Publications

March 2020
Case

Hotstar

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Kairavi Dey

Hotstar was an online video streaming platform owned by Star India Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Walt Disney Corporation. Since its launch in 2015, the platform had grown to offer over 100,000 hours of TV content, movies in nine Indian languages... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Television Entertainment; Disruption; Business Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; India; Mumbai

02 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

Four Companies that Conquered America

Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge.Accounting... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

October 2016
Supplement

24 Hour Fitness (B): Ownership Changes, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, 24 Hour Fitness was the number-two fitness chain in the United States, generating revenues of $1.4 billion from 441 clubs serving 3.8 million members. Based in San Ramon, California, 24 Hour Fitness operated clubs in 13 states. Having grown rapidly to become... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Age; Training; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Market Entry and Exit; Media; Organizational Design; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Welfare or Wellbeing; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Software; Web Sites; Value; Valuation; Health Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

August 2019 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Paradigm Capital Value Fund

By: Luis M. Viceira and Elena Corsi

Karl Jan Erick Hummel had founded Paradigm Capital Value Fund in 2007 together with Columbia Business School Professor Bruce Greenwald, an expert in value investing and now chairman of the fund. The fund followed the principles of value investing to their target... View Details

Keywords: Investment Activism; Investment Portfolio; Financial Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry

June 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Cementos Argos in the U.S.: Go Big or Go Home?

By: Jorge Tamayo, Ruth Costas, Pedro Levindo and Karina Souza

In April 2011, Colombian group Cementos Argos had to decide on whether to double down its business in the U.S., amidst the U.S. cement industry’s lowest performance in 30 years. Argos— Colombia’s leading cement producer and one of the “jewels” of Grupo GEA, the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Organization; Business Subsidiaries; Talent and Talent Management; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Crisis; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business Strategy; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Latin America; South America; North and Central America; United States; Colombia

05 Dec 2022
What Do You Think?

How Would Jack Welch’s Leadership Style Fare in Today’s World?

strategies that would be regarded today as archaic. I don’t doubt that the earnings were managed to come in close to target; GE’s management had the means to do so legally with its financial service businesses. When necessary, the company... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Industrial Products; Media & Broadcasting; Medical Devices & Supplies; Manufacturing

04 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

Jumpstarting Innovation: Using Disruption to Your Advantage

often approach innovation and disruption much differently. Having worked hard to align strategy and organization to support the current business, they develop tunnel vision, encouraging employees, customers, suppliers, and partners to... View Details

Keywords: by Lynda M. Applegate

21 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

The $15 Billion Question: Have Loot Boxes Turned Video Gaming into Gambling?

Camp. That same year, the US Federal Trade Commission said it would investigate loot boxes, which critics liken to a slot machine or a scratch ticket that's more accessible to children. The video game industry pushed back hard, arguing that loot boxes are an integral... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Van Voorhis; Video Game; Media & Broadcasting

Article

The Ecosystem of Shared Value

By: Mark R. Kramer and Marc W. Pfitzer

Governments, NGOs, companies, and community members must all be involved in programs to create shared value, yet they work more often in opposition than in alignment. A movement known as collective impact has facilitated successful collaborations in the social sector,... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Cooperation

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July–August 2023
Article

What Smart Companies Know About Integrating AI

By: Silvio Palumbo and David Edelman

AI has the power to gather, analyze, and utilize enormous volumes of individual customer data to achieve precision and scale in personalization. The experiences of Mercury Financial, CVS Health, and Starbucks debunk the prevailing notion that extracting value from AI... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Customization and Personalization; Integration; Technology Adoption

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Research Summary

How can General Managers Contribute to IT Success?

US companies are currently spending approximately 5% of their revenue on information technology (IT) each year. Over half of this investment goes to IT intended to change business processes, either within a single enterprise or across several. Hovewer, 30-75% of... View Details

TeachingInterests

Venture Capital and Private Equity (MBA)

By: Archie L. Jones

The growth of private equity internationally has been dramatic, to the point that the asset class has been both lauded as the savior and vilified as the cause of our current economic malaise. Over the past two decades, private equity- ranging from venture... View Details

16 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Advancing Black Talent: From the Flight Ramp to 'Family-Sustaining' Careers at Delta

Business School, who wrote a series of three case studies about the company’s focus on DE&I. For Bastian, the strategy is about providing more equitable opportunity for all Delta employees, including... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Air Transportation

February 2023
Case

Seemore Meats & Veggies

By: Lou Shipley, Patricia Favreau and Mel Martin

Cara Nicoletti was an emerging food entrepreneur that had recently launched her first product, a sustainably sourced, vegetable-infused meat sausage. Brooklyn, New York City-based Seemore Meats & Veggies had seen promising signs of success in local markets and pockets... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Food; Logistics; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

April 2022 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Mastercard Labs (A)

By: Linda A. Hill, Sunil Gupta, Emily Tedards and Julia Kelley

When Ajaypal (Ajay) Banga became the CEO of Mastercard in 2010, he shifted the company’s competitive focus from card networks to cash itself. Mastercard’s new vision of a “World Beyond Cash” distilled into a three-pronged framework: Grow the core business, Diversify... View Details

31 Aug 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Innovation through Global Collaboration: A New Source of Competitive Advantage

Keywords: by Alan MacCormack, Theodore Forbath, Peter Brooks & Patrick Kalaher

September 2024
Case

Navigating Digital Transformation at Carrefour

By: Sunil Gupta and Emilie Billaud

In 2023, Elodie Perthuisot, Carrefour’s Executive Director for e-commerce and digital transformation, met with CEO Alexandre Bompard to discuss strategies for the company’s digital initiatives. Carrefour, a global retail giant with over 14,300 stores across 40... View Details