Publications

January 2014
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry

March 2010 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Major League Baseball Advanced Media: America's Pastime Goes Digital

By: Anita Elberse and Brett Laffel

In January 2010, Bob Bowman, chief executive officer of Major League Baseball Advanced Media -- MLB's digital arm -- is facing a number of decisions related to its 'app' for Apple's new iPad. What are the best name, price, and set of features for MLBAM's iPad app? The... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Sports Industry

January 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

iOpenEye: Theater and #MeToo in Nigeria

By: Caroline Elkins, Tarun Khanna and Joyce J. Kim

In 2014, Ifeoma Fafunwa, an award-winning playwright and director, founded iOpenEye, a commercial production company dedicated to driving social change through performance art. iOpenEye’s flagship theatrical production was called “Hear Word! Naija Woman Talk True,”... View Details

Keywords: Theatre; Social Change; Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Arts; Entertainment; Social Issues; Health Pandemics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Model; Nigeria

August 2016
Teaching Note

Reworking Office Space: Industry City, Brooklyn

By: Arthur I Segel and Alexander W. Schultz

Jamestown is contemplating how to best lease a portion of their new development along the Brooklyn waterfront: Industry City. The 6-million-square-foot, mixed-use development is meant to accommodate Brooklyn’s growing innovation, creative, and “maker” communities.... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; Development; Shared Office Space; Coworking; Business Model; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Business Offices; Leasing; Real Estate Industry

29 Sep 2015
First Look

September 29, 2015

innovations from industry outsiders who saw economic opportunities where others didn’t—and how these mainstream firms had no choice but to innovate themselves. New models were tried: some succeeded, some failed. Commercial markets turned... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 May 2017
News

Ilene H. Lang, MBA 1973

an entrepreneur, executive, and women’s advocate were evident in her teens. The oldest of three children in a devout Jewish family in Chicago, she ran a business tutoring Hebrew to boys preparing for their bar mitzvot, participated in... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

15 Sep 2020
Blog Post

One Month into the New MS/MBA Biotech

Harvard’s new MS/MBA Biotechnology: Life Sciences joint degree program confers an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master of Science from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Medical School in the Harvard Department... View Details

21 Apr 2021
Research & Ideas

The Pandemic Conversations That Leaders Need to Have Now

as brand ambassadors, thought leaders, and storytellers. During a time of widespread unemployment and economic uncertainty, the people who have jobs are talking a lot about how their companies are handling the crisis and the transition to more normal View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg, Robin Abrahams, and Katherine Connolly Baden

June 2024
Supplement

Heritage Holding (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-Abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Abstract: The summer of 2022 marked a crucial period for Heritage Holding co-founders, Alex de Pfyffer and Ross Porter. The... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Private Equity; Corporate Strategy; Business Model; North America

13 Jun 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, June 13

behaving strategically to ensure the victory of their second best. We rationalize our findings by a model in which different types of voters trade off expressive and strategic motives. Download working paper:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

The Upside of Highlighting a Product's Downsides

later? At least in some cases, the answer is yes, according to Harvard Business School researchers who tested the effects of highlighting a product’s trade-offs with almost 400,000 customers of Australia’s largest bank. MoonSoo Choi Most... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

June 2024
Supplement

Heritage Holding (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-Abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Abstract: The summer of 2022 marked a crucial period for Heritage Holding co-founders, Alex de Pfyffer and Ross Porter. The... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Small Business; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Business Education; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Private Equity; Corporate Strategy; Business Model; North America

11 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 11, 2018

Information or Wing It? A Model of Dynamic Pricing with Seller Learning By: Huang, Guofang, Hong Luo, and Jing Xia Abstract—Pricing idiosyncratic products is often challenging because the seller, ex ante, lacks information about the... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

November 2005 (Revised December 2016)
Case

Bally Total Fitness (A): The Rise, 1962–2004

By: John R. Wells, Elizabeth A. Raabe and Gabriel Ellsworth

From a single, modest club in 1962, Bally Total Fitness had grown to become—in management’s words—the “largest and only nationwide commercial operator of fitness centers” in the United States in 2004. Bally had faced its share of challenges, but the last couple of... View Details

Keywords: Bally Total Fitness; Fitness; Gyms; Health Clubs; Chain; Securities And Exchange Commission; Paul Toback; Weight Loss; Exercise; Contracts; Personal Training; Retention; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Accrual Accounting; Finance; Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Satisfaction; Public Equity; Financing and Loans; Revenue; Revenue Recognition; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Lawsuits and Litigation; Management; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business Strategy; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Trends; Cost Management; Profit; Growth and Development; Leadership Style; Five Forces Framework; Private Ownership; Opportunities; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; United States; Illinois; Chicago