Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,915)
- Faculty Publications (1,046)
- April 2017 (Revised October 2017)
- Case
Wal-Mart Update, 2017
By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin
In 2017 Wal-Mart was still the world’s largest company, with over $480 billion in annual revenue and operations in 28 countries. Although it had mostly vanquished its rival discount retailers in the U.S., it was struggling to find the right growth strategy. Facing a... View Details
- April 2017
- Case
Imprimis (A)
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karen Elterman and Marc Appel
This case examines the strategic choices and evolving business model of Imprimis Pharmaceuticals from the perspective of CEO Mark Baum. The (A) case provides a brief history of the company and of the compounding business, outlining the challenges faced by Imprimis in... View Details
- March 2017
- Case
SKS Microfinance (Abridged)
By: Shawn Cole and Theresa Chen
Vikram Akula, CEO of SKS Microfinance, seeks a venture capital investment to fund his firm. SKS, one of the largest and fastest growing microfinance institutions in India, is a profitable, for-profit institution with a social mission. In what is one of the first... View Details
- March 2017 (Revised October 2018)
- Case
Catalant: The Future of Work?
By: Thomas Eisenmann, Jeffrey F. Rayport and Christine Snively
Catalant, founded in 2013 as an online marketplace where MBAs could bid on consulting projects posted by small- to medium-sized businesses, had expanded by 2016 to provide Fortune 1000 companies with access to over 35,000 independent experts. The founders envisioned... View Details
- March 2017
- Supplement
Donna Dubinsky, Numenta and Artificial Intelligence
By: David B. Yoffie
Donna Dubinsky, CEO of Numenta, discusses her views of the future of artificial intelligence and the strategic challenges of building a new platform. View Details
- March 2017
- Teaching Note
Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy
By: Joseph B. Fuller and Carin-Isabel Knoop
Teaching Note for HBS No. 316-154. View Details
- February 2017
- Case
BlaBlaCar: The Road Ahead...
By: Karim R. Lakhani, Arun Sundararajan, Emilie Billaud and Caroline Caltagirone
In 2017, the co-founders of BlaBlaCar—the world’s largest long-distance carpooling company—reflected on the evolution of their venture and the way forward. BlaBlaCar had reached critical mass and size; yet staying still was not going to be enough to be relevant and... View Details
Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Transformation; Decision Making; Values and Beliefs; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Network Effects; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Transportation Networks; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; France; Europe
- February 2017
- Supplement
The De Beers Group: Exploring the Diamond Reselling Opportunity
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Daniel P. Gross and Lauren G. Pickle
In September 2014, Tom Montgomery (SVP of strategic initiatives at the De Beers Group) and his team launched a pilot program in the United States to explore the $1 billion diamond market for pre-owned (recycled) diamonds. According to Montgomery, the motivation for the... View Details
Keywords: Diamonds; Go-to-market Strategy; Secondary Market; Willingness To Pay; Pilot Program; Strategy Development; Strategy Execution; Scope; Marketing; Advertising; Branding; Customer Value; Pawn Shops; Jewelry; Supply And Demand; Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Vertical Integration; Advertising Campaigns; Value Creation; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; United Kingdom; Africa; Botswana; South Africa; Namibia
- February 2017 (Revised May 2022)
- Case
The De Beers Group: Exploring the Diamond Reselling Opportunity
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Daniel P. Gross and Lauren G. Pickle
In September 2014, Tom Montgomery (SVP of strategic initiatives at the De Beers Group) and his team launched a pilot program in the United States to explore the $1 billion diamond market for pre-owned (recycled) diamonds. According to Montgomery, the motivation for the... View Details
Keywords: Diamonds; Go-to-market Strategy; Secondary Market; Willingness To Pay; Pilot Program; Strategy Development; Strategy Execution; Scope; Marketing; Advertising; Branding; Customer Value; Pawn Shops; Jewelry; Supply And Demand; Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Vertical Integration; Advertising Campaigns; Value Creation; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; United Kingdom; Africa; Botswana; South Africa; Namibia
- February 2017 (Revised June 2017)
- Case
ExxonMobil: Business as Usual? (A)
By: George Serafeim, Shiva Rajgopal and David Freiberg
Climate change was becoming an important societal and business issue as more governments were introducing climate change related regulations and investors became increasibly worried about stranded assets within oil and gas firms. In September 2016, the U.S. Securities... View Details
- January 2017
- Supplement
