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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(446)
- News (105)
- Research (263)
- Events (1)
- Multimedia (1)
- Faculty Publications (92)
- November 2004 (Revised September 2019)
- Background Note
The U.S. Health Club Industry in 2004
By: John R. Wells, Gabriel Ellsworth and Benjamin Weinstock
In 2004, the $16.8 billion U.S. health club industry continued its strong record of growth. There were almost 27,000 health clubs in the United States, up from 6,700 two decades earlier, and these clubs claimed 41 million members, over 14% of the U.S. population.... View Details
Keywords: Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Weight Loss; Obesity; Exercise; Personal Training; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; YMCA; Gold's Gym; Curves; Franchise; Franchising; Subscription; Promotional Sales; Promotions; Fixed Costs; Body; Accrual Accounting; Revenue Recognition; Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Trends; Customers; Demographics; Age; Income; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Employees; Retention; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Supply and Industry; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Operations; Service Operations; Franchise Ownership; Private Ownership; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Nonprofit Organizations; Welfare; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Expansion; Segmentation; Hardware; Health Industry; United States
Wells, John R., Gabriel Ellsworth, and Benjamin Weinstock. "The U.S. Health Club Industry in 2004." Harvard Business School Background Note 705-445, November 2004. (Revised September 2019.)
- May 2025
- Case
Windsurf and the AI Code Assistant Market
By: Suraj Srinivasan, Sudhanshu Nath Mishra and Radhika Kak
In April 2025, the founding team of Windsurf, an AI start-up specializing in code generation gathered in Mountain View, California, to assess its remarkable year of growth. The company had scaled from a niche GitHub Copilot alternative to a breakout player with over... View Details
V. Kasturi Rangan
Kash Rangan is the Malcolm P. McNair Professor of Marketing at the Harvard Business School. Formerly the chairman of the Marketing Department (1998-2002), he is now the co-chairman of the school's Social Enterprise Initiative. He has taught in a wide variety of MBA... View Details
- September 2022
- Case
AllSpice: GitHub for Hardware Engineers
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Mel Martin
AllSpice, a software-as-a-service company that built a GitHub-like revision control tool for hardware engineers, was in the midst of preparing for rapid scale when the 2022 market downturn left them with big decisions to make. Cofounder and CEO Valentina Ratner had to... View Details
Keywords: Scaling; SaaS; Strategy; Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Technology Industry; Electronics Industry; United States
Bussgang, Jeffrey J., and Mel Martin. "AllSpice: GitHub for Hardware Engineers." Harvard Business School Case 823-022, September 2022.
- Article
Well Said: Why Articulating Your Strategy Can Set You Apart
Senior finance managers now operate in an altered c-suite landscape. The executives reporting to the CEO have doubled in the past 30 years, mostly an increase in functional specialists, not general managers responsible for cross-functional integration. Three decades... View Details
- 2012
- Case
Zhejiang Semir Garment Co., Ltd.
By: F. Warren McFarlan, Jie Jiao and Yuren Fang
With the rapid growth of China's economy and China's increasing integration into the global economy in the past two decades, China's leisure clothing and garment enterprises achieved a rapid rise and became an important competitive force confronting the foreign brands... View Details
McFarlan, F. Warren, Jie Jiao, and Yuren Fang. "Zhejiang Semir Garment Co., Ltd." Tsinghua University Case, 2012.
- 2012
- Teaching Note
Zhejiang Semir Garment Co., Ltd. (TN)
By: F. Warren McFarlan, Jie Jiao and Yuren Fang
With the rapid growth of China's economy and China's increasing integration into the global economy in the past two decades, China's leisure clothing and garment enterprises achieved a rapid rise and became an important competitive force confronting the foreign brands... View Details
McFarlan, F. Warren, Jie Jiao, and Yuren Fang. "Zhejiang Semir Garment Co., Ltd. (TN)." Tsinghua University Teaching Note, 2012.
- 27 May 2009
- First Look
First Look: May 27, 2009
($5): http://papers.nber.org/papers/w14699 Forced Sales and House Prices Authors:John Y. Campbell, Stefano Giglio, and Parag Pathak Abstract This paper uses data on house transactions in the state of Massachusetts over the last 20 years... View Details
Keywords: Martha Lagace
- 26 Feb 2019
- First Look
New Research and Ideas, February 26, 2019
forthcoming Management Science Frenemies in Platform Markets: Heterogeneous Profit Foci as Drivers of Compatibility Decisions By: Adner, Ron, Jianqing Chen, and Feng Zhu Abstract— We study compatibility decisions of two competing platform owners that generate profits... View Details
Keywords: Dina Gerdeman
- May 2017 (Revised November 2017)
- Case
Cotopaxi: Managing Growth for Good
By: Andy Wu and Laura Huang
Cotopaxi, an innovative outdoor gear business targeting millennials, focuses on profit and social impact. This registered benefit corporation was formed by Davis Smith who coalesced his experiences as a Wharton MBA student along with professional knowledge from an... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Social Venture; Benefit Corporation; B-Corp; Retail; Consumer Products; Apparel; Social Impact; Social Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Product Positioning; Social Enterprise; Mission and Purpose; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry
Wu, Andy, and Laura Huang. "Cotopaxi: Managing Growth for Good." Harvard Business School Case 717-488, May 2017. (Revised November 2017.)
- July 2001 (Revised October 2001)
- Case
Policy Management Systems Corp.: The Financial Reporting Crisis
Tim Williams, the new CFO of a publicly-traded enterprise software company, attempts to rebuild his company's reputation for reliable financial reporting following a highly visible financial reporting crisis. The crisis begins with an earnings shortfall warning, which... View Details
Keywords: Accrual Accounting; Revenue Recognition; Capital Markets; Policy; Corporate Governance; Accounting Audits; Technology Industry
Hutton, Amy P. "Policy Management Systems Corp.: The Financial Reporting Crisis." Harvard Business School Case 102-013, July 2001. (Revised October 2001.)
- November 2000 (Revised May 2002)
- Case
Oracle