Publications

2013
Working Paper

Historical Origins of Environmental Sustainability in the German Chemical Industry, 1950s-1980s

By: Geoffrey Jones and Christina Lubinski

This working paper examines the growth of corporate environmentalism in the West German chemical industry between the 1950s and the 1980s. German business has been regarded as pioneering corporate environmentalism after World War II. In contrast, this study reveals... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Green Business; Pollution; Environmental Sustainability; Business History; Chemical Industry; Germany; United States

SSRN

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29 Aug 2016
Blog Post

First Year at HBS: A Foundation for Business

top ten business stories for the past year. 1. China: industrial-goods slowdown and market turmoil 2. Yahoo: Marissa Myers and activist investors 3. Uber: valuation View Details

July 2010 (Revised September 2023)
Case

Werner von Siemens and the Electric Telegraph

By: Geoffrey Jones and Bjoern von Siemens

This case describes the nineteenth century founding by Werner Siemens of the Siemens electrical business in Germany. Werner's dual role as inventor and entrepreneur is explored as he created one of the world's first multinational enterprises, whose growth initially... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Family Business; Entrepreneurship; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Growth and Development Strategy; Electronics Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Germany

31 May 2017
Sharpening Your Skills

10 Harvard Business School Research Stories That Will Make Your Mouth Water

industry is at the heart of much research at Harvard Business School. Here is a sampler of stories about restaurants, chefs, food science, and more. D’O: Making a Michelin-Starred Restaurant Affordable Under... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Food & Beverage

Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Leaders

Entrepreneurs, Managers and Leaders examines the role that business leaders play in shaping industries and how evolving industries shape leaders. This co-evolutionary process of leadership and industry development is told through the dynamic story of the... View Details

Web

Blog | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

2024 In spring of 2000, students from Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School had a vision ... Bridging Growth across Continents: SE Summer Fellow Kartik Sahni... View Details

12 Jul 2016
News

Tesla’s Strategy Is Risky and Aggressive, but It Has Worked

Program

Mergers and Acquisitions

Details Enable growth through an effective M&A process Build stronger M&A strategies Identify the right targets, assess business value accurately, and perform meaningful due... View Details

June 2025
Case

Scale AI Scales Up

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

Scale AI, the data labeling and AI infrastructure company, had grown rapidly since it was founded in 2016; however, as Scale’s generative AI business was taking off, Alexandr Wang, Scale’s founder and CEO, became concerned that Scale was slowing down. Wang and the... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Technology And Innovation Management; Start-ups; Entrepreneur; Managing Growth; Hiring; Generative Ai; Data Labeling; Scale; AI and Machine Learning; Entrepreneurship; Talent and Talent Management; Growth Management; Leadership; Culture; Technology Industry; United States

July 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Vytal: Packaging-as-a-Service

By: George Serafeim, Michael W. Toffel, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

The Germany-based startup Vytal operated the largest digital-native reusable packaging-as-a-service network globally, having raised nearly €15 million, established a large network of restaurant partners, and prevented the use of millions of single-use take-out food... View Details

October 2005
Article

Growing Talent As If Your Business Depended on It

By: Jeff Cohn, Rakesh Khurana and Laura Reeves

Keywords: Growth and Development; Business Ventures

Find at Harvard

01 Apr 2020
Blog Post

How Scott Linzmeyer Crafted a Business He Loves at Reveler Beverage

needed for work and family life so he could prioritize what mattered most to him. With that in mind, he has worked hard to develop a team he can trust, planned business growth... View Details

January 2020 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Zara: An Integrated Store and Online Model (A)

By: Antonio Moreno

In 2010, amidst the growth of ecommerce and the emergence of new, purely online, fashion players, Zara launched its first online store, Zara.com. Since then, Zara’s online business had grown at a fast pace. By 2018, 12% of Inditex Group’s total sales came from the... View Details

Keywords: Stores; Integration; Operations; Business Model; Strategy; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Europe

01 Mar 2024
News

Alumni and Faculty Books and Podcasts

pervasive and least-understood fail point that threatens to kneecap even the best-laid scaling plan: organizational friction. Bier reveals why organizational frictions take hold as you grow and how they slow... View Details

Keywords: Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

09 May 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Clusters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Keywords: by Aaron Chatterji, Edward Glaeser & William Kerr

March 2021 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Seeding and Selling Asana

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Susie Ma and Amram Migdal

In December 2019, Oliver Jay, Asana’s Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), was reconsidering his go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Asana was cloud-based work management software that enabled users to break up projects into discrete tasks that could be assigned, scheduled, and... View Details

Keywords: SaaS; Customer Journey; Business Model; Business Organization; Change Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Technology Industry; United States

April 2012
Case

Pret A Manger

By: Frances X. Frei, Rick Goldberg and Stephanie van Sice

Pret A Manger, a London-based chain of sandwich shops, was known for its fast, genuine service and pre-packaged sandwiches prepared on-site daily. Instructed by its board to grow at 15 percent per year, Pret considered opening "twin" shops in locations too small to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Service Excellence; Growth Planning And Management; Employee Performance Management; Information Management; Production Planning; Employee Attitude Development And Empowerment; Employee Retention; Leadership Development And Career Planning; Service Delivery; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Employees; Performance; London