Publications

March 2007 (Revised October 2008)
Case

The Vancouver 2010 Olympics

By: Anita Elberse, Catherine Anthony and Joshua Callahan

It is February 2007, exactly three years before Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Olympics. Judy Rogers, City Manager for the City of Vancouver and a member of the Board of Directors for Vancouver's Organizing Committee (VANOC), is keen to ensure the Games will have a... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Social Marketing; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Sports; Public Administration Industry; Sports Industry; Vancouver

April 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Ping An: Pioneering the New Model of ‘Technology-driven Finance’

By: Feng Zhu, Anthony K. Woo and Nancy Hua Dai

In mid-December 2018, Peter Ma, Chairman and CEO of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. was considering whether the company should grow a fifth ecosystem of Smart City Services. Established in 1988, Ping An was one of the top 10 global financial... View Details

Keywords: Business Ecosystems; Fintech; Finance; Information Technology; Business Model; Expansion; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

Mitch Weiss is the Richard L. Menschel Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. He created and teaches the school's course on Public Entrepreneurship—on public leaders and private entrepreneurs who invent a difference in the... View Details

20 Aug 2015
Video

What Is the State of U.S. Competitiveness Today?

25 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Why a Harvard Finance Instructor Went to the Kumbh Mela

this land was under 30 feet of water. Three weeks from now this will become the largest city on earth, the largest single-purpose gathering of humanity in history. Every 12 years, when the moon and stars are aligned, this becomes the most... View Details

Keywords: by John D. Macomber; Construction; Real Estate

August 2005 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Best Buy Co.,Inc.: Competing on the Edge

By: John R. Wells and Travis Haglock

While Circuit City struggles, Best Buy has overtaken it to become the premier consumer electronics retailer in the United States. What has driven its success? How can it be sustained? View Details

Keywords: Competition; System; Organizational Structure; Retail Industry; United States

October 2016 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Airbnb in Amsterdam (A)

By: Mitchell Weiss, Emer Moloney and Vincent Dessain

In February 2014, Amsterdam became the first city to issue new regulations specifically to allow home sharing. Airbnb's Molly Turner, global head of civic partnerships; her colleagues at the San Francisco–based home sharing platform; and her counterparts in Amsterdam's... View Details

06 Jul 2015
News

New name, new look for Chestnut Hill mall

February 2023 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Doing Business in Boston, Massachusetts

By: Laura Alfaro, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Zeke Gillman

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Boston, Massachusetts while giving a broad history of the city and surrounding area. View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Economic Growth; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Financial Services Industry; Boston; Massachusetts

Forthcoming
Article

Happily Ever After: Immigration, Natives' Marriage and Fertility

By: Michela Carlana and Marco Tabellini

We study the effects of immigration on natives’ marriage, fertility, and family formation across U.S. cities between 1910 and 1930. Using a shift-share design, we find that natives living in cities that received more immigrants were more likely to marry, have children,... View Details

Keywords: Immigration; Demographics; History; Employment

09 Jun 2020
News

China’s Tencent Plays Master Builder as Tech Firm Plans ‘Net City’

March 2000 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Robert Moses

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Alexis Lefort

Robert Moses was Park Commissioner in New York City for nearly 50 years. In this position, he had more influence on the face of urban New York than anyone before or after. View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; New York (city, NY)

07 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Immigrant Workers Cluster in Particular Industries

Vietnamese manicurists, Korean dry cleaners, Haitian cab drivers, Gujarati motel owners. Anyone who lives in an American city can see how immigrants tend to cluster in industries along ethnic lines. Is this because they are forced to by... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Transportation; Beauty & Cosmetics; Retail

September 2011
Supplement

Expansion at Narayana Hrudayalaya

By: Tarun Khanna and Tanya Bijlani

Narayana Hrudayalaya has expanded into a multi-specialty health city in Bangalore, with a 25-acre campus that offers complex tertiary care procedures ranging from orthopedics to cancer care. In 2008, NH raised private equity from JP Morgan and Pinebridge Investments to... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Price; Health Care and Treatment; Emerging Markets; Social Enterprise; Expansion; Health Industry; Bangalore; Cayman Islands; Miami