Publications

July 2005 (Revised July 2016)
Case

Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged)

By: Boris Groysberg and Anahita Hashemi

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation

October 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Sapient Corporation (Abridged)

By: Rakesh Khurana and Joel Podolny

Describes the start-up, growth, organizational design, and operations over the first 10 years of a professional services firm. Focuses on the creative use of organizational purpose and values as an integral part of strategy and alignment of organizational activities. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Human Resources; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Operations; Business Processes; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Industry

October 2024
Teaching Plan

Teamworks: Tackling a Forecasting Fumble

By: Lou Shipley and Stacy Straaberg

In late March 2018, Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides learned Q1 2018 sales were at risk for a large forecasting miss. Founded in 2004, Teamworks’s software application assisted support staff in messaging, scheduling, and sharing documents with collegiate and professional... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication Strategy; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Technological Innovation; Sports; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; United States; North Carolina

26 Feb 2008
First Look

First Look: February 26, 2008

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=808088 Henry J. Kaiser and the Art of the Possible Harvard Business School Case 408-072 From his humble beginnings as a local salesman in New... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 Jul 2014
First Look

First Look: July 15

Publications August 2013 Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal Business Model Evaluation: Quantifying Walmart's Sources of Advantage By: Brea-Solís, Humberto, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, and Emili Grifell-Tatjé... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

March 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Harmonic Hearing Co.

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Craig H. Stephenson

Harmonic is a small, privately held manufacturer of hearing aids. Harriet Burns and Marc Davis, two employees at Harmonic, have an opportunity to purchase the company from the founder. As well-informed insiders who understand the industry, Burns and Davis believe the... View Details

Keywords: Debts; Quantitative Analysis; Financing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Development Stage Enterprises; Small ＆ Medium-sized Enterprises; Small Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Cash Flow; Mathematical Methods; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Manufacturing Industry

December 1998 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Trilogy (A)

Trilogy is a rapidly growing company that is taking a highly unusual approach to capturing an enterprise software market (the "selling chain") that is also the target of much larger competitors. The case offers students an opportunity to assess the company's methods,... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Competition; Growth Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Software; Web Services Industry

November 2017
Teaching Note

Facebook Fake News in the Post-Truth World

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 717-473. In January 2017, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, was surrounded by controversy. The election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States in November 2016 had triggered a national storm of protests, and... View Details

October 1990 (Revised March 1993)
Background Note

Note on Cable Television Regulation

By: Willis M. Emmons III

Examines the evolution of the U.S. cable television industry since its inception in the early 1950s. Particular emphasis is given to the roles played by technology, consumer demand, and regulation at both the local and federal level. Designed to facilitate a conceptual... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Demand and Consumers; Government Legislation; Business Growth and Maturation; Monopoly; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

Find at Harvard

September 1999
Case

Project Dreamcast: Serious Play at Sega Enterprises Ltd. (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Andrew Robertson

Focuses on the ongoing competitive battles in the global home video game market that is estimated to exceed $15 billion by 1999 in the United States and Japan alone. Describes how Sega Enterprises has redesigned its development processes to create a revolutionary... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Product Development; Business Growth and Maturation; Market Entry and Exit; Sales; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

01 Oct 1997
News

High Fives

learned at HBS: “I developed a sense of confidence in myself and in my ability to go out and compete in the business world.” Inspirations & role models: “As a woman, there were... View Details

23 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 23

that pursue a social mission through the use of market mechanisms. These hybrid organizations, often referred to as social enterprises, combine aspects of both charity and business at their core. In this... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

Managing Alignment as a Process

the new LOBs to a similar share over the next five years. SMI would harvest cash from its mature businesses to invest in the growth of the new businesses. SMI's executives... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Retail

February 2008
Article

The Founder's Dilemma

By: Noam Wasserman

Most entrepreneurs want to make a lot of money and to run the show. New research shows that it's tough to do both. If you don't figure out which matters more to you, you could end up being neither rich nor king. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles

Find at Harvard

May 1998 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Taco Bell Inc. (1983-1994)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Dave DeLong

Details the actions of John Martin, newly named CEO, as he leads Taco Bell through a decade of incremental and radical changes. By the end of the case, total system sales within Taco Bell, a Mexican style fast-food restaurant chain and a division of PepsiCo, have grown... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Transformation; Economic Growth; Food; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Design; Performance Effectiveness; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico

March 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Mercury Rising: Knight Ridder's Digital Venture

Captures the efforts of newspaper publisher Knight Ridder to create a digital venture. Knight Ridder proves to be a pioneer in digital publishing, launching the first online newspaper site; builds a network of newspaper sites called Real Cities; and invests in... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Newspapers; Innovation and Invention; Journalism and News Industry

13 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

How Government can Discourage Private Sector Reliance on Short-Term Debt

For the last decade or so financial institutions have relied increasingly and excessively on short-term financing, risky business that could quickly go south when a souring economy made it impossible for... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Financial Services

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A): An Enterprise of Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

In 1999, Sun Microsystems, Inc., was claiming a leadership position in the burgeoning world of e-commerce and networking computers. Its goal: "to dot-com the world." What was it about Sun's culture that made it so conducive to innovation and entrepreneurship? And how... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Leading Change; Innovation Leadership; Information Infrastructure; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Experience and Expertise; Technology Industry; Computer Industry

May 2023
Teaching Note

Tesla’s Uncertain Fate as EV Race Accelerates

By: David Collis

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 722-368. The case describes the strategic position of Tesla in 2021. While the firm has been successful in driving adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) globally and has a huge market share in the segment, it faces an impending tsunami of... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Competition; Business Growth and Maturation; Success; Adoption; Auto Industry