Publications

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May 1998 (Revised September 1999)
Background Note

Presents an overview of managed care. Describes the relationship between provider and insurance companies, examines the implications for consumers, and discusses financial arrangements and operational characteristics commonly observed in the industry. Also provides a... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Service Operations; Relationships; Insurance Industry

September 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Metso Paper: Globalization of Finnish Metal Workshops

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Marikka Heikkila and Kalle Lyytinen

Metso Paper, the world's largest producer of paper machines, aims to transform itself into a knowledge- and information-based service and solution provider for the paper industry by aggressively exploiting information technologies. In the fall of 2002, Jorma Hujala, a... View Details

Keywords: Production; Customer Value and Value Chain; Information Technology; Corporate Strategy; Knowledge Management; Machinery and Machining; Expansion; Service Delivery; Manufacturing Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Finland

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07 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 7

from abroad is substantially more challenging than the economics alone would predict. This paper looks at some of the issues firms moving large assembly operations back to the U.S. have faced, along with recommendations for more... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2020
Case

Rotoplas: Bringing More and Better Water

By: John D. Macomber and Carla Larangeira

Private companies were being turned to for potable water in the world’s megacities due to impacts of climate change including droughts and flooding. Mexico City had endured several water-related crises, with its population suffering from floods, droughts, water... View Details

Keywords: Water Supply; Water Management; Finance; Infrastructure; Urban Development; Business and Government Relations; Latin America; Mexico

June 2020
Supplement

RBC: Transforming Transformation (B)

By: Ethan Bernstein, Francesca Gino and Aldo Sesia

In 2017, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), a Canadian financial icon, mandated a swat team of “enablers of collaboration” (their job description) to support the personal and commercial bank in the enterprise-wide RBC Cultural Transformation initiative. Historically,... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Technology; Transformation; Change Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Decision Making; Human Resources; Management Systems; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada

January 2018
Case

Kids & Company: Entering the U.S.

By: Boris Groysberg, Matthew G. Preble and Katherine Connolly Baden

In April 2017, Victoria Sopik and Jennifer Nashmi, CEO and CFO (respectively) of Kids & Company, a Canadian childcare provider that they had co-founded in the early 2000s and developed into a nearly 100-unit enterprise, are discussing how the company should proceed... View Details

August 2022 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Fresh Food Generation

By: Brian Trelstad, Amy Klopfenstein and Mel Martin

This case highlights one of five BIPOC entrepreneurs in the Boston area as part of the HBS Impact Investment Fund. In fall 2021, a team of HBS students reviewed the financial statements of Fresh Food Generation (FFG), a Dorchester, Massachusetts-based food service... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Investment; Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship; Race; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston

July 2013 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Experience! The Finger Lakes: The Groupon Partnership Decision

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Chekitan S. Dev, Gabriele Piccoli and Arnold B. Peinado

In 2010, Experience! The Finger Lakes (ExperienceFLX), a tour operator offering guided tours and concierge services in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, was at a crossroads. The business was poised for growth, and its owners, Laura and Alan Falk, were... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; United States

March 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

America Online: Using Information Technology to Better Serve the Customer

By: James I. Cash Jr. and Judy E. Stahl

Mike Connors, president of AOL Technologies, examines several efforts to correct operational problems inhibiting the company's growth. What will need to be done to support growth and counter competition from Prodigy, Compuserv, and Internet-related services? View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Problems and Challenges; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Technology Industry

June 2007 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Opening Pandora's Box

By: Willy C. Shih, Stephen P. Kaufman, Melissa Marie Blakeley and Marissa Wairy Dent

Pandora.com provided a highly customizable online radio service tailored to listeners' musical preferences and had registered explosive growth since its September 2005 launch. But proposed changes in royalty rates threatened to kill off many Internet radio sites,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Intellectual Property; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry

13 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

3 Ways Firms Can Profit From Environmental Investments

In the course of her work, Rebecca Henderson meets business executives who don't address the threat of climate change because they don't believe that it exists. Her recommendation: They should consider investments in environmental sustainability anyway, assuming that... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Energy; Utilities

November 1992 (Revised May 1993)
Case

American Mobile Satellite Corporation

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Laura Goode

American Mobile Satellite Corp. (AMSC) has a license to provide wireless mobile communications via satellite throughout the United States and 200 miles of coastal waters. The first satellite launch is scheduled for 1994 and, in the interim, AMSC is providing limited... View Details

Keywords: Wireless Technology; Decisions; Distribution Channels; Marketing Strategy; Product Development; Sales; Emerging Markets; Resource Allocation; Performance Capacity; Communications Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

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June 2008
Case

Rackspace Hosting in Late 2000

By: James L. Heskett and W. Earl Sasser

The leadership team of Rackspace, faced with accommodation of its service offering and dwindling financial reserves, decides to make customer focus the rallying cry of its new strategy. This short case was designed as the discussion igniter for a series of short video... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Finance; Management Teams; Service Operations; Customer Ownership; Strategy

Article

Update on E-liability Accounting

By: Robert Kaplan, Karthik Ramanna and Piyush Jha

Since publication of the original E-liability carbon accounting paper (HBR, Nov 2021), we created the E-liability Institute to help companies, governments, and nonprofits implement the method. The Institute’s mission is to test and validate the method, and develop... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Carbon Footprint; Supply Chain; Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Accounting

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July 1994 (Revised August 1998)
Case

The King-Size Company

By: David E. Bell and Dinny Starr Gordon

King-Size is a mail-order company specializing in apparel for big and tall men. The case describes their operations in some detail. Issues include appropriate marketing decisions and expansion strategy. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Marketing Strategy; Operations; Perception; Expansion; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry

January 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial (RJF) currently sells financial services through two channels. It is considering adding a third in the "middle" of the other two. The current strategy has one channel with employees and another with independent contractors. These attract very... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Salesforce Management; Marketing; Distribution Channels; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry

05 Jul 2017
Research & Ideas

Are Stockbrokers Illegally Leaking Confidential Information to Favored Clients?

Source: Raw Pixel Stockbrokers are taking advantage of their privileged position to increase profits for favored investors and hedge funds, all at the expense of their other customers, new research suggests. A team of economists has found evidence that brokers... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

11 Jun 2012
Research & Ideas

When Business Competition Harms Society

Rather than operating its own testing facilities, New York outsources its emissions testing program to the private sector—to service stations, garages, and dealerships—but mandates they charge customers the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Auto

2025
Article

Educating Students and Professionals on the Business Implications of Climate Change

By: Michael W. Toffel

As climate change poses unprecedented challenges and opportunities, the private sector must play a pivotal role in both adaptation and mitigation efforts. This article discusses the new Harvard Business School Online course, Business and Climate Change, designed to... View Details

Keywords: Climate Impact; Online Courses; Online Education; Decarbonization; Mitigation Policies; Climate Risk; Climate Change; Risk Management; Science; Policy; Business Education; Adaptation