Publications

March 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Celtel International B.V.: June 2004 (A)

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Depicts the options facing Mohammed Ibrahim, founder and chairman of Celtel International, the largest pan African wireless telecommunications provider, as he tries to position his company for further growth. Should the firm, which has reached $1 billion in revenues in... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Africa

October 2017 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Snap Inc. Goes Public (A)

By: Lynn Sharp Paine and Will Hurwitz

Snap Inc.’s chairman must decide how to address investor concerns about the company’s unprecedented plans to issue only non-voting shares in its upcoming IPO. The case is set in early 2017 following the public availability of Snap’s IPO filing with the U.S. Securities... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Capital Structure; Corporate Accountability; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Going Public; Business and Shareholder Relations; Leadership; Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Venture Capital; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States; California

10 Apr 2019
News

Rakuten’s Mikitani Bets $5.5 Billion To Shake Up Japan’s Telecom Industry

A recent feature in Forbes outlines Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani’s plan to disrupt Japan’s mobile phone market. Named Rakuten Mobile, the company hopes to build the network in “half the time and at a cost of up to 40% less than what it... View Details

Keywords: Telecommunications; Information

01 Mar 2010
News

Hunting Red Balloons

In December, the government agency DARPA tethered to the ground ten red weather balloons at random locations around the United States in a test to see how social networks might mobilize and use the Internet for rapid problem-solving. In... View Details

Keywords: contests; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

21 Nov 2013
News

Case Study: BlackBerry and Thorsten Heins

of BlackBerry’s problems were sown well before Heins took on the CEO role. BlackBerry’s system had its roots in a mobile data architecture that came out of paging networks. By developing complimentary software that connected to email... View Details

Keywords: Telecommunications; Information; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management

Fast Answer

Emerging Market/Frontier Market Fellowship Resources

href="https://www.library.hbs.edu/services/learn-with-baker-library#" target="_blank">Learn with Baker Library LSEG Workspace Introduction. Technology Markets and Demographics GSMA - The View Details

01 Mar 2015
News

Clubs Hopping

technology that included Sequoia Capital partner Todd Cozzens (PMD 60, 1990), who invests in digital health companies. What trends does Carter see disrupting health care? Health and wellness insights driven by cognitive computing. Carter... View Details

Keywords: April White; Health, Social Assistance

January 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Hello Heart: The Next Generation of Chronic Disease Management Apps

By: Ariel D. Stern and Danielle Golan

Hello Heart, a hypertension management app debated whether to go deep and cover other heart conditions, or to expand its solution to other chronic conditions. View Details

07 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 7

Organization Science Innovation Outcomes in a Distributed Organization: Intra-Firm Mobility and Access to Resources By: Choudhury, Prithwiraj Abstract—Prior research has established a relation between intra-firm View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Apr 2014
News

The Puzzle of Life

three were acquired in 2013. From an investor perspective, a minimum investment might be $400,000 to $500,000 spread across 8 to 10 deals to minimize risk. "If we can mobilize extra capital into really exciting life-science... View Details

Keywords: Hanna, Julia; crowdfunding; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Finance

03 Jul 2018
What Do You Think?

Should CEO Satya Nadella Cancel Microsoft’s Contract with ICE?

it was doing for ICE in a January blog post. Microsoft’s Azure Government software allows organizations to move operations and processing to the cloud. Employees: Use technology for good On June 19, an open letter was posted on... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Technology; Technology

September 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

TA Associates - MetroPCS (A)

Hythem El-Nazer, a young investment professional at TA Associates, believes he has found an attractive investment opportunity for the firm, MetroPCS, a wireless telecomm service provider. However, two months earlier, TA had invested considerable resources on this... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Telecommunications Industry

01 Jun 2025
News

Venture: A Welcome Assist

says. There’s also the fact that “we’re probably all going to age into the group that I’m building for right now,” Bervell acknowledges. The Fine Print A company can download TestParty’s tools, which automatically scan source code for its websites, View Details

Keywords: Jen Mcfarland Flint; photo courtesy Michael Bervell; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

25 May 2015
Blog Post

RapidSOS Wins the HBS New Venture Competition

multi-state 911 outage left 11 million Americans across seven states without 911 service. Over 6,600 calls were lost including those from Alicia Cappola, a young mother who tried calling 37 timesbefore giving up and grabbing a knife to force out an intruder. Despite... View Details

20 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

When CEOs Become Activists

gasoline rather than Mobil if they disagreed with the Mobil CEO’s views on a social issue that’s not directly related to the business? When do the costs of CEO activism outweigh the benefits? And when can... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Technology

06 Feb 2012
Research & Ideas

Kodak: A Parable of American Competitiveness

earlier. Worse, he knew that mobile phones, which were also being made outside the United States, would start stealing business away from digital cameras. "Much of the camera technology was invented in... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Manufacturing

01 Mar 2013
News

Making Change

representatives in support of the successful campaign for marriage equality in New York State. Our social media campaigns have reached 14 million people, and we've won awards for the innovative advocacy technology we've created and built.... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; housing; gay rights; diabesity; disability; Construction of Buildings; Construction; Educational Services; Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information; Real Estate

July 2006
Background Note

Out of Frame: The Coming Digital Disruption of Hollywood

By: Stephen P. Bradley, Brian DeLacey and Reed Martin

The record opening of the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, starring Johnny Depp, had finally provided the industry with incontrovertible proof that it was still possible to draw massive audiences to movie theaters. Grossing $136 million during its opening... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Film Entertainment; Revenue; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States