Publications

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

October 1984 (Revised July 1988)
Case

Mark Twain Bancshares, Inc.

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Describes the history, management, and organization of an extremely successful bank holding company. The company has had a very charismatic chairman, has made MBAs bank presidents at very early ages, and has a long record of innovation. Now deregulation and a coming... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Financial Services Industry

23 Dec 2019
News

The gender gap in self-promotion

22 Dec 2015
News

Algorithms Need Managers, Too

16 Feb 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Competition Under Partial Belief Advantage

Keywords: by Hanna Halaburda & Yaron Yehezkel; Consumer Products

11 Oct 2011
Working Paper Summaries

US Healthcare Reform and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Keywords: by Arthur Daemmrich; Pharmaceutical; Health

2008
Working Paper

Variance-Seeking for Positive (and Variance-Aversion for Negative) Experiences: Risk-Seeking in the Domain of Gains?

By: Jolie Mae Martin, Gregory M. Barron and Michael I. Norton

In contrast to research which has conflated losses with negative experiences and gains with positive experiences, we argue that because reference points are set by memories of extremely good and bad experiences, most outcomes are seen as losses in positive domains and... View Details

Keywords: Change; Experience and Expertise; Marketing; Research; Risk and Uncertainty; Loss; Perspective

01 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

Good Leadership Is an Act of Kindness

of the simplest words and gestures often gets lost when CEOs and managers are in perpetual crisis management mode, struggling with layoffs, remote work technology, market woes, and a range of other frustrating disruptions. While... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Susan Seligson

Web

Business, Government & the International Economy Curriculum - Faculty & Research

3.0 Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism (also listed under General Management and Entrepreneurial Management) Geoffrey Jones Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Global Climate Change (also listed under Strategy) Gunnar Trumbull Fall 2025 Q1Q2 3.0 Globalization and Emerging View Details

January 2014 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Filene's Basement: Inside a Fired Customer's Relationship

By: Jill Avery and Susan Fournier

How, in a business climate in which building relationships with customers has dominated both managerial thought and marketing budgets, could Filene's Basement have fired a loyal customer, one who was formally and informally recognized as a best customer? This case... View Details

Keywords: CRM; Retailing; Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; United States

01 Dec 2023
News

Venturing Forth

Illustration by Adam McCauley Venture capital is a heady industry: Big bets mean big checks when the deals hit right. And for most of the last decade, those taking part in the funds were riding high: Capital was abundant, valuations were soaring, and the stock market... View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance

October 1992 (Revised June 1994)
Case

American Airlines, Inc.: Proposal for a Three-Class Transcon Service

American Airlines, Inc., the largest airline in the United States, is considering a proposal to enhance its flagship New York JFK - Los Angeles transcontinental service from a two-class (first and coach) to a three-class (first, business, and coach) product. The... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Marketing Strategy; Air Transportation Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

June 2018 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Voice War: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri

By: David B. Yoffie, Liang Wu, Jodie Sweitzer, Denzil Eden and Karan Ahuja

By early 2018, voice-controlled intelligent assistants had become a major new front in the battle between the giants of the technology sector. "Voice War" focuses on Alphabet’s strategy for Google Assistant, its entrant in the voice assistant space, and asks how the... View Details

Keywords: Alphabet; Amazon; Apple; Strategy; Technology; Intelligent Assistants; Smart Speaker; Voice Assistants; Voice; Platform; Technology Adoption; Digital Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Product Positioning; Technology Industry

26 Jan 2016
First Look

January 26, 2016

incremental change, while also seizing new markets where flexibility, autonomy, and experimentation rule the day. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50401 forthcoming European Economic Review Taxation,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Feb 2018
Book

The New History of American Capitalism

Since the start of the 2000s, historians have renewed their interest in capitalism, two Harvard professors observe in their new book, American Capitalism: New Histories. One of the primary contributing factors for this, according to Sven Beckert and Christine Desan, is... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

April 2010
Case

Metabical: Pricing, Packaging, and Demand Forecasting Recommendations for a New Weight Loss Drug

By: John A. Quelch and Heather Beckham

Metabical is a new weight loss drug from Cambridge Sciences Pharmaceuticals intended for moderately overweight individuals. In anticipation of final FDA approval, the senior director of marketing, Barbara Printup, prepares for the product launch and must make several... View Details

Keywords: Return On Investment; Forecasting; Pricing Policies; Demand Planning; Marketing Strategy; Price; Consumer Behavior; Investment Return; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Launch; Planning; Brands and Branding; Pharmaceutical Industry

September 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Bank Leu's Prima Cat Bond Fund

In 2001, Bank Leu, a Swiss private bank, is considering creating the world's first public fund for catastrophe bonds. Cat bonds are securities whose payments depend on the probability of a catastrophe occurring, such as an earthquake or hurricane. Cat bonds are... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Bonds; Natural Disasters; Insurance; Capital Markets; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Insurance Industry; Switzerland