Publications

August 1994
Case

Kyocera Corporation: The Amoeba Management System

Describes Kyocera's unusual approach to profit centers. The firm's basic units of operation are profit centers called "amoebas," which are sales or manufacturing units with full responsibility for their planning, decision making, and administration. Amoebas are... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Organizational Structure; Profit; Management Systems; Manufacturing Industry

January 2008 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Microfinance International Corporation: No, Not Another Microfinance Case

CEO and founder Atsumasa Tochisako (52) sat in his Washington D.C. headquarters, looking with pride at the copy of a press release that would announce the latest in a broadening line of financial services that Washington D.C.-based Microfinance International... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Social Entrepreneurship; Microfinance; Globalized Firms and Management; Financial Services Industry

April 2000
Case

Financing of Project Achieve, The (A)

By: Mihir A. Desai

An entrepreneur is forced to analyze the tradeoffs between different equity providers through a detailed analysis of venture financing terms and cash flow forecasts. The founder of a Web-based IMS for schools must negotiate a term sheet, determine funding needs, value... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Equity; Negotiation Deal; Valuation

23 Apr 2021
News

How Hubert Joly Changed Best Buy Without Everyone Hating Him

09 Apr 2012
News

Has Mason lost it?

October 2018 (Revised July 2023)
Case

The Boston Beer Company (A): New CEO

By: Christina R. Wing and Marco Iansiti

In 1984, when the Boston Beer Company’s Samuel Adams Boston Lager was first sold, founder Jim Koch had helped ignite a craft beer movement by making small-batch premium beers in an era of industry consolidation. By 2018, Boston Beer was a publicly traded company that... View Details

Keywords: Beer/brewing Industry; Succession; Leadership; Change; Supply Chain; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Supply Chain Management; Management Succession; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Boston

Teaching Interest

Founders' Dilemmas

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

This course is for students who plan to become involved in new ventures, now or at mid-career, as founders of a new venture, early hires, early advisors, or board members, or as potential investors (e.g., VCs), customers, partners, or acquirers of new venturesView Details

May 2021
Supplement

Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy — Operating the Business Model Exercise, Instructor Version

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

On a mission to "automate the on-demand economy," Harvard Business School classmates Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck launched Hello Alfred in 2013 to provide subscribers with an "Alfred" to complete various chores for a monthly fee. In early 2016, the company has built... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Service Operations; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Service Industry; New York (city, NY); Boston

TeachingInterests

Founders' Dilemmas

Founders' Dilemmas examines the early, often difficult, decisions that have important long-term consequences for founders and their ventures. Potential consequences include losing control of their ventures, breaking up of the founding team due to tensions between... View Details

June 2014
Case

Stock Options at Celia-Check

By: Brian Hall, Andrew Wasynczuk and Karen Huang

Describes issues facing three young founders of a high-tech start-up, including hiring an experienced CEO and negotiating with a potential VC investor. Focuses on the incentive and compensation aspects of negotiating with job candidates (e.g., what percentage of the... View Details

Keywords: Stock Options; Venture Capital; Selection and Staffing; Negotiation; Executive Compensation; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Business Startups; Management Teams; Technology Industry; United States

March 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Trend Micro (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Kim Bettcher

The founder and CEO of Trend Micro is seeking to develop an effective decision-making process for the company's multicultural executive team as part of his effort to develop a more cohesive and focused global organization. This case describes the company's growth and... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Management Teams; Diversity; Information Technology Industry

09 Jan 2015
News

Report: Don't let integration cause physician micromanagement

09 Jul 2013
News

Can Zynga’s New CEO Turn The Stock Around?

31 Mar 2020
News

How To Recover Gracefully After Shutting Down Your Startup

December 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Bed Bath & Beyond: The New Strategy to Drive Shareholder Value

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. Fisher

At one time, Bed Bath & Beyond was one of the most successful specialty retailers in the United States—its growth and profit margins far exceeded both peer retailers in the home goods market as well as many other discount retailers. But in 2014, its stock price peaked,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Diversification; Corporate Governance; Leading Change; Performance Evaluation; Valuation; Investment Activism; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

October 2012
Case

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals: Living Healthier, Longer (Abridged)

By: Toby Stuart and James Weber

Describes a set of key strategic decisions facing the scientific founder and CEO of a promising, early stage bio-pharmaceuticals company. Should the company establish a proposed alliance with a pharmaceutical firm? Should it create a nutraceuticals business in parallel... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Brands and Branding; Pharmaceutical Industry

30 Oct 2017
News

HR is not there to be your friend. It’s there to protect the company

2024
Working Paper

Case Studies of the Emulation of Chinese Entrepreneurial Business Models

By: Josh Lerner, Junxi Liu, Jacob Moscona and David Yang

This working paper presents four short case studies of emerging market businesses whose founders emulated Chinese firms. These examples are part of a more systematic pattern, documented extensively in Lerner et al. (2024), in which businesses developed in China were... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Business Ventures

Read Now

March 2021 (Revised June 2022)
Case

Bill Wilson: Changing the World

By: Robert Simons and Max Saffer

This case describes the life choices of Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. A young man with tremendous potential, Wilson hit rock bottom as a drunk. An epiphany, coupled with his personal drive, led him to build a worldwide organization that has helped... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Development; Nonprofit Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Personal Characteristics; Leadership Style; Work-Life Balance; Personal Development and Career