Publications

September 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

From Beirut With Love (A)

By: Christina R. Wing, Esel Y. Cekin and Samer Al-Rachedy

This case describes how Robert Fadel, CEO and chairman of ABC, one of Lebanon’s leading retail and real estate groups, professionalized the family business. Robert was the second son of the company’s founder, Maurice Fadel, who had run it single-handedly. Concerned... View Details

18 Mar 2013
HBS Case

HBS Cases: LEGO

be combined. Thomke's experience goes back a long way—as a kid growing up in Germany he participated in a LEGO competition. As an adult, though, his interests lie more in the... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Entertainment & Recreation

July 2005 (Revised September 2016)
Case

24 Hour Fitness (A): The Rise, 1983–2004

By: John R. Wells, Elizabeth A. Raabe and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2004, Mark S. Mastrov, CEO of 24 Hour Fitness, reflected on how far his company had come in just over 20 years. From humble beginnings in 1983 in San Leandro, California, 24 Hour Fitness had grown to become the largest privately-owned health-club chain in... View Details

Keywords: 24 Hour Fitness; Mark Mastrov; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Weight Loss; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Sales Force Compensation; Incentive Systems; Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Private Equity; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Nutrition; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Operations; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Capital Structure; Performance; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

22 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 22, 2006

scope. The general narrative about cartels may not be a story of rise and fall, but rise, boom, collapse, revitalization, gradual decline, and then criminalization. Yet, until the 1980s, the global story of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Nov 2019
Video

Adi Godrej

Adi Godrej, head of the India-based diversified business group Godrej Group, describes the company's strategy for moving into markets by acquiring businesses with strong local brand recognition. He gives the... View Details

December 2015
Article

Does Planning Regulation Protect Independent Retailers?

By: Raffaella Sadun

Regulations aimed at curbing the entry of large retail stores have been introduced in many countries to protect independent retailers. Analyzing a planning reform launched in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, I show that independent retailers were actually harmed by the... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Competition; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

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24 Apr 2019
News

Thailand's Richest Family Is Getting Richer Helping China

Marketing - Faculty & Research

the time and find comfort. Then, amid growing shortages in commodities, a vaccine arrived, businesses began to re-open, and consumers benefited from federal relief aid. This perfect storm of high demand amid... View Details

January 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Course Overview Note

'Made in India': Human Capital at the Base of the Pyramid (TN)

By: Michel Anteby, Felicia Khan and John Ng

This teaching note, used in conjunction with excerpts from the 2010 documentary film "Made in India" (directed and produced by Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha) provides students with an opportunity to explore what constitutes human capital and the moral issues... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; India; United States

09 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 9

between the original product and by-product can lead to counterintuitive profit-maximizing operating strategies such as increasing the amount of waste generated, and strategically increasing the quantity of original product above the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Airbnb Emerges from the Pandemic: Lessons for Stakeholder Governance (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Allison M. Ciechanover

As the COVID pandemic spread in early 2020, global travel ground to a halt. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based platform for renting accommodations, the impact was both swift and severe as revenues plummeted more than 70% over the prior year. Responding to the sudden... View Details

Keywords: Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Leadership; Two-Sided Platforms; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Value Creation; Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Travel Industry; Tourism Industry; Service Industry; United States

09 Oct 2015
Blog Post

Students, Alumni, and Colleagues Gather to Discuss Leadership in the Energy Industry

global market share and geopolitical relevance. This volatility in oil prices comes at the same time that the world is shifting from a dependence on fossil fuels to cleaner, more sustainable alternatives... View Details

12 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 12

a district-industry predicts a greater share of subsequent entrepreneurs will be female. Moreover, higher female ownership of local businesses in related industries (e.g.,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2002 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Forest Stewardship Council

By: James E. Austin and Ezequiel Reficco

In just a few years the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) made impressive progress toward its mission of promoting "environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests." By 2001, 25.5 million hectares of forests in... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Corporate Governance; Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Competitive Strategy

March 2013
Article

Breaking Them in or Eliciting Their Best? Reframing Socialization around Newcomers' Authentic Self-expression

By: Daniel M. Cable, Francesca Gino and Brad Staats

Socialization theory has focused on enculturating new employees such that they develop pride in their new organization and internalize its values. Drawing on authenticity research, we propose that the initial stage of socialization leads to more effective employment... View Details

Keywords: Socialization; Authenticity; Self-Expression; Best Self; Outsourcing; Employee Retention; Organizational Culture; Retention; Identity; Customer Satisfaction

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04 Feb 2014
Blog Post

VCPE Club prepares for their annual conference…20 years and running!

School,” said Barbara Rauber, Harvard Business School MBA Class of 2014 and Co-President of the Venture Capital & Private Equity Conference. “It is an honor to welcome the leading members of the private... View Details

23 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

China’s 60-Year Road from Revolution to World Power

cause of a combined economic stagnation and social backwardness that only socialism could cure. In the early and mid-1950s this would lead to the expropriation of the property or exile (to Hong Kong and... View Details

Keywords: by William C. Kirby

February 2012 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Poles Apart on PZU (A)

By: Francesca Gino, Vincent Dessain, Karol Misztal and Michael Khayyat

In October 2008, Andrzej Klesyk, CEO of Poland's largest insurer PZU, reflected on possible ways of resolving a decade-long cross-border shareholder conflict at his company. Owned 55% by the Polish State Treasury and 33% by the Dutch insurer Eureko as of October 2008,... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Trust; Conflict and Resolution; Business and Shareholder Relations; Poland