Publications

This teaching case profiles Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a venture capital firm launched in 2009 that quickly broke into the VC industry's top ranks. The case recounts the firm's history; describes its co-founders' motivations and their strategy for disrupting an... View Details

06 May 2019
Blog Post

2019-2020 Recruiting Calendar Available Now

with students at HBS. For those companies that choose to participate in recruiting, below you’ll find all the information you need to get started. Date requests for Interviews, Company Presentations, and Company Conversations are now open... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

April 2015 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Bankruptcy in the City of Detroit

By: Stuart Gilson, Kristin Mugford and Annelena Lobb

The June 2013 bankruptcy of the city of Detroit, Michigan was, at the time, the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history. Detroit had struggled for years with a weakening tax base, high unemployment, a heavy debt load and increasing retiree costs. These... View Details

Web

Business Economics - Doctoral

Business Economics From corporate finance, industrial organization, and international business, to markets, competition, and government regulation, HBS doctoral students in Business Economics delve into some of the most pressing and... View Details

January 2017
Case

The Six CEOs of Tyco International Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In September 2016, Johnson Controls, Inc. completed the acquisition of Tyco International PLC, a $9.9 billion business with operating profits of $884 million. The purchase consideration was $14.4 billion. Although the deal was billed as a merger, Ireland-based Tyco... View Details

Keywords: Tyco; Dennis Kozlowski; Edward Breen; Fire Safety; Fire Protection; Security; Packaging; Securities And Exchange Commission; Fraud; Accounting; Accounting Audits; Earnings Management; Financial Statements; Goodwill Accounting; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Restructuring; Crime and Corruption; Engineering; Applied Optics; Chemicals; Construction; Metals and Minerals; Ethics; Finance; Cash Flow; Public Equity; Stock Options; Financing and Loans; Initial Public Offering; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Health Care and Treatment; Business History; Executive Compensation; Selection and Staffing; Courts and Trials; Lawfulness; Lawsuits and Litigation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Value; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Chemical Industry; Republic of Ireland; Switzerland; Bermuda; United States; New Hampshire

25 Jun 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

FIELD Trip: Conquering the Gap Between Knowing and Doing

turns out that it not an easy question to answer." Much of the success of students in FIELD depends on how well they answer questions like these. "Two-thirds of students graduate into industries where work is done predominantly... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Education

14 Feb 2005
Research & Ideas

Desktop Search and Revenue Streams

and other types of data are still locked away from Internet users. It's really going to be about great execution.— Mark Kroese, MSN "Rather than leave someone behind, the approach we at Google take is, 'Let's make all that... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette

23 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

AIDS in Africa—What’s the Solution?

do you control an epidemic that is sexually transmitted?" he asked the group. "People have suggested all sorts of things," some fairly outlandish. One suggestion he recalled was simply encouraging people to have sex less... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette

18 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Want to Be an Entrepreneur? [Part I]

potential of new ideas could be inimical to operating a real business. All fall, the news had been sobering, as the dot-com bubble deflated, paring billions—ultimately trillions—of dollars of stock-market value from the "idea"... View Details

Keywords: by John S. Rosenberg

10 Jan 2020
Blog Post

Know Your Audience - Recruiting HBS Students for Retail

conversation, and to finding students with highly transferrable skills ready to tackle the problems at hand. Another trend across all industries is the use of educational events as important parts of... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

August 2011 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Language and Globalization: 'Englishnization' at Rakuten (A)

By: Tsedal Neeley

Hiroshi Mikitani, the CEO of Rakuten, (Japan's largest online retailer), is at the helm of an organization that is rapidly expanding into global markets. In a critical stride toward becoming the world's No. 1 Internet services company, Mikitani announces... View Details

Keywords: Teaching; Human Capital; Change Management; Transformation; Social Enterprise; Communication Strategy; Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Leadership; Global Strategy; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Japan

18 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Disruptive Innovation Changes Education

about disruption vis-à-vis public education? Where do you see the most room for innovation? A: The lesson from all industries is that the most promising areas for innovation are pockets of what we call... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

Web

Faculty & Advisors | MBA

all. Paul Clancy MBA, Columbia University; BS, Babson College Paul has worked in the biotech industry for the last twenty-three years and spent fourteen years in the consumer products industry. He served as the Chief Financial Officer for... View Details

09 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Come Fly with Me: A History of Airline Leadership

specific industry. Q: Did your archetypes still ring true when you applied them to the airline industry? A: In our research, we saw a clear link between these three archetypes and the evolution of the airline industry. While all three... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Air Transportation

November 1990 (Revised April 1999)
Case

General Motors: Packard Electric Division

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Packard Electric is the division of General Motors (GM) that does all of the electrical wiring and cabling for GM automobiles. They developed a new approach for passing the cables through the firewall between the engine and passenger compartments. The new technology... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Cost; Management Style; Product Design; Product Development; Production; Projects; Groups and Teams; Conflict and Resolution; Technology; Auto Industry

18 Jan 2019
Blog Post

Exploring the Tech World Through WesTrek

What do New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston all have in common? They’re all cities on the east coast, and they also happen to be the only places I’ve ever lived, except the few months that I lived in... View Details

07 Sep 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Diversification of Chinese Companies: An International Comparison

Keywords: by Joseph P.H. Fan, Jun Huang, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Troy D. Smith & Mengxin Zhao

May 2023 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Stay or Go? Sarah Reynolds Kensington Partners

By: David G. Fubini, Amr Seifeldin and Patrick Sanguineti

Sarah Reynolds, a relatively new Partner at the global Kensington Partners strategy consulting firm, has headed the firm's Telecommunications Group for a few years. Thanks to her stellar track record with clients, she has brought the group a range of accolades and... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Consulting Firms; Client Service; Career Management