Publications

February 2011 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Aquion Energy

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and David Kiron

Leaders at Aquion Energy, a Pittsburgh-based battery start-up, are deciding on a market entry strategy. Should they pursue the large but unproven grid utility market or a smaller, but higher margin market? View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Production; Business Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Performance Capacity; Energy Industry

May 2006 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Codon Devices

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

In December 2005, 40-year-old John Danner was about to make his first presentation to the board of directors of Codon Devices, a one-year-old biotechnology start-up based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After a month as the company's CEO, Danner was prepared to lay out... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Venture Capital; Intellectual Property; Governing and Advisory Boards; Genetics; Competitive Advantage; Science-Based Business; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Cambridge

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April 2005
Case

Handleman Company

By: Janice H. Hammond and Kevin Dolan

Describes the organization and operations of the Handleman Co., an intermediary in the music industry that buys recorded music and resells it to mass retailers such as Wal-Mart. The company provides distribution, inventory management, retail merchandising, and category... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Music Entertainment; Cost Management; Growth and Development; Business or Company Management; Distribution Channels; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Online Technology; Value Creation; Music Industry

18 Nov 2013
Op-Ed

Twitter IPO: Overvalued or the Start of Something Big?

good. What's missing is the confirmation of a profit formula that turns volume into serious cash. Another theory we think about in new growth situations is something we call "good money/bad money." It asserts that in the early stages of... View Details

Keywords: by Chet Huber; Technology

Mar 2012
Report

Enriching the Ecosystem

they are far more effective when they're networked. By collaborating to bridge the gaps between them, business, academic, and policy leaders can help generate more ideas, start-ups, company growth, global competitors, and prosperity. In this article, Harvard View Details

November 2002 (Revised November 2005)
Case

MontGras: Export Strategy for a Chilean Winery

By: David J. Arnold, Howard H. Stevenson and Alexandra de Royere

MontGras, a medium-sized Chilean winery, has to formulate an export strategy. It has to decide whether to emphasize the U.S. or U.K. markets, which also offer different positioning and pricing proposals. It has twice failed to penetrate the U.S. market because... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Cost Management; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business Strategy; Valuation

May 2001 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Infosys Technologies

By: Ashish Nanda and Thomas J. DeLong

Creating and sustaining a third-world-based technology company to compete globally (i.e. in the first-world) poses many challenges. Such challenges are examined through the genesis and progression of Infosys Technologies Ltd. Key decisions made by Chairman N.R.... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Management Practices and Processes; Business Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Planning; Technological Innovation; Emerging Markets; Information Technology Industry

18 Sep 2014
News

Room to grow: global expansion in the middle ground

Israeli companies have pursued novel and successful growth strategies that provide valuable lessons to others. In his research, Elie Ofek, the T. J. Dermot Dunphy Professor of Business Administration,... View Details

10 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 10

Abstract—This working paper examines the growth of corporate environmentalism in the West German chemical industry between the 1950s and the 1980s. German business has been regarded as pioneering corporate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

Charting the US-China Trade War: What Does 'Made in Vietnam' Mean?

say Ebehi Iyoha and Jaya Wen, assistant professors at Harvard Business School. By one broad measure of products, about 16 percent of US exports from Vietnam—or $15.5 billion—were estimated to be rerouted Chinese products in 2021. But that... View Details

Keywords: by Ana Elena Azpúrua; Manufacturing; Shipping

Profile

Damali Brown

of top-tier education and having access to opportunities for advancement." When Damali returned to school the following fall, she joined a student business organization at Spelman. "Many of my colleagues there had Wall Street... View Details

Web

Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise - Intensive - Course Catalog

of the full semester version. The content centers on the management of innovation, strategy, and growth of a firm from the perspective of the general manager. The central puzzle in this course – and something we will see frequently in our... View Details

Web

Historic Industry & Trade Literature | Baker Library

School. The Baker Old Class collection is a valuable tool for historical research, particularly for tracing the development and growth of American business and industry from the late 19th century to the... View Details

August 1993 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Filene's Basement

By: David E. Bell and Dinny Starr

Filene's Basement is in the process of deciding where, and if, to locate two new stores in its new Chicago area of operations. The existing Chicago area stores have been performing well, however, management is concerned with over saturation of the market. At the time... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Growth Management; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Business Processes

17 Oct 2019
News

Venturing Away from Venture Capital

requires a significant initial capital investment, and she raised just over $10 million in seed and series A funding to get it up and running in 2011. Since then, Lin’s had plenty of opportunities to raise more capital. But the company’s View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand

Web

Challenges and Opportunities in the Restaurant Industry - Course Catalog

restaurant to scaling to leadership of multinational chains, and evaluate opportunities inherent in typical restaurant business models as well as those created by disruptive changes affecting and shaping the industry. Michael and Andy... View Details

February 2000 (Revised April 2000)
Case

Microsoft, 2000

By: Michael G. Rukstad, David B. Yoffie and Carl Johnston

Surveys five threats to the sustainability of Microsoft's strategy (imitation, substitution, hold-up, slack, and saturation) and examines Microsoft's response to these threats. Teaching purpose: To evaluate the sustainability of Microsoft's competitive advantage. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

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January 2025
Case

PayJoy: Financing for the Next Billion

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

PayJoy, an impact-driven financial technology company founded in 2015, provides smartphone financing and other financial products to customers who lack access to traditional credit products. As of early 2025, PayJoy had issued $2.5 billion in loans to 13 million... View Details