Publications

2023
Working Paper

When Does Gamified Training Improve Performance? The Roles of Office and Leader Engagement

By: Ryan W. Buell, Wei Cai and Tatiana Sandino

Gamified training is a novel management control system in which companies use gamification techniques to engage and motivate employees to learn. This study empirically examines the performance consequences of gamified training using data from a natural field... View Details

Keywords: Gamified Training; Management Control Systems; Employee Engagement; Employees; Learning; Training; Motivation and Incentives; Performance

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September 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

RightHand Robotics: Choosing the First Market

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Stacy Straaberg

In early 2015, RightHand Robotics’s (RHR) leadership faced a set of decisions in commercializing the startup’s robotic picking solution. RHR’s central product was the RightPick integrated robotic picking system which featured a robotic arm, a three-fingered robotic... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Market Entry and Exit; Product; Research and Development; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Information Infrastructure; Technological Innovation; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Massachusetts

April 1998 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Arrow Electronics, Inc.

By: Das Narayandas

Deals with the issue of cross-selling and managing a portfolio of products and services in business markets. Arrow/Schweber (A/S), a subsidiary of electronic parts distributor Arrow Electronics, has a portfolio of products that differ in the amount of value added by... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Internet and the Web; Problems and Challenges; Change Management; Electronics Industry

28 Mar 2023
Cold Call Podcast

BMW’s Decarbonization Strategy: Sustainable for the Environment and the Bottom Line

Keywords: Re: Shirley Lu; Transportation; Auto; Battery

April 2020 (Revised October 2021)
Case

SpaceX, Economies of Scale, and a Revolution in Space Access

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl, Kylie Lucas and Mehak Sarang

From the time he transformed the world of online banking, Elon Musk established himself as a bold innovator. After selling X.com to PayPal in 2002, he founded a series of revolutionary start-ups, starting with Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). Hoping to "make... View Details

Keywords: Space Tech; Space Access; Vision; Economies Of Scale; Technological Innovation; Emerging Markets; Commercialization; Finance; Aerospace Industry

February 2011 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Marlin & Associates and the Sale of Riverview Technologies

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Riverview Technologies was a Stockholm, Sweden-based company that had developed software hedge funds. After spending more than a year in an organized sale process, the winning bidder had become increasingly difficult to work with and the closing had been substantially... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Offer; Negotiation Process; Business and Shareholder Relations; Financial Services Industry

Career Coach

Craig Husa

As the founder or CEO, Craig (HBS ’90, USNA ’83) has grown and sold four technology-enabled companies to leading public companies. He attributes most of his success (the rest is luck) to building and leading high performing teams who can grow companies and revenue by... View Details

Keywords: Clean Technology; Energy; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Technology; Venture Capital; Financial Services (All); Energy; Oil & Gas; Energy; Impact Investing; Financial Services (All)

February 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Businesses for Sale by Briggs Capital, 2010

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Briggs Capital was a regional mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that helped owners to sell their small firms. The case presents a company that was for sale in the fall of 2010—a troubled manufacturer of post and beam style homes and log homes. Using the actual... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Financial Condition; Investment; Financial Services Industry; Boston

June 2005
Case

CarMax

By: Rajiv Lal and David Kiron

Carmax is the largest multi-market used car dealer in the U.S., and has no format-to-format competitor in the $375 billion used car market. CarMax is trying to do what some analysts believed to be impossible: sell used cars profitably on a national scale, and at the... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Brands and Branding; Digital Platforms; Segmentation; Auto Industry

08 Jul 2013
News

The Wisdom Of The Cronut: Why Long Lines Are Worth the Wait

12 Oct 2018
News

The ‘Amazon Effect’ Can Drive Prices Up, Too

August 2006 (Revised July 2008)
Case

Rwanda and the Thousand Hills Coffee Co.: Breaking New Grounds

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Michelle McDonald

Examines the strategies of a Boston-based start-up to market Rwandan coffee. Describes the history of the coffee industry, the era of cartelization and the International Coffee Agreement, and the subsequent collapse in producer prices after 1989. Also describes the... View Details

Keywords: History; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Food and Beverage Industry; Rwanda; Boston

Find at Harvard

January 2002 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Vialog Corporation

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Michele Lutz

Traces the origin of Vialog Corp.--from its founding in 1996 through a roll-up of several independent teleconferencing companies in 1997 and its initial public offering (1999) and eventually to a potential merger or acquisition in June 2000. The company has grown... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Exit or Shutdown; Internet and the Web; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships; Initial Public Offering; Business Growth and Maturation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Processes; Information Technology Industry; Europe

November 2013 (Revised September 2015)
Supplement

GlaxoSmithKline in China (B)

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In 2013, Chinese investigators detained four GSK employees for allegedly bribing health care staff to sell GSK pharmaceuticals. A month later, GSK's Asia Pacific regional president, Abbas Hussain, said the company would help identify corrupt practices. Two days later,... View Details

March 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Iqbal Quadir, Gonofone, and the Creation of GrameenPhone (Bangladesh)

By: Daniel J. Isenberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and David Lane

As the smallest of 4 partners in a unique wireless telephony venture in Bangladesh that he initiated and helped grow, Iqbal Quadir is trying to acquire a larger stake in the venture when one of the partners wants to sell his shares. However, Quadir faces stiff... View Details

October 1992 (Revised October 1993)
Case

MCI Communications Corporation: National Accounts Program (Condensed)

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Concerns the early stages of a major-account program at MCI, a telecommunications firm seeking to penetrate the corporate-account market. Among the issues are: 1) coordination of field sales efforts with national account selling efforts; 2) sales strategy for major... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Decision Choices and Conditions; Training; Compensation and Benefits; Management Practices and Processes; Marketing Strategy; Groups and Teams; Sales

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August 1994 (Revised October 1996)
Case

MicroFridge

By: Norman A. Berg and James Weber

MicroFridge, a five-year-old, $12 million company based in Sharon, Mass., develops and sells a unique, combination compact refrigerator and microwave oven. All of the manufacturing is done for it by Sanyo in various overseas locations. The founder and president... View Details

Keywords: Production; Competitive Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Supply Chain Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Consumer Products Industry; Massachusetts