Publications

December 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

City of Charlotte (A)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The city manager's office in Charlotte, North Carolina, is attempting to align and focus the city's programs and operating departments. City managers, working collaboratively with the elected mayor and city council, have identified five strategic themes to make... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Government Administration; City; Growth and Development Strategy; Adoption; Public Sector; Management Teams; Programs; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Public Administration Industry; North Carolina

11 Apr 2024
In Practice

Why Progress on Immigration Might Soften Labor Pains

every other developed country around the world has done it. And that's a huge missed opportunity for the US. Prithwiraj (Raj) Choudhury is the Lumry Family Associate Professor at HBS. You Might Also Like:... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

14 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

When a Vacation Isn’t Enough, a Sabbatical Can Recharge Your Life—and Your Career

A few years ago, DJ DiDonna seemed to have everything going for him. He had started a successful venture called the Entrepreneurial Finance Lab, which used psychometric factors to help banks issuing microloans in the developing world... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

March 2005 (Revised January 2009)
Case

Wabash Music, Inc.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Wabash Music, Inc. is contemplating an acquisition outside its core music business as a way of diversifying and developing cash for unexpected commercial success. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Music Entertainment; Cash; Diversification

Find at Harvard

August 1995 (Revised July 1997)
Case

H.E. Butt Grocery Company: A Leader in ECR Implementation (A) (Abridged)

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Describes the industry context that has resulted in the development of efficient consumer response (ECR) within the grocery industry and its adoption by H.E. Butt Grocery Co. View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Adoption; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

be.” — Admiral James Stockdale. In August, while most developed nations’ rates of COVID-19 infections are falling, the rate in the United States continues to rise. States that had reopened or begun to, such as California and Texas, have... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

17 Aug 2021
Blog Post

Applying the MBA Skillset to Global Health Challenges: Summer Fellow Vasilis Theodorou (MBA 2022)

diseases in low-and middle-income countries. I am part of CHAI’s Global Malaria Strategy and Financing team, a team that provides direct technical and operational support to countries to strengthen their... View Details

Clayton S. Rose

Clayton Rose is Baker Foundation Professor of Management Practice. He currently teaches the course Accountability in the Advanced Management Program. His research is focused on the how leaders can manage the challenges created by the intense, varied and often... View Details

Keywords: financial services

13 May 2013
Blog Post

Being Uncomfortable at HBS

novelty. If curiosity killed the cat. Then, lucky I am not a cat. Therefore, it isn’t a surprise that I enjoyed my time as a consultant, because it enabled me to jump from helping to develop a strategy for a... View Details

February 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Zynga (A)

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and David Chen

In January 2010 Mark Pincus is deciding how to double the number of Zynga games' players to 500 million without sacrificing profitability. These ambitious growth plans required changes to product, corporate strategy, and customer acquisition and retention. With regard... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Video Game Industry

December 1997 (Revised April 1998)
Case

www.springs.com

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Melissa Dailey

Business Week's June 1997 "Rising Star" profile of Springs Industries' president and COO, Crandall Bowles, reported that she was poised to become one of the top two or three women executives in the country. In November 1997, the company announced Bowles' appointment to... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Operations; Product Marketing; Management; Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; South Carolina

September 2019 (Revised January 2021)
Case

Vispera: Visual Intelligence for Retail

By: Yael Grushka-Cockayne and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in 2019 as Aytul Ercil, co-founder and CEO of Vispera, computer vision technology provider for retail, is contemplating the company’s agenda trying to decide how to prioritize the impeding options. The case chronicles the founding of Vispera, the... View Details

Keywords: Computer Vision Technology; Visual Analysis; Retail; Information Technology; Business Model; Operations; Performance Efficiency; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Global Strategy; Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Turkey

11 Sep 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Competing Complements

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Barry Nalebuff & David B. Yoffie

March 2011
Case

MorphoSys AG: The Evolution of a Biotechnology Business Model

By: Gary P. Pisano, Ryan Johnson and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In the biotech world, the 18-year-old Munich-based company MorphoSys was a rarity: it was profitable. The company achieved this profitability not by developing and selling its own drugs, but by licensing access to its proprietary library of human antibodies. Recently,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Profit; Intellectual Property; Rights; Risk Management; Digital Platforms; Product Development; Business and Shareholder Relations; Vertical Integration; Biotechnology Industry; Munich

15 Dec 2006
Working Paper Summaries

The Business of Free Software: Enterprise Incentives, Investment, and Motivation in the Open Source Community

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Gregory L. Richards; Video Game; Web Services

September 2016 (Revised March 2020)
Teaching Note

Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model

By: Feng Zhu

Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride, as opposed to the 20%–30%... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Transportation; Business Startups; Business Model; Transportation Industry; Boston