Publications

04 Aug 2015
Blog Post

What’s it Like to be an HBS Partner?

Deciding to go to business school is a big, life changing choice. And, as it turns out, so is your partner deciding to go to business school with you. So what’s it like to be a partner at HBS? We connected with two members of the HBS Partners View Details

21 Dec 2016
Blog Post

Why We Recruit: CPP Investment Board

engaging students at HBS are coffee chats and student club events such as industry education presentations, conferences and brown bag lunches. We also attend the HBS Company Information Day, including the meet and greet. These events,... View Details

06 Apr 2021
Video

A Simple Strategy for Happiness

October 2013
Article

Ferguson's Formula

By: Anita Elberse and Sir Alex Ferguson

When Alex Ferguson took over as manager of the English football team Manchester United, the club was in dire straits: It hadn't won a league title in nearly 20 years and faced a very real threat of being relegated to a lower division. In 26 seasons under Ferguson,... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business or Company Management; Management Style; Success; Sports; Sports Industry; England

Find at Harvard

15 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Coming Out Calculus: A Reflection in Honor of National Coming Out Day

Brian Ventura (MBA 2022) is one of two DEI officers for PRIDE, the LGBTQ+ club at HBS. Originally from Orlando, Florida, Brian identifies as a queer Afro-Latino and came to Boston ten years ago as a first-generation college student at... View Details

February 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Porsche: The Cayenne Launch

By: John Deighton, Jill Avery and Jeffrey Fear

Can an online discussion forum supply insight into the evolution of brand meaning? In 2003 Porsche launched a sport utility vehicle, dividing Porsche purists from newcomers to the brand. Vocal members of online and offline Porsche communities ridiculed the Cayenne SUV... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Risk Management; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Social and Collaborative Networks; Auto Industry

17 Feb 2016
Blog Post

Through The Eyes of The Patient: A Recap of The 13th Annual Health Care Conference

Over 650 people participated in the 13th annual Harvard Business School Health Care Club Conference, which took place on campus on Saturday, January 30th, 2016. The conference brought together students of business, medicine, government,... View Details

Keywords: Health Care

24 Sep 2015
Blog Post

Why We Recruit: Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation

tactics have you found most successful in engaging with students and/or alumni at HBS?We found great success in a few ways to share the work of our Foundation with the HBS community. We hosted a Company Presentation on campus and did targeted outreach to students in... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

26 Apr 2021
Video

Water & Climate Change: Innovating for Access and Efficiency

10 Dec 2015
Blog Post

Working with Professors at HBS

college to intern at Broadcast Music Inc. for four summers and through EBF I got to know and learn from network and studio executives about all facets of the industry. When I arrived at HBS I was determined to enhance my knowledge of Entertainment and Media by being... View Details

November 2019
Case

Gillette: Cutting Prices to Regain Share

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

After losing market share to low-priced competitors such as Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club for several years, Gillette decided to fight back by launching new products and increasing advertising. When these efforts failed to stem the losses, Gillette decided to cut the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Business Strategy; Competition; Price; Public Equity; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

We at the Next Big Idea Club are in the business of finding new, groundbreaking nonfiction books. Our curators—Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Susan Cain, and Daniel Pink—usually work with our Editorial Team to identify the titles that we think everyone should... View Details

March 1998 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Beta Golf

By: William A. Sahlman, Michael J. Roberts and Laurence E. Katz

The Beta Group is a technology incubator in Menlo Park, CA that has successfully built a portfolio of businesses in the medical, consumer products, and industrial technology sectors by systematically matching proprietary technologies to unmet market needs. Beta has... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Investment; Financial Strategy; Information Technology; Commercialization

March 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Angel City Football Club: Scoring a New Model

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Jennifer Fonstad and Nicole Tempest Keller

In January 2024, Kara Nortman, Julie Uhrman, and Natalie Portman, the founders of Angel City Football Club (ACFC) were developing the club’s first three-year strategic plan. Founded in 2020, ACFC had a star-studded investor group, including Portman and celebrities such... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Venture Capital; Business Model; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles

October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Supplement

Bally Total Fitness (B): The Fall, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness clubs to 24 Hour Fitness in 2014 and disappeared from the industry top 100 rankings. After Bally was bedeviled by accounting... View Details

11 Mar 2021
Blog Post

A Year as Co-Presidents: Q+A with AASU's Bukie Adebo (MBA 2021) and Alexis Jackson (MBA 2021)

View Video Being a club president comes with challenges, but for those who took the helm in 2020, there were additional, unforeseen adversities that surfaced. Coupling the pandemic with the racial injustices that fueled the Black Lives... View Details

October 1997 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Appalachian Mountain Club: Transforming Governance

By: Walter J. Salmon and Jaan Elias

Starting in 1988, the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) began a controversial transformation in management and governance. For its first 112 years, the AMC's structure had resembled that of a country club--volunteer leaders directed the club's operations and its small,... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Transformation; Corporate Governance; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Leading Change; Organizational Culture; Labor and Management Relations; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

October 1986 (Revised June 1988)
Case

Americana (A)

Americana Hotels decides to lease a resort hotel on Jamaica's north coast from the Jamaican government. Management must decide whether to operate it as a traditional resort, or as an all-inclusive, club-type resort, similar to those operated by Club Med. The... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Accommodations Industry; Tourism Industry; Jamaica