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April 2021
Case

Codecademy: Where to Next?

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Max Mailman and Sarah Ascherman

In March 2020, Zach Sims, co-founder and CEO of online education platform Codecademy, prepared for a meeting with his Chief of Staff Kunal Ahuja to discuss the company’s goals. Codecademy billed itself as the largest online resource for computer science literacy and... View Details

Keywords: Monetization Strategy; Business Model; Change Management; Venture Capital; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Teams; Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Network Effects; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; United States

01 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

A Bank That Takes Parmesan as Collateral: The Cheese Stands a Loan

tailor a financing infrastructure to the operating characteristics of a supply chain," says Nikolaos Trichakis, an assistant professor in the Technology and Operations Management unit at HBS, who co-authored the case with Gerry... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Banking; Food & Beverage

17 Dec 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

‘Ted Levitt Changed My Life’

bored," wrote Robert Sullivan (HBS MBA '61). "Levitt made me a convert. He taught that marketing is the guts of any business, that it's critical to understanding the connection between sales, manufacturing, finance, human... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education; Retail

June 2025
Case

(Family) Size Matters: Nico Oprée and the Decreasing Power of Family Unity over Time

By: Lauren Cohen, Octavian Graf Pilati, Dominik V. Eynern and Sophia Pan

Nico Oprée, a fourth-generation (G4) member of his family’s heavy manufacturing business, found himself reflecting on how the firm would navigate a deepening shareholder conflict. While the second generation (G2) had managed the business in harmony, dynamics shifted... View Details

30 Jan 2018
First Look

January 30, 2018

service. They each provided alternative visions of the world. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/317100-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 218-022 Altoona State Investment Board & Bain Capital Fund XI... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 22

experience high costs of capital that are only partly mitigated by the presence of venture capital, the evidence for high costs of R&D capital for large firms is mixed. Nevertheless, large established... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Burunda Prince at The Farm, a Comcast NBCUniversal Innovation Hub (Powered by Boomtown)

By: Linda A. Hill, Eric Mankin and Emily Tedards

After a successful inaugural year, Burunda Prince, the Managing Director of Comcast’s startup business accelerator The Farm, was getting ready for an eventful 2019. Comcast was America's largest cable and internet service provider, having built a profitable business... View Details

07 Jul 2015
First Look

First Look: July 7, 2015

economies. But only a handful of companies have managed to do it successfully until now. In this article, an MIT engineering professor and a Tuck professor of management explain why. After conducting a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Feb 2014
Working Paper Summaries

From Crowds to Collaborators: Initiating Effort and Catalyzing Interactions Among Online Creative Workers

Keywords: by Kevin J. Boudreau, Patrick Gaule, Karim R. Lakhani, Christoph Riedl & Anita Williams Woolley

17 Dec 2007
Research & Ideas

The Rise of Medical Tourism

first for-profit hospital in the southern city of Chennai in 1983. Today the Apollo Hospitals Group manages more than 30 hospitals and treats patients from many different countries, according to the case. Tarun Khanna, a Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health; Medical Devices & Supplies

28 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 28

principles, and skills of three of the most successful and influential figures in business-Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs-offering lessons for all managers and entrepreneurs on leadership, strategy, and execution. In less than a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 22

Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/download.aspx?name=anik%20aknin%20norton%20dunn%20quoidbach.pdf August 2013 Managing Talent for Success: Talent Development in Law Firms Effective Teamwork and Collaboration By: Gardner,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2011 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Ganging Up on Cancer: Integrative Research Centers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (A)

By: Heidi K. Gardner, Edo Bedzra and Shereef M. Elnahal

Dr. Barrett Rollins, Chief Scientific Officer of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, attempts to engender cross-scientist collaboration by applying project management principles to medical research. The resulting innovation, Integrative Research Centers, are novel in... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Motivation and Incentives; Employees; Performance Evaluation; Leadership Style; Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management

January 2017 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople with Incentive Compensation (A)

By: Doug J. Chung

Kjell & Company was a Swedish retail electronics chain. The company’s products consisted of home electronics and accessories. The company was noted for its excellent customer service and a fair “one-for-all” HR policy. Historically, the salespeople had been compensated... View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Compensation and Benefits; Change; Decision Making; Electronics Industry; Sweden

07 Mar 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, March 7

with the project at hand. Specifically, we study an academic researcher’s (1) personal background (gender and country of origin economic advancement), (2) professional development (time since PhD completion and editorial review board (ERB) membership), and (3) ad-hoc... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Nov 2015
First Look

November 17, 2015

forthcoming Journal of Financial Economics Introduction: New Perspectives on Corporate Capital Structure By: Acharya, Viral, Heitor Almeida, and Malcolm Baker Abstract—The National Bureau of Economic Research held a symposium titled... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

13 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: September 13

of software-as-a-service apps for a wide range of business needs from customer management to human resources, while the portal service gives businesses the ability to manage... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2020
Case

Uber at a Crossroads (2017)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the history of Uber, its business model—including the ways it differed from that of the traditional taxi industry—and its competition with Lyft. The case is set in 2017, a year in which Uber was plagued by even more scandals than usual, though its... View Details