Business At The Base Of The Pyramid - Publications - Faculty & Research

21 Aug 2018
News

The Business Case for Curiosity

January 2017 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Delivering the Goods at Shippo

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Jeffrey F. Rayport and Olivia Hull

Laura Behrens Wu, CEO of software start-up Shippo, prepares her pitch for a Series A funding round following a successful seed round. Customer adoption of Shippo’s e-commerce dashboard application, which allows small and medium retailers to compare delivery rates... View Details

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October 2016 (Revised October 2023)
Case

Bootstrapping at Lightricks

By: Robert White, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Christine Snively

By August 2015, two-year-old mobile imaging software startup Lightricks had developed and released two best-selling paid mobile apps, grown to a team of 30, earned a revenue run rate of nearly $10 million, and achieved modest profitability. The bootstrapped company had... View Details

Keywords: Business Startup; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Information Infrastructure; Business Startups; Digital Marketing; Finance; Strategy; Technology Industry; Israel

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Research Summary

Valuation of Business Reorganizations

Business reorganization transactions, such as mergers, acquisitions and spin-offs, are often initiated based on the premise of value creation for shareholders. However, is this premise true, especially in the recent data? Due to the growing share of intangibles... View Details

September 2015
Supplement

Luca de Meo Speaks at Harvard Business School

By: Linda A. Hill

A video supplement to the HBS case study entitled "Luca de Meo at Volkswagen Group." De Meo, Member of the Board at Audi AG and the former Chief Marketing Officer of Volkswagen Group, speaks about leading innovation and the automotive industry. Recorded at Harvard... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Leadership; Auto Industry; Germany

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19 Mar 2007
Research & Ideas

Handicapping the Best Countries for Business

company's future. The good news is that in today's hypercompetitive global economy, certain countries offer distinctive advantages to help your business but you need to choose wisely. Understanding View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

February 2022 (Revised January 2024)
Supplement

Winning Business at Russell Reynolds (C)

By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco

In an effort to make compensation drive collaboration, Russell Reynolds Associates’ (RRA) CEO Clarke Murphy sought to re-engineer the bonus system for his executive search consultants in 2016. As his HR analytics guru, Kelly Smith, points out, that risks upsetting—and... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Talent and Talent Management; Compensation and Benefits; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Consulting Industry

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15 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Businesses Beware: The World Is Not Flat

expansion," Ghemawat argues. While identifying similarities from one place to the next is essential, effective cross-border strategies will take careful stock of differences as well. An expert on global... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

18 Oct 2013
News

The Rise of the Blockbuster

18 Jan 2017
Blog Post

The Latino Community at HBS

connecting with members of the Latino Student Organization. Our members are a great resource to learn more about HBS. It's also important to pay it forward. Make sure you’re on View Details

03 Apr 2017
Blog Post

The International Experience at HBS

experience in one of these places and therefore bring a completely different perspective. It is very easy to make friends within the section “family” at HBS (something I was... View Details

April 2008
Case

A Day in the Life of Alex Sander: Driving in the Fast Lane at Landon Care Products

By: Larry E. Greiner and Elizabeth Collins

Alex Sander is a new product manager whose drive and talents are attractive to management, but whose intolerant style has alienated employees. This tension is presented against the backdrop of a 360° performance review process. Sander works in the Toiletries Division... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Conflict Management; Behavior; Management Practices and Processes; Talent and Talent Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Problems and Challenges; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Europe

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April 2021 (Revised August 2024)
Case

The Turnaround at Ford Motor Company

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Olivia Jung

This case describes the corporate turnaround of the Ford Motor Company under the charismatic leadership of Alan Mulally. Ford was in deep trouble in the early 2000s as its prices and debt ratings plummeted and employee morale suffered. In 2006, the company anticipated... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Transformation; Restructuring; Organizational Culture; Leading Change; Performance Improvement; Auto Industry; North America

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January 15, 2015
Article

Surviving in a Family Business When You're Not Part of the Family

By: Josh Baron and Rob Lachenauer

Navigating office politics in a family-owned business can be challenging for non-family executives. Based on experience with various business families worldwide, this article offers strategies for success:

Play in your room: Non-family executives should... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Family and Family Relationships; Employees; Problems and Challenges; Talent and Talent Management

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September 1986 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Solagen: Process Improvement in the Manufacture of Gelatin at Kodak

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey

Kodak must decide whether to make a major investment in a production facility designed around a new technique for producing the gelatin critical to so many film and paper products. Currently, gelatin making is an arcane art, unchanged in 150 years and heavily dependent... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Buildings and Facilities; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Experience and Expertise; Engineering; Investment; Time Management; Production; Research and Development; Semiconductor Industry

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06 Aug 2019
Blog Post

Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism - Discovering the Business of Storytelling

entirely new. One of the best parts about HBS is its business history classes. Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism — better known as EGC — follows different entrepreneurs... View Details

01 Feb 1997
News

Shaping the Future of Business: Entrepreneurial Evolution at HBS

two entrepreneurial visionaries and HBS roommates from the Class of 1951, Arthur Rock and Fayez Sarofim, to establish the Sarofim-Rock Professorship View Details

Keywords: Nancy O. Perry and Susan Young; profiles by Garry Emmons