Publications

February 2020
Case

Drift: The First Sales Hire

By: Mark Roberge

David Cancel and Elias Torres, the co-founders of Drift, scaled their business to thousands of users and hundreds of thousands in revenue. However, they were falling short of the annual revenue target they communicated to the board of directors. Having scaled the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Salesforce Management; Selection and Staffing

September 2019
Case

Alicia Keys

By: Boris Groysberg, Annelena Lobb and Sarah Mehta

This case explores the life and career of Alicia Keys, the 15-time Grammy winning singer-songwriter and producer. Set in 2019, it covers the evolution of Keys’s 18-year musical career and additional passions, including acting, entrepreneurship, social justice activism,... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Fine Arts Industry; Music Industry; United States

August 2012 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Elia Nuqul and the Making of a Middle Eastern Business Group (A)

By: Geoffrey Jones and Lana Ghanem

The case is concerned with Elia Nuqul, the founder of Jordanian-based Nuqul Brothers, a large diversified business group. It shows how Nuqul, a Christian Palestinian whose family was forced to flee to Jordan after the creation of Israel in 1948, built a business in his... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; History; Government and Politics; Global Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Middle East

July 2008
Supplement

Orchid Partners: Case Epilogue

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Shirley Spence

Describes the real-life outcome of the case “Orchid Partners: A Venture Capital Start-Up” (9-804-138). View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Outcome or Result; Partners and Partnerships; Financial Services Industry

December 2003
Case

Sale of Hephaestus, Inc. to Vulcan Ventures, Inc.

Henry Hephaestus founded Hephaestus, Inc. in 1895. Its first product was a tapered roller bearing for use with horse-drawn wagons and carriages. It reduced friction on the axle and reduced the force necessary to move a heavy load, thereby enabling one horse to do the... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Family Ownership; Manufacturing Industry

January 2002 (Revised December 2002)
Background Note

A Note on the Value of Information in an Entrepreneurial Venture

By: Paul W. Marshall

Uses a decision analysis framework to analyze the value of gaming information before making a full investment in an entrepreneurial venture. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Framework; Business or Company Management

Article

The Entrepreneurial M-Form: Strategic Integration in Global Media Firms

By: T. R. Eisenmann and J. L. Bower

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Integration; Global Range; Business Ventures; Media; Media and Broadcasting Industry

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Spring 2021
Article

Whose Job Is It Anyway? Co-Ethnic Hiring in New U.S. Ventures

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr

We explore co-ethnic hiring among new ventures using U.S. administrative data. Co-ethnic hiring is ubiquitous among immigrant groups, averaging about 22.5% and ranging from <2% to >40%. Co-ethnic hiring grows with the size of the local ethnic workforce, greater... View Details

Keywords: Hiring; Job Creation; E-Verify; Immigration; Selection and Staffing; Ethnicity; Entrepreneurship

Article

Transition to Clean Technology

By: Daron Acemoglu, Ufuk Akcigit, Douglas Hanley and William R. Kerr

We develop a microeconomic model of endogenous growth where clean and dirty technologies compete in production and innovation, in the sense that research can be directed to either clean or dirty technologies. If dirty technologies are more advanced to start with, the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology Industry

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Read Now

01 Jun 2022
News

Turning Point: Sparking Change

Amy Hilliard (MBA 1978) (Illustration by Gisela Goppel) Amy Hilliard (MBA 1978) (Illustration by Gisela Goppel) The first time I walked into a university classroom as an instructor, not a student, it was the fall of 2019, and 45 students were registered for my... View Details

13 Jun 2017
News

Finding Common Ground

When he took some skeptical conservationists to a meeting at agribusiness giant Monsanto’s headquarters not long ago, Richard Crespin (TGMP 4, 1999) says it seemed the only thing missing was ominous John Williams theme music playing in the background. “One of them told... View Details

Keywords: Ralph Ranalli

13 Apr 2016
News

How To Work With Your Significant Other And Succeed

24 Apr 2014
News

Changing the way the world sees Africa

Teresa Clarke (AB 1984, JD 1987, MBA 1988) wants to reveal the real Africa. The chairman and CEO of Africa.com, the fastest growing Africa-related website, is working to change preconceptions about the world’s second-largest continent with over a billion people. “I... View Details

Portrait Project

Wilson Kyi

However, as I embark on my personal journey, I cannot always make my parents proud. As I pursue my passion for entrepreneurship and building newer companies, I can sense their disappointment when they cannot brag to their friends with... View Details

Web

Elaine MacDonald Archives | Social Enterprise

Curriculum Social Enterprise Student Club Social Entrepreneurship Summer Fellows Technology for Good Transformative Impact Tri-Sector Impact 3 Results Leadership In Challenging Times: Elaine MacDonald (MBA 1998) Elaine MacDonald 22 Apr... View Details

01 Sep 2017
News

@Soldiers Field

In June, 90 young leaders from nine US cities convened for three days of case discussions focused on cross-sector collaborative efforts to improve workforce skills, education, infrastructure, and entrepreneurship in their home region.... View Details

Keywords: YALP; Engineering Sciences; sculpture; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

02 Dec 2016
News

The Story Behind the Stories

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on SoundCloud More Skydeck episodes Gayle Tzemach Lemmon (MBA 2006) is a journalist and author of two New York Times best selling books. She was a political reporter and a TV producer in DC before coming to HBS, and started writing about... View Details

September 2012 (Revised December 2013)
Case

Roxbury Technology Corporation

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Roxbury Technology is a Boston-based re-manufacturer of ink and toner cartridges. In early 2012 RTC was re-evaluating its approach to the company's two most important goals: reducing customer concentration and increasing profitability. RTC's largest customer accounted... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Social Entrepreneurship; Financial Management; Customers; Diversification; Green Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Boston

December 2018
Supplement

Formula E Championship Racing (B)

By: Robert F. Higgins, Susie Ma and James Weber

Formula E's season three is nearly complete. CEO Alejandro Agag needs to examine his business model to ensure the racing series is positioned to grow sustainably in the years to come. View Details

Keywords: Electric Car Racing; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy