View Details

Keywords: Erin Peterson

November 2014
Teaching Note

Carl Zeiss and Free-Form Production: Can We See Clearly Yet?

By: Willy Shih

Keywords: Free-form; Business Model; Disruption

February 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Supplement

Omar Selim: Building a Values-Based Asset Management Firm (B)

By: George Serafeim, Rebecca Henderson and Shannon Gombos

The case describes the decision of Omar Selim to set up Arabesque as an independent organization and how he organized Arabesque to use both financial and environmental, social and governance (ESG) data in order to deliver performance for its clients. View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Investing; Investment Management; ESG; Sustainability; Investment Banking; Leadership; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Leadership Style; Business Model; Asset Management; Business Startups; Social Enterprise

19 Jul 2011
News

Brightening the Future

in the Philippines, Jaime “Jim” Ayala (MBA ’88) decided to put his considerable business experience to work improving the lives of some of his native country’s poorest citizens. Explaining his 2009 decision to leave Ayala Land, which had... View Details

Keywords: Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations; Personal Services

July 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Background Note

Staging Two-Sided Platforms

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Andrei Hagiu

Firms that aspire to develop two-sided platforms face a formidable challenge. Prospective users on each side will not invest in the platform until they are confident there will be enough users on the other side. Traditional strategies for dealing with this... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Risk Management; Two-Sided Platforms; Supply Chain; Strategy; Retail Industry

June 2001
Background Note

Ten Components of a Strategic I-Net, The

By: Richard L. Nolan

Identifies the 10 key components of a strategic I-Net. May be used with any case or discussion about building strategic IT infrastructures. View Details

Keywords: Buildings and Facilities; Business Model; Management; Infrastructure; Strategy

01 Dec 2015
News

Case Study: Bionic Banking

new to the firm: A majority of the team are computer programmers and developers, employing sophisticated algorithms to manage more than $275 million in assets. This active model would pit Alpha Architect against big banks, but with an... View Details

02 Oct 2013
News

Comeback Kids: How the Boston Red Sox went from last place to World Series

February 2020
Case

Intellectual Ventures Update 2020

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

After raising $6 billion and buying 60,000 patents, Intellectual Venture (IV) was confronted with a changing legal environment. After a number of important legal decisions, including the Supreme Court's so-called "Alice" decision, IV had to shift strategy. IV sold off... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology; Business Model; United States

August 2011
Supplement

Better World Books Video

By: Michael I. Norton, Fiona Wilson, Jill Avery and Thomas Steenburgh

This video contains an interview with David Murphy, CEO of Better World Books. Topics discussed include: the opportunities and constraints offered by having a social mission, an update on the company, and the future of Better World Books. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Management Teams; Business Model; Social Enterprise; Publishing Industry