Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(391)
- Faculty Publications (97)
- May 2017
- Case
ATH Technologies: Making the Numbers
By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard
An exercise that takes students through five stages of growth in an entrepreneurial start-up in the medical devices industry: 1) founding, 2) growth, 3) push to profitability, 4) relocation process, and 5) takeover by new management. At each stage, students must... View Details
Keywords: Balancing Innovation And Control; Performance Evaluation; Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Profit; Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Innovation and Invention; Management Succession; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry
- April 2017
- Supplement
CIC: Catalyzing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems (B)
By: William R. Kerr, Sari Kerr and Alexis Brownell
CIC engages in "guerrilla warfare," offering free or highly discounted rates in order to get its empty offices filled before the opening day of its St. Louis branch. Opening day is a huge success, and CIC St. Louis grows rapidly, even opening a second building. In the... View Details
- February 2017 (Revised December 2018)
- Case
From Start-Up to Grown-Up Nation: The Future of the Israeli Innovation Ecosystem (Abridged)
By: Elie Ofek and Margot Eiran
In June 2016, Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, wrestled with how to sustain Israel’s strong innovation track record and the country’s reputation as the “start-up nation.” Despite the economic miracle the country had wrought since its founding, he... View Details
- January 2017
- Case
Flatiron School
By: Thomas Eisenmann and Halah AlQahtani
In late 2016, the founders of Flatiron School, a startup offering 12-week coding bootcamps, are formulating their growth strategy. Their new online-only program has matched the excellent job placement results for their in-person bootcamps. Should Flatiron shift... View Details
- January 2017 (Revised April 2017)
- Supplement
Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (B): A New Model in Kansas City
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen
In late 2016, Bridj was expanding its digital platform to help address urban mobility problems faced by cities across the country and the world. Its founder and CEO, Matt George, weighed up several possible strategies for growth as he aimed to responsibly build the... View Details
Keywords: Mobility; Digital; Mobile App; Mobile; Data; Platform; Organization; Startup; Start-up Growth; Startup Management; Responsibility; Corporate Responsibility; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Transportation; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Mobile and Wireless Technology; United States; District of Columbia; Massachusetts; Kansas; Mexico
- December 2016 (Revised December 2018)
- Case
From Start-Up to Grown-Up Nation: The Future of the Israeli Innovation Ecosystem
By: Elie Ofek and Margot Eiran
In June 2016, Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, wrestled with how to sustain Israel’s strong innovation track record and the country’s reputation as the “startup nation.” Despite the economic miracle the country had wrought since its founding, he... View Details
Keywords: Israel; Israeli Start-up Nation; Innovation Economy; Entrepreneurial Mindset; Scaling-up; Unicorns; Innovation Clusters; High-tech; Innovation Management; Multinational Corporation R＆D Centers; Social Equality; Two-tier Economy; Liberalizing An Economy; Foreign Investment; Military Service; Quality Of Human Capital; Socioeconomic Gaps; Labor Force Participation; Government Initiatives; Innovation and Management; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Government and Politics; Economy; Equality and Inequality; Education; Resource Allocation; Globalization; Israel
- November 2016
- Supplement
Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone (B)
By: William C. Kirby, Yuanzhuo Wang, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost
Starting in 2014, for two years Uber had fought an intense, costly battle for China’s ridesharing market with well-financed and well-connected domestic Chinese competitors. During this time, Uber also had to respond to an ever-shifting regulatory landscape that looked... View Details
- November 2016 (Revised November 2016)
- Case
Mark43
By: Thomas Eisenmann, Mitch Weiss and Halah AlQahtani
The founders of Mark43, an early-stage startup that provides software for law enforcement agencies, must decide whether to bid on a request for proposals (RFP) from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). On the one hand, LAPD would be a second large and influential... View Details
- June 2016
- Teaching Note
The Cheese and the Oligarchs: The Politics, the Media, and Israel's Dream of a Start-Up Nation
By: Rafael Di Tella and Christine Snively
Israel enjoyed the highest concentration of technology start-ups in the world per capita. Despite regional instability, the country maintained strong economic growth and was considered a high-tech powerhouse. But not all Israelis benefited. Between the 1980s and 2010s,... View Details
