Publications

November 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Amul and India's National Dairy Development Board

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Srinivas Sunder

Amul Dairy has been a successful change maker in India's dairy system. How does it move from this success to the new challenges facing the Indian food system--is it an appropriate model? View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Leading Change; Success; Cooperative Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Food and Beverage Industry; India

08 Sep 2011
News

Why Founders Get Fired

11 Nov 2015
Book

Alex Ferguson's Lessons on Leading

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports

27 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire & Rubber and the Radial Revolution

In the decades prior to the advent of radial tires," writes Donald Sull in Business History Review, "Firestone Tire & Rubber was viewed by some observers as the best managed U.S. tire company." But in the face of French tire maker Michelin's... View Details

Keywords: by Donald N. Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation

April 2015 (Revised December 2018)
Case

Steve Jobs: Leader Strategist

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and David B. Yoffie

Strategically, Steve Jobs got it brilliantly right some times and terribly wrong other times. This case examines Jobs' development as a leader strategist over the course of his entire career. The successes and failures of Apple, NeXT, and Pixar are used to probe the... View Details

Keywords: Strategist; Steve Jobs; Apple; Leadership; Competitive Advantage; Personal Development and Career; Strategy

October 1959 (Revised May 1983)
Case

Sunshine Builders, Inc.

By: Arch-Richard Dooley and Wickham C. Skinner

Production setup of a successful home builder. View Details

Keywords: Production; Success; Business Processes; Real Estate Industry; Construction Industry

November 2011 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Rent the Runway

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Laura Winig

Two months after a successful launch in November 2009, the cofounders of Rent the Runway (RTR), a website that rented designer dresses, are debating whether to grow their startup at a measured pace and focus on improving operational effectiveness, or raise a new round... View Details

Keywords: Lean Startup; Electronic Commerce; Fashion; Expansion; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Fashion Industry

April 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Restaurant Brands International: Version 2.0

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2010, 3G Capital acquired Burger King, the second largest burger chain globally. 3G expanded Burger King’s operations via acquisitions into a multi-brand business, renamed Restaurant Brands International. The acquisition had been a financial success story for 3G.... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Growth and Development; Performance Evaluation; Private Equity; Franchise Ownership; Culture; Change Management; Strategy; Human Resources; Information Technology; Competition; Retail Industry; United States

18 Jan 2023
Blog Post

Career Planning and Development: Interview with Career Coach Wendi Zhang (MBA/MPP 2013)

more. We caught up with Wendi Zhang (MBA/MPP 2013), an HBS career coach with over 15 years of professional experience in high tech - including big tech, startups, and venture capital—to learn more about career coaching at HBS. Among her many View Details

July 2012
Article

The IKEA Effect: When Labor Leads to Love

By: Michael I. Norton, Daniel Mochon and Dan Ariely

In four studies in which consumers assembled IKEA boxes, folded origami, and built sets of Legos, we demonstrate and investigate boundary conditions for the IKEA effect—the increase in valuation of self-made products. Participants saw their amateurish creations as... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Product; Valuation; Labor

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03 Dec 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Performance Persistence in Entrepreneurship

Keywords: by Paul A. Gompers, Anna Kovner, Josh Lerner & David S. Scharfstein

17 Nov 2022
News

A Conversation on Entrepreneurship with Shark Tank Star Kevin O'Leary

October 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Langer Lab, The: Commercializing Science

By: H. Kent Bowen, Alex Kazaks, Ayr Muir-Harmony and Bryce LaPierre

Professor Robert Langer's laboratory at MIT is the source of an unusually large number of published papers, patents, and technology licenses to start-up and established companies in the biomedical industry. Explores Langer's leadership and other factors that create a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Business Startups; Research and Development; Patents; Innovation Leadership; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry; Education Industry

May 2002 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Innovation at Progressive (A): Pay-As-You-Go Insurance

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

Consumer auto insurance is a price-sensitive industry in which customers rarely pay a premium to a provider even for additional service features. Progressive spends more on additional service features than its competitors do; consumers don't pay extra for these... View Details

2006
Working Paper

Skill vs. Luck in Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital: Evidence from Serial Entrepreneurs

By: Paul A. Gompers, Anna Kovner, Josh Lerner and David S. Scharfstein

This paper argues that a large component of success in entrepreneurship and venture capital can be attributed to skill. We show that entrepreneurs with a track record of success are more likely to succeed than first time entrepreneurs and those who have previously... View Details

Keywords: Return On Investment; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Success; Experience and Expertise

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August 2005 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Coach K: A Matter of the Heart

By: Scott A. Snook, Leslie A. Perlow and Brian DeLacey

Successful college basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski faces the decision whether to accept a lucrative offer to coach a professional basketball team or continue to coach at Duke University. Provides a context for discussing various styles of power, influence, and... View Details

Keywords: Power and Influence; Strategic Planning; Decisions; Personal Development and Career; Interpersonal Communication; Management Teams; Goals and Objectives; Decision Choices and Conditions; Sports Industry; North Carolina