Publications

January 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

CrossBoundary Energy

By: John Macomber

Almost 500 million people are without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and public utilities are challenged to bring generation and distribution to most of them. Considerable promise exists in “off-grid” or “mini-grid” technologies, notably using renewable... View Details

Keywords: Energy Investing; Economic Development; Renewable Energy; Business Growth and Maturation; Developing Countries and Economies; Project Finance; Emerging Markets; Industry Structures; Infrastructure; Segmentation; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Africa; Tanzania; Ghana

12 Mar 2018
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Why BlackRock CEO Larry Fink Is Not a Socialist

sustainable increases in shareholder value. In his letter Fink describes this phenomenon very accurately, “Without a sense of purpose, no company, either public or private, can achieve its full potential. It will ultimately lose the license to View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Banking

25 Apr 2012
What Do You Think?

How Will the “Age of Big Data” Affect Management?

organized. Other facts are generated by so-called digital sensors operating worldwide in industrial equipment, autos, and the like. By linking the sensors, an "industrial Internet" can be created. These trends appear to have "opportunity"... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

03 Jun 2021
Blog Post

HBS Pilots First Impact Investing Fund

’03) is currently COO, National Institute for Children’s Health Quality, Greg Shell (MBA ’01) is Managing Director of Bain Capital Double Impact Fund, and Stephen Chan (MBA ’09 ) is VP of Strategy and View Details

01 Jan 2004
News

Donald P. Nielsen, MBA 1963

broken were education and medicine," Nielsen recalls. "But education seemed too big a nut to crack." Settling on medicine, Nielsen and Cramer pored over the Seattle phone book to find a research and development company they could buy and run. The only possibility was a... View Details

01 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 1

Management Strategy Ex-Ante Agreements in Standard Setting and Patent Pool Formation By: Llanes, Gastón, and Joaquín Poblete Abstract—We present a model of standard setting and patent-pool formation. We study the effects of alternative... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Flatiron School: Reflections from Summer 2020 - Recruiting

understand the drivers of voter turnout among young adults. Using census demographic data and surveys about voter behavior, we helped Young Invincibles focus their voter engagement strategy by developing a granular data-driven... View Details

January 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Supplement

Nivea (B)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Johann Fuller, Volker Bilgram and Greta Friar

This supplementary case follows up on an innovative R&D approach by Beiersdorf,a skin care and cosmetics company. The case relates what happened to the product launched by Beiersdorf, to its Nivea line, following the events of the A case, and how the commercial success... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation Management; Marketing; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Research and Development; Product Design; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry

February 2009 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Orange: Read&Go

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Toby E. Stuart, Bhaskar Chakravorti, Vincent Marie Dessain, Simon Harrow and Elena Corsi

In late 2008, Orange (aka France Telecom) must decide if launching Read&Go, an electronic newsstand built around an e-paper reader, would be successful. The case describes (1) Orange's strategy; (2) the company's new product development process; (3) e-paper technology,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Demand and Consumers; Product Development; Partners and Partnerships; Competition; Publishing Industry; France

Find at Harvard

July 2002
Case

Introducing ... The XFL!

By: Susan M. Fournier, Stephen A. Greyser and Seth Schulman

When the XFL professional football league debuted on February 3, 2001, it generated a Nielsen rating of 10.1, higher than any nationally televised program in a Saturday evening time slot. The next week, ratings plummeted, and by week nine the XFL game earned the title... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Product Development; Culture; Commercialization

01 Mar 2016
News

The Western Front

Illustration by Brian Stauffer Illustration by Brian Stauffer The government used to be America’s greatest innovator. Among many things, it developed or helped fund the creation of the Internet, GPS, microchips, and even Cheetos. (True story: The military’s need for... View Details

Keywords: Jason Feifer

July 2024
Case

Wizards of the Coast and Magic: The Rebounding

By: Boris Groysberg and Tom Quinn

This case traces the history and growth of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game. From its development in 1993 by tiny studio Wizards of the Coast, to Wizards’ acquisition by toy giant Hasbro in 1999, to its evolution into a billion-dollar brand in 2023,... View Details

November 2010 (Revised July 2011)
Case

FreshTec: Revolutionizing Fresh Produce

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Ryan Johnson

Entrepreneurial produce packaging firm, which has developed a disruptive technology that keeps fresh produce and flowers fresh for significantly longer, faces strategic growth decisions. CEO Bob Wright must decide how best to bring his company's unique packaging... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Disruptive Innovation; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Launch; Supply Chain; Value Creation; Service Industry

01 Jun 2015
News

Rebooting Europe

For centuries, Europe has been at the forefront of innovation: the Greek and Roman architects, the Renaissance inventors, the intrepid navigators in the Age of Exploration. Even in more recent history, Europe has dazzled in its efforts to recover from the devastating... View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos; European Union; Government; Health, Social Assistance

14 Nov 2019
Book

Lifting the Lid on Turkey's Hidden Business History

Turkey’s economic development story has always been something of a black box for scholars to understand, perhaps in part because many of the most successful business enterprises there have been in family hands and largely closed to public scrutiny. The authors of a new... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Dec 2008
News

A Force for Good

stood at a crossroads. It was, by any measure, the preeminent business school in the world. Indisputably, it was the largest, in terms of MBA enrollment, size of faculty, endowment, and operating budget. Its research budget alone — some... View Details

Keywords: Jeffrey L. Cruikshank; Construction of Buildings; Construction; Monetary Authorities-Central Bank; Finance; Hospitals; Health, Social Assistance; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Wood Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Rail Transportation; Transportation

December 2007 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Queensland Sugar Limited

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

Until industry deregulation in 2006, Queensland Sugar ran Australia's single desk marketing system for raw sugar exports. Since deregulation, eight of the ten Queensland sugar millers have elected to continue collective marketing through QSL. However, several millers... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Goods and Commodities; Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competition; Marketing Strategy; Supply Chain; Network Effects; Supply and Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Australia

February 2004 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Pratt & Whitney: Engineering Standard Work

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

As the engineering of state-of-the-art jet engines becomes more and more complex, Pratt & Whitney leaders face major competitive problems. Product development projects are not meeting the cost, quality, and lead-time targets. The leadership develops a design,... View Details

Keywords: Design; Engineering; Cost; Knowledge Management; Time Management; Product Launch; Standards; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Creativity; Competitive Strategy; Manufacturing Industry