Publications

March 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Groupon

By: Sunil Gupta, Ray Weaver and Dharmishta Rood

On November 4, 2011, Groupon, a marketing services company that promoted local businesses by selling deeply discounted vouchers for their products and services, completed its initial public offering that valued the company at $17 billion. Within a year Groupon's share... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Customers; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Marketing Channels; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation

June 2011
Case

Leaders Who Make a Difference: Sam Palmisano's Smarter IBM: Day 1

By: Joseph L. Bower and Sonja Ellingson Hout

Sam Palmisano explains the moves he made to transform IBM into a faster-growing, more profitable company focused on IT solutions to the problems of companies, cities, and nations. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management; Information Technology Industry

17 Jul 2012
First Look

First Look: July 17

benefits of incremental (operational) planning, and decreases the benefits of comprehensive (strategic) planning. The Growth Opportunity That Lies Next Door Author:Geoffrey Jones Publication:Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2008 (Revised September 2009)
Case

Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (A): Becoming Truly Global

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

Since the 1980s, Procter & Gamble had leveraged its purpose, values, and principles (PVP) to create a global company. When P&G faced difficult times in 2000, the new CEO, A.G. Lafley, leveraged the PVP to drive P&G's turnaround, integrate global operations, and guide... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Values and Beliefs; Globalized Firms and Management; Leading Change; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation

24 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

The FDA: What Will the Next 100 Years Bring?

state after an outbreak of illness. Approved the first generic versions of Coreg, a widely used medication for high blood pressure and chronic heart failure. Proposed new standards for formulating, testing, View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Biotechnology; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage; Health

16 Jul 2021
Op-Ed

For Entrepreneurs, the Benefits of Slowing Down

moment of candor, he confided to me, "I hope the new investors will let me slow down. We need to make sure we are building for scale and to do that, I need to be more deliberate in our growth." Like the... View Details

Keywords: by Jeffrey Bussgang

June 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Exchange-Traded Funds at Vanguard (A)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Steven Vickers

Vanguard Group management, led by CEO John Brennan, was considering whether to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in early 2000. ETFs, first created in the early 1990s, combined aspects of traditional mutual funds and closed-end funds. The US ETF industry had reached... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Experience and Expertise; Market Entry and Exit; Network Effects; Profit; Business and Shareholder Relations; Product Launch; Asset Management; Distribution Channels; Ownership; Financial Services Industry; United States

19 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 19

challenges of servicing both internal and external Aladdin clients during a period of rapid growth within BlackRock and significant change in the global financial landscape.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2008
Case

Sensors Unlimited: Bringing InGaAs Technology to the Market

By: Willy C. Shih

Sensors Unlimited was a small start-up in short-wavelength infrared imaging. Its learning base came out of Bell Labs, RCA's Sarnoff Lab, and the Rockwell Science Center, and as it built its capabilities and ventured into new application areas, it discovered a “killer... View Details

Keywords: Applied Optics; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Aerospace Industry; Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

16 Sep 2019
Blog Post

Finding my Passion in the Startup Space

in the US or in Europe's tech hubs, but ultimately from following Greece's entrepreneurship scene, I found Blueground, a rare exception from the lot. The company is in hyper growth and has been hitting... View Details

Profile

Joseph Blair

businesses with high growth potential. This world of entrepreneurship is fast-paced, constantly changing, and always exciting. Whether I am starting my own business, joining a burgeoning start-up, or... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital / Private Equity; Financial Services; Retail

25 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 25

scale and influence in the technology industries that fall under the incidence of their assets. We also discuss some efficiency issues raised by the growing prominence of patent merchants. Download the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 1

Case 810-018 This case study provides an overview of Intuit's growth and, in particular, the sales and service initiatives that historically fueled the company's growth from... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

29 Aug 2006
First Look

First Look: August 29, 2006

datasets) is positively correlated with dispersion among experts' forecasts. Further we use longitudinal datasets with sales forecasts made three-nine months before earnings report date for retailers and manufacturers to show that the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2002 (Revised March 2006)
Background Note

Democracy

By: Rawi E. Abdelal

Surveys scholarship on democracy and democratization. Describes the relationship between democracy and the environment of business, including capitalist economic institutions, economic growth, economic reform, and international relations. View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Situation or Environment; Business and Government Relations; Economic Growth; International Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms

03 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 3, 2009

structure shifts towards extracting more rents from producers relative to consumers when consumers have stronger demand for variety, since producers become less substitutable. With platform competition, consumer preferences for variety, producer market power, View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 May 2015
First Look

First Look: May 19

owned. This book explores the political logic of reforms to land ownership and control, accounting for how land development and real estate have become synonymous with economic View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2002 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Remaking the Rainbow Nation: South Africa 2002

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Debora L. Spar and Katherine E. Cousins

In April 1994, the world witnessed a political milestone in South Africa. After decades of repression and racial segregation, South Africa's black majority came to power at last, as the African National Congress (ANC), led by the celebrated Nelson Mandela, rode into... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Race; Political Elections; Economic Growth; Business and Government Relations; South Africa