Publications

02 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

Four Companies that Conquered America

company does not have a strong presence in the USA.” 3. ING. The Dutch bank converted its weakness (no retail branches in the U.S.) into a strength. Following a successful Canadian market test, ING gave its entrepreneurial general View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

May 2009 (Revised January 2011)
Case

HubSpot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh, Jill Avery and Naseem Ashraf Dahod

This case introduces the concept of inbound marketing, pulling customer prospects toward a business through the use of Web 2.0 tools and applications like blogging, search engine optimization, and social media. Students follow the growth of HubSpot, an entrepreneurial... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Communications; Social and Collaborative Networks; Segmentation; Web

24 Jun 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Don’t Just Survive—Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad

Keywords: by Lynda M. Applegate & J. Bruce Harreld

January 1996
Background Note

Creativity and Innovation in Organizations

By: Teresa M. Amabile

Creativity, the production of new and useful ideas by individuals or teams, can appear in many forms and many functions within firms of all kinds--from entrepreneurial start-ups to well-established enterprises. This note describes the varieties of creativity in... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Organizational Design; Situation or Environment; Creativity

Leonard A. Schlesinger is Baker Foundation Professor at the Harvard Business School where he serves as Chair of the School’s Practice based faculty and faculty Chair of the MBA Field Global Immersion program. He has served as a member of the HBS faculty from 1978 to... View Details

October 2005 (Revised July 2009)
Case

MD Beauty, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Elizabeth Kind

Describes some of the issues confronting the entrepreneurial team responsible for creating a highly successful natural beauty and skin care company. They are considering selling all or some portion of the company's stock. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Management Teams; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

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2008
Book

Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India Are Reshaping Their Futures and Yours

By: Tarun Khanna

China and India are home to one-third of the world's population. And they're undergoing social and economic revolutions that are capturing the best minds--and money--of Western business. In "Billions of Entrepreneurs," Tarun Khanna examines the entrepreneurial forces... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Development Economics; Entrepreneurship; Globalized Economies and Regions; China; India

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August 1998 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Harbus Foundation, The

By: James E. Austin and Linda Carrigan

Describes the challenges faced by a group of HBS students as they create a foundation. Given surplus funds generated by the student-run newspaper, The Harbus leadership decides to find a meaningful use for the excess cash. Profiles both the entrepreneurial process used... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Asset Management; Financial Institutions; Investment Portfolio; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Problems and Challenges; Social Enterprise; Valuation; Financial Services Industry

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23 May 2019
Book

These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems

In 1908, Harvard Business School’s first dean, Edwin Francis Gay, welcomed the School’s inaugural class of 59 students by saying that HBS was challenged with encouraging its students to have the “intellectual respect for business as a profession, with the social... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology

23 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 23

Publication: Management Science (forthcoming) Abstract We examine whether the likelihood of entrepreneurial activity is related to the prior career experiences of an individual's co-workers, using a unique... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2023
Article

Social Networks, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship

By: William R. Kerr and Martin Mandorff

We study the relationship between ethnicity, occupational choice, and entrepreneurship. Immigrant groups in the United States cluster in specific business sectors. For example, Koreans are 34 times more concentrated in self-employment for dry cleaning than other... View Details

Keywords: Self-employed; Occupation; Entrepreneurship; Ethnicity; Immigration; Networks

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October 2018
Case

Recipe for Success: Growth and Evolution at Cafe Cupcake

By: Anthony Mayo and Heather Beckham

Café Cupcake (CC) is a fast-casual restaurant chain that offers artisan cupcakes and light fare throughout the southeastern United States and Texas. This case chronicles the growth and evolution of Café Cupcake. It also considers the specific human resource challenges... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Human Resources; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Food and Beverage Industry

February 2005 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Shinhan Financial Group (A)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Ryan Raffaelli

Mr. Young Hwi Choi, president and CEO of Shinhan Financial Group, embarked on an unconventional post-merger integration strategy with recently acquired Chohung Bank. The strategy focused on integrating traditional operations while attending to employees' reactions to... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Change Management; Employees; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Emotions; Integration; South Korea

07 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Government’s Positive Role in Kick-Starting Entrepreneurship

bungles things when it wades into the private sector. Lerner's book studies where public efforts to spur entrepreneurial activity have gone right and wrong—there are many more of the latter, the author acknowledges—and offers policy... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

January 2022 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Simplifyy

By: Paul A. Gompers and Alicia Dadlani

Jake Lisby, co-founder and CEO of Simplifyy, a property technology startup in Kansas City, Missouri, was both exhausted and exhilarated by the flurry of activity surrounding the pivot of the business model in late 2021. Simplifyy, a venture-backed PropTech company, was... View Details

Keywords: SaaS; SaaS Business Models; Business Model; Business Startups; Small Business; Geographic Location; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Real Estate Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; Missouri

John Gourville is the Albert J. Weatherhead, Jr. Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He joined the HBS Marketing Unit in 1995 after receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in marketing and behavioral research. His most... View Details

Keywords: agribusiness; biotechnology; consumer products; health care; high technology; medical supplies; pharmaceuticals; retailing

01 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Crowdfunding a Poor Investment?

professors who specialize in entrepreneurial finance. A Tradition Of Crowdfunding Before understanding what crowdfunding can do, it's helpful to understand what it is. In a sense, says Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking Josh... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

2020
Working Paper

Social Networks, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship

By: William R. Kerr and Martin Mandorff

We study the relationship between ethnicity, occupational choice, and entrepreneurship. Immigrant groups in the United States cluster in specific business sectors. For example, Koreans are 34 times more concentrated in self-employment for dry cleaning than other... View Details

Keywords: Self-employed; Occupation; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Industry Clusters; Ethnicity; Immigration; Networks; United States