Publications

January 2018
Case

Scaling Swagbucks (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

In early 2014, Chuck Davis (HBS '86) has joined Swagbucks as its first professional CEO to scale a successful and profitable brand promotion and consumer research business. Davis came into the job while serving as a venture partner at TCV, a growth stage VC firm,... View Details

Keywords: Loyalty Management; Scaling; Scale; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Leading Change; Growth Management; Religion; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Transition; Leadership; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

influential, and industry less influential, than we commonly assume. How Early Adoption Has Increased Wealth—Until Now Authors:Diego Comin and Bart Hobijn Publication:Harvard Business Review 90, no. 3 (March 2012) Abstract Societies that... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 2018
Case

Choosy

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Julia Kelley

Founded in 2017, Choosy is a data-driven fashion startup that uses algorithms to identify styles trending on social media. After manufacturing similar items using a China-based supply chain, Choosy sells them to consumers through its website and social media pages.... View Details

04 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 4

weeks or days. Publisher's link: http://hbr.org/2014/03/manage-your-work-manage-your-life/ar/1 August 2013 International Journal of Industrial Organization Search Diversion and Platform Competition By: Hagiu, Andrei, and Bruno Jullien... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2017
Supplement

Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy — Operating the Business Model Exercise

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

On a mission to "automate the on-demand economy," Harvard Business School classmates Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck launched Hello Alfred in 2013 to provide subscribers with an "Alfred" to complete various chores for a monthly fee. In early 2016, the company has built... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Service Operations; Service Industry; New York (city, NY); Boston

04 Dec 2007
First Look

First Look: December 4, 2007

and the architecture of the industry in ways that can benefit the innovator by blunting the actions of others who may endeavor to tap into the stream of profit generated by innovation. Even small firms can play important roles. Tools... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 Sep 2003
Lessons from the Classroom

HBS Cases: Developing the Courage to Act

fronts. He persuaded Melvin Copeland, a noted marketing professor, to change his planned textbook to a collection of business "problems." Published in September 1920, it became the first business casebook. Donham also orchestrated a series of View Details

Keywords: by David A. Garvin

December 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Embrapa

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

Brazil's national agricultural research corporation, Embrapa, has developed an integrated crop and livestock production system that will allow farmers and ranchers to intensify production and improve profitability. Broad adoption of the technology would provide the... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Policy; Business and Government Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Technology Adoption; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Brazil

March 2023 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Majid Al Futtaim: Adapting the Shopping Mall to the Digital Era

By: Antonio Moreno and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in August 2022, as Ahmed Galal Ismail, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Properties and Fatima Zada, digital and omnichannel director at Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls, go over the plans to roll out the omnichannel mall offering for the Mall of the Emirates they... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Strategy; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Value Creation; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United Arab Emirates

April 2011
Article

The Origins of Japanese Technological Modernization

By: Tom Nicholas

Explanations of Japanese technological modernization from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century have increasingly focused on domestic capabilities as opposed to the traditional emphasis on knowledge transfers from the West. Yet, the literature is mostly... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Body of Literature; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Patents; Measurement and Metrics; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Economic Growth; Developing Countries and Economies; Information Technology; Technology Industry; Japan; Germany; Great Britain; United States

Find at Harvard

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June 2018 (Revised July 2023)
Case

John Chambers, Cisco, and China: Upgrading a Golden Shield

By: Geoffrey Jones and Emily Grandjean

This case examines the role of Cisco led by John Chambers in facilitating web filtering in China. It begins by tracing the origins of Cisco as a pioneer of networking equipment. John Chambers, who had worked as a sales manager at IBM and Wang Laboratories, joined Cisco... View Details

Keywords: Cisco; Internet and the Web; Governance Controls; Ethics; Rights; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Technology Industry; China

August 1996 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Home Products Division in Europe (A)

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In 1995, Hewlett-Packard Home Products Division (HPD) has the assignment to make Hewlett-Packard the third major home PC player worldwide. With the U.S. launch imminent, the HPD team has to decide how to enter the European market. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Globalization; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Competition; Information Technology; Technology Industry; Europe; United States

March 2014
Case

MediaTek: From Feature Phones to Smartphones

By: Willy Shih

MediaTek was the third largest fabless semiconductor company in the world, and was the second largest supplier of the silicon microchips that powered mobile phones. Yet as the company's chairman reflected on his R&D strategy, he wondered why it hadn't moved faster on... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Technology Adoption; Telecommunications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; China; Taiwan

March 2007 (Revised April 2007)
Case

The University of Utah and the Computer Graphics Revolution

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

Computer science departments were new to universities in the 1960s, and the one created at the University of Utah by David Evans and Ivan Sutherland had a research mission to invent the field of computer graphics. Details the research process that led to many of the... View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Entrepreneurship; Management Practices and Processes; Mission and Purpose; Research and Development; Technology Adoption; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Utah

09 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Overcoming the Challenges of Selling Brand New Technology (Hey, Need a 3-D Printer?)

trying to solve. If your way of thinking about potential customers doesn’t uncover information about who buys and why in each segment, all you have is a power point, not an actionable basis for product, pricing, and sales decisions.” Only... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Industrial Products; Industrial Products; Industrial Products; Industrial Products; Industrial Products; Industrial Products; Industrial Products; Industrial Products

September 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Going Mobile-First? The Digital Transformation of Davivienda Bank in Colombia

By: Jorge Tamayo and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Set in 2017, this case describes the digital transformation strategy of Davivienda—a leading player in Colombia’s commercial banking and one of the companies belonging to Grupo Bolívar, a major Colombian financial conglomerate. The case also describes the pioneer role... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Technology; Digital Strategy; Digital Transformation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Banking Industry; Latin America; Central America; South America; Colombia

February 2020 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Anomalie

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Thomas O. Jones

In early 2019, the founders of Anomalie, an online direct-to-consumer provider of bridal gowns, have just agreed to a $13.6 million Series A investment from a Silicon Valley VC. They are considering three major initiatives as they move forward. (1) To scale their very... View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

December 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Ebony Magazine

By: Steven Rogers and Derrick Jackson

For nearly 75 years, the Johnson Publishing Company has been the most successful African American magazine publisher. Its flagship Ebony magazine was an iconic coffee table fixture for decades in black households of all classes, making founder John H. Johnson... View Details