Publications

September 2011 (Revised August 2015)
Case

ScoreBig

By: William A. Sahlman, Jeffrey Glass and Evan W. Richardson

The founding team at ScoreBig, an event ticketing company, is on the verge of a public launch of their product. The company has made great progress in negotiating access to tickets, designing its interface, and building a proprietary architecture. For consumers,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Corporate Finance; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

August 2011 (Revised November 2015)
Case

CFW Clinics in Kenya: To Profit or Not for Profit

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Katharine Lee

Ten years after having launched a chain of non-profit health clinics, its founder is now debating the merits of scaling the operation by converting to a for-profit enterprise. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Model; Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Transformation; For-Profit Firms; Health Industry; Kenya

October 1998 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Preview Travel (B)

By: William A. Sahlman and Nicole Tempest

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Business Model; Initial Public Offering; Internet and the Web; Business Plan; Capital; Financial Strategy; Travel Industry; United States

Keywords: Keith Larson; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

25 Aug 2022
News

A New Platform for Alumni Engagement

the design thinking process they used. “HBS is applying the innovation model to teaching, which will make it possible to creatively inspire engaged learning, share more information, and impact more people.” REINVENTING THE FUTURE OF View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Sep 2007
News

Last Look - September 2007

Our thanks to MBA 1976 classmates John Adams, Dottie Stephenson (both Section C), Sam Yates (Section D), and many others who provided details about this model rocket launch in Harvard Stadium. Yates wrote: “We had a first-year Marketing... View Details

May 2024
Case

Net Protections (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

In Case A, set in early 2017, Net Protections (NP) is the largest Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) fintech service in Japan and is experiencing a slowdown in growth of its core product, NP Atobarai. Launched in 2002 as non-membership service, the NP Atobarai product has given... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Demand and Consumers; E-commerce; Customers; Business Model; Financial Services Industry; Japan

02 Oct 2013
News

General Motors Takes a Look Under Tesla's Hood

Keywords: Tesla; Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers; Retail Trade

16 Dec 2013
HBS Case

D’O: Making a Michelin-Starred Restaurant Affordable

cost/quality tradeoff for a Michelin-starred restaurant," said Gary P. Pisano, the Harry E. Figgie, Jr. Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the lead author of the HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel & Joanie Tobin; Food & Beverage

02 Mar 2023
News

Carbon's Second Act

market which is expected over the next 20 or 30 years. DM: And that business opportunity is vital, believes Brix. TB: Because if you don't have an economically sustainable business model, the environmentally... View Details

June 2024
Teaching Note

Maven Clinic: Women's Health in the Digital Age

By: Ariel D. Stern and Sarah Mehta

Teaching note to accompany “Maven Clinic: Women’s Health in the Digital Age” (case no. 620-035) View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Strategy; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

August 1997
Case

Orbital Sciences Corporation: ORBCOMM

By: Das Narayandas and John A. Quelch

In late 1993, Orbital Communications Corp. (OCC), a subsidiary of Orbital Sciences Corp., is developing a global two-way wireless data communications system, called "ORBCOMM," based on a 26-satellite constellation in low earth orbit. Service is scheduled to begin in... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Business Model; Business Startups; Price; Global Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Salesforce Management; Telecommunications Industry

15 Dec 2015
News

The Year in Ideas 2015

business: Investing in employees keeps churn rates down and distinguishes Hello Alfred in a moment when quantity of transactions often wins out over quality of service. “If we serve our employees well, then the users will be happy,” Sapone says. “We built a View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna, Christine Lejeune, Dan Morrell, and April White

January 2016 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Airbus Versus Boeing (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Looks at the development of the competitive actions between Airbus and Boeing from 1992 to 2006. Begins with the question of whether Airbus and Boeing should collaborate on the development of a VLCT (Very Large Commercial Transport) or whether Airbus should develop... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competition; Cooperation; Strategy; Air Transportation Industry

01 Apr 2001
News

Beyond the Rim: New Paths to Success in Asia

infrastructure in the world. What are the implications for their ability to leapfrog content and technical developments in this sector in the United States? Internet development in China. Online marketing and consumer behavior in South Korea. View Details

Keywords: Alejandro Reyes and Deborah Blagg; David Lane; Educational Services

October 2000 (Revised October 2001)
Case

adM@rt(A)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Carin-Isabel Knoop and David Lane

Describes the complex policy alternatives facing an online Hong Kong grocery company as it tries to apply Webvan-type concepts in the Hong Kong marketplace. Captures the extraordinary process of adaptation the company is going through as it tries to find the right... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Markets; Marketing; Business Strategy; Business Model; Decisions; Problems and Challenges; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry; Hong Kong

Find at Harvard

May 2017
Supplement

Betfair (B), (C), and (D) Case Slides

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and John Heilbron

Contains slides related to the Betfair B, C, and D cases.
Abstracts:
B) Buoyed by success in the market for gambling contracts, Betfair attempts to enter the market for financial products using its exchange model.
C) Prompted by a takeover bid from... View Details

Keywords: Betfair; Exchange; Betting; Leisure Industry; Betting Markets; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Diversification; Business Model; Laws and Statutes; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Europe

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

01 Jun 2008
News

Faculty Books

The Oxford Handbook of Business History edited by Geoffrey Jones and Jonathan Zeitlin (Oxford University Press) This handbook surveys research in business history, a broad area of study generating empirical... View Details

June 2014
Teaching Note

Andreessen Horowitz

By: Thomas Eisenmann

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a venture capital firm launched in 2009, has quickly broken into the VC industry's top ranks, in terms of its ability to invest in Silicon Valley's most promising startups. The case recounts the firm's history; describes its co-founders'... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Venture Capital; Disruption; Organizational Structure; Entrepreneurship; Industry Structures; Service Industry; United States

October 1997 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Best Buy

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Balaji Chakravarthy

Documents the evolution of Best Buy, an electronics retailer, from its founding in 1966 to its very successful "Concept 2" strategy in 1996, boosting its sales ($7.2 billion) past industry #1 Circuit City. Its CEO Richard Schulze offers a new vision (Concept 3) to... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Adaptation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customization and Personalization; Retail Industry