Intrapreneurship at DaVita HealthCare Partners: Cash Flow Tool
By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton
DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. (DaVita) is one of the U.S.'s leading dialysis providers, a process whereby persons with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are connected to a machine that performs the functions of a healthy kidney. Kent Thiry, DaVita's CEO, has expanded... View Details
- January 2017 (Revised December 2017)
- Case
Merging American Airlines and US Airways (A)
By: David G. Fubini, David A. Garvin and Carin-Isabel Knoop
In February 2013, US Airways announced that it would merge with American Airlines to create the world’s largest airline. Doug Parker, the CEO of US Airways, would become CEO of the new American Airlines Group (AAL). The case describes a number of critical decisions... View Details
- December 2016
- Case
HBS in 2016
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Kerry Herman
The case explores opportunities and challenges confronting the Harvard Business School as it seeks to maintain its differentiated strategic positioning in the face of a rapidly evolving management education landscape. View Details
- December 2016
- Case
Public Mission, Private Funding: The University of California, Berkeley
By: William C. Kirby and Joycelyn W. Eby
UC Berkley, long known as one of the leading public universities in both the U.S. and the world, has seen turbulent times recently. While student enrollment and costs have increased steadily in recent years, the school, which has been fiercely proud of its public... View Details
Keywords: Public University; University Administration; Conflict Management; State Funding; Competition; Faculty Governance; University Of California Berkeley; Change Management; Volatility; Diversity; Residency; Higher Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Globalization; Policy; Leading Change; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Design; Privatization; Problems and Challenges; Education Industry; United States
- December 2016
- Article
Selective Regulator Decoupling and Organizations' Strategic Responses
By: Jonas Heese, Ranjani Krishnan and Frank Moers
Organizations often respond to institutional pressures by symbolically adopting policies and procedures but decoupling them from actual practice. Literature has examined why organizations decouple from regulatory pressures. In this study, we argue that decoupling... View Details
- November 2016
- Supplement
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals: Building Value from the IP Estate (B)
By: Vicki Sato, Willy Shih and Matt Higgins
The leader of a pioneering biotech company in the siRNA space weighs his options for scaling production capacity in advance of an anticipated commercial launch. Operational complexity and relative merits of in-house manufacturing versus a contractor model are... View Details
- November–December 2016
- Article
The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Industry
By: Yongwook Paik and Feng Zhu
Strategy scholars have documented in various empirical settings that firms seek and leverage stronger institutions to mitigate hazards and gain competitive advantage. In this paper, we argue that such “institution-seeking” behavior may not be confined to the pursuit of... View Details
- October 2016 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
JCPenney: Back in Business
By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Christine Snively
In 2016, JCPenney was in the midst of a multi-year turnaround after coming dangerously close to bankruptcy. Under CEO Marvin Ellison, the company had identified three strategic objectives—a focus on omnichannel, private label goods, and increasing revenue per... View Details
- October 2016
- Case
Turkasset: Bringing Customer-Centricity to Debt Collection
By: Dennis Campbell and Gamze Yucaoglu
In December 2014, in preparation for the year-end board presentation, Hilmi Guvenal (PMD 1993), shareholder and CEO of Turkasset, and Ilker Yoney, COO, sat down to discuss Turkasset’s five- and ten-year strategic plans. Since taking leadership of the company in 2009,... View Details
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Customer Experience; Customer Service; Customer-centric; Emerging Market; Customer Focus; Employee Empowerment; Employee Engagement; Employee Training; Staffing; Operations Management; Quality Management; Service Management; Service Quality; Continuous Improvement; Turkasset; Collections Agency; NPL; Call Center; Financial Services; Borrowing and Debt; Customer Focus and Relationships; Organizational Culture; Operations; Management; Service Operations; Quality; Competitive Advantage; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Services Industry; Turkey
- September 2016 (Revised October 2018)
- Case
Springfield Hospital
By: Susanna Gallani and Robert Kaplan
One of the key roles of costing systems is to support the evaluation of performance and facilitate appropriate resource allocations. Through participation in a comparative cost study, management at Springfield Hospital, known for its heavy focus on operational... View Details