Publications

03 Jul 2019
Cold Call Podcast

The Controversial History of United Fruit

Keywords: Re: Geoffrey G. Jones; Food & Beverage

October 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Case

Whirlpool Corp.: Structuring the Deal to Acquire Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric Company

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Nancy Hua Dai

Ian Lee, Whirlpool's VP for North Asia, had been negotiating a possible acquisition with Jackie Jin, the chairman of a leading Chinese appliance manufacturer named Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric Company (Hefei Sanyo), for almost six months when suddenly Hefei Sanyo's... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Regulation; Cross-border Investment; Brand Names; State-owned Enterprise (SOE); Appliances; White Goods; Consumer Durables; Negotiation; Valuation; Mergers and Acquisitions; State Ownership; Foreign Direct Investment; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; China

October 2016
Article

Looking Across and Looking Beyond the Knowledge Frontier: Intellectual Distance and Resource Allocation in Science

By: Kevin J. Boudreau, Eva Guinan, Karim R. Lakhani and Christoph Riedl

Selecting among alternative innovative projects is a core management task in all innovating organizations. In this paper, we focus on the evaluation of frontier scientific research projects. We argue that the "intellectual distance" between the knowledge embodied in... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge; Innovation; Novelty; Evaluation; Resource Allocation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Innovation and Management; Science-Based Business; Experience and Expertise

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Finance - Faculty & Research

technology sector. The proposed transaction centered on Ping Identity Corporation (“Ping”), a fast-growing identity access management (IAM) software company that was being taken private by Thoma Bravo. Blue Owl was invited to play View Details

March 2021
Case

P.F. Chang's

By: Ashish Nanda, Nitin Nohria and Margaret Cross

Excited yet apprehensive after being named CEO of P.F. Chang’s beginning July 1st, 2020, Damola Adamolekun was well aware of the extraordinary challenges facing the firm. The closure of businesses deemed “nonessential” owing to the COVID-19 pandemic had devastated the... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; COVID-19 Pandemic; Scenario Planning; Scenarios; Health Pandemics; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy

September 2017
Supplement

Actera Group: Investing in Mars Cinema Group (B)

By: Victoria Ivashina and Eren Kuzucu

In summer of 2010, Murat Çavuşoğlu (HBS MBA 1994) led private equity firm Actera Group’s investment in Mars Cinema Group (Mars), the leading movie exhibitor in Turkey. Immediately after acquiring Mars and merging it with the second larger player in the market, AFM,... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Value Creation; Transformation; Valuation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Turkey

18 Oct 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Historical Trajectories and Corporate Competences in Wind Energy

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones & Loubna Bouamane; Energy; Utilities

December 2013
Case

The PGA Tour (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Cole Magrath

In 1994, the PGA Tour (the "Tour"), the dominant incumbent professional golf circuit, had created tremendous value for its players. In the 1974 season, players competed for $8 million in prize money; by the 1994 season, the total prize purse had increased to $56... View Details

Keywords: PGA Tour; Tim Finchem; Deane Beman; Golf; Professional Golf; Business Model; Value Creation; Competition; Adaptation; Monopoly; Globalization; Sports; Business Strategy; Sports Industry; United States

02 Oct 2000
Research & Ideas

Networked Incubators: Hothouses of the New Economy

actually needed them, allowing the start-ups to take advantage of them quickly. Second, the networking leads to preferential access, not preferential treatment—a subtle but crucial distinction. Preferential access means being able to call... View Details

Keywords: by Morten T. Hansen, Henry W. Chesbrough, Nitin Nohria & Donald N. Sull

11 Nov 2022
Blog Post

Meet the HBS Armed Forces Alumni Association

business school. I love being part of a community of people who care about each other and work so hard to pay it forward. The community’s values are an extension of the military culture that I left behind,... View Details

14 Nov 2023
What Do You Think?

Do We Underestimate the Importance of Generosity in Leadership?

based on such things as the nature of the gift and the relationship of the giver and receiver.) “Having worked with leaders of every stripe, it has always seemed to me that leaders of organizations emphasizing servant leadership have a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Web

Case Development - Faculty & Research

governmental leaders, sometimes working together with a colleague at HBS or at other academic institutions. The Case Studies for Harvard Business School brochure is a helpful... View Details

26 Jan 2004
Research & Ideas

What Developing-World Companies Teach Us About Innovation

million. Voted company of the year by Exame, Brazil's leading business magazine, Natura has from its inception focused on serving the distinctive needs of Brazil's ethnically diverse population. Recognizing... View Details

Keywords: by Donald N. Sull, Alejandro Ruelas-Gossi & Martin Escobari

July 2019 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Jai Vakeel Foundation: Addressing Disability

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Kairavi Dey

Jai Vakeel, a nonprofit organization in India, serves individuals with Intellectual Disability (ID), those with an IQ below 70. The organization was founded by the parents of a child with Down Syndrome, and they (and their next generation) steadily built the... View Details

Keywords: Social Enterprise; Nonprofit Organizations; Transition; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Family Business; Health Care and Treatment; India

23 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

The Power of Conversational Leadership

Harvard Business School Professor Boris Groysberg. "Nobody knows what strategic conversations are actually unfolding." For that reason, many CEOs are reconsidering the classic command-and-control structure in which View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

06 Feb 2020
Research & Ideas

What We Learned from Reading Jeff Bezos’ Patents

focused on devices and three on e-commerce. Given his lead role in these inventions, we surmise that Bezos has developed expertise in e-commerce and devices, two of Amazon’s core business areas. This perhaps... View Details

Keywords: by Tricia Gregg and Boris Groysberg; Retail

March 2011
Case

United Cereal: Lora Brill's Eurobrand Challenge

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson

The case, set within the European organization of a giant multinational breakfast foods company, describes a launch decision for a new cereal product. As the case evolves, the decision has major strategic and organizational implications for Lora Brill, European VP. The... View Details

Keywords: Subsidiaries; Market Entry; Multinational Corporations; Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Managerial Roles; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Product Launch; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Europe