- June 2016 (Revised December 2017)
- Case
The Cheese and the Oligarchs: The Politics, the Media, and Israel's Dream of a Start-Up Nation
By: Rafael Di Tella and Christine Snively
Israel enjoyed the highest concentration of technology start-ups in the world per capita. Despite regional instability, the country maintained strong economic growth and was considered a high-tech powerhouse. But not all Israelis benefited. Between the 1980s and 2010s,... View Details
- January 2016
- Teaching Note
Groom Energy Solutions: Selling Efficiency
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice
This case examines a start-up service provider that helps clients improve the energy efficiency of their factories, warehouses, and commercial and office spaces by integrating and installing lighting, heating, and cooling technologies. The company seeks to double... View Details
- January 2016 (Revised November 2016)
- Case
Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone
By: William C. Kirby, Joycelyn W. Eby, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost
CEO and Founder of Uber Technologies, Travis Kalanick, had made clear to investors and the public that expansion into China was one of his company's major priorities for 2016. Uber had already demonstrated remarkable capacity for rapid, global scaling, and for... View Details
- December 2014 (Revised October 2015)
- Case
Susie Mulder at NIC+ZOE
By: David Fubini, Joshua Margolis and Kerry Herman
Susie Mulder must decide how to lead NIC+ZOE—the women's apparel brand she had recently joined as CEO—from its start-up phase into a disciplined growth phase. With growing revenues, a successful product line, and savvy private equity investors, NIC+ZOE seems perfectly... View Details
- October 2014 (Revised June 2015)
- Case
Quiet Logistics (A)
By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred
This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details
Keywords: Strategy Execution; Strategic Uncertainty; Disruptive Change; Managing Growth; Robotics; Disruptive Technology; Managing Start-ups; Management Control Systems; Performance Measurement; Business Growth and Maturation; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Crisis Management; Risk Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Distribution Industry; Technology Industry; United States
- October 2014
- Supplement
Quiet Logistics (B)
By: Robert Simons and Natalie Kindred
This two-part case focuses on how to identify and manage strategic uncertainties in an innovative, entrepreneurial start-up company. In the (A) case, students learn about Quiet Logistics, an e-commerce fulfillment company working with high-end apparel retailers such as... View Details
Keywords: Strategy Execution; Strategic Uncertainties; Managing Growth; Disruptive Change; Robotics; Disruptive Technologies; Managing Start-ups; Management Control Systems; Performance Measurement; Business Growth and Maturation; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Crisis Management; Risk Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Distribution Industry; Technology Industry; United States
- October 2014
- Case
CreditEase: Providing Credit and Financial Services for China's Underclass
By: Lena G. Goldberg, Paul Healy and Nancy Hua Dai
In 2013 Ning Tang, who in 2006 founded CreditEase as a broker of P2P loans to unbanked individuals and small businesses in China, confronts the challenges of rapid growth and expansion in a changing regulatory environment. CreditEase needs to develop technology to... View Details
Keywords: P2P Lending; HNW Products And Services; Business Growth; Business Start-ups; Government Regulation; Change Management; Credit; Microcredit; Banking; Innovation And Management; Developing Countries And Economies; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Law; Financing and Loans; Change; China
- January 2014
- Case
Entrepreneurial Finance Lab: Scaling an Innovative Start-up Financing Venture
By: Joan Farre-Mensa, William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell
EFL provides credit-scoring services in developing countries using psychometric assessment, but the potential loss of a large customer makes them reconsider their scaling narrative. View Details
- January 2013
- Supplement
EverTrue: Mobile Technology Development (B)
By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell
Brent Grinna has one customer signed up for his alumni-networking mobile app, and is now trying to choose among three possibilities for a CTO. He decided to contract with a friend's company, Dashfire, to create a prototype of the app, and has signed up Brown University... View Details
- December 2012
- Case
Blink Booking
By: William R. Kerr, Magnus Thor Torfason and Alexis Brownell
Rebeca Minguela hopes to create an arbitrage platform, similar to Rocket Internet, that can bring start-up ideas and opportunities to Spain. However, Blink Booking, her first venture and proof of concept, is rocked by a co-founder's breach of confidence and departure.... View Details