Publications

27 May 2022
Blog Post

Q&A with the HBS Armed Forces Alumni Association, MBA Class of 2023

Military Academy (USMA) Why did you decide to pursue an MBA? I decided to pursue an MBA because I wanted to immerse myself in a challenging program that would further me personally and professionally. By taking a temporary step back from the fast-paced View Details

03 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Transforming Manufacturing Waste into Profit

It's been said that "one man's trash is another man's treasure." HBS Assistant Professor Deishin Lee, however, has taken that old adage a step further in her recent working paper Turning Waste into By-Product by showing how it's possible for companies to turn... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

07 Mar 2022
Research & Ideas

Effective Leaders Share the Spotlight with Their Teams

inclusive CEO increased a company’s average three-day return by 0.8 percent. This is likely because these managers retain staff, which may result in increased operating efficiency and innovation, Zou says, and markets seem to quickly... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

28 Feb 2023
Research & Ideas

Can Apprenticeships Work in the US? Employers Seeking New Talent Pipelines Take Note

were 19 percent more likely to finish if they had a dedicated supportive supervisor. Some fields work better. Students were also more likely to complete apprenticeships in the financial services and IT industries, as opposed to business View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

October 2020 (Revised July 2023)
Case

The Walt Disney Company: The 21st Century Fox Acquisition and Digital Distribution

By: David J. Collis

This case describes the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company and the subsequent launch by Disney of three streaming channels to compete with Netflix. View Details

Keywords: Disney; Streaming; Corporate Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Distribution; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Media and Broadcasting Industry

11 May 2016
Research & Ideas

Fix This! Why is it so Painful to Buy a New Car?

half its value the moment it is driven off the lot? In a recent roundtable interview at HBS, Avery and Schlesinger joined Ryan Buell, an assistant professor in the Technology and Operations Management Unit, to discuss what’s wrong with... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Auto

13 May 2022
News

Company Reviews on Glassdoor: Petty Complaints or Signs of Potential Misconduct?

May 1988 (Revised June 2023)
Case

National Cranberry Cooperative, 1996

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Describes the continuous flow process used to process cranberries into juice and/or sauce. Requires student to analyze process flows to determine where the bottlenecks are and to decide how, and whether, to expand capacity. Original version written by J.G. Miller and... View Details

Keywords: Logistics; Performance Capacity; Performance Improvement; Supply Chain; Mathematical Methods; Cost vs Benefits; Production

07 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

The Better Way to Forecast the Future

possibilities, not a point forecast, and its accuracy is measured. “Why we care about a better prediction is to make better and more informed decisions.” The system is operating at Heathrow, with Paris airports in advanced discussions... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Air Transportation; Transportation

22 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

Can Amazon Remake Health Care?

successful if owned by say, United or CVS or Walgreens or Humana, than if owned by Amazon. Gazette: Amazon is highly customer-driven and known for finding ways to streamline its operations to provide greater efficiencies and save the... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Health

01 May 2020
Blog Post

5 Reasons to Join a Club at HBS

me with alumni who lead organizations who directly operate or support aviation: from aircraft financing firms to maintenance services companies. It exposed me to areas of the sector I did not know existed. The guidance I received was... View Details

19 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 19

opportunities and challenges posed by global climate change. The case analyzes the operations of Colbún to illustrate the complexities associated with conducting business under the influence of global energy markets, political... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2017
Teaching Note

Reinventing Best Buy

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-455. On March 1, 2017, Best Buy Company, Inc., North America’s largest retailer of consumer electronics and appliances, announced a third year of comparable-store sales increases and a 20.8% increase in domestic comparable online sales.... View Details

Keywords: Best Buy; Hubert Joly; Renew Blue; Showrooming; Webrooming; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Marketplaces; Turnaround; Consumer Electronics; Consumer Electronics Accessories; Appliances; Stores-within-stores; Store Experience; Store Size; Store Pickup; Store Management; Delivery; Delivery Models; Amazon; Amazon.com; Pricing Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Cost; Selection and Staffing; Reports; Technological Innovation; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Human Capital; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Media; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Distribution Channels; Infrastructure; Product; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Programs; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Technology; Hardware; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Search Technology; Software; Web; Web Sites; Wireless Technology; Resource Allocation; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; United States; Minnesota; Minneapolis; Saint Paul; St. Paul

June 2021
Case

Acelero Learning

By: Mario Small, Kathleen L. McGinn, Amy Klopfenstein and Katherine Chen

In November 2020, Henry Wilde, co-founder and CEO of Acelero, Inc., must decide whether to change his company’s program model for delivering early childhood education to low-income children. One of the only for-profit Head Start providers in the United States, Acelero... View Details

Keywords: Early Childhood Education; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Adoption; Customer Focus and Relationships; Operations; Education Industry; North and Central America; United States

12 Mar 2021
News

My Favorite Case

This was my favorite case in my favorite class, Entrepreneurial Management, taught by Professor Howard Stevenson. The protagonist learned the hard way that she had to plan to manage growth and, unfortunately, her operations infrastructure... View Details

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

11 Apr 2024
News

Mission Control

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Hi, this is Dan Morrell, host of Skydeck. By the time Peter Platzer (MBA 2002) was a teenager, he knew he wanted to be a physicist—and he was fascinated by space, eagerly engrossed in space-time diagrams... View Details

January 2018
Case

Kids & Company: Entering the U.S.

By: Boris Groysberg, Matthew G. Preble and Katherine Connolly Baden

In April 2017, Victoria Sopik and Jennifer Nashmi, CEO and CFO (respectively) of Kids & Company, a Canadian childcare provider that they had co-founded in the early 2000s and developed into a nearly 100-unit enterprise, are discussing how the company should proceed... View Details