Publications

September 2003 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Holt Lunsford Commercial

By: Arthur I Segel and John H. Vogel Jr.

Holt Lunsford is debating how to grow his Dallas-based commercial real estate services firm and how to advise a long-time client who is wondering whether to lease or buy an industrial warehouse. Focuses on the highly competitive and increasingly institutionalized $50... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Leasing; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Service Industry; Service Industry

01 Sep 2003
News

Incentives and Operational Excellence

common to both major corporations and mom-and-pop shops, and offered practical solutions based on his research. One case Narayanan used to illustrate his point involved a family-owned video store. Generally... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools

09 Jun 2003
Research & Ideas

Incentives and Operational Excellence

to customers but also a problem for both stores and studios. Studios sell videocassettes to video rental stores at forty-five dollars, which are then rented out for around four dollars. Tapes are disposed of... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

onefinestay: Building a Luxury Experience in the Sharing Economy

By: Jill Avery, Anat Keinan and Liz Kind

onefinestay was a two-sided marketplace that offered high-end home rentals to travelers who sought a more authentic and local experience than a typical upscale hotel might provide. After five years of rapid growth, it was time to do a comprehensive analysis of the... View Details

November 2001
Case

Sigma Networks, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Christina L. Darwall

Sigma Networks, a venture capital-based telecommunications start-up, provides metropolitan area networks (MANs) that use fiberoptic lines to connect local Internet service providers (e.g., ISPs, hosting firms) with a long-haul ("backbone") network. MANs represent a... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customers; Capital Budgeting; Venture Capital; Strategic Planning; Technology Networks; Telecommunications Industry

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Web

Systems Integration - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

system as a whole. Delivering the right care at the right location in a multi-site care delivery system is a key element of a value-based health care system. To integrate care effectively, providers need to re-define the scope of services... View Details

January 1994 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Aberlyn Capital Management: July 1993

By: Josh Lerner and Peter Tufano

Aberlyn Capital Management, a venture leasing firm specializing in providing capital to biotechnology firms, proposes to introduce a new product. Aberlyn will base a lease on an intangible product: the patent of a biotechnology firm. This poses a series of short and... View Details

Keywords: Financing and Loans; Valuation; Product Launch; Problems and Challenges; Patents; Financial Instruments; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

February 2006
Case

Fraikin SA

By: W. Carl Kester, Vincent Marie Dessain and Monika Stachowiak

Provides an example of a so-called "whole business" securitization. In early 2004, Fraikin, France's leading industrial vehicle rental company, compares several alternatives for refinancing a large bridge loan within a year. Presents three primary options: a classic... View Details

Keywords: Debt Securities; Transportation; Renting or Rental; Service Industry; Service Industry; France

28 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Racism and Digital Design: How Online Platforms Can Thwart Discrimination

Airbnb's "instant book" feature, which allows guests to book rentals before hosts view their profiles, as a move in the right direction. Through experimentation, Luca says, platform companies like Airbnb can surface design... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Service; Service; Service

July 2002
Supplement

Discount & Hawkins Openings: Video Highlights

By: Michael A. Wheeler

This case shows the interactions between two quite different pairs of negotiators, both engaged in working through the final leasing clause between a mall developer and its anchor tenant. It highlights the importance of openings to frame and shape the entire course of... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Negotiation; Leasing; Renting or Rental; Competition

16 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Restaurant Revolution: How the Industry Is Fighting to Stay Alive

restaurants typically purchase without the ability to hedge or otherwise lock in pricing, and so are at the mercy of supply-price fluctuations. A third cost challenge for restaurants is occupancy. Locations are generally View Details

Keywords: by Michael S. Kaufman, Lena G. Goldberg, and Jill Avery; Food & Beverage

February 2011 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Sarvajal: Water for All

By: John D. Macomber and Mona Sinha

Entrepreneur wrestles with business model using SMS and RFID technology, franchising, and leasing to rapidly grow off-the-grid water purification business without subsidies. The company seeks to provide potable water services to rural and urban India where the public... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Business Model; Communication Technology; Private Sector; Social Entrepreneurship; Cost Management; Rural Scope; Emerging Markets; Infrastructure; Problems and Challenges; Information Infrastructure; India

Profile

Bruce Gago

Why was earning your MBA at HBS important to you? I came to HBS with a background exclusively in real estate finance, and I knew I needed to gain a broad set of managerial and entrepreneurial skills in order... View Details

Keywords: Other Financial Services; Other Financial Services; Other Financial Services; Other Financial Services

September 1997 (Revised October 2001)
Case

efficient market services: August 1993 (A)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey A. Farrell

Penny Baron, vice president of efficient market services, must decide how to finance rapid expansion for a young market research company. Venture leasing is a possibility and terms are explored. View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Growth Management; Research; Marketing; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Management Teams; Leasing; Service Industry; United States

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December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Blockbuster Inc. & Technological Substitution (C): The Internet Changes the Game

Investigates how the rise of the Internet as a vehicle for renting and buying movies has disrupted the video rental industry and how market leader Blockbuster Inc. can and should respond to these developments. Explores how the emergence of e-commerce affects the degree... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk and Uncertainty; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Competition; Change Management; Service Industry; Service Industry

September 2020 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Building India's 2.0: PayNearby

By: Lauren Cohen and Spencer C. N. Hagist

Headquartered in Mumbai, India, FinTech startup Nearby Technologies has seen its flagship brand, PayNearby, rapidly flourish across most of its target market within just four years. The unprecedented success of its payment app, which allows users to access banking... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Developing Markets; Payments; Financial Inclusion; Finance; Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Competitive Strategy; Banking Industry; India