Publications

17 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 17

that estimate the amount of money "left on the table" by stronger founders who agree to an equal split. We estimate that the value at stake is approximately 10% of the firm equity, 25% of the average founder stake, or $450K in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Inventing Products is Less Valuable Than Inventing Ideas

social network that would allow everyone to share their lives with one another across geographies. "Compared to the value of the global network idea, the value of the actual product of a platform for... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

August 2001 (Revised January 2015)
Case

SonoSite: A View Inside

By: Clayton Christensen and Jeremy Dann

After its spin-off from one of the world's largest ultrasound makers, Sonosite attempts to popularize a new kind of handheld ultrasound units. Sonosite needs to decide if it should focus on new markets that will value the portability and ease of use of its products, or... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Disruptive Innovation; Product Positioning; Demand and Consumers

February 2021 (Revised July 2022)
Case

Sarah Breedlove: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case describes the rise of Sarah Breedlove, who later called herself Madam C.J. Walker, from the cotton fields of Louisiana to the head of a successful, nationwide beauty company providing opportunity and hair care products to Black women. The case describes how... View Details

Keywords: Brands; African-american Entrepreneurs; Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Personal Characteristics; Success; Work-Life Balance; Business Startups; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Personal Development and Career; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

November 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Drilling South: Petrobras Evaluates Pecom

By: Mihir A. Desai and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

The Brazilian oil company, Petrobras, is evaluating the acquisition of an Argentine oil company, the Perez Companc Group (Pecom). The acquisition would increase Petrobras' oil reserves and expand its interests outside Brazil, a significant step for the largest company... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Crisis; Non-Renewable Energy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Corporate Governance; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; State Ownership; Performance Evaluation; Risk and Uncertainty; Valuation; Energy Industry; Argentina; Brazil

25 May 2020
Research & Ideas

Has Occupational Licensing Outlived Its Usefulness?

or she will pay. The study, Consumer Protection In An Online World: An Analysis Of Occupational Licensing, is the first to look together at what consumers care about and the effects on demand and metrics of customer satisfaction. It is... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Service

January 2023
Case

EKI Energy Services: One Billion Carbon Credits

By: George Serafeim

Within nine months from the time of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April of 2021, EKI Energy Services (EKI) shares had increased by more than 8,000%. Equally explosive was the growth of the company’s revenues and Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and Depreciation... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Credits; Carbon Emissions; Growth; Business Analysis; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Valuation; Climate Change; Accounting; Valuation; Transition; Renewable Energy; Analysis; Product Positioning; India

08 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Everything Must Go: A Strategy for Store Liquidation

a different approach in the case of store liquidations," he says. "That's because you can close stores at different times; move inventory between stores; and take different markdowns in different locations. There's also a huge increase in View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

Research Summary

Customer-Centricity as a Vehicle for Organic Growth

By: Ranjay Gulati

This body of work examines the mechanics of how firms grow profitably in commoditizing markets. Underlying the "customer-centricity" that many firms embrace today is a factor that will determine their success with this effort: enabling collaboration across... View Details

08 Jan 2016
Research & Ideas

Is it Worth a Pay Cut to Work for a Great Manager (Like Bill Belichick)?

indicates the answer is yes. That is, by enhancing employee value managers can potentially add significant value to an organization. This research is particularly important to recall this week, when, with the close of the NFL’s regular... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg & Abhijit Naik; Sports

Article

Unconventional Insights for Managing Stakeholder Trust

By: Michael Pirson and Deepak Malhotra

Initiatives to build and maintain trust with various stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers and investors, are at the top of the executive agenda at many organizations. But most companies don't really understand how to manage stakeholder trust... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Organizational Culture; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Perspective; Trust; Cooperation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Partnering and the Balanced Scorecard

the nature of the organization's business and how the organization intends to succeed and outperform competitors. It articulates the critical elements for a company's growth strategy 5: Objectives for growth in shareholder value Targeted... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

November 1999
Case

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (B)

DuPont must decide whether to launch a new non-GM (genetically modified) soybean that is tolerant to chemical sprays. In the face of rapid introductions of GM products by competitors, DuPont faces the challenge of ensuring the identity preservation of its new product... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Value and Value Chain; Genetics; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Article

Uninformed Consent

By: Leslie K. John

Companies want access to more and more of your personal data—from where you are to what’s in your DNA. Can they unlock its value while respecting consumers’ privacy? View Details

Keywords: Personal Data; Privacy; Customers; Analytics and Data Science; Ethics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

Read Now

08 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Can Japan Compete? [Part Two]

discussing lifetime employment, Japan needs to preserve its assets. Japanese time horizons are an asset. Japanese skill and education levels are an asset. We sketch in the book some elements of a distinctly Japanese approach, but one that... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Hilah Geer

08 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 8

By: Hałaburda, Hanna, and Felix Oberholzer-Gee Abstract—The value of many products and services rises or falls with the number of customers using them; the fewer fax machines in use, the less important it is... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2022
Supplement

Borusan CAT: Monetizing Prediction in the Age of AI (B)

By: Navid Mojir and Gamze Yucaoglu

Borusan Cat is an international distributor of Caterpillar heavy machines. In 2021, it had been three years since Ozgur Gunaydin (CEO) and Esra Durgun (Director of Strategy, Digitization, and Innovation) started working on Muneccim, the company’s predictive AI tool.... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Commercialization; Technology Adoption; Industrial Products Industry; Turkey; Middle East

January 2022
Case

Bee-ing Better at Bombas

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Youngme Moon and John Masko

David Heath and Randy Goldberg founded Bombas in 2013 to serve two missions: to deliver the “best socks in the history of feet,” and to donate socks (the most requested item in homeless shelters) to Americans experiencing homelessness. Eight years later, Bombas had... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Digital Marketing; Distribution; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Quality; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Human Needs; Poverty; Growth and Development Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; New York (city, NY)