Publications

June 2003 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Modi-Revlon

By: Rohit Deshpande and Seth Schulman

The head of the Indian subsidiary of cosmetics firm Revlon faces a crucial turnaround situation for the company. After a high-profile product launch, sales were very disappointing and Revlon was trying to decide whether it should pull out of India. The Indian majority... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Design; Value Creation; India

01 Sep 2009
News

Alumni Books

es-says by the cocreator of the first spreadsheet, VisiCalc. Bricklin discusses how people and technologies — cell phones, e-mail, digital cameras, and personal Web sites, among others — affect one another and how the technologies can be improved. Rain: What a Paperboy... View Details

10 Dec 2010
News

Notes from the Trenches

Last week’s post by Roger Thompson featured “Ten Rules for Entrepreneurs”. To build on that, I thought I’d include some of the more quotable moments and insights from a recent panel featuring past participants of the HBS Business Plan... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services; Scientific Research and Development Services

01 Sep 2017
News

Turning Point: Getting to Giving

classes I teach at our church. Now I talk to people about money all the time. At HBS, Professor Malcolm Salter gave us this advice in our last class together: “Live beneath your means.” At the time it struck me as an almost countercultural thing for a View Details

Keywords: Amalya “Ami” Campbell (MBA 1997); Social Assistance; Health, Social Assistance

April 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

The Engine

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Fiona Murray and Nicholas Christman

The Engine, a venture capital firm founded by MIT to fill a gap in the technology funding landscape by commercializing breakthrough science and technology. Led by managing partner and CEO Katie Rae, the Engine's unique approach involved an unusually longer fund life,... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Entrepreneurial Finance; Financial Services Industry

January 2017 (Revised August 2019)
Case

X Fire Paintball & Airsoft: Is Amazon a Friend or Foe? (A)

By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

Three years after launching his brick-and-mortar store, X Fire Paintball and Airsoft, Steve Herbert Sr. and his sons began selling products on Amazon.com’s third-party Marketplace, and online sales expanded rapidly. Over time, X Fire noticed that products of which it... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Competition; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Small Business; Retail Industry; Canada

June 2011
Teaching Note

Knight the King: The Founding of Nike (TN)

By: Noam Wasserman

Teaching Note for 810077. View Details

Keywords: Market Participation; Public Ownership; Transformation; Business Startups; Going Public; Competition; Technology; Apparel and Accessories Industry

August 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Nanosolar, Inc.

Nanosolar is a start-up company in the clean tech sector. It expects to be one of the first manufacturers to produce thin-film solar panels using copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) technology. Although this technology is less efficient in producing electricity... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Renewable Energy; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Europe; United States

March 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Celtel International B.V.: June 2004 (A)

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Depicts the options facing Mohammed Ibrahim, founder and chairman of Celtel International, the largest pan African wireless telecommunications provider, as he tries to position his company for further growth. Should the firm, which has reached $1 billion in revenues in... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Africa

January 2021
Supplement

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (B)

By: David J. Collis, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

This case is a follow up to HBS Case No. 721-373, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (A). Following the events of the previous case, Takeda reached an agreement to acquire Ireland-based Shire Plc. The case follows some of the achievements and challenges Takeda and... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Pharmaceuticals; M＆A; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Biotech; Biotechnology; R＆D; Talent Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Globalization; Global Strategy; Talent and Talent Management; Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Japan; Asia

2017
Working Paper

Explaining the Vertical-to-Horizontal Transition in the Computer Industry

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This paper seeks to explain the technological forces that led to the rise of vertically integrated corporations in the late 19th century and the opposing forces that led to a vertical-to-horizontal transition in the computer industry 100 years later. I first model the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Business History; Vertical Integration; Horizontal Integration; Digital Platforms; Computer Industry

Read Now

July 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts

By: Robert G. Eccles and Kerry Herman

Daren Kemp, a partner at leadership consultancy and executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, is responsible for the firm's relationship with Standard Chartered Bank (Standard Chartered). Standard Chartered is one of 94 companies in Heidrick's strategic partners... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Service Delivery; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Consulting Industry; Employment Industry

October 1998 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Preview Travel (B)

By: William A. Sahlman and Nicole Tempest

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Business Model; Initial Public Offering; Internet and the Web; Business Plan; Capital; Financial Strategy; Travel Industry; United States