Publications

February 2005
Case

Bayside Motion Group (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Bradley R. Staats

After purchasing a business and successfully growing it for 18 years, the sole owner is presented with an attractive acquisition offer from a Fortune 500 company. The company's future is bright, but is now the right time to sell? Can he create more value by waiting?... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Cash Flow; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Growth Management; Success; Private Ownership

January 2021
Article

The Effects of Menu Costs on Retail Performance: Evidence from Adoption of the Electronic Shelf Label Technology

By: Ioannis Stamatopoulos, Achal Bassamboo and Antonio Moreno

We use the adoption of electronic shelf labels (ESLs) by an international grocery retailer in 2015 to identify the effects of physical menu costs (i.e., labor and material costs of price adjustment) on retail performance. We find that the installation of ESLs increased... View Details

Keywords: Retail Operations; Dynamic Pricing; Revenue Management; Operations; Price; Revenue; Management; Retail Industry

2023
Working Paper

The Effect of Childhood Environment on Political Behavior: Evidence from Young U.S. Movers, 1992–2021

By: Jacob R. Brown, Enrico Cantoni, Sahil Chinoy, Martin Koenen and Vincent Pons

We ask how childhood environment shapes political behavior. We measure young voters’ participation and party affiliation in nationally comprehensive voter files and reconstruct their childhood location histories based on their parents’ addresses. We compare outcomes of... View Details

Keywords: Political Parties; Government and Politics; Age; Residency; Voting

April 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Background Note

Note on Healthcare in Ghana

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ben Creo

This note provides an overview of the healthcare system in Ghana. It discusses the public and private sector as well as traditional medical practice. It also discusses the country’s pharmaceutical industry. It is recommended as a companion to Professor Regina... View Details

Keywords: Africa; Pharmaceutical Companies; Pharmacy Benefit Manager; Health Care; Health Care Costs; Health Care Delivery; Health Care Entrepreneurship; Telehealth; Health Equity; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Health Care and Treatment; Business and Government Relations; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Ghana

Program

Senior Executive Leadership Program—Middle East

businesses seeking the best opportunities for growth in the region need exceptional leaders—executives who are bold decision-makers, global thinkers, and skilled strategists. Taught in a series of modules... View Details

August 1997 (Revised September 2004)
Case

South Africa: Getting in GEAR

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

In 1997, Thabo Mbeki is contemplating South Africa's performance since the end of Apartheid in 1994. The economy has done fairly well, but the government's macroeconomic strategy calls for higher growth and employment creation. The case describes the country's history,... View Details

Keywords: History; Strategy; Development Economics; Social Issues; Macroeconomics; South Africa

TeachingInterests

Program for Leadership Development

By: Michael L. Tushman

Accelerating the Careers of High-Potential Leaders

Successful businesses know that investing in the next generation of leaders is critical to sustaining competitive advantage and achieving corporate growth over the long term. The Program for Leadership... View Details

November 2006 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Malaysia: Halfway to 2020

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

This country case on Malaysia extends forward by seven years the case “Malaysia: Capital and Control” (702-040). It is based on Malaysia's ninth plan, which took effect in 2006. The ninth plan proposed five thrusts—moving the economy to higher value-added goods and... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Welfare; Equality and Inequality; Malaysia

May–June 2023
Article

Which Firms Gain from Digital Advertising? Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Weijia Dai, Hyunjin Kim and Michael Luca

Measuring the returns of advertising opportunities continues to be a challenge for many businesses. We design and run a field experiment in collaboration with Yelp across 18,294 firms in the restaurant industry to understand which types of businesses gain more from... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Digital Marketing; Outcome or Result

October 2016
Supplement

24 Hour Fitness (B): Ownership Changes, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, 24 Hour Fitness was the number-two fitness chain in the United States, generating revenues of $1.4 billion from 441 clubs serving 3.8 million members. Based in San Ramon, California, 24 Hour Fitness operated clubs in 13 states. Having grown rapidly to become... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Age; Training; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Market Entry and Exit; Media; Organizational Design; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Welfare or Wellbeing; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Software; Web Sites; Value; Valuation; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

November 2006 (Revised November 2007)
Case

EFJ, Inc.

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ajay Vinze and Mara Vatz

Michael Jalbert plans to transform EFJI, a land mobile radio manufacturer, into a leading radio systems and solutions provider. Taking advantage of new industry standards and the country's increased focus on public safety agencies and homeland security, Jalbert says... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Expansion

23 Apr 2014
HBS Seminar

David Lazer, Northeastern University

January 2008 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited: A Global Company's China Strategy

By: William C. Kirby, Michael Shih-Ta Chen and Keith Wong

After fifty-five years in the semiconductor industry, Morris Chang, founder and Chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), was seeing a change. After four decades of regular double-digit growth the industry was still growing-but now at a much slower... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Globalized Firms and Management; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Semiconductor Industry; Shanghai; Taiwan

September 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Case

RailTex, Inc. (A)

By: Norman A. Berg and James Weber

By 1992, RailTex, Inc., had acquired and was operating 23 geographically separate short-line railroads (feeder lines for larger railroads) in Mexico, Canada, and primarily in the United States. Founded in 1977 with $500,000 of capital as a railcar leasing company, the... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Divisions; Cost Management; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Systems; Product Marketing; Logistics; Risk and Uncertainty; Valuation

September 2008 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Strategy

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

By 2008, a number of the firm's early cleantech investments were showing promise, and the companies were starting to need significantly more money to create the massive scale required in the energy sector. As Khosla thought about the hundreds of millions of dollars... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Marketing; Entrepreneurial Finance; New Product Development; Partnerships; Entrepreneurial Management; Venture Capital; Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Funds; Environmental Sustainability; Product Development; Biotechnology Industry; Financial Services Industry

18 Jul 2024
Blog Post

Building the Future: An HBS Alumna’s Journey in Sustainable Infrastructure Investment

significant contributions was helping deploy capital to a renewable energy company aimed at providing clean energy access for commercial and industrial users in Africa. This project was instrumental in advancing clean energy adoption... View Details

17 Aug 2010
News

HBS professor nabs lifetime achievement award from NVCA

Article

Does the Classic Microfinance Model Discourage Entrepreneurship Among the Poor? Experimental Evidence from India

By: Erica Field, Rohini Pande, John Papp and Natalia Rigol

Do the repayment requirements of the classic microfinance contract inhibit investment in high-return but illiquid business opportunities among the poor? Using a field experiment, we compare the classic contract which requires that repayment begin immediately after loan... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Poverty; Development Economics; Contracts