Publications

March 2022 (Revised July 2022)
Teaching Note

Camera IQ and the Metaverse: Building Augmented Reality Brand Experiences

By: Jill Avery

Camera IQ, a camera marketing software company that empowered brands to create and launch augmented reality experiences (AREs) across social platforms, had just raised an additional $5 million to fund further product development and expand its marketing and sales... View Details

19 Jan 2011
News

Can Apple Find More Hits Without its Tastemaker?

08 May 2025
Blog Post

Startup Roots and Engineering Ambitions: Lizzie Matusov (MS/MBA 2022)

Who are you & what are you building? I am Lizzie Matusov, cofounder and CEO of Quotient. Quotient is an AI-powered developer tool that discovers, prioritizes, and resolves the friction slowing down engineering teams. Today, over 30% of an engineering team’s... View Details

July 2014 (Revised August 2014)
Case

AmazonFresh: Rekindling the Online Grocery Market

By: Rory McDonald, Clayton Christensen, Robin Yang and Ty Hollingsworth

More than a decade after the high-profile failures of several early online grocers, grocery remains the largest single U.S. retail category and one of the few that has not yet migrated online. Amazon began testing its grocery-delivery service, AmazonFresh, in Seattle,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; New Markets; Grocery; Operations Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Learning; Service Operations; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

13 Jul 2011
News

NASA Tournament Lab: Open Innovation On-Demand

2021
Working Paper

Closing Costs, Refinancing, and Inefficiencies in the Mortgage Market

By: David Hao Zhang

In the US, borrowers often finance the price of mortgage origination by agreeing to higher mortgage rates for a given principal amount. I show that for standard fixed-rate, prepayable mortgages this contractual feature has two consequences. First, it leads to increased... View Details

Keywords: Mortgage Market; Refinancing; Mortgages; Consumer Behavior

September 2007 (Revised March 2009)
Exercise

Pitch Yourself!

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Michael I. Norton

Helps students develop an elevator pitch for their most important asset—themselves. Before class students are asked to interview a potential employer and to develop preliminary elevator pitches. Once in class, students work through an exercise that helps them refine... View Details

Keywords: Spoken Communication; Selection and Staffing; Job Interviews; Marketing; Personal Development and Career

01 Nov 2019
News

Jeff Bezos’s Master Plan

08 Aug 2017
News

Great News For Everyone! Elon Musk Is Building A Hyperloop

February 2000 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Deep Sight Technology, Inc.

By: Henry B. Reiling and Catherine M. Conneely

The founders of a deep sea technology company must refine their tentative capital structure and founders agreement in response to tax factors. Some parties are conveying partnership assets, others are conveying rights to an invention, another will be primarily... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Agreements and Arrangements; Capital Structure; Alliances; Taxation; Entrepreneurship; Technology Industry

05 Feb 2025
Blog Post

Leadership with purpose: Redefining success and impact with Satpal Singh (SELP—India 4, 2019)

oil and gas, and energy sectors. My goal wasn’t just to refine my skills—I wanted to broaden my perspective on strategy, innovation, and leadership in a world that was rapidly evolving. HBS offered the perfect platform for exploration.... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

April 1995 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Anasazi Exclusive Salon Products, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Anasazi, a hair-care products start-up based in the Midwest, is having growing pains as it tries to develop a new distribution model for the professional hair salon industry. The company has completed several rounds of venture financing but, to continue, needs to raise... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financial Condition; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Expansion; Planning; Fashion Industry; Iowa

13 Mar 2019
News

Washington banks try to lure customers with stylish branches

October 2015 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Ozark Feed and Ag Corporation: The ERP Decision

By: Jan Hammond, Paul Kalmbach and Eric Bernstein

This case describes a medium-sized business that manufactures animal feed for commercial and companion animals. The company has been growing rapidly and is considering whether or not to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Ozark currently uses an IT... View Details

Keywords: ERP Systems; Information Technology; Supply Chain Management; Growth Management; Performance Improvement; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Decision Choices and Conditions; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Information Technology Industry; Missouri; Oklahoma; Texas; Arkansas

October 1996 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Mobil USM&R (D): Gasoline Marketing

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Mobil US Marketing & Refining has shifted from a centralized staff-driven organization to decentralized business-units. Staff functions now must negotiate service agreements with a buyer's committee consisting of representatives from the profit-center business units.... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Management Teams; Human Resources; Agreements and Arrangements; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customers; Situation or Environment; Business Units; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

November 1988 (Revised July 1998)
Case

WaterTest Corporation

Describes the founding and subsequent growth of WaterTest, a New Hampshire firm run by a entrepreneur with little business background. Three Harvard Business School students are working on a project to help the firm refine its marketing strategy. The students collect a... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customers; Entrepreneurship; Data and Data Sets; Marketing Strategy

August 2022 (Revised November 2022)
Case

Altos Ventures (A)

By: Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In December 2012, Altos Ventures General Partners Han Kim, Anthony Lee, and Ho Nam met to discuss the future of the firm. Altos had already adjusted its strategy multiple times. It began as a U.S.-focused venture capital investor whose first two funds were backed by a... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Partners and Partnerships

03 May 2016
Blog Post

Working With Organizations That Recruit at HBS: An Interview with Renee Pappastratis

Tell us about your role at HBS. As a Recruiting Relations Manager in Career and Professional Development, I engage daily with organizations looking to develop and refine their recruiting strategy at HBS. The industries I work with include... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing; Consumer Products / Retail

November 2006
Exercise

Sell Yourself!

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Michael I. Norton

Helps students develop an effective sales pitch for their greatest asset--themselves. Also, broadens their understanding of how salespeople sell products and services. Before class, students are asked to interview a potential employer and to develop a preliminary sales... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Sales; Product; Service Operations; Interpersonal Communication; Personal Development and Career