Publications

February 2021
Case

Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (A)

By: Henry McGee, Nien-hê Hsieh, Sarah McAra and Christian Godwin

In 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook debuted the iPhone 6S with enhanced security measures that enflamed a debate on privacy and public safety around the world. The iPhone 6S, amid a heightened concern for privacy following the 2013 revelation of clandestine U.S. surveillance... View Details

25 Jan 2021
Book

In a Nutshell, Why American Capitalism Succeeded

How did the United States become the world’s center of business growth following its founding in 1776? Surely a number of nations had powerful natural resources, stable financial and legal institutions, and dynamic entrepreneurs over that same span. Why was American... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing

20 Oct 2015
First Look

October 20, 2015

empirical results provide strong support for the view that output prices are a key determinant of vertical integration. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49893 forthcoming Production View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2021 (Revised December 2023)
Case

On the Bubble: Startup Bootstrapping

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Tom Quinn and Annelena Lobb

Bubble was a software company in the low-code/no-code market, making tools that allowed users without traditional programming backgrounds or technical skills to build software. The case covers cofounder Joshua Haas’s engineering background, as he experienced a high... View Details

09 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 9

Working PapersThe Architecture of Complex Systems: Do Core-Periphery Structures Dominate? Authors:Alan MacCormack, Carliss Baldwin, and John Rusnak Abstract Any complex View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

30 Jun 2022
HBS Case

Peloton Changed the Exercise Game. Can the Company Push Through the Pain?

revenue, up from 20 percent in 2020. And Peloton still has 75 stores in the US and two studios for video production. “The large subscriber base and devotion View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Media & Broadcasting; Health; Bicycle

05 Sep 2008
What Do You Think?

Is Case Method Instruction Due for an Overhaul?

is the encouragement of development and use of "decision briefs" at Columbia Business School by its Dean, R. Glenn Hubbard. The decision brief may consist View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Education

30 Nov 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is Management’s Role in Innovation?

Summing Up Can creativity and innovation be managed? Judging from responses to questions posed by practitioner panelists at a recent colloquium on "Creativity, Entrepreneurship, View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

05 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

5 Companies Where Employees Move Up the Ladder Fast

scorecard’s authors. “All employers are not created equal in terms of the type of springboard they provide for advancement,” says Fuller, who co-leads the Managing the Future... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

01 Dec 2023
News

Wide Horizon

There were three critical events that led John Rodakis (MBA 1997) to form the nonprofit N of One in 2014 and ultimately dedicate his life to surfacing breakthrough autism research. The first occurred on Thanksgiving of 2012. He had driven about four hours with his wife... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell; Photos by Sarah Wilson

September 2003
Case

Upromise 2002

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes a set of decisions confronting the senior management of a company that has established a loyalty rewards program allocating cash to tax-advantaged college savings accounts for participants. The company has recruited a new CEO and needs to raise additional... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Management Teams; Capital; Internet and the Web; Decisions

Find at Harvard

December 2016
Case

thredUP: Think Secondhand First

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Allison Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga

In the fall of 2016, the management team at thredUP, the largest U.S. online retailer of second hand clothing, is deciding whether to expand into international markets. Over the past 12 months the 7-year-old startup, which had raised over $130 million in venture... View Details

Keywords: Scaling Start-ups; International Expansion; Online Consignment; Apparel; Internet and the Web; Expansion; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Business Startups; E-commerce; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; San Francisco

05 May 2022
HBS Case

College Degrees: The Job Requirement Companies Seek, but Don't Really Need

platforms and programs to test the skills of applicants for various jobs, rather than spending time checking applicants’ college credentials and grade point averages, according... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

01 Sep 2023
News

Solving for Z

With nearly 20 years of experience as a senior human resources executive, Matthew Breitfelder (MBA 2002) has seen a lot of change in the corporate talent space. But what’s happening now looks like a tectonic generational shift. From his perch as global head of human... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; Illustrations by Doug Chayka; Administration of Human Resource Programs; Government

12 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 12, 2006

support the creation of highly differentiated products. It also deals with issues of change in an already successful context, and of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2023 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Doing Business in Athens, Greece

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Carlota Moniz and Emilie Billaud

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Greece. It highlights Greece's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Greece; Athens