Publications

January 2023 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Elon Musk at Tesla

By: George Serafeim and Amram Migdal

This case gives an overview of Elon Musk’s career arc through the lens of the 2003 founding of Tesla and its growth through 2022. Background information is included on Tesla’s unique strategic decisions, its operational and reputational struggles and successes, and the... View Details

15 Jun 2021
News

Zone Defense

Brandon Tseng (MBA 2017) remembers his aha moment. It was April 2015, and Tseng was a US Navy SEAL approaching the end of seven years’ service; his next step would be Harvard Business School. Tseng was reading about a military effort to create robotic armor, a project... View Details

Keywords: April White; drone technology; military; security; entrepreneurship; leadership; Air Transportation; Air Transportation

Web

Buy Now, Pay Later: Cars on Time

however, motorized trucks and passenger cars found a market among small businessmen who recognized their value for deliveries and short-distance transport of heavy goods, but could not put up the entire purchase price at once. The auto... View Details

February 1992 (Revised September 2019)
Case

The House of Tata

By: James E. Austin and Ashish Nanda

The case traces the evolution of the Tata group, one of the largest and highly respected Indian business houses, from its 19th century founding and early growth in diverse industries, to its response to changes in government regulation in independent India, up to its... View Details

Keywords: Indian Economy; International Business; Government And Business; Government Regulation; Synergy; Conglomerates; Business Conglomerates; Developing Countries and Economies; Business and Government Relations; Business History; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry; India

March 2019 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Waymo LLC

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

On December 5, 2018, Waymo LLC, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., launched the United States’ first commercial driverless-car ride-hailing service (Waymo One), based in Phoenix, Arizona. As with other ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, Waymo One riders... View Details

24 Apr 2023
HBS Case

What Does It Take to Build as Much Buzz as Booze? Inside the Epic Challenge of Cannabis-Infused Drinks

beverages, a relatively new product line, while others worried about too many new cannabis products flooding the young market. Anderson and Bullock also had to contend with the fact that they can’t transport certain cannabis-related items... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

Web

Commodities, Currencies, and Balancing of the Trade Deficit - A Chronicle of the China Trade

Commodities, Currencies, and Balancing of the Trade Deficit Augustine Heard & Co.’s formation occurred during the First Opium War (1839–1842). The conflict broke out between the United Kingdom and China in part over the transport and sale... View Details

April 2020 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Oriental Land Co., Ltd.—Tokyo Disney Resort

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Akiko Kanno

This case describes the history of Oriental Land Co. Ltd.’s (OLC's) Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR), its operations, the extent of vertical integration, and the challenges it faced in 2018 as OLC's chairman and CEO, Toshio Kagami, contemplated how best to deal with... View Details

Keywords: Strategy For Multi-business Firm; Business Models; Growth; Theme Parks; Disney; Disney Parks; Licensing; Royalties; Two-part Tariffs; Oriental Land Co.; Tokyo Disneyland; Tokyo DisneySea; Tokyo Disney Resort; Tokyo Disney; Growth Strategy; Hotels; Hotel Industry; Partnership; Development; Attractions; Rides; Urayasu; Kagami; Congestion; Pricing; Amusement Parks; Amusement Park Industry; Brand; Branding; History; OLC; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Business History; Price; Retention; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Agreements and Arrangements; Contracts; Operations; Vertical Integration; Problems and Challenges; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Expansion; Rail Transportation; Transportation Networks; Accommodations Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Tourism Industry; Asia; Japan; Tokyo; United States

August 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Fate of the Vasa, The

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Richard Mason

In 1628, the royal warship Vasa was launched. It was Sweden's most expensive naval vessel ever built, costing over 5% of GNP. On its maiden voyage, the ship sailed 1,400 yards in its own harbor, heeled over to the side, and then sank. One third of the 150 crew and... View Details

Keywords: History; Risk and Uncertainty; Technological Innovation; Ship Transportation; Product Design; Technology Adoption; Failure; Business and Government Relations; Product Development; Sweden

February 2022
Case

US Foods: Driving Post-Pandemic Success?

By: David E. Bell, Olivia Hull and Amy Klopfenstein

In November 2021, US Foods CEO Pietro Satriano must decide his company’s trajectory following the COVID-19 pandemic. US Foods suffered due to business closures and social distancing during the height of the pandemic. While the situation improved following the return of... View Details

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Merchants to Multinationals: British Trading Companies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

pioneered new industries, from jute manufacture in India and cotton textile manufacture in China, to the oil industry in California."The improvements in transport and communications from the 1870s resulted in opportunities and... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

17 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

Can Autonomous Vehicles Drive with Common Sense?

Human error causes at least 90 percent of the 5.25 million accidents in the United States annually. Could driverless cars save lives? Yes, but it may take a long road to get there. “Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are never drunk or tired or inattentive,” says Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Auto

January 2021
Supplement

What Went Wrong with Boeing’s 737 Max? (B)

By: William W. George and Amram Migdal

Following the March 10, 2019, crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, en route to Nairobi, Kenya and the October 29, 2018, downing of Lion Air flight 610 as it took off from Jakarta, Indonesia, Boeing’s 737 Max jet, the model flown in both instances, was grounded by... View Details

Portrait Project

Emily Stapleton

I checked my watch as I stood by the side of the road, worrying about a dinner reservation and waiting for my bus to arrive. While I had enjoyed exploring the many different neighborhoods of San Francisco on my first visit to the city, I was astonished by the... View Details

April 2020 (Revised April 2023)
Case

TransDigm in 2017: The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning?

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

TransDigm was a highly acquisitive company that manufactured a wide range of highly engineered aerospace parts for both military and commercial customers. Over the ten years ending in 2016, its stock price had increased ten times, and both EBITDA and revenues had grown... View Details