Publications

April 2001
Teaching Note

first direct (A) TN

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Michelle Toth and William A. Sahlman

Teaching Note for (9-897-079). For book only - not listed on case. View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Information Technology; Customer Satisfaction; Business Model; Banking Industry; United Kingdom

July 2008 (Revised January 2013)
Teaching Note

eHarmony (TN)

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Hanna Halaburda

Teaching Note for eHarmony [709424]. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Valuation; Industry Structures; Competitive Advantage; Web Services Industry

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Priceline WebHouse Club

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Jon K Rust

Priceline empowered consumers to "name their own price" for airline tickets and hotel rooms; then it shopped these offers to marketers. Priceline's founder Jay Walker described the resulting transactions as a new ecosystem, that helped consumers realize lower prices... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry

25 Apr 2014
News

To create breakthrough strategies, harness creativity to the scientific method

"Conventional strategic planning is not actually scientific," argues Jan W. Rivkin, the Bruce V. Rauner Professor of Business Administration. "To produce novel strategies, teams need to adopt a step-by-step process in which creative... View Details

January 2008 (Revised December 2008)
Case

Codman Academy: Beyond the Start-up Phase

By: Stacey Childress and Tiffany K. Cheng

As it entered its seventh academic year, Codman Academy, an expeditionary learning charter school located in Dorchester, Massachusetts, was reflecting on its successes and challenges. The school had succeeded in placing every member of its most recent graduating class... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Leadership; Performance Improvement; Partners and Partnerships; Education Industry; Boston

May 2001 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Submarino.com (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Meredith Collura and Luiz Felipe Monteiro

Enables a thorough analysis of Submarino.com, a B2C e-commerce company with a presence in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and Portugal. Examines the company's global operations as well as its organizational design and operating and management capabilities. Considers... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Globalized Firms and Management; Operations; Organizational Design; Strategy; Internet; Retail Industry; Portugal; Spain; Mexico; Argentina; Brazil

January 2016
Teaching Note

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.

By: Sunil Gupta and Margaret Rodriguez

In September 2010, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (T2) reported an unexpectedly high third quarter profit of $5.92 million, driven largely by the success of its video game, Red Dead Redemption (which sold over 6.9 million copies since launching in May). Red Dead... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Leadership Style; Marketing; Competitive Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

25 Aug 2022
News

Harnessing the Tools of the Digital Age

invest in a data science artificial intelligence across your enterprise to take advantage of the large volume of data being produced. And finally, to actually deliver new value to your customers, you need to design new business View Details

Keywords: April White

25 Aug 2022
News

Full Stream Ahead

high-water mark for the valuation of an individual artist’s catalog: more than $500 million, according to the New York Times. Estimates by Music Business Worldwide suggest that investors, including many of the biggest players in private... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

01 Jun 2012
News

Alumni Book Briefs

strategy practice leaders, warn that internal complexity is the silent killer of sustainable growth. Successful companies endure by maintaining simplicity at their core. They don’t stray from their business View Details

Keywords: News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade

01 Dec 2022
News

Road to Recovery

as acknowledgement of having achieved a sobriety streak. Such incentives and nudges may seem inconsequential, but they can go a long way toward changing behavior, says HBS professor Leslie John. She has not evaluated DynamiCare’s model in... View Details

Keywords: April White; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

September 2010 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Gazelle in 2012

By: Andrei Hagiu and James Weber

Gazelle has pioneered a reCommerce intermediation model: it buys used electronics from consumers and resells them on eBay or to wholesalers. Going forward, its two main strategic challenges are 1) deciding how much to rely on partnerships with large retailers for... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Two-Sided Platforms; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; Service Industry

December 2018 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Bulb 2015: Foundation

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In late August 2015, Amit Gudka and Hayden Wood, co-founders of Bulb, Ltd (Bulb), were ready to offer affordable renewable energy to the United Kingdom’s 27 million households. They hoped to capitalize on the hundreds of thousands of customers switching their energy... View Details

September 2002 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Athleta

By: William A. Sahlman and Taslim Pirmohamed

The management team at Athleta is attempting to raise equity capital for the company in March 2002. Athleta is a catalog and online retailer of women's athletic clothing. The company has made substantial progress, with anticipated 2002 sales over $20 million, but has... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Financing and Loans; Business Model; Business Strategy; Equity; Capital; Retail Industry

December 2013 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Barbara Krakow Gallery

By: Jose Alvarez and Nyssa Liebermann

The Barbara Krakow Gallery is a successful contemporary art gallery located in Boston. It utilizes a very rare "no haggle pricing" strategy and extended sales cycle when selling pieces to collectors. Though it remains profitable and very respected, the size and scope... View Details

24 Sep 2020
News

The Race for a Vaccine

Pisano says. But vaccines don’t really fit the same business model as high-volume therapeutic drugs; they have an even higher bar for safety and effectiveness, because unlike most other drugs they are... View Details

Keywords: April White; COVID-19; Scientific Research and Development Services

Student-Profile

Erica Moszkowski

Williams College. Degree in hand, Erica accepted a position as a research assistant at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she witnessed how economic modeling translates into policy decisions. She became passionate about pursuing... View Details

December 2000 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Rise and Fall of Iridium, The

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Examines the history of Iridium Communications, a provider of mobile satellite services. Discusses the genesis of Iridium's technical design, then follows the venture through various stages of development. Describes Iridium's attempts to build a subscriber base after... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Business Model; Business Growth and Maturation; Organizational Structure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry

August 2007
Case

Manila Water Company

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, David Wheeler and Jane Comeault

In 1997, the Philippines government privatized its water utility in the metropolitan Manila area. The East Zone concession was won by Manila Water Company and the West Zone concession by Maynilad Water Services. Over the next decade, Manila Water turned in an... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Framework; Business or Company Management; Bids and Bidding; Privatization; Performance Improvement; Utilities Industry