Publications

May 2009 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Daqi

By: Robert C. Pozen, Richard Franklyn Armbrust and Ziquan Zhang

In 2008, Daqi was one of the largest Internet portals for user-generated content and the leading word-of-mouth marketing provider in China. Grace Zhou, Daqi's CEO, was contemplating the risks and benefits of expanding Daqi's services into three new content areas—news,... View Details

Keywords: Information Publishing; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Marketing; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Internet; Information Industry; China

27 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

Want a Happy Customer? Coordinate Sales and Marketing

product managers and advertising managers need to develop a new respect for and understanding of individual customers, account managers and sales managers. No longer will... View Details

Keywords: by Benson Shapiro

26 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

To Motivate Employees, Give an Unexpected Bonus (or Penalty)

iStock In the 1992 film Glengarry Glen Ross, an executive played by Alec Baldwin presents a unique motivational scheme to a trio of down-on-their-luck real estate salesmen. There will be a new contest, he tells them, to see who can bring... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

15 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 15, 2008

had established a reputation as a provider of some of the district's best-prepared new teachers. Yet Solomon wondered if their approach so far was optimal going forward. Carol Johnson, the new superintendent... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

07 Sep 2011
First Look

First Look: Sept. 7

established its headquarters for "Growth Markets" in Shanghai and "Established Markets" in New York. This positioned its China Development Labs (CDL) in Shanghai as a key platform for... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2015
Case

Rubicon Global

By: William A. Sahlman and Hunter Ashmore

The case describes Rubicon Global, a startup that aimed to disrupt the waste management industry. The company started with a bold idea: create a cloud-based, full-service waste management company providing low-cost, highly efficient, and environmentally friendly... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Rubicon; Rubicon Global; Waste Management; Startups; Disruptive Technology; Technological Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Wastes and Waste Processing; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; Service Industry

15 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Articles of 2021

offices and forging new paths in hybrid and remote work models. Many workers decided they didn’t want to suffer through long commutes or return to jobs they hated and joined the “Great Resignation.” And ultimately, virus variants and... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

January 2016 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Uber in China: Driving in the Gray Zone

By: William C. Kirby, Joycelyn W. Eby, Shuang L. Frost and Adam K. Frost

CEO and Founder of Uber Technologies, Travis Kalanick, had made clear to investors and the public that expansion into China was one of his company's major priorities for 2016. Uber had already demonstrated remarkable capacity for rapid, global scaling, and for... View Details

Keywords: China; Uber; Start-up Growth; Regulation; Ride-sharing; Transportation; Business Startups; Growth and Development; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry; China

October 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Marketing Chateau Margaux

By: John A. Deighton, Leyland Pitt, Vincent Marie Dessain, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Anders Sjoman

Chateau Margaux, luxury brand or connoisseur brand? Although France is awash with unsold wine, demand has never been stronger for the very finest Bordeaux. How should Margaux sustain and grow its business? The Chateau management team is wondering if it can take more... View Details

Keywords: Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Distribution; Luxury; Food and Beverage Industry; France

02 Dec 2010
What Do You Think?

Making Right Choices: Art or Science?

at its heart, involves a series of choices. Neuropsychologists tell us that the human brain can comfortably deal with only a limited number of alternatives (seven plus or minus two, according to a number of studies). Fields like decision theory were View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

10 Nov 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Spatial Determinants of Entrepreneurship in India

Keywords: by Ejaz Ghani, William R. Kerr & Stephen O'Connell

May 2008
Case

Sensors Unlimited: Bringing InGaAs Technology to the Market

By: Willy C. Shih

Sensors Unlimited was a small start-up in short-wavelength infrared imaging. Its learning base came out of Bell Labs, RCA's Sarnoff Lab, and the Rockwell Science Center, and as it built its capabilities and ventured into new application areas, it discovered a “killer... View Details

Keywords: Applied Optics; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Aerospace Industry; Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

11 May 2022
Blog Post

MoMBAs: The Inspiring Student Mothers of HBS

diversity, equity, and inclusion have been elevated in a new way. These discussions are happening more frequently, and are more often leading to real problem solving, dialogue, and, we hope, lasting change. When I return for my 30 and... View Details

23 Feb 2016
First Look

February 23, 2016

February 2016 Review of Financial Studies Industry Window Dressing By: Chen, Huaizhi, Lauren Cohen, and Dong Lou Abstract— We explore a new mechanism by which investors take correlated shortcuts and present evidence that managers... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

Growing CEOs from the Inside

the business but can't lead. That's why the best CEO should be both an insider and an outsider, says Harvard Business School professor Joseph L. Bower in his new book, The CEO Within: Why Inside Outsiders Are the Key to Succession... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Employment

September 2017
Case

Blackstone's Julia Kahr at the Summit

By: Paul A. Gompers, John D. Dionne and Amram Migdal

In 2009, Blackstone, the New York-based alternative asset and financial services firm, committed to invest up to $750 million into Summit Materials, a new company in the aggregates sector (i.e., construction materials, such as crushed stone, sand, gravel, cement,... View Details

September 2013
Case

PadFone vs. FonePad

By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai

To Jonney Shih, Chairman of ASUSTek Computer, the introduction of Apple's iPad made clear the need to transition his company to a new cloud-computing era. But the company's roots in the manufacture of Windows-powered desktop and notebook PCs bounded the creativity of... View Details