Publications

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

excitement and the growing enthusiasm, at times even the frenzy, about these new phenomena, on the grounds of the pressing demands on managers to deal with the new reality and on academics to understand these phenomena. “Existing strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

08 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

How to Fix a Broken Marketplace

An economic handyman of sorts, Alvin E. Roth fixes broken markets. As a Nobel Prize-winning pioneer in the field of market design, the Harvard Business School professor cofounded a kidney donation matching system for New England,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

July 2020
Case

Amanda and Kristen: Mented Cosmetics

By: Steven Rogers, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Alterrell Mills

The co-founders (Black HBS alumnae) of an e-commerce beauty startup explore the unmet needs within the beauty industry. This case study examines the entrepreneurial opportunities that come from identifying an underserved market, specifically within the Black community... View Details

10 Jan 2018
Blog Post

8 Tips to Help You Prepare for the Case Method

consulting. Through my job, I was able to travel, live, and work in emerging markets in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. I developed a passion for digital inclusion and expanding access to renewable energy which ended up being the focus... View Details

12 Mar 2019
Blog Post

What I Learned in the Africa Rising Short Intensive Program

their attempt to enter or thrive in African markets tended to set unrealistic time expectations for their operating teams and/or made unrealistic promises to their investors. Against this backdrop of... View Details

May 1996 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Ecolab, Inc.

By: Ashish Nanda

By 1993, Ecolab has established a dominant market position in the institutional cleaning industry. As the company’s principal competitor, Diversify, drives sales aggressively, Ecolab president Al Schuman faces a choice about how best to market Ecolab’s offerings.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Employees; Retention; Marketing Strategy; Risk Management; Service Industry

April 2014
Case

Don Valentine and Sequoia Capital

By: Felda Hardymon, Tom Nicholas and Liz Kind

Don Valentine participated in the beginnings of two significant milestones: the birth of the silicon chip and the development of the venture capital industry. From humble beginnings, Valentine became a legendary salesman at Fairchild Semiconductor and National... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Personal Development and Career; Semiconductor Industry

26 Apr 2023
In Practice

Is AI Coming for Your Job?

irrelevant construct when considering how to harness generative AI’s capabilities. Processes ranging from negotiating contracts with vendors to developing marketing messages will be redesigned from the ground up in order to exploit the... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Technology

2015
Working Paper

What Do Private Equity Firms Say They Do?

By: Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan and Vladimir Mukharlyamov

We survey 79 private equity investors with combined assets under management (AUM) of over $750 billion about their practices in firm valuation, capital structure, governance, and value creation. Investors rely primarily on internal rate of return (IRR) and multiples to... View Details

Keywords: Governance; Value Creation; Private Equity; Capital Structure; Valuation; Management Practices and Processes

SSRN

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August 2011
Case

Mibanco: Meeting the Mainstreaming of Microfinance (MM)

By: Michael Chu, Gustavo Herrero and Jean Hazell

Facing an increasingly competitive microfinance market in Peru, Mibanco must continually optimize its product offerings, marketing operations, and human resource management to stay on top. This multimedia courseware provides visual orientation to enable viewers to more... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Markets; Change; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Employees; Marketing; Operations; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry; Peru

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

April 2002 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Imagicast

By: John T. Gourville and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Imagicast has brought to market an interactive, multimedia retail kiosk designed to increase product sales. In spite of promising projections by industry analysts and detailed demand forecasts by Imagicast management, the company has yet to sell a single kiosk. Time... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Crisis Management; Product Launch; Demand and Consumers; Sales; Technology; Retail Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

12 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Using the Law to Strategic Advantage

Intel has avoided antitrust run-ins in large part because it effectively trained its marketers about what were and were not permissible trade practices. The goal is not to train managers to be lawyers or to advise themselves but to give... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Legal Services

January 1983 (Revised February 1988)
Case

Hospital Corp. of America (B)

By: W. Carl Kester

Focuses on HCAs financing options for reaching its target capital structure. The options include new equity conversion of convertible debentures, a debt-for-equity swap, the sale of assets, and fixed-rate debt. Students must address the problem of market timing and... View Details

Keywords: Assets; Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Equity; Debt Securities; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Health Industry; United States

05 Mar 2017
News

When people introduced UK Sinha as SBI Chief

October 2003
Case

Henry Tam and the MGI Team

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Ingrid Vargas and Hillary Anger Elfenbein

Within a short time frame, seven diverse team members assemble to write a business plan for a new company and struggle to define their roles, make decisions together, and resolve conflict. Henry Tam, a second-year Harvard MBA student, who joins an aspiring start-up... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Business Plan; Groups and Teams; Decision Making; Jobs and Positions; Leadership Style; Human Resources; Management Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Diversity