Publications

January 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Alibaba's Taobao (A)

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Julie M. Wulf

This case examines the decision of Alibaba Group to diversify from an international business-to-business (B2B) exchange (Alibaba.com) into a B2C and C2C exchange (Taobao.com) for Chinese retailers and consumers. In China, Taobao had managed to displace the once... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Demand and Consumers; Market Transactions; Service Operations; Diversification; Internet and the Web; China

06 Dec 2016
First Look

December 6, 2016

rationalize these findings in a stylized model with segmented investor clienteles and habit formation. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51958 Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2009
Book

High Commitment, High Performance: How to Build a Resilient Organization for Sustained Advantage

By: Michael Beer

Integrating knowledge from strategic management, performance management, and organization design, strategic human resource expert and Harvard Business School Professor Michael Beer outlines what the high-commitment, high-performance organization looks like and provides... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Leadership; Management; Goals and Objectives; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Performance; Practice; Business Strategy; System

Find at Harvard

08 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 8, 2008

suffering incurred by the affected population. We use a political economy model of disaster prevention, supported by case studies and preliminary empirics to explain why some governments prepare well for disasters and others do not. We... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

July 2015
Case

Uncharted Play (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Ali Huberlie

The case recounts the process of launching an early stage venture, from idea conception through initial efforts to validate the concept, followed by product launch, and fund raising. It emphasizes the Customer Value Proposition of the business model, and asks – Who is... View Details

Keywords: Early Stage; Female Protagonist; Value Proposition; Team Building; Founders' Agreements; Start-up; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Business Startups; Sports; United States; North America; Nigeria; Africa

09 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

OneTen: Creating a New Pathway for Black Talent

skills, to give those people a meaningful pathway into an opportunity to have earned success.” "With OneTen’s backing, Black employees could move up the ranks and become role models for those who follow." Rometty and her team at IBM... View Details

Keywords: by Rawi E. Abdelal, Katherine Connolly Baden, and Boris Groysberg

01 Aug 2001
News

Richard B. Fisher (MBA '62)

diversity of businesses and products that were virtually unimaginable before the advent of full-service financial institutions. Named president of the firm in 1984 and chairman in 1991, Fisher is widely recognized for his role in both... View Details

Keywords: Richard B. Fisher; Warren A. Law; Alumni Achievement Award; Finance; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

16 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist?

Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, first published in 1776, helped create the discipline of economics with its conjuring of the invisible hand, self-interest, and other explanations of market forces that have influenced academics, governments, and View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

11 Jun 2018
Blog Post

Meet the 2018-2019 Blavatnik Fellows in Life Science Entrepreneurship

entrepreneurs giving them the foundation needed to achieve their goals. Among those resources is the Blavatnik Fellows in Life Science Entrepreneurship. Meet the 2018-2019 Blavatnik Fellows This innovative fellowship program provides a select group of Harvard View Details

19 Nov 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Marijuana

against federal law? But in the absence of enforcement action by the United States government, perhaps the better question is, what will the inevitable national market in marijuana shake out? Will it consist of grungy underground head shops? View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage

11 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 11, 2007

and deliverables. Many critical business challenges are detailed in this case. Nevertheless, given their fully integrated business model and significant manufacturing base, the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

07 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 8, 2018

collaborate with on this effort? Can this model be replicated at scale across the country? Purchase this case: https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/218110-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 518-079 Membership... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

June 1997 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Walker and Company: Profit Plan Decisions

By: Robert L. Simons and Ramsey Walker

Ramsey Walker, a second-year MBA student, must decide how to control a family business as an absentee owner. After providing background details on the publishing industry, the case requires the reader to: 1) make a product segmentation decision; 2) prepare a profit... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Family and Family Relationships; Market Design; Management Systems; Planning; Profit; Performance Evaluation; Segmentation; Corporate Strategy; Investment Return; Publishing Industry