California - Publications - Faculty & Research

21 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

What Happens in Vegas Could Shape the Metaverse

somewhat faded from popular discourse amid advancements in artificial intelligence. However, in an article published recently in California Management Review, Wu and Clough say they believe it’s only a matter of time before the metaverse... View Details

Keywords: by Scott Nover; Computer; Information Technology

June 2024
Supplement

Legacy Partners (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Abstract: Stephen Holbrook and Austin Pulsipher (both HBS '19) had been leading Nutrishare since acquiring the company six... View Details

Citation

Purchase

February 2022
Teaching Note

Linda Oubré at Whittier College

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia Comeau

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-057. View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Diversification; Board; California; United States

Citation

Purchase

June 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Supplement

Eric Hawkins Leading Agile Teams @ Digitally-Born AppFolio (B)

By: Tsedal Neeley, Paul Leonardi and Michael Norris

Supplements the (A) case, HBS No. 419-066, and provides information about what happened after the (A) case ends. View Details

Keywords: Agile; Values; Vision; Corporate Culture; Leadership; Transformation; Organizational Culture; Values and Beliefs; Digital Transformation; Technology Industry; United States; California

Citation

Purchase

March 2019
Supplement

Gender and Free Speech at Google (B)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Sarah Mehta

In November 2018, 20,000 Google employees participated in a walkout to protest the company’s decision to grant a $90 million exit package to a former executive accused of sexual misconduct. The case explores organizers’ demands and asks how the company’s senior leaders... View Details

Keywords: Free Speech; Ethnicity; Gender; Race; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Labor; Employment; Lawsuits and Litigation; Technology Industry; United States; California

Citation

Purchase

October 2018
Supplement

Zenefits Board of Directors (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Business Model; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Leadership; Risk Management; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; California

Citation

Purchase

November 2016
Case

ShotSpotter

By: Mitchell Weiss and Sarah McAra

SST, Inc. offered a subscription-based gunfire detection service, ShotSpotter Flex, to cities across the United States in addition to a few abroad. Over its 20-year history, SST had mostly honed a reliable business-to-government sales model, and the company had been... View Details

Keywords: ShotSpotter; SST; Internet Of Things; IoT; Smart Cities; Public Entrepreneurship; Enterprise Sales; Scaling And Growth; Government; Public Sector; Innovation; Ralph Clark; Entrepreneurship; Sales; Innovation and Invention; Public Administration Industry; California; United States

Citation

Educators

Purchase

August 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Accounting for the iPhone Upgrade Program (A)

By: Jonas Heese, Krishna G. Palepu, H. David Sherman and Monica Baraldi

On September 9, 2015, Apple Inc. announced the “iPhone Upgrade Program,” a new way to purchase iPhone models 6s and 6s Plus in Apple’s retail stores throughout the U.S. Next to the strategic implications of the Upgrade Program, financial analysts tried to understand... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Apple Inc.; iPhone 6s; International Accounting; Electronics Industry; California; United States

Citation

Educators

Purchase

July 2014 (Revised October 2014)
Case

McKinsey & Co. - Protecting its Reputation (A)

By: Jay Lorsch and Emily McTague

On Tuesday March 15, 2011, all 1,200 global Partners of McKinsey & Co. gathered at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center near Washington, DC for their annual Partners' conference. The atmosphere was tense as Partners, in addition to their normal agenda,... View Details

Keywords: Board; McKinsey; Consulting Firms; Risk; Risk Assessment; Partnerships; Insider Trading; Confidentiality; Personal Investing; Reputation; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Management Practices and Processes; Risk Management; Consulting Industry; United States; California

Citation

Educators

Purchase

October 2013 (Revised January 2014)
Supplement

Fred Khosravi and AccessClosure (B)

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Lauren Barley

It was January 2013, and Fred Khosravi, chairman of the board of AccessClosure Inc., wondered what the new year had in store for him and AccessClosure, the company he founded in late 2002. Khosravi was cautiously optimistic—the Mountain View, California-based medical... View Details

Keywords: Medical Devices; Vascular Closure Device; Patent Litigation; Patenting; Biomedical Research; Biotechnology; Biotech; Technological Innovation; Patents; Health Care and Treatment; Biotechnology Industry; United States; California

Citation

Purchase

December 2012 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Lit Motors

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alex Godden

In mid-2012 Lit Motors had created both engineering and design prototypes and conducted initial customer tests on less than $750,000 of investment. Lit Motors' founder, Daniel Kim, had started the company to design and manufacture an efficient electric 2-wheeled... View Details

Keywords: Lean Startup; Prototyping; Electric Vehicle; Urban Vehicle; Customer Tests; Gyroscope; Entrepreneurs; Development Stage Enterprises; Creativity; Disruptive Technologies; Consumer Surveys; Market Segmentation; Manufacturing Costs; Entrepreneurship; Auto Industry; United States; California

Citation

Educators

Purchase

23 Jun 2020
Book

Beginning America Over Again with a New Electoral System

years later, the spirit of American revolution still reverberates for many of us, and the successes of initiatives in states such as Maine and California reinvigorate the democratic renegade in our marrow. But skepticism is bound to creep... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

10 May 2017
Research & Ideas

Amazon Web Services Changed the Way VCs Fund Startups

with Michael Ewens of the California Institute of Technology and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf of MIT Sloan School of Management. The researchers focus on one of the most important technological shifts in recent years—the introduction of Amazon... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Banking; Financial Services; Information Technology

14 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Web Surfers Have a Schedule and Stick to It

is crucial to online success. A recent research paper offers insights that carry unexpected implications for advertisers or anyone else trying to capture that attention. The Empirical Economics of Online Attention was written by Andre Boik, University of View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Web Services

24 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 24

incident response to the terror attack. This abridged version of their final report focuses on the lessons learnt. Publisher's link: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/content/download/67364/1242266/version/1/file/Making+Boston+Stronger_ICSS+Journal.pdf February 2015 View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Nov 2016
First Look

November 15, 2016

reporting. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/317028-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 917-404 Transferring Knowledge Between Projects at NASA JPL (A) The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)—formally part of the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Building a Mishap-Free U.S. Navy

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Herman B. Leonard, Michael W. Toffel and Michael Norris

In 2021, Kevin “Bud” Couch, a retired Navy captain who was now working as a civilian employee of the Navy Safety Center, was trying to determine how best to reduce the risk of Navy mishaps. The Navy had experienced a series of major mishaps in 2017 that had led to a... View Details

Keywords: National Security; Safety; War; Ship Transportation; Risk Management; Operations; Singapore; Tokyo; San Diego

Citation

Educators

Purchase

February 2020
Teaching Note

Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (A) and (B)

By: Nien-he Hsieh and Christina R. Wing

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 619-039 and 320-091. View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Lawsuits and Litigation; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; California; United States

Citation

Purchase

October 2018
Case

Zenefits Board of Directors (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz

In early 2018, the time seemed right for Zenefits investor and director Lars Dalgaard to reflect on whether Zenefits had the right board of directors to shepherd the company through its next stages of growth. For the company whose name combined the words “benefits,”... View Details