Publications

June 2009 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Evaluating Microsavings Programs: Green Bank of the Philippines (A)

By: Nava Ashraf, Dean Karlan, Wesley Yin and Marc Shotland

Green Bank of the Philippines was known for its product innovation and its ability to bring new products to market. In 2002, Green Bank designed an untested commitment savings product that both gave individuals access to formal savings and helped them commit to... View Details

Keywords: Saving; Innovation and Invention; Measurement and Metrics; Product Design; Success; Performance Evaluation; Banking Industry; Philippines

April 2006
Background Note

Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World: Module 1: Innovation and Uncertainty

By: Alan D. MacCormack

Describes the first module of a Harvard Business School 30-session elective course called Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome these challenges. The... View Details

Keywords: Design; Curriculum and Courses; Innovation and Management; Projects; Opportunities; Perspective

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

GolfLogix: Measuring the Game of Golf

By: John T. Gourville and Professor Jerry N. Conover

GolfLogix has developed a small, GPS-based device to help golfers track their play. They must decide how best to distribute these devices: 1) sell them directly to golfers through traditional retail channels; 2) sell them to courses, which would then provide them to... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Innovation and Invention; Measurement and Metrics

February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Henry Heinz: Making Markets for Processed Foods

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Outlines many of the supply-side innovations, such as improved transportation, communication, and technological developments, that greatly expanded the productive capacity of the United States in the late 19th century. Explores a range of demand-side shifts, including... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Supply and Industry; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

June 1994
Case

Nicolas G. Hayek

By: John J. Gabarro and Dominik E.D. Zehnder

With very few exceptions, established premium producers eventually begin to lose market share and profitability to new, dynamic competitiors. These companies respond by focusing on their old success strategy without regard to changes in the marketplace. This is what... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Alignment; Innovation Leadership; Management Teams; Apparel and Accessories Industry

21 Jul 2023
News

Companies Need to Prove They Can Be Trusted with Technology

02 Dec 2018
News

An Investor’s Guide to Climate Change: Risks and Opportunities

On the 50th floor of a global law firm, overlooking a cold and rainy Manhattan skyline in November, more than 70 Harvard Business School alumni gathered to learn from each other and confront the business implications of climate change together. Hosted by the HBS... View Details

Keywords: Allison Webster; Electric Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution; Utilities; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

01 Sep 2008
News

Entrepreneurship Program in Fourth Year

Is it possible to teach entrepreneurship? If so, how? In July, 76 entrepreneurship professors representing 35 European countries, India, and Singapore arrived at HBS to learn more about the case method and the role it can play in educating future entrepreneurs. The... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

10 Jan 2017
News

A Side of Data with Your Dinner

Damian Mogavero (MBA 1996) was a frustrated restaurateur. The MBA grad wanted to answer simple business questions such as "Why did food costs go up?" but he was greeted, he tells Bloomberg Pursuits, with “blank stares and wrong answers.” His frustration led to the 1999... View Details

18 Oct 2016
News

China, artificial intelligence, and Jim Breyer

A venture capitalist with a career spanning three decades and a net worth of $2.6 billion is certain to have had a few big fish escape his hook over the years. For Jim Breyer (MBA 1987) of Breyer Capital, the Moby Dick that haunts him more than a quarter of a century... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers

01 Jun 2009
News

Crisis and Creativity

"I'll be happy to give you innovative thinking. What are the guidelines?" © The New Yorker Collection 2005 Leo Cullum from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved. Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s chief of staff, recently echoed Machiavelli when he said, “You never want a... View Details

Keywords: Bhaskar Chakravorti

06 Nov 2014
News

Harvard Finds New Partner in City Hall's 'Urban Mechanics'

Keywords: Boston; Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support; Government

28 Oct 2014
News

Inside Rent the Runway's Secret Dry-Cleaning Empire

Keywords: Repair and Maintenance; Personal Services; Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade

06 Feb 2014
News

America’s Education System at a Crossroads: New Research and Insights on Business-Educator Partnerships in PK-12 Education

Keywords: Competitiveness; Elementary and Secondary Schools; Educational Services; Manufacturing; Professional Services

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Supplement

Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (B)

By: Willy Shih

This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Exploration; Dominant Design; Business Growth and Maturation; Business History; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan

June 2013 (Revised September 2016)
Supplement

Governance and Sustainability at Nike (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Nien-he Hsieh and Lara Adamsons

Two members of Nike's executive team must decide what sustainability targets to propose to Nike's CEO and to the corporate responsibility committee of Nike's board of directors. Set in 2012, the case traces the evolution of Nike's approach to environmental and social... View Details

Keywords: Nike; Hannah Jones; Mark Parker; Phil Knight; Philip Knight; Eric Sprunk; Jill Ker Conway; Phyllis Wise; Don Blair; Sustainable Business And Innovation; SB＆I; Flyknit; DyeCoo; Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Apparel; Athletic Apparel; Sustainability; Greenpeace; Detox Campaign; Dirty Laundry; Water; Water Use; Water Pollution; Water Resources; Corporate Responsibility Committee; Judgment; Board Of Directors; Board Committees; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Footwear Industry; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Ethics; Fairness; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Alignment; Supply Chain; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Judgments; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia; China; United States; Oregon; Portland

November 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Collibra

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Jeffrey F. Rayport and Julia Kelley

Founded in 2008 at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, Collibra was a data intelligence company that found product-market fit in the years after the global financial crisis when many companies were under pressure from consumers and governments to improve their data management... View Details

2022
Article

Is Maximising Creativity Good? The Importance of Elaboration and Internal Confidence in Producing Creative Ideas

By: Goran Calic, Elaine Mosakowski, Nick Bontis and Sébastien Hélie

While knowledge management researchers acknowledge that individuals transition from generation to implementation of ideas, these transitions are not fully understood. The current article focuses on idea elaboration – defined as the transition of an idea from an... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Organizational Culture; Creativity; Cognition and Thinking; Innovation and Invention; Learning