Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,063)
- Faculty Publications (95)
- October 2020
- Teaching Note
SOFWERX: Innovation at U.S. Special Operations Command (Abridged)
By: Mitchell B. Weiss and Kerry Herman
- October 2020
- Article
The Supply Chain Economy: A New Industry Categorization for Understanding Innovation in Services
By: Mercedes Delgado and Karen G. Mills
An active debate has centered on the importance of manufacturing for driving innovation in the U.S. economy. This paper offers an alternative framework that focuses on the role of suppliers of goods and services (the “supply chain economy”) in national performance. We... View Details
- September 2020 (Revised December 2020)
- Case
Hot Wheels at Mattel: Reinventing the Wheel
By: Elie Ofek, Andres Terech and Nicole Tempest Keller
In 2017, Chris Down, Global Brand General Manager for Hot Wheels, and his team from the Advanced Play Group within Mattel, Inc., were considering which innovation path to pursue in order to "future proof" the Hot Wheels franchise going forward. Hot Wheels was the... View Details
- September 2020
- Case
True North: Pioneering Analytics, Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence
By: Karim R. Lakhani, Kairavi Dey and Hannah Mayer
True North was a private equity fund that specialized in the growth and buyout of mid-market, India-centric companies. The leadership team initially believed that technology was not core to traditional businesses and steered clear of new age technology-oriented... View Details
- July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
- Case
The Honor Foundation: Accessing Special Operations Talent
By: Boris Groysberg and John Masko
In 2020, The Honor Foundation (THF), a nonprofit dedicated to helping U.S. military special operators to transition into civilian careers, was facing a series of strategic challenges. THF had been founded in 2013 by former Navy SEAL trainee Joe Musselman, who observed... View Details
Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Curriculum and Courses; Executive Education; Social Entrepreneurship; National Security; Recruitment; Retention; Job Interviews; Job Search; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Mission and Purpose; Retirement; Nonprofit Organizations; War; Education Industry; San Diego; Virginia
- January–February 2020
- Article
Competing in the Age of AI
By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani
Today’s markets are being reshaped by a new kind of firm—one in which artificial intelligence (AI) runs the show. This cohort includes giants like Google, Facebook, and Alibaba, and growing businesses such as Wayfair and Ocado. Every time we use their services, the... View Details
- December 2019
- Article
Costly Concessions: An Empirical Framework for Matching with Imperfectly Transferable Utility
By: Alfred Galichon, Scott Duke Kominers and Simon Weber
We introduce an empirical framework for models of matching with imperfectly transferable utility and unobserved heterogeneity in tastes. Our framework allows us to characterize matching equilibrium in a flexible way that includes as special cases the classic fully- and... View Details
- September 2019 (Revised September 2020)
- Case
SOFWERX: Innovation at U.S. Special Operations Command (Abridged)
By: Herman Leonard, Mitch Weiss, Jin Hyun Paik and Kerry Herman
James "Hondo" Geurts, the Acquisition Executive for U.S. Special Operations Command was in the middle of his Senate confirmation hearing in 2017 to become Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. Overseeing acquisitions in one of the... View Details
- August 2019
- Case
Kazakhstan Railways: From the Middle of Nowhere to a Center of Trade?
