Publications

14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

By 2050, the Earth's population will likely exceed 9 billion people, up 30 percent from 6.9 billion today, according to projections from both the US Census Bureau and the United Nations. What's more, the population in the world's cities is expected to increase by 3... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

December 2018 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Wolfgang Puck: Setting the Table for the Future

By: Boris Groysberg and Matthew G. Preble

Chef Wolfgang Puck oversees a disparate business empire that includes fine dining restaurants, a catering business, and various licensed products that run from cookware, to soup, to fast-casual restaurants. His businesses activities are divided among three separate... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Growth and Development; Management Systems; Business Processes; Leadership; Transition; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

Web

Ways to Give Today - Alumni

Services 617.495.1750 Send a Check Make your check payable to Harvard Business School. Mail check to: Harvard Business School P.O. Box 412275 Boston, MA 02241-2275 If using FedEx, UPS, DHL, or any other... View Details

Program

Value Creation Through Effective Boards

greater insight into corporate governance oversight and best practices, you will emerge a stronger leader and decision-maker, ready to create more value for your company. This program is developed and taught in collaboration with the IESE View Details

08 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 8, 2006

source of inferences about and precursors to perceived justice. The study offers implications for the management of queues as well as other artifacts. Cases & Course MaterialsChoicePoint (A) Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Apr 2020
What Do You Think?

What Are Lessons for Leaders from This Black Swan Crisis?

doubts were expressed by readers of this column about whether it even qualifies as a Black Swan. Let’s turn to some of the responses. “We are not dealing here with a Black Swan,” Tom Coyne commented. “The... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

2007
Book

America the Principled: 6 Opportunities for Becoming a Can-Do Nation Once Again

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

This book draws on the author's multiple research projects and field observations to analyze problems facing the United States in recent years and to create an agenda for renewing American strengths through returning to core American principles—but in new ways suitable... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Policy; Leadership; Civil Society or Community; Cooperation; United States

Find at Harvard

April 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Shareholder Activists at Friendly Ice Cream (A)

By: Fabrizio Ferri, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber

Two activist investors, one a founder and one a hedge-fund manager, seek to improve board oversight at a chain restaurant company. Prestley Blake founded Friendly Ice Cream in 1935 with his brother, and the two created a chain of full-service restaurants. In 1979 they... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Business and Shareholder Relations; Conflict of Interests; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

July 2023
Case

DayTwo: Going to Market with Gut Microbiome (Abridged)

By: Ayelet Israeli

DayTwo is a young Israeli startup that applies research on the gut microbiome and machine learning algorithms to deliver personalized nutritional recommendations to its users in order to minimize blood sugar spikes after meals. After a first year of trial rollout in... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Nutrition; Market Entry and Exit; Product Marketing; Distribution Channels

April 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Tata Nano The People's Car

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Bharat N. Anand and Rachna Tahilyani

The case explores how Tata Motors, India's largest automobile company, developed the Nano, the world's cheapest car. The case focuses on the translation of Ratan Tata's (chairman of Tata Motors) vision of a safe affordable car for the masses by Ravi Kant, managing... View Details

Keywords: Price; Globalized Firms and Management; Disruptive Innovation; Emerging Markets; Business Processes; Quality; Competition; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; India

June 2024 (Revised September 2024)
Case

Sequoia Capital

By: Jo Tango, Christina Wallace, Srimayi Mylavarapu and Johnson Elugbadebo

Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm founded in 1972, quickly grew to become one of the most storied venture capital firms in the world. Fueled by a strong culture, Sequoia's investment track record included the names of some of the largest global successes.... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry

December 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

Wal-Mart Stores in 2003 (Abridged Version)

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Examines Wal-Mart's development over three decades and provides financial and descriptive detail of its domestic operations. In 2003, Wal-Mart's Supercenter business has surpassed its domestic business as the largest generator of revenues. Its international operation... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Advantage; Labor Unions; Operations; Global Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Gender; Retail Industry; United States

Web

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets - Faculty & Research

Dragons: Repairing Ecosystem Trust (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 925-035, May 2025. Employer-Based Short-Term Savings Accounts By: Sarah Holmes Berk, John Beshears , Jay Garg , James J. Choi and David Laibson 2025 |... View Details

2019
Chapter

A Claim to Own Productive Property

By: Nien-hê Hsieh

BOOK ABSTRACT: The status of economic liberties remains a serious lacuna in the theory and practice of human rights. Should a minimally just society protect the freedoms to sell, save, profit, and invest? Is being prohibited to run a business a human rights violation?... View Details

October 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

BC Partners: Acuris

By: Victoria Ivashina and Terrence Shu

This case follows Nikos Stathopoulos, Managing Partner of BC Partners, as he and his team evaluate the potential sale of one of BC Partners’ portfolio companies, Acuris. Acuris was a global financial intelligence, news, and data company that had been acquired by BC... View Details

Keywords: Fund Management; Fund Raising; Leveraged Buyout; Buyout; Portfolio Management; Operations Improvement; Exit; Exit Strategy; Valuation Ratios; Finance; Private Equity; Leveraged Buyouts; Operations; Performance Improvement; Acquisition; Valuation

March 2012 (Revised September 2012)
Case

INRIX

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Ryan Johnson

Since its founding in 2004, INRIX, a leading global provider of traffic information and driver services, had received four rounds of financing from leading venture capital (VC) firms and by 2012 had been cash flow positive for the past six quarters. Its founder, Bryan... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Startups; Organizational Structure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry; Washington (state, US)

Chip Bergh is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. Prior to joining HBS, Chip served as president and chief executive officer of Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) from September 2011 until January 2024. He also served on the Company’s Board of Directors... View Details

19 Nov 2021
Blog Post

Alumni Spotlight: Career Advice from Alums Working in Climate

change, stick to your guns and seek out companies and opportunities where you can play a role in protecting the planet. Food and agriculture - which drives nearly a third of greenhouse gas emissions - is a... View Details

February 2025
Case

Ingersoll Rand: Broadening Employee Ownership

By: Ethan Rouen and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Set in 2024, this case examines how Ingersoll Rand—a global leader in air, liquid, and gas handling technologies—approached broadening employee ownership. The company granted restricted stock units (RSUs) to all employees on their one-year anniversary, reinforcing a... View Details

Keywords: Stock Shares; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Retention; Employee Ownership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Culture; Expansion; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America