Publications

August 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

eBee: Affordable Mobility for Africa

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in March 2023, as Sten van der Ham and Jaap Maljers, CEO and co-founder of eBee, an electric bike (e-bike) company in Africa, are contemplating the different avenues for growth and path to profitability for the young and ambitious company. In 2023, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Bicycle Industry; Africa; Kenya

October 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

upGrad: Delivering Career Outcomes Online: Degree by Degree

By: John J-H Kim, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

In August 2021, the founders of upGrad, the latest unicorn in the Indian higher education online space, were deciding how to best use the funds to execute on their ambitious growth plans. Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli had envisioned upGrad as an... View Details

Keywords: Unicorns; COVID-19 Pandemic; Higher Education; Internet and the Web; Spending; Growth and Development Strategy; Education Industry; India

November 2018
Teaching Note

reMarkable: e-Writing the Future

By: Elie Ofek

Teaching Note for HBS No. 517-018. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Product Development; Product Launch; Entrepreneurship; Computer Industry; Europe; United States

September 2016
Case

Health Leads: Reaching for Impact (Abridged)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sarah Appleby

A nonprofit in the healthcare arena explores strategies to achieve system-level impact. Founded in 1996 with a volunteer-staffed help desk at Boston Medical Center connecting low-income patients with basic resources like heating assistance, job training, and childcare... View Details

Keywords: Scaling Social Enterprise; Scaling Social Impact; Health Care Delivery; Health Care Outcomes; Health Care Reform; Nonprofit; Nonprofit Scaling; Social Enterprise; Health Care and Treatment; Nonprofit Organizations; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; United States

01 Jul 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Super Stretch Goals Only for the Very Young?

abandon their ethics to get it.” When applied to individuals, the question prompted an interesting exchange between Sandeep and Phillippe Gouamba regarding the effect of wealth and poverty on the tendency of managers to employ super... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

June 2014
Teaching Note

Steve Carpenter at Cake Financial

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

After investing $9 million of venture capital, Cake Financial had failed to reach critical mass. In early 2010 Cake's assets were sold and the company was dissolved. Founded in 2006, the San Francisco-based Internet company allowed users to monitor their investments... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry

January 2014
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry

June 1999 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Eli Lilly, 1998 (B): Emerging Global Organization

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Thomas W. Malnight

Examines major issues faced by Eli Lilly as it evaluates the appropriateness of a focused matrix organization with extensive use of cross-functional teams. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Geography; Globalized Firms and Management; Growth and Development; Knowledge; Management Teams; Product; Organizations; Pharmaceutical Industry

01 Jun 2013
News

Can Business Smarts Save the Charter School Revolution?

which was expanding its model there. At KIPP—another network singled out by the 2013 Stanford study for positive learning gains—that meant recruiting strong management talent, building evaluation protocols for teachers and administrators,... View Details

Keywords: David McKay Wilson; charter schools; Elementary and Secondary Schools; Educational Services

16 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

Transitions of Power Are Difficult. What Joe Biden and Other Incoming Leaders Need to Know.

have developed a perspective on strategies for the near-term and long-term. But first, before anything else, it’s important to stop the bleeding; that is, deal with crises and pain points. Whether the problems involve financial distress... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

November 1994
Case

Bain & Company: International Expansion

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and J. Peter Williamson

Bain & Co., a leading strategy consulting firm, faces major strategic and organizational issues regarding global expansion. The Bain partners must choose a course among many exciting and attractive opportunities for growth. Also explores organizational and managerial... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management; Expansion; Global Strategy; Decision Making; Organizations; Partners and Partnerships; Consulting Industry

01 Jan 2012
News

Cynthia Carroll, MBA 1989

Appointed Managing Director, Alcan, Limerick, Ireland 2002 Appointed CEO, Alcan Primary Metal Group 2006 Named one of “50 Women to Watch” by WSJ 2007 Appointed Chief Executive, Anglo American 2008 Implements “zero harm” policy to improve... View Details

March 2020 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Nadine Vogel: Transforming the Marketplace, Workplace, and Workforce for People with Disabilities

By: Lakshmi Ramarajan, Hannah Riley-Bowles and Michael Norris

In 2019, Nadine Vogel, founder and CEO of Springboard Consulting, a firm that worked with Fortune 500 companies on issues related to disability and their workforce, faced the decision of the best path forward to grow her small company. Should she build more and better... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Market Entry and Exit; Consulting Industry; United States; Florida; New York (state, US)

November 2024
Teaching Note

Martine Rothblatt and United Therapeutics: A Series of Implausible Dreams

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 323-039. In 1990, satellite expert and Sirius XM founder Martine Rothblatt was determined to save the life of her seven-year-old daughter, Jenesis, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness called Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). At... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Organ Donation; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States; District of Columbia

01 Dec 2002
News

Serving through TechnoServe

attract resources to support the experts in the field. In addition to managing fundraising efforts, he has developed an extern program where volunteers from companies like Liz Claiborne, McKinsey, and Young... View Details

01 Dec 2013
News

Your Own Medicine

million to have the biotech develop it as a potential cancer drug, eventually giving up when even low doses resulted in severe nausea during clinical trials. Still, the drug became a focal point for the Secklers. "Here was this drug that... View Details

Keywords: Morrell, Daniel; biomedicine; biopharmaceutical company; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

Profile

Rawiah Abdallah

development efforts in the future." After graduation, Rawiah assumed ever-greater responsibilities in a sequence of jobs at Raya Holding, LOGIC Management Consulting, and the Dubai office of Boston... View Details

September 2009
Teaching Note

IBM in the 21st Century: The Coming of the Globally Integrated Enterprise (TN)

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Matthew Bird

Teaching Note for [308105]. View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Value; Competition; System; Innovation and Invention; Multinational Firms and Management; Leadership Development; Information Technology Industry; Computer Industry