Publications

December 2010 (Revised August 2012)
Case

The Full Yield

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Noemie Myriam Delfassy

New firm created to provide understanding of the role of food in health and nutrition. View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Food; Health Care and Treatment; Nutrition; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

February 2018 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Artificial Intelligence and the Machine Learning Revolution in Finance: Cogent Labs and the Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

By: Lauren Cohen, Christopher Malloy and William Powley

This case examines the intersection of two firms (Cogent Labs—a machine learning software firm in Tokyo; and Google, the technology infrastructure giant) attempting to exploit the benefits of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the financial services... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Applications and Software; Infrastructure; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry

04 Sep 2014
News

Pardon the disruption

August 2006 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Tanishq: Positioning to Capture the Indian Woman's Heart

By: Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

The firm has to choose between an established brand, Tanishq, and a new skunkworks brand, GoldPlus, to go after the Indian plain gold jewelry market: Tanishq, initially targeted at a western customer, has undergone strategic retooling and has currently been... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Segmentation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; India

19 Sep 2023
HBS Case

How Will the Tech Titans Behind ChatGPT, Bard, and LLaMA Make Money?

monetized. At minimum, I can tell you that we are going to need new business models, and the integration of generative AI is going to transform how we monetize software and the business model. Rand: How so? Wu: Our notions of fixed cost... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology; Information Technology

January 2010 (Revised August 2011)
Case

United Breaks Guitars

By: John A. Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

When social media propagate a complaint about poor customer service, an international media event ensues. How do viral videos spread and what can firms do about them? This case dissects an incident in which a disgruntled customer used YouTube and Twitter to spread a... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Network Effects; Service Delivery; Social and Collaborative Networks; Internet; Air Transportation Industry

Feng Zhu is the MBA Class of 1958 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he leads the Platform Lab within the Digital, Data, and Design Institute, co-chairs the Harvard Business Analytics Program, and serves as the course head for the... View Details

1993
Book

The Rise of Multinationals in Continental Europe

By: G. Jones and Harm Schroter

This book examines the historical growth of Continental European multinationals over the previous 100 years. It includes new research on the evolution of multinational firms in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden and oter countries, and the book... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development; Books; Research; France; Germany; Netherlands; Sweden; Switzerland

Find at Harvard

January 2011
Case

Sidoti & Company: Launching a Micro-Cap Product

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Sarah Abbott

It is 2010 and Sidoti & Company, a New York-based brokerage firm specializing in small capitalization stocks, has just launched a new product- micro cap stock research. The firm has hired a group of five analysts who will produce written research reports on micro-cap... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Financial Strategy; Product Launch; Strategic Planning; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY)

Find at Harvard

March 2023 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Wilshire Lane Capital

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Lindsay N. Hyde and Stacy Straaberg

In September 2021, Adam Demuyakor (MBA 2017) was faced with decisions about how to launch his venture capital (VC) investment firm. His previous investment activities were a series of angel investments and special purpose vehicles alongside two part-time general... View Details

Keywords: Ownership Stake; Investment Funds; Venture Capital; Business and Shareholder Relations; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; Los Angeles; California; United States

Co-Chair, Driving Digital Strategy

Sunil Gupta is the Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration and co-chair of the executive program on Driving... View Details

Keywords: advertising; communications; consumer products; credit card; education industry; financial services; high technology; marketing industry; telecommunications

Shirley Lu

Shirley Lu is an assistant professor in the Accounting and Management Unit. She teaches the Financial Reporting and Control course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Lu conducts research in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure,... View Details

19 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Activist Board Members Increase Firm’s Market Value

behavior.) Presumably, these were the shareholders who would have been most likely to nominate new board members if the SEC hadn't delayed the rule. "The Business Roundtable could be right that some shareholders have ideas that... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

January 2008 (Revised January 2009)
Case

The Armstrong Investigation

By: David Moss and Eugene Kintgen

In the early 20th century, public outrage at certain life insurance practices led to an investigation in New York State that threatened to curtail growth in the industry. Charles Evans Hughes guided the four-month-long Armstrong Investigation, which made startling... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Annuities; Insurance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Insurance Industry; New York (state, US)

March 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Alibaba Group

By: Julie M. Wulf

Discusses how Alibaba Group successfully managed new business ventures to become a leader in China's online marketplaces. Students follow Alibaba Group's transition from a startup to a multibusiness firm with over 15,000 employees in just over a decade. They analyze... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Subsidiaries; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Executive Compensation; Business Headquarters; Cooperation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; China

July 2010 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Customer Lifetime Value Analysis (2024)

By: Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery

Customers are increasingly being viewed as assets that bring value to the firm. Customer lifetime value is a metric that allows managers to understand the overall value of their customer base and relate it to three customer strategies firms employ: asset... View Details

Keywords: Customer Lifetime Value; Return On Investment; Customer Acquisition; Customer Retention; Customer Churn; ＂Marketing Analytics＂; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Measurement and Metrics; Strategic Planning; Value

Daniel Green is an assistant professor of business administration in the Finance Unit. He teaches the Finance II course to MBA students.

Professor Green’s research focuses on corporate finance, capital markets, and financial intermediation. His current... View Details

Keywords: asset management; banking; private equity (LBO funds); investment banking industry

07 Feb 2018
Video

Material Sustainability Information and Stock Price Informativeness

November 2006 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Strategy in the Twenty First Century Pharmaceutical Industry: Merck & Co. and Pfizer Inc.

By: David J. Collis and Troy Smith

The global pharmaceutical industry has gone through substantial changes in the last few decades and pharmaceutical firms face major challenges including headline-grabbing litigation, imminent patent expirations, new technologies, rising drug development costs, generic... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Research and Development; Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States