Publications

May 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Migros Turkey: Scaling Online Operations

By: Antonio Moreno and Anibha Singh

As Migros, one of Turkey’s largest grocery chains, forays into online groceries, the company faces operational challenges related to inventory management, fulfillment and last mile delivery and strategics questions related to growing in an ecosystem with rapidly... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Management; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey

October 2008 (Revised March 2010)
Case

PlanetTran

By: Lauren H. Cohen and Christopher J. Malloy

PlanetTran is an environmentally-friendly car service that utilizes a fleet of hybrid cars in providing livery service to corporations and individuals. The founder, Seth Riney, is evaluating outside funding options in order to expand the company, and has met several... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Venture Capital; Investment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Expansion; Value

September 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

River Remedy: Navigating Mississippi’s Medical Marijuana Market

By: Robin Greenwood, Richard S. Ruback and Robert Ialenti

MBA student William Chism, the founder of a fully integrated medical marijuana company based in Mississippi, must respond to a significant disruption in the fledgling industry. In late 2023, Rapid Analytics, one of two active licensed testing facilities, has its... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Growth and Maturation; Forecasting and Prediction; Microeconomics; Local Range; Government Legislation; Demand and Consumers; Supply and Industry; Competitive Strategy; Governance Controls; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Mississippi

01 Feb 1999
News

Fred Lazarus: Art Work at the Office

the 1960s, he felt himself drawn toward nonprofit activities. Upon graduating from HBS, Lazarus took the advice of a classmate and joined the Peace Corps in Panama, where he worked to develop a business training and education program at a... View Details

Keywords: Jeffrey Lazar

13 Mar 2019
News

The First Five Years: Sierra Smith and Taylor Wiegele (both MBA 2017)

Taylor Wiegele and Sierra Smith on Shark Tank (photos by ABC) How did you come up with the idea for Zorpads? Sierra Smith: “We started Zorpads as part of a school project for FIELD 3 (which apparently no longer exists as required curriculum!). Our team was... View Details

15 Jun 2021
News

Case Study: Inside Story

with each successful convert. Many startups run out of runway before getting there, so founders need to be particularly scrappy in gaining the most learning in the shortest period of time. That means fast product iterations unlock the greatest growth. But therein lies... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries; Information

September 1997 (Revised October 2001)
Case

efficient market services: August 1993 (A)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey A. Farrell

Penny Baron, vice president of efficient market services, must decide how to finance rapid expansion for a young market research company. Venture leasing is a possibility and terms are explored. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Growth Management; Research; Marketing; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Management Teams; Leasing; Service Industry; United States

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December 1986 (Revised December 1993)
Case

Johnsonville Sausage Co. (A)

Describes the evolution of Johnsonville Sausage through a generation of management and from a small operation to a large concern of over 500 employees. Describes how each of the functional areas in the firm has evolved, and how its structure and systems have changed... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Transformation; Growth and Development; Food and Beverage Industry

March 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Mercury Rising: Knight Ridder's Digital Venture

Captures the efforts of newspaper publisher Knight Ridder to create a digital venture. Knight Ridder proves to be a pioneer in digital publishing, launching the first online newspaper site; builds a network of newspaper sites called Real Cities; and invests in... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Newspapers; Innovation and Invention; Journalism and News Industry

October 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

eLance.com: Building a Professional Services Marketplace

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kristin Kohler

Launched as an eBay for services, eLance promises to leverage the capabilities of the Internet to not only change the way services are bought and sold, but change the fundamental dynamics of the global economy. Building on theories posited in the HBR article by Tim... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Job Search; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Web Sites; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry

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September 1994
Case

Marks & Spencer: Sir Richard Greenbury's Quiet Revolution

By: Joseph L. Bower and John B. Matthews Jr.

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is one of the world's greatest companies. In 1994, its management was chosen the most admired in Europe by 637 peers. The case explores how Sir Richard Greenbury, appointed the new chairman of the company in 1991, transformed his inheritance into... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management; Business Strategy; Management Teams; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Europe; United States

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February 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Brainlab: Imaging a MedTech Future

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Gregory P. Licholai and Federica Gabrieli

Can Brainlab, a privately held firm, compete with giants like Medtronic and Amazon in delivering the Digital Operating Room of the future? The CEO is pondering solutions for secure exchange of medical information, pricing a new robotic imaging device, and reorganizing... View Details

19 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

China’s Complicated Relationship With Mother Nature

Despite its name, the Great Wall of China began as a series of smaller, isolated defensive fortifications. Those structures grew and were later unified into the imposing structure that exists today. The Great Wall is a great metaphor for the Chinese economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby; Manufacturing

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How One Center of Innovation Lost its Spark

preceding decades. Similarly, the assumption that tires was a growth industry was enacted through the capital budgeting process that resulted in a steady stream of new factories being built to meet rising demand. When faced with the... View Details

Keywords: by Donald Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation; Auto

01 Mar 2007
News

Courting the Poor

while reading the New York Times. An article on the front page of the Business section about an innovative Brazilian retailer prompted an immediate e-mail to Gustavo Herrero (MBA ’76), executive director of the School’s Latin America... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; department stores; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

24 Apr 2014
News

Fostering financial freedom for low-income individuals

1998, and the “Love Our Local Business” program, which encourages growth for small businesses by giving grants to entrepreneurs. In India, Intuit’s free mobile application, Fasal, has connected 1.5 million... View Details

11 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Free Trade Needs Nurturing—and Other Lessons from History

ever-wealthier, more peaceful world economy. An international system needs to be nurtured. We can’t take it for granted—that is one thing we’ve learned. Again. This story first appeared in the Harvard Business School Alumni Bulletin under... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto; Aerospace; Chemical; Consumer Products; Electronics; Energy; Industrial Products; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

January 2002 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Finland and Nokia: Creating the World's Most Competitive Economy

By: Michael E. Porter and Orjan Solvell

Finland, with a special language and culture, has developed as a country in between the west (the Nordic region and Europe) and the east (especially its neighbor Russia). In the 1980s, a process started of moving out of an investment-driven economy into an... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economic Growth; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Finland