Publications

January 2014 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Andreessen Horowitz

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Liz Kind

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a venture capital firm launched in 2009, has quickly broken into the VC industry's top ranks, in terms of its ability to invest in Silicon Valley's most promising startups. The case recounts the firm's history; describes its co-founders'... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Venture Capital; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Industry Structures; Financial Services Industry; California

June 1993 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Retail in Mexico 1993

By: David B. Yoffie and Charles McHugh LaFollette

In the wake of NAFTA, U.S. retail firms begin to see Mexico as an attractive market for international expansion. This case examines the structure of Mexico's volume retail (grocery, discount, warehouse club, hypermarket) industry, the joint ventures between U.S. and... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Global Strategy; Joint Ventures; Industry Structures; Trade; Retail Industry; United States; Mexico

23 Apr 2008
Op-Ed

The Gap in the U.S. Treasury Recommendations

fundamental change in the regulatory structure is required for managing risk in the financial system. That said, there is still a fundamental gap in the recommended structure because it leaves some financial... View Details

Keywords: by Dwight Crane; Banking; Construction; Real Estate; Financial Services

January 2008 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Linear Air: Creating the Air Taxi Industry

Linear Air is an air taxi start-up established to take advantage of the emergence of Very Light Jets, which incorporate new technology that cuts jet operating costs by about 40%. Air taxis could make use of the 5400 smaller regional airports throughout the US,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Product Launch; Industry Structures; Competition; Air Transportation Industry

August 2024
Case

Lucky Ones Coffee: Employing People with Disabilities

By: Richard S. Ruback, Robin Greenwood, Joe Higgins, Matthew Preble and Dave Habeeb

Katie Holyfield and Taylor Matkins founded The Lucky Ones Coffee in 2017 with a mission to create jobs in Park City, Utah for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The company quickly earned strong support from the local community, and by early 2023... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Selection and Staffing; Growth and Development Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Service Industry; Tourism Industry; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Utah; United States

February 1999 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Car Wash Partners, Inc.

By: Paul A. Gompers

Examines the investment decision of Cabot Brown and Bill Burgin, two venture capitalists, to finance Car Wash Partners (CWP). CWP intends to purchase automatic car washes around the country. Investment strategy and deal structuring are discussed. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Auto Industry; Service Industry

2009
Case

The North America Environmental Fund (NAEF)

By: Roberto Charvel, Fernando Fabre and T. Putimahtama

NAEF was the first VC fund created in Latin America. It was also the first fund to focus on green technologies. The fund and its managers confronted several issues regarding the under-developed governance and cultural structures required for succesful VC investments. View Details

Keywords: Clean Tech; Emerging Market; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Energy; Entrepreneurship; Finance; Governance; Technology; Green Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; Latin America; North and Central America

October 2015
Article

The Multinational Firm and Geopolitics: Europe, Russian Energy, and Power

By: Rawi Abdelal

Multinational firms unavoidably exert influence over politics through power that is generated by both structure and process. While both political economy and management scholars address international firms, neither field has an adequate understanding of the reciprocal... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Government and Politics; Economics; Europe; Russia

Read Now

Research Summary

Overview

Professor McDonald studies how firms successfully navigate new markets. He examines how widely accepted strategic prescriptions can actually undermine managers’ attempts to develop a viable business model or stake out a defining new market position, and considers the... View Details

06 Sep 2021
News

Automated Hiring Software Is Mistakenly Rejecting Millions of Viable Job Candidates

August 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Product Development at Dell Computer Corporation

By: Stefan H. Thomke, Vish V. Krishnan and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how Dell redesigned its new product development process after experiencing a major product setback and a significant decline in firm profits in 1993. Dell's new process is challenged during the development of a new line of portable computers when the incoming... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Profit; Managerial Roles; Risk Management; Product Development; Business Processes; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Hardware; Computer Industry

April 1997
Case

Private Management and Public Schools (B)

Examines the prospects for private management in U.S. public schools. Focuses on the education and business strategies of firms seeking to expand as a result of charter school legislation that allowed for-profit entities to enter and compete for students with access to... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Public Sector; Value; Education; Business Strategy; Government and Politics; Education Industry; United States

02 May 2022
Video

Entrepreneurship in Life Sciences: Course Overview with Senior Lecturer Satish Tadikonda

Retiring: Creating a Life That Works for You

Retirement, as a major life transition, can be both thrilling and challenging in unexpected ways. Written by acclaimed researchers in the fields of business leadership, careers, and work, this book is based on a decade of research and over 200 interviews with... View Details

June 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Course Overview Note

Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise

By: Willy C. Shih

This Module Note for Instructors outlines the structure and content of the Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise MBA second year elective course at the Harvard Business School. The course focuses on giving students a solid grounding in the construction of... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation

March 2022
Module Note

Navigating Nascent Industries and Product Categories

By: Rory McDonald

This Note introduces a module of cases used at Harvard Business School to teach fundamental concepts about navigating nascent industries and product categories. It elaborates a set of ‘innovation tensions’ that managers must address in these domains. In connecting the... View Details

Keywords: Nascent Industries; Product; Innovation and Management; Strategy

September 2006
Tutorial

Management Control Process - Online Tutorial

By: David F. Hawkins

Introduces the Management Control Process by detailing its six components: 1) the management control environment, 2) organizational structure and responsibilities, 3) information and communication, 4) management control systems, 5) incentives, and 6) monitoring.... View Details

Keywords: Communication; Information; Business or Company Management; Management Practices and Processes; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Structure; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; System

October 2015
Article

How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Companies

By: Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann

The evolution of products into intelligent, connected devices is revolutionizing business. In a November 2014 article, "How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition," Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter and PTC president and CEO James... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technological Innovation; Information Technology; Organizational Structure; Operations; Business Strategy