Publications

October 1991 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Workplace Safety at Alcoa (A)

By: Kim B. Clark and Joshua D. Margolis

Examines the challenge facing the managers of a large aluminum manufacturing plant in its drive to improve workplace safety. The CEO of the company has made safety a top priority. The plant has made good progress in reducing the injury rate, but now confronts the need... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Safety; Problems and Challenges; Change Management; Operations; Resignation and Termination; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Manufacturing Industry; United States

January 1999 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Advanced Technologies, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Piper

The CEO of a semiconductor equipment manufacturer is assessing the financial forecasts and financing plan prepared by the chief financial officer. Continued rapid growth will create substantial financing pressures, especially if profitability fails to recover and/or if... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Earnings Management; Financial Condition; Financial Reporting; Risk and Uncertainty; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Outcome or Result; Growth and Development; Crisis Management; Profit; Financial Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; Manufacturing Industry

09 Oct 2019
Blog Post

Video: Thinking Secondhand First

CEO and co-founder of thredUP, James Reinhart (MBA/MPA-ID 2009) is disrupting the retail industry out of the mission to keep clothing out of landfills. Reinhart thought of his secondhand clothing business while at HBS and has since built... View Details

June 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Uber in 2017: One Bumpy Ride

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Jay W. Lorsch and Quinn Pitcher

Uber Technologies Inc., the popular ride-hailing company, entered 2017 having doubled its bookings in 2016 and achieving a valuation of nearly $70 billion, making it the largest venture capital-backed company in the world. Co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick embodied... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Information Technology; Transportation; Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; United States

February 2014 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Mission Produce

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Mary Shelman

As the leading distributor of fresh avocados in the U.S., Mission Produce was at a crossroads in late 2013. Avocado consumption was booming and CEO Steve Barnard wanted to acquire additional land in Peru and develop new avocado farms to help fill a projected supply... View Details

Keywords: Fresh Produce; Food; Peru; Vertical Integration; Supply Chain; Agriculture; Agribusiness; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States; Peru

20 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Mobilizing Private Sector Action For Racial Equity in Milwaukee: SE Summer Fellow Zach Komes (MBA 2022)

historical barriers, has the highest economic disparities between White and Black/Latino residents among peer markets. Two years ago, regional CEOs came together to declare racial equity as the top threat and View Details

Profile

Jason A. Kilar

Jason Kilar, the founding CEO of Hulu and CEO and co-founder of his newest venture Vessel, likes to point out that serendipity and luck have played a big role in his success. Take his introduction to the... View Details

June 2014 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Via Verde

By: Arthur I Segel, Nicolas P. Retsinas, Philip Berkman, Sean Liu, Jared Katseff and Shawn Tuli

Developers Jonathan Rose and Adam Weinstein were trying to determine which of three proposals to submit to the city of New York in response to a RFP to create an affordable housing project in the South Bronx. The site, referred to as Via Verde, was a 1.5-acre... View Details

Keywords: Jonathan Rose Companies; Affordable Housing; Property; Real Estate Industry; United States

Feb 2012
Case

Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul: Building on a Diversified Base (Abridged)

Starting in 2003, the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan region lagged the rest of the U.S. in job creation. Alarmed business and civic leaders coalesced around the Itasca Project, which set in motion a series of actions by groups of CEOs... View Details

February 2024
Case

SundaySky: Changing Customer Experiences through Personalized Video

By: David C. Edelman and James Barnett

In June 2023, SundaySky CEO Jim Dicso considers growth strategies. The software-as-a-service company provided software to create advertising videos, customer service videos, and other videos, like employee training modules, and had begun to pilot a new generative... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Strategy; Technology Adoption; AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Advertising Industry; Technology Industry; United States

August 2020 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Skillz: Esports and Skill-Based Mobile Gaming

By: Andy Wu, David B. Yoffie and George Gonzalez

Founded in 2012, Skillz offered a platform for mobile app developers to monetize skill-based games via prized tournaments. Skillz had over 20,000 registered developers that had created thousands of Skillz-powered games played by over 30 million registered users... View Details

Keywords: Video Games; Mobile; Esports; Applications and Software; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Digital Platforms; United States

April 2008 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc.

By: Robert G. Eccles and David Lane

As CEO of leading executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles for the past 18 months, Kevin Kelly was pleased with his accomplishments so far but concerned about threats he perceived to Heidrick's position at the highest levels of the executive search business. In... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Recruitment; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Employment Industry; Service Industry

January 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Case

BlackRock: Linking Purpose to Profit

By: Aiyesha Dey

The case revolves around the actions that Barbara Novick, co-founder and Vice-Chair of Blackrock, and Michelle Edkins, Global Head of Investment Stewardship, would need to take in response to the controversial CEO letters from Laurence (Larry) Fink, Chairman and CEO of... View Details

September 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

TA Associates - MetroPCS (A)

Hythem El-Nazer, a young investment professional at TA Associates, believes he has found an attractive investment opportunity for the firm, MetroPCS, a wireless telecomm service provider. However, two months earlier, TA had invested considerable resources on this... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Telecommunications Industry

12 Sep 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Can Remote Surgeries Digitally Transform Operating Rooms?

Keywords: Health

28 Apr 2010
News

Harvard Business School Holds First Alumni New Venture Contest

August 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Polyphonic HMI: Mixing Music and Math

By: Anita Elberse, Jehoshua Eliashberg and Julian Villanueva

In 2003, Mike McCready, CEO of Barcelona-based Polyphonic HMI, was preparing to launch an artificial intelligence tool that could create significant value for music businesses. The technology, referred to as Hit Song Science (HSS), analyzed the mathematical... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Music Entertainment; Business History; Leadership; Marketing Strategy; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Mathematical Methods; Entertainment and Recreation Industry