Publications

April 1995
Case

Minnetonka Corporation: From Softsoap to Eternity

Minnetonka Corp. which was founded in 1964, began as a niche player in the gift soap and novelty toiletries markets. In 1980, it entered--and managed to capture a piece of--the mass bar-soap market with pump-dispensed Softsoap liquid soap. In 1984, the company took on... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

24 Jan 2024
Op-Ed

Why Boeing’s Problems with the 737 MAX Began More Than 25 Years Ago

one of the most important business turnarounds in history. Maximizing earnings, but at what cost? By 2011, Boeing found its 737 losing out to rival Airbus’s A320neo with major customers like American Airlines. Rather than designing a new... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Air Transportation; Transportation; Aerospace

Profile

Jason A. Kilar

Jason Kilar, the founding CEO of Hulu and CEO and co-founder of his newest venture Vessel, likes to point out that serendipity and luck have played a big role in his success. Take his introduction to the world of entrepreneurship. He... View Details

January 1983 (Revised August 1988)
Case

Universal Robotics Corp.

Three former classmates are founding a company to design, develop, manufacture, and market industrial robots. Principal issues involve the sources, amount, and form of outside investment, the allocation of equity, and the terms and conditions under which outside funds... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry

September 2009 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Root Capital

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Katharine Lee

Founded in 1999, Root Capital had loaned $150 million to nearly 250 small and growing businesses, mainly in Latin America. In 2009, as the organization launched a five-year, $55 million capital campaign, it had to determine a strategic path going forward in keeping... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Social Entrepreneurship; Capital; Financing and Loans; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Latin America

January 2009 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Yoshiko Shinohara and Tempstaff

By: Anthony Mayo, Masako Egawa and Mayuka Yamazaki

The case presents a biographical portrait of Yoshiko Shinohara who founded Tempstaff in 1973, one of the largest temporary staffing agencies in Japan. In addition to chronicling Shinohara's entrepreneurial activities, the case provides contextual background about the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Entrepreneurship; Gender; Employment Industry; Japan

17 Jun 2015
News

Gender, looks hold sway in venture capital funding

25 Jun 2012
News

Complexity Kills: Keeping Customer Service Simple

23 Jul 2018
News

Future Of Work: Artificial Intelligence, Leadership & Why Business Education Must Adapt

28 Aug 2020
Video

Ian Fuhr

Ian Fuhr, who later founded Sorbet, the largest chain of beauty salons in South Africa, describes his struggles to convince white-owned companies in South Africa in the 1990s to take racism in the workplace seriously, and how he developed a play on the subject to try... View Details

August 2023
Case

WayCool: Reimagining the Food Supply Chain

By: Paul Gompers and Kairavi Dey

Founded in 2015, WayCool, is an Indian agri-tech start-up that built a B2B operation acquiring fruits and vegetables from product-specific agriculture companies and small-holding farmers. It sold them to business customers, such as local retail stores, restaurants, and... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Digital Transformation; Operations; Business Strategy; Supply Chain; Performance; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Technology Industry; Web Services Industry; Asia; South Asia

June 2017
Article

A Systematic Approach to Discussing Active Surveillance with Patients with Low-risk Prostate Cancer

By: Behfar Ehdaie, Melissa Assel, Nicole Benfante, Deepak Malhotra and Andrew Vickers

A systematic approach to counseling—using appropriate framing techniques derived from principles studied by negotiation scholars—can be taught to physicians in a one-hour lecture. We found evidence that even this minimal intervention can decrease overtreatment of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Service Delivery; Negotiation; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

November 2002 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Charles Schwab in 2002

By: Lynda M. Applegate, F. Warren McFarlan and Jamie Ladge

Details the evolution of the Charles Schwab business model, from its founding in 1975 to October 2002. The protagonist, David Pottruck, is faced with re-inventing the firm as a full-service brokerage at a time of tremendous industry instability as the industry reels... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Business Model; Business or Company Management; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Financial Services Industry