Publications

August 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Luckin Coffee (A): Caffeine-fueled Growth?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the founding of Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee in 2017 and its path to surpassing Starbucks as the largest coffee chain in China (by number of stores) in 2019. Unlike Starbucks stores, which were designed to be welcoming “third places” for... View Details

26 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 26, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=707451 CircleLending, Inc. 2006 Harvard Business School Case 206-137 CircleLending, an innovative start-up, offered individuals the ability to set up and manage informal loans made between relatives and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 21, 2018

future at the same time. It is like changing the engine of a plane while it is flying. Based on almost ten years of research, this book provides a framework for companies to reimagine their business. Using rich case studies and rigorous... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

30 Apr 2024
Book

When Managers Set Unrealistic Expectations, Employees Cut Ethical Corners

billion loss, the largest in its then-106-year history (Brooks, 1993). As this example illustrates, how a company is managed and led can make it harder—or easier—for individual employees to act ethically and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Research Summary

Papers in progress

“The ‘Carbon Club’: Oil Companies, Climate Change & the Shaping of Public Policy”. Conspiracy theories abound, but the roles of the major oil companies in influencing public policy on climate change remain largely obscure. This... View Details

13 Dec 2016
First Look

December 13, 2016

emerged in areas ranging from labor markets to credit applications to housing—sometimes made worse by a lack of regulation, the absence of in-person interactions, and the use of automation and big data. How can companies reverse the tide?... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

08 Nov 2016
First Look

November 8, 2016

more. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51866 Diversified Business Groups in the West: History and Theory By: Colpan, Asli M., and Takashi Hikino Abstract—This working paper examines the historical... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Forgiving Student Loan Debt Leads to Better Jobs, Stronger Consumers

student loans cancelled. National Collegiate, which holds 800,000 private student loans totaling $12 billion, had more than $5 billion of these loans in default as of 2018, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In the past five years, the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

August 2008 (Revised November 2015)
Supplement

Yataro Iwasaki: Founding Mitsubishi (B)

By: Geoffrey G. Jones, Masako Egawa and Mayuka Yamazaki

This brief (B) case documents the fate of Mitsubishi and the shipping company NYK after the death of Yataro Iwasaki in 1885. The case supplements case 808-158, “Yataro Iwaski: Founding Mitsubishi (A).” View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Globalized Firms and Management; Business History; Leadership; Japan

November 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Microsoft Xbox: Changing the Game?

By: Andrei Hagiu

In September 1999, the Microsoft Xbox team was wondering which strategic choices would give it the best chance against the upcoming Sony PlayStation 2. Initially called "Project Midway" within Microsoft, the console project was intended to counter the perceived threat... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Recruitment; Leadership; Management Teams; Multi-Sided Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Production; Strategy; Competition; Expansion; Video Game Industry; Texas

14 Dec 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Business Groups Exist in Developed Markets Also: Britain Since 1850

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

01 Jul 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Super Stretch Goals Only for the Very Young?

further growth, and essentially the loss of control of the company by the board, which was even required to remake its composition. At Volkswagen, eerily similar things happened, this time with engineering practices and goals. This sad... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

June 2003 (Revised October 2006)
Case

George McClelland at KSR (A)

By: Joshua D. Margolis, Ayesha Kanji and Wan Wong

George McClelland accepts a position as the chief administrative officer/chief operating officer at Kendall Square Research (KSR), a fledgling computer company that is taking its promising parallel computer technology to market. McClelland is a veteran of the computer... View Details

Keywords: History; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Business History; Accounting; Problems and Challenges; Business Strategy; Growth and Development; Computer Industry; Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

03 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Why a Failed Startup Might Be Good for Your Career After All

Glass profile database, which collects work history and education data from various public and private sources. Combined with Dow Jones VentureSource data, the list was winnowed to 14,000 founders of VC-backed View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

02 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 2

of Your Organization Author:Ranjay Gulati Publication:Harvard Business School Press, forthcoming Abstract In an era of raging commoditization and eroding profit margins, survival depends on resilience: staying one step ahead of your customers. Sure, most View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

28 Nov 2018
HBS Case

On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website

fruitful streak came to an abrupt halt with the United States financial crash in the fall of 2008. Target was hit hard—much harder, in fact, than Walmart. Five years later the company was still struggling. With more than 1,800 stores and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

January 2009 (Revised January 2010)
Case

Responding to the Wii?

By: Andrei Hagiu and Hanna Halaburda

After years of gaming console industry leadership, how should Sony respond to the overwhelming success of competitor Nintendo's user-friendly Wii over Sony's high-tech PlayStation 3? It was August 2008 and Kazuo Hirai, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Two-Sided Platforms; Industry Structures; Competitive Strategy; Electronics Industry; Video Game Industry

September 2017
Case

Tencent

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Tencent had undergone many transformations since it was founded in 1998 as a simple messaging service. In 2017, it was the largest online games provider in China with a wide range of game types, China’s largest social networking service provider with several of the... View Details

Keywords: Tencent; Tencent Holdings; WeChat; Social Networking; Social Networks; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Video Games; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Portals; Payments; Mobile Payments; O2O; Online-to-offline; E-commerce; Messaging; Subscription Model; Freemium; Mobile App Industry; Smartphone; PC; Monetization Strategy; Antitrust; Streaming; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Big Data; Alibaba; Facebook; JD.com; Tesla; Bundling; Synergies; Digital Strategy; Imitation; Licensing; Agility; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Communication; Communication Technology; Blogs; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Industry Growth; Monopoly; Media; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Opportunities; Social and Collaborative Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Cooperation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Value Creation; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; China; Canton (province, China)