Publications

01 Mar 2014
News

3-Minute Briefing: Frank Blethen (PMD 35, 1978)

growth of female athletes in amateur sports, we found that sexual abuse of these young, female athletes by male coaches was quite widespread. It was an incredible series that changed the reporting laws in Washington State. PRACTICING... View Details

Keywords: Hanna, Julia; Seattle Times Company; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet)

May 1996
Case

China Internet Corporation: http://www.China.Com

Tells the story of the China Internet Corp. (CIC), which was founded to serve both businesses wishing to conduct electronic commerce within China and those intending to trade with companies within China. The company provides access and advertising to companies; it does... View Details

Keywords: Internet; Growth and Development Strategy; Web Services Industry; China

July 2001 (Revised December 2001)
Case

American Express Interactive

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Follows the protagonist, Sonia Sharpe, as she and her American Express Interactive Team attempt to develop and market an interactive, on-line, corporate travel service in a highly competitive environment. Looks at the possible resources and partnerships a company needs... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Applications and Software; Technological Innovation; Global Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Vertical Integration; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

Find at Harvard

April 2012
Case

People Express Airlines

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lauren Barley

Recounts the history of People Express Airlines, which grew rapidly after its inception in 1980 then failed spectacularly in 1986. Profiles People's aggressive strategy and its distinctive approach to human resource management, which emphasized job rotation and minimal... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Air Transportation; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Organizational Structure; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Human Resources; Business Startups; Air Transportation Industry

06 Dec 2019
Blog Post

Moving to the States with My Daughter to Pursue an MBA and Switch Careers

It was the summer of 2017, and after working at Mars in R&D for eight years, I started to think about the next step for my career. I enjoyed my role as a product innovation manager in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry because it... View Details

July 2013 (Revised August 2017)
Case

TaKaDu

By: Elie Ofek and Matthew Preble

In December 2012, Amir Peleg, founder and CEO of TaKaDu, reflected on how to position his young firm for the next fiscal year and beyond. The small Israeli startup had developed an innovative software system that used patented algorithms and statistical analysis to... View Details

April 2007 (Revised July 2011)
Case

The Tale of the Lynx (A)

By: Noam Wasserman

The founders of Lynx Solutions have survived major challenges within their board of directors, the firing of Lynx's founder-CEO and departure of its successor CEO, and a crisis sparked by media allegations that it had been spying on its users. Now that the company is... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Business Strategy; Computer Industry

30 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Germany’s Pioneering Corporate Managers

loss of control and precision of information). Before the 1920s at least, most German industrial firms did not have an extensive middle management staff. Large German firms remained much more diversified and decentralized than unitary,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2023
Case

Interior Collab

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

After venture capital-funded online interior design agency Homepolish collapsed, its former freelance designers met to discuss next steps. The bitter experience led some of them to create a workers’ collaborative called Interior Collab. The founding members needed to... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Human Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Cooperative Ownership; Employee Ownership; Trust; Service Industry; Service Industry; United States; New York (city, NY)

19 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 19, 2019

a company’s ability to scale, linkage between growth and cash flows, as well the organizational impact of high growth. Rajesh Yabaji, Chanakya Hridaya, and B. Ramasubramaniam (Subbu) came together to create BlackBuck, with an aim to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 24, 2009

card networks, the decline of checks, the rise of stored value cards, and the growth of new payment methods such as PayPal, Bill Me Later, and decoupled debit. This case presents the structure of these payment methods, focusing on... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 19, 2010

Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen Publication:American Economic Review (forthcoming) Abstract The U.S. has experienced a sustained increase in productivity growth since the mid-1990s, particularly in sectors that intensively use... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 1997
Case

Case Corporation

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

A successful turnaround global farm machinery company is attempting to redefine its role in the global food system and develop a strategic plan for the company. View Details

Keywords: Change; Machinery and Machining; Global Strategy; Growth and Development; Strategic Planning; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

February 2010 (Revised November 2011)
Case

International Agribusiness in China: Charoen Pokphand Group

By: William C. Kirby, Michael Shih-ta Chen, Tracy Manty and Yi Kwan Chu

The world's leading Thai agribusiness corporation and largest agribusiness investor in China, CP Group, is facing another crossroads in China as the country starts to undergo rural reform. The issues at hand for Chairman Dhanin Chearavanont is how CP can balance its... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; SWOT Analysis; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Rural Scope; Agribusiness; Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; China

12 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 12, 2017

September–October 2017 Harvard Business Review GE's Global Growth Experiment: The Company Pushed Cross-Business Collaboration By: Gulati, Ranjay Abstract—Like many other companies, GE under Immelt had to figure out how to balance serving... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

June 2024
Case

SnapTravel: Betting on 'Super.com'

By: Reza Satchu and Tom Quinn

This case explores SnapTravel, a travel startup offering discounted hotel rooms, and its founders’ desire to pivot to a “super app” that saved customers money across many different purchase types. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hussein Fazal and Henry Shi saw SnapTravel... View Details