Publications

26 Mar 2021
News

The Way Bosses Conduct And Communicate Layoffs Is Inhumane. There's Another Way.

February 2009 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Exeter Group, Inc. (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles, Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

Jonathan Kutchins and Mark Cullen, managing partners of IT consulting firm Exeter Group, Inc., are considering four potential client engagements. Three of them involve prominent universities, an area of market strength for the firm, and one involves a top-tier strategy... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Resource Allocation; Market Entry and Exit; Service Operations; Performance Capacity; Business Strategy; Information Technology; Consulting Industry

January 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

LOLA: Do You Know What's in Your Tampon?

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Aldo Sesia

LOLA is a direct-to-consumer (DTC) business launched in 2015. What started as a company to provide women with organic and transparent material-labeled tampons via a subscription model, had, by 2019 evolved to include additional menstrual and sexual wellness products.... View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Channels; Disruption; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Internet and the Web; Strategy; Retail Industry; United States; Canada

2014
Working Paper

Product to Platform Transitions: Organizational Identity Implications

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Mary Tripsas

Organizations are increasingly recognizing that value they once derived from offering standalone products can be significantly enhanced if they transition to platform-based businesses that harness the innovative capabilities of complementors. While the competitive... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change; Organizational Identity; Ecosystems; Complementors; Managing Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multi-Sided Platforms; Innovation and Management; Organizational Culture

SSRN

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January 2023
Teaching Note

Duolingo: Teaching Languages to the Masses

By: Youngme Moon

Teaching Note for HBS Case 323-016. At the time the case is written, Duolingo is the most popular language learning service in the world. The company has more than 40 million monthly active users, and the company’s total annual revenue has reached $250 million a year.... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Customer Relationship Management; Acquisition; Retention; Innovation and Invention

October 2022
Case

Sustainable Finance at Itau BBA

By: George Serafeim, Maria Loumioti and Benjamin Maletta

As of August 2022, the Itau BBA had structured dozens of sustainability linked bonds, which made future interest payments a function of the borrower meeting a target for a sustainability metric, and had solidified its reputation as a pioneer of sustainable finance in... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Finance; Corporate Social Responsibility; Environmental Sustainability; Growth Strategy; Debt Contracting; Performance Metrics; Risk Assessment; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Financial Instruments; Risk Management; Debt Securities; Measurement and Metrics; Banking Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Latin America

September 2019
Case

Shell: A Company of Opportunity?

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Emer Moloney

The Opportunity Hub was a cloud-based platform that enabled managers to market projects they were working on and associated resourcing needs as “Opportunity Owners” and employees, or “Opportunity Seekers,” to browse these statements of need and engage when they had... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Change Management; Competency and Skills; Experience and Expertise; Talent and Talent Management; Energy; Energy Sources; Non-Renewable Energy; Renewable Energy; Human Resources; Employees; Retention; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Jobs and Positions; Job Design and Levels; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Labor; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Leading Change; Resource Allocation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Evaluation; Performance Productivity; Strategic Planning; Projects; Motivation and Incentives; Business Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Technology Platform; Chemical Industry; Energy Industry; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United Kingdom; Netherlands

Article

B Corps: Can It Remake Capitalism in Japan?

By: Geoffrey Jones

This article examines the B Corporation movement that originated in the United States in 2006. The founders sought to create a new type of company whose governance structure mandated them to consider financial, social and environmental performance. A certification... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Responsibility; Sustainability; B Corporations; Stakeholder Capitalism; Governance; Organizational Structure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Japan

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January 2003 (Revised July 2006)
Exercise

Travelexis.com Role for Jackie Hoff from Travelexis.com

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Nicole Nasser

Two fictional travel companies, SCOUT and TravelPlanner, engage in competitive bidding to acquire a third party, Travelexis. This exercise consists of three roles, one representative from each of the three companies. It is based on the actual negotiations between... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Bids and Bidding; Acquisition; Travel Industry

January 2003 (Revised July 2006)
Exercise

Travelexis.com Role for Pat Young from SCOUT

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Nicole Nasser

Two fictional travel companies, SCOUT and TravelPlanner, engage in competitive bidding to acquire a third party, Travelexis. This exercise is consists of three roles, one representative from each of the three companies. It is based on the actual negotiations between... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Bids and Bidding; Acquisition; Travel Industry

August 2019 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Sustainable Investing at J.P. Morgan Private Bank

By: Sara Fleiss and Luis Viceira

This case features Monica Issar, then Global Head of J.P. Morgan Endowments & Foundations Group in the Private Bank. In just five years, she and J.P. Morgan have grown the Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) business from $5 billion in AUM from primarily family... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Investment; Management; Strategy; Social Issues; Environmental Sustainability; Banking Industry

23 Nov 2021
News

The Death of the Office Friendship

31 Jan 2024
Video

Alumni Perspectives: Value of the HBS MBA

COVID-19 Is Rewriting the Rules of Corporate Governance

Boards are facing a complex new reality as a result of Covid-19. The new environment is characterized by pressures and demands from various stakeholder groups, heightened expectations for societal engagement and corporate citizenship, and radical uncertainty... View Details

18 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: ‘Collective Genius’

there until they began to gel, often in ways that no one could ever have anticipated. Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review Press. Excerpted from Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation. Copyright 2014... View Details

Keywords: by Linda Hill; Entertainment & Recreation

January 2003 (Revised July 2006)
Exercise

Travelexis.com Role for Robin Knight from TravelPlanner.com

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Nicole Nasser

Two fictional travel companies, SCOUT and TravelPlanner, engage in competitive bidding to acquire a third party, Travelexis. This exercise consists of three roles, one representative from each of the three companies. It is based on the actual negotiations between... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Bids and Bidding; Acquisition; Travel Industry

15 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

A New Model for Business: The Museum

Groupon's success is borne of the careful way the company presents wares to its customers: providing a very limited amount of choices at a time, along with a brief, engaging description of each offering. To that end, Weaver is exploring... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 1991 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Berkshire Partners

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

Berkshire Partners is a limited partnership engaged in the acquisition of companies valued between $25 million and $250 million. The purpose of the case is to examine the resources of the firm and discuss the firm's competitive advantage vis-a-vis other types of... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Advantage; Acquisition; Corporate Finance