Publications

February 2024
Supplement

Seeds of Innovation: GALY’s Quest to Cultivate the Future of Agriculture in the Lab

By: George Serafeim

In 2023, Luciano Bueno, CEO and founder of plant cell culture agriculture company GALY, was considering the best path forward for his company as he planned to pitch Series B investors. GALY, founded in 2019, aimed to produce cotton and other crops from cells grown in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Green Technology; Goods and Commodities; Growth and Development Strategy; Science-Based Business; Entrepreneurship; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Startups; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Production; Entrepreneurial Finance; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry; Boston; Sao Paulo

01 Dec 2009
News

One Man Crime Wave

and with a family to support, “living in a dump over a hardware store with kerosene heat,” one biographer wrote. But the Army learned that MacDonald had done well in Industrial Procurement at HBS and offered him a job. He enlisted in... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; fiction writing; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet); Publishing Industries (except Internet)

Web

Career Support - Business & Environment

who provides coaching on climate, sustainability, clean tech, and energy. MBA Career Resources Guide on Energy and Environment (login required) Top industry newsletters, podcasts, and more to help navigate and View Details

August 2006
Case

Dreyer's Slow Churned(TM) Ice Cream

By: Noel H. Watson, Steven C. Wheelwright and Brian DeLacey

Examines capacity forecasting and planning in a complex new product introduction scenario. The introduction at Dreyer's, a large dairy snack manufacturer, involves not only a new product but a new manufacturing process and product package, thus implying a significant... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Forecasting and Prediction; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Development; Planning; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

July 2019 (Revised March 2020)
Case

At-Bay Cyber Insurance

By: Marco Di Maggio and David Lane

At-Bay was a cyber insurance startup that offered companies coverage against a wide array of cyber risks—exposure to which the firm was able to quickly assess and price on the basis of technical expertise that traditional insurance carriers lacked. In mid-2019, At-Bay... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Insurance; Disruptive Innovation; Risk Management; Product Marketing; Distribution Channels; Information Technology; Salesforce Management; Insurance Industry

September 2017 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Dinesh Moorjani and Hatch Labs

By: Christopher Stanton, Shikhar Ghosh, Allison Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga

This case is about Tinder. It discusses different business models and ways of structuring the initial team. With a $6 million investment from IAC/Interactive in 2010, Dinesh Moorjani founded Hatch Labs to build mobile apps. His mission was to attract entrepreneurial... View Details

Keywords: Returns; Incubator; Mobile App; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Model; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Talent and Talent Management; Valuation; Equity; Finance; United States; North America

2012
Book

The Culture Cycle: How to Shape the Unseen Force That Transforms Performance

By: James Heskett

The contribution of culture to organizational performance is both substantial and quantifiable. This book presents the results of field research that demonstrates how an effective culture can account for up to half of the differential in performance between... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Learning; Framework; Policy; Retention; Books; Analytics and Data Science; Innovation and Invention; Management Practices and Processes; Organizational Culture; Performance Expectations; Research

Find at Harvard

August 2016
Case

VMD Medical Imaging Center

By: Susanna Gallani and Eva Labro

VMD Medical Imaging Center, a local independent provider of medical imaging services, is facing some important challenges. Despite efficiency improvements and cost cutting initiatives carried out over the past few years, their profitability is shrinking; their prices... View Details

Keywords: Costing; Death Spiral; Transfer Pricing; Activity Based Costing and Management; Competitive Strategy; Medical Specialties; Health Industry

September 2013 (Revised June 2017)
Case

IBM and the Reinvention of High School (A): Proving the P-TECH Concept

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

IBM's Corporate Citizenship office created a social and organizational innovation in public education through a business-school partnership. IBM's Stanley Litow was the key architect in designing Pathways in Technology Early College High School, known as P-TECH. The... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Partnerships; Leadership; Partners and Partnerships; Education; Business and Community Relations; Change; Innovation and Invention; Education Industry

February 2010 (Revised June 2012)
Case

"Plugging In" the Consumer: The Adoption of Electrically Powered Vehicles in the U.S.

By: Elie Ofek and Polly Ribatt

How will U.S. consumers respond to the proliferation of alternative-fuel vehicles, such as cars powered partially or completely by electricity, in the coming decade? After a century in which fossil fuel-powered vehicles dominated the market, it appeared consumers would... View Details

Keywords: Energy Sources; Policy; Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Business and Government Relations; Natural Environment; Pollutants; Adoption; Auto Industry; United States

15 Jan 2013
First Look

First Look: January 15

circumscribe citizen-employees, and they engage in production and trade. But individual corporations are no longer adequate to serve as the primary unit of analysis. Over the years, systems of distributed innovation-so-called business ecosystems-have become... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Sep 2016
First Look

September 6, 2016

information aggregation treatments do not affect total equity investment when we make the investment environment more realistic than in prior experiments. Previously documented aggregation effects are not robust to changes in the risky... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Web

Sustainable Business Strategy Course | HBS Online

More about what you earn Syllabus 3 Modules, 20-25 Hours Download full syllabus 8 hrs Module 1 The Business Case for Action Understand the business case for change and how to analyze and assess industry disruptions to develop business... View Details

03 Jul 2013
What Do You Think?

What Are the Limits of Transparency?

technology services company, has been one of the most outspoken advocates of increased transparency. He says all HCL's financial information is on the company's internal Web. "We are completely... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

15 Dec 2015
First Look

December 15, 2015

which industry entrants will succeed. Unfortunately, the theory has also been widely misunderstood, and the “disruptive” label has been applied too carelessly anytime a market newcomer shakes up well-established incumbents. In this... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

May 2025
Case

stc Group: DARE to Transform

By: Sunil Gupta and Sadika El Hariri

Established as a government-owned entity in 1998, stc Group was the sole telecommunications operator in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Soon after it was privatized in 2003, regional players started entering the Saudi market. To deal with the competition and to... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Diversification; Digital Transformation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Telecommunications Industry; Saudi Arabia