Publications

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December 2006 (Revised September 2007)
Case

Ponsse: From Finland to Global

By: David E. Bell and Mary L. Shelman

Finland-based Ponsse Oyj, with 2005 turnover of $250 million, is the only dedicated forest equipment company of size that remained in a consolidating industry. Competitors included global giants such as John Deere and Komatsu. Since his arrival at Ponsse in 2004, CEO... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Growth and Development Strategy; Performance Capacity; Expansion; Forest Products Industry; Forestry Industry; Russia; Finland; United States; Brazil

July–August 2012
Article

The Growth Opportunity That Lies Next Door

By: G. Jones

This article uses the case of Natura, the largest Brazilian beauty company and one of the world's top twenty beauty companies, to explore how the logic of globalization is changing for corporations from emerging countries as growth opportunities in those countries... View Details

Keywords: Brazil; Marketing; Green Marketing; Environment; Globalization; Developing Countries and Economies; Geographic Location; Growth and Development Strategy; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Latin America; Europe

17 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

The Trial of Elizabeth Holmes: Visionary, Criminal, or Both?

billion. A 2015 Wall Street Journal exposé, which became the bestseller “Bad Blood,” led to several criminal and civil probes, and sanctions imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Theranos dissolved in 2018. Prosecutors must prove that Holmes, who was 19... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Biotechnology; Technology; Medical Devices & Supplies

27 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

Rituals Strengthen Couples. Here’s Why They’re Good for Business, Too

spell out the name of the retailer after visiting a tennis ball factory in Korea where the workers did a company cheer and calisthenics together every morning. "My feeling is that just because we work so hard, we don't have to go around... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

15 Nov 2018
Book

Can the Global Food Industry Overcome Public Distrust?

JamesBrey Food is the largest segment of the global economy. It is also widely recognized as more critical for human health than any pharmaceutical drug on the planet. But significant changes in the industry are making people lose trust in many institutions involved in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Agriculture & Agribusiness

February 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Endeca Technologies (A)

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Steve Papa, CEO of Endeca Technologies, must decide among two term sheets raising the same amount of badly needed money for his young software company. One deal is led by insiders and, is offered at a lower price. It continues a board that has worked very well and... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Condition; Financing and Loans; Management Skills; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Technology Industry

Purchase

November 2005
Case

Inventec Corporation

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Ingrid Vargas

Inventec Corp., with $4.5 billion in annual revenues, was one of Taiwan's leading original design manufacturers (ODMs). Inventec designed and manufactured electronic products such as computers, servers, MP3 players, PDAs, and cellular telephones for client companies... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Emerging Markets; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; China; India

Keywords: Kathleen Fu, Deborah Blagg, Julia Hanna, and Maureen Harmon; illustrations by; energy; environment; sustainability; entrepreneurship; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Waste Management and Remediation Services; Waste Management and Remediation Services

Purchase

12 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 12, 2008

Amazon.com: The Brink of Bankruptcy Harvard Business School Case 809-014 Enables a thorough analysis of the Amazon.com business model and its evolution from 1994 to 2001. The case ends with the company poised on the brink of bankruptcy... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

Want a Happy Customer? Coordinate Sales and Marketing

from marketing to sales and vice versa helps. So too does co-location. Of course, as the company grows large and more global, co-location becomes difficult. And, there are conflicting needs. Should, for example, the product View Details

Keywords: by Benson Shapiro

01 Mar 2016
First Look

March 1, 2016

with subsidies alone, but the subsidies have been too small to solve the “last-mile problem,” and so most poor households remain unconnected to the water and sewer system. In nineteenth-century New York, subsidies also proved insufficient... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Feb 2022
News

New Urban Order

In her current role with Resilient, which focuses on water infrastructure and innovation in the industry, Littlefield is putting that approach into successful practice. The company is focused on water View Details

September 8, 2009
Article

The New Governance Paradigm

By: Nathaniel Foote and Michael Beer

Boards members of failed banks in 2008 or of the many companies like Enron who were caught up in scandals are by and large honorable, well intentioned, and competent people. So what went wrong and what can be done about it. This article argues that the problem lies in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Competency and Skills; Banks and Banking; Failure; Goals and Objectives; Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Performance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Crime and Corruption

18 Feb 2019
Book

What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology

established companies lament the disruption they’re facing at the hand of technologically savvy startups. But Teixeira, the Lumry Family Associate Professor of Business Administration, argues that these newcomers simply spotted and served... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Beauty & Cosmetics; Insurance; Service; Retail

26 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

To Motivate Employees, Give an Unexpected Bonus (or Penalty)

says. “Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” This might seem an extreme way to motivate employees (and, of course, fails spectacularly in the movie). But companies hold so-called tournaments based on... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

May 2008 (Revised August 2010)
Case

ScriptLogic®: Point, Click, Done!™

ScriptLogic is a software company that has built a product portfolio that fits under a 'Point, Click, Done!' umbrella; its products are easy to download, easy to install, and easy to use. The company's online marketing program and inside sales force have been very... View Details

Keywords: Investment Return; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Marketing; Product Development; Salesforce Management; Software; Information Technology Industry

Web

Career Support - Business & Environment

founding new ventures. HBS General Summer Fellows : Funds students joining large and small organizations in for-profit industries. Harvard Climate Internship Programs Any Harvard graduate student with a climate-related internship with a... View Details

Web

HBS - The year in Review

and build and manage new systems. Throughout, the HBS community worked together to overcome the complexities inherent in this hybrid approach. Students Arrive More than 9,300 applicants sought a place in the MBA Program and nearly 800... View Details

13 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 13, 2007

projects conducted by clinical managers at the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. My findings suggest that social position is an important enabling condition for divergent organizational change, and is a determinant as well of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 2022 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Wasabi Technologies (A)

By: N. Louis Shipley and Mel Martin

After launching a successful hot cloud storage company, Founder and CEO David Friend is ready to scale the venture rapidly. Wasabi Technologies had focused primarily on direct sales, but an opportunity to pivot to channel sales was on the horizon. The company’s major... View Details

Keywords: Direct Sales; Channel Sales; Information Management; Sales; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Divisions; Information Technology Industry; United States