Publications

February 1999 (Revised June 1999)
Case

Hotmail

Sabeer Bhatia, cofounder and CEO of Hotmail, is making efforts to finance and grow this business, which is based on free Web-based e-mail. Describes early, successful efforts at raising several rounds of venture capital and presents choices around a next stage of... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Internet; Financing and Loans; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Web Services Industry

September–October 2024
Article

Should a Family Business Accept a Returning Daughter’s Radical Proposal?

By: John D. Macomber

A family-owned and controlled conglomerate in Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa, has to decide what titles and authority to give to a daughter who is being courted to leave a promising career in Europe to come back and join the business. The choices of role range from an... View Details

Keywords: Succession Planning; Power Grid; Family Business; Management Succession; Emerging Markets; Business Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Côte d'Ivoire

March 2020 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Culture at Google

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Amy Klopfenstein and Sarah Mehta

Beginning in 2017, technology (tech) company Google faced a series of employee-relations issues that threatened its unique culture of innovation and open communication. Issues included protests surrounding Google’s contracts with the U.S. government, restrictions of... View Details

12 May 2015
Research & Ideas

How Crowds and Experts Kickstart the Arts

Philosophers have talked by turns about both the "wisdom" and "madness" of crowds. But when it comes to assessing and funding the arts, just how wise are crowds—and how does their wisdom compare to that of... View Details

Keywords: Re: Ramana Nanda; Entertainment & Recreation

December 2003 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Maverick Capital

By: Andre F. Perold, Chris McIsaac and Marc Ricks

Maverick Capital, a $7 billion hedge fund, faced a number of long-term strategic questions, particularly the issue of growth. With all of its assets invested with one strategy, Maverick was already managing more capital in a dedicated approach than any hedge fund in... View Details

Keywords: Assets; Capital; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Growth and Development Strategy

April 2021
Teaching Note

Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

Within 20 years of launch, entrepreneur Wang Yanquing had built Wuxi Lead into the world’s largest manufacturer of equipment for manufacturing capacitors, lithium-ion batteries, and fuel cells.
The first big choice an entrepreneur faces is what sector to... View Details

Keywords: Lithium-ion Batteries; Industry Dynamics; Entrepreneurial Journey; Entrepreneurship; Markets; Strategy; Decision Making; Manufacturing Industry; China

September 2003 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Photovoltaic Breakthrough

Illustrates the technological and organizational challenges of breakthrough innovation. Students discuss the benefits, disadvantages, and management of various approaches to technological breakthroughs. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management

Keywords: Professor Amy C. Edmonson; Professor Boris Groysberg; Professor Josh Lerner; Teaching Fellow Ann Leamon; Professor Leslie A. Perlow; Professor of Management Practice Felda Hardymon;; social media; Finance

01 Jun 2012
News

Faculty Books

Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate, and Compete in the Knowledge Economy by Amy C. Edmondson (Jossey-Bass) The Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management, Edmondson says that organizations thrive, or fail to thrive, based on... View Details

Web

Prelude - Option Pricing in Theory & Practice: The Nobel Prize Research of Robert C. Merton - Exhibits - Historical Collections

lessons of probability theory to the stock market has been a key focus of twentieth-century American finance. As a doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of View Details

Feng Zhu

Feng Zhu is the MBA Class of 1958 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he leads the Platform Lab within the Digital, Data, and Design Institute, co-chairs the Harvard Business Analytics Program, and serves as the course head for the... View Details

November 2023
Case

Riiid: Scaling AI Educational Services Globally

By: John Jong-Hyun Kim, Nancy Dai and Ruru Hoong

This article explores the definition and evolution of AI, its applications in education, and the role of AI, particularly in K-12 education. It discusses the founding of Riiid, an AI-driven educational technology company, and its journey in the education sector, with a... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Economic Sectors; Technological Innovation; Education Industry; South Korea; Asia

21 Dec 2022
Blog Post

Climate Stories Episode #12: Vehicle to Everything - Claire Broido Johnson (MBA 2002), Chief Operating Officer of Fermata Energy

Climate Stories Episode #12: Vehicle to Everything - Claire Broido Johnson (MBA 2002), Chief Operating Officer of Fermata EnergyLike many of our Climate Story subjects, Claire Broido Johnson (MBA 2002) first... View Details

2008
Working Paper

Inexperienced Investors and Bubbles

By: Robin Greenwood and Stefan Nagel

We use mutual fund manager data from the technology bubble to examine the hypothesis that inexperienced investors play a role in the formation of asset price bubbles. Using age as a proxy for managers' investment experience, we find that around the peak of the... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Stocks; Information Technology; Price Bubble; Asset Management; Experience and Expertise

SSRN

April 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Randy Komisar: Virtual CEO

Randy Komisar serves as "virtual CEO" to numerous hi-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley. Explores Randy's role, his perspective on general management, and a choice between two opportunities in which he is considering investing his time. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Business or Company Management; Leadership; Business Startups; Management Teams; Technology Industry; California

Find at Harvard

October 2013 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Carbon Engineering

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Sid Misra

Dr. David Keith, President of Carbon Engineering, a company based in Calgary, Alberta, is commercializing a technology to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The company plans to market the captured CO2 to produce low carbon transportation fuels in... View Details

April 2017
Case

Imprimis (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Marc Appel

This case examines the strategic choices and evolving business model of Imprimis Pharmaceuticals from the perspective of CEO Mark Baum. The (A) case provides a brief history of the company and of the compounding business, outlining the challenges faced by Imprimis in... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Healthcare; Drug Compounding; Pharmaceuticals; Compounding; Drug Development; Decision-making; Mark Baum; Imprimis; Small Business; Decisions; Cost vs Benefits; Business Strategy; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States