By: Willy Shih and Esel Çekin
This case describes the evolution of Kazakhstan's rail connectivity strategy post-collapse of the Soviet Union and its now central role in China's Belt and Road Initiative. This meant shifting from a north-south orientation towards an east-west one, as well as the... View Details
- August 2019
- Case
Creating Accountability in Afghanistan
By: Jonas Heese, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos, Eugene F. Soltes and Grace Liu
By early 2019, the United States had contributed $132 billion to the Afghan reconstruction. John Sopko, in his role as the Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), was in charge of providing accountability for U.S. aid funding. Sopko’s oversight... View Details
- February 2019 (Revised March 2019)
- Case
Banorte and the Capital Call Facility: Infrastructure Finance in Mexico
By: John D. Macomber, Carla Larangeira and Fernanda Miguel
As a result of Mexico´s pension industry deregulation, pension funds were able to invest in energy and infrastructure projects through a variety of financial instruments, particularly through Capital Development Certificates (CKDs), an asset class that served as a... View Details
- September 2018
- Case
Hunley, Inc.: Casting for Growth
By: John A. Quelch and James T. Kindley
Hunley, Inc. manufactures rods for the niche sport of fly fishing. It specializes in freshwater rods that are perceived as "middle-market" products, targeted at "avid" fly fishers. In the face of declining revenue and a decreasing price per unit sold, the company's... View Details
- September 2018 (Revised October 2018)
- Supplement
Lexoo: Building a Long-Lasting Platform
By: Chiara Farronato and Elena Corsi
Lexoo, a UK-based online marketplace for legal services, was facing the strategic choice of how to grow from early start-up to mature platform. Daniel van Binsbergen, Lexoo's CEO, and web developer Chris O'Sullivan, CTO, had set up Lexoo to help Small and Medium-Sized... View Details
- July 2018 (Revised December 2018)
- Case
SOFWERX: Innovation at U.S. Special Operations Command
By: Herman Leonard, Mitchell Weiss, Jin Hyun Paik and Kerry Herman
James “Hondo” Geurts, the Acquisition Executive for U.S. Special Operations Command, was in the middle of his Senate confirmation hearing in 2017 to become Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition. The questions had a common theme: how... View Details
Keywords: James Geurts; Innovation; Public Entrepreneurship; Open Innovation; Crowdsourcing; Contests; Prototyping; SOFWERX; Special Operations; SOCOM; Govtech; Procurement; FAR; EZ-Fly; Navy; Department Of Defense; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Entrepreneurship; Public Sector; Acquisition; Public Administration Industry; United States
- March 2018 (Revised March 2018)
- Supplement
Sandlands Vineyards
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Greg Saldutte
Approximately 80% of the wineries in the US breakeven or lose money. An even greater percentage lose money on an economic basis (i.e., after a charge for the cost of equity). Tegan Passalacqua is a successful, young, Californian winemaker who specializes in making... View Details
Keywords: Wine; Winery; Vineyard; Market Attractiveness; Porter's 5 Forces; Capital Investment; Industry Attractiveness; Performance Analysis; Napa Valley; Agriculture; Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Food; Supply Chain; Industry Structures; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; California; Napa Valley
- February 2018 (Revised March 2019)
- Case
Sandlands Vineyards
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte
Approximately 80% of the wineries in the U.S. break even or lose money. An even greater percentage lose money on an economic basis (i.e., after a charge for the cost of equity). Tegan Passalacqua is a successful, young, Californian winemaker who specializes in making... View Details
Keywords: Wine; Winery; Vineyard; Market Attractiveness; Porter's 5 Forces; Capital Investment; Industry Attractiveness; Performance Analysis; Agriculture; Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Food; Supply Chain; Industry Structures; Five Forces Framework; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; California; Napa Valley
- August 2017 (Revised November 2019)
- Case
Capitol Digital
By: Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff
The case describes the acquisition of Capitol Digital, which specialized in litigation support and digital forensics, including due diligence findings and first year operational plans. View Details
- July 2017
- Case
Centerbridge Partners and Great Wolf Resorts: Buying from a Highly Regarded Competitor
By: Josh Lerner, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal
The case examines the March 2015 Centerbridge Partners investment decision regarding whether to acquire Great Wolf Resorts, a North American family-oriented indoor water parks and hotel operator, from a private equity (PE) competitor, Apollo Global Management. The case... View Details
Keywords: Private Equity Financing; Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities; CMBS; Secondary Buyouts; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Cost; Cost of Capital; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States
- March 2017
- Exercise
Designing Transformational Customer Experiences
By: Stefan Thomke
Anyone who has recently travelled, gone shopping, or tried to have a problem solved may have little recollection of the experience. Worse yet, some are frustrated by the lack of responsiveness or empathy that they encountered. The reality is that most customer... View Details
- September 2016 (Revised January 2018)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 4: Organizing for Performance
By: Robert Simons
This module reading explores the implications of different business models on organization design. After discussing the distinction between units focused on work processes and those devoted to markets, the analysis provides insight as to when to organize businesses by... View Details