Publications

October 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Bluefin Robotics

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

Concentrates on the consequences of the choice of corporate partners on the growth alternatives available to a new company, in a new industry, based on a new technology. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Partners and Partnerships; Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Technological Innovation

20 Oct 2015
First Look

empirical results provide strong support for the view that output prices are a key determinant of vertical integration. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=49893 forthcoming Production and Operations Management View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2022
Teaching Note

Yummy: Delivering Value to Venezuela

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Carla Larangeira

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 522-034. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Health Pandemics; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion

11 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 11

hard times. In 2009, Michael Dell and his management team must figure out why the Direct Model has faltered and what they can do to revitalize the company. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/710442-PDF-ENG Carrot or Stick? Getting Paid for... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Randy Komisar: Virtual CEO

Randy Komisar serves as "virtual CEO" to numerous hi-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley. Explores Randy's role, his perspective on general management, and a choice between two opportunities in which he is considering investing his time. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Business or Company Management; Leadership; Business Startups; Management Teams; Technology Industry; California

January 2000 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Alloy.com: Marketing to Generation Y

By: John A. Deighton and Gil McWilliams

A profitable dot com company? Alloy.com retails clothing to teens by catalog. Alloy uses a Web site to convert prospects and build community. The result is a business with the economics of a direct marketer and the market capitalization of an Internet start-up. The... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business and Community Relations; Partners and Partnerships; Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

10 May 2016
First Look

May 10, 2016

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51028 Harvard Business School Case 316-002 N12 Technologies: Building an Organization and Building a Business N12 Technologies was a startup founded in 2010... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

June 2018
Teaching Note

Meridian Systems (Brief Case)

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Michael J. Roberts

Teaching Note for HBS No. 918-533. The key issues discussed in the Meridian teaching note concern sales force deployment: decisions about how to focus sales efforts with respect to territories, customers, and products. The teaching note explains the strengths and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Sales; Strategy; Salesforce Management; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy

16 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 16, 2019

this case:https://hbsp.harvard.edu/product/219055-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 219-057 Fluidity In December 2018, the blockchain startup Fluidity was about to participate in its first tokenization deal, which would create digital... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

February 2014
Case

Interview with Joe Kennedy, Pandora Media

By: Willy C. Shih

Joe Kennedy is the emeritus president of Pandora Media. In this interview, he discusses some of the challenges he faced in leading the company. View Details

Keywords: Pandora; Internet Radio; Pandora Media; Streaming; Music Industry; Music Entertainment; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California

May 1983 (Revised December 1987)
Case

Technical Data Corp.

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes a decision confronting the president of a small company about selling some or all of the shares in his company to another firm. Technical Data Corp. provides analytical services to professional bond market traders over a system of computer terminals operated... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Valuation; Negotiation Tactics; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Strategy; Horizontal Integration; Information Industry; Service Industry

17 Nov 2020
In Practice

How Retailers Can Thrive in a Shopping Season Like No Other

pure-play stores can’t directly match. Ramon Casadesus-Masanell is the Herman C. Krannert Professor of Business Administration. Rembrand M. Koning: Think like a startup and experiment Given that every week feels like a year in 2020, I... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Retail

February 2011
Supplement

The Fox Islands Wind Project (B)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Evan Richardson

Fox Island Wind Cooperative faces criticism from local residents. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Cooperative Ownership; Business and Community Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Environmental Sustainability; Green Technology Industry; Maine

October 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Handspring

By: Myra M. Hart and Mary Rotelli

Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins, founders of Palm Computing, have launched a new venture--Handspring. They are preparing for an IPO in the spring of 2000. When the markets begin to collapse and their investment bankers suggest a significantly lower price, they must... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Investment Banking; Initial Public Offering; Valuation; Business Processes; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

17 Nov 2015
First Look

November 17, 2015

Societal and Political Dimensions of Innovation Innovation and Business Growth By: Kerr, William R. Abstract—Innovation and the pursuit of new business opportunities are essential for growth at the firm level; moreover, they provide the foundation for an economy to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2013
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: David Weinstein and Write the World

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Juliane Calingo Schwetz and Patricia Bissett Higgins

David Weinstein, a lawyer and former Chief Administrative Officer of mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, launched Write the World, a proprietary online platform that included a writing curriculum, essay prompts in distinct subject matter, and access to expert... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Expansion; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Business Startups; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving

March 1996 (Revised August 1996)
Case

Open Market, Inc.: Managing in a Turbulent Environment

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Janis Lee Gogan

Presents the story of Open Market, Inc., one of numerous companies formed in 1994 to engage in electronic commerce over the Internet. This case examines the company's development--its business strategy and organization evolution--as the company increased in size and... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Growth and Development; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizations; Web Services Industry

November 2000
Case

beenz.com: Building "The Web's Currency" Into a Global Business

Beenz.com, an incentive-based Web currency and customer management tool, is reassessing its business in August 2000, one year after launch. The original vision was to make the currency globally available and recognized. However, the company's rapid internationalization... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Marketing; Business Startups

April 2008 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Visions of Web 3.0

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and David Andrew Vivero

Explores the Semantic Web, a vision for the next generation of the World Wide Web in which information is stored in machine-readable formats. While the Semantic Web would make information more easily accessible, barriers to its adoption are very high because website... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Technology Adoption; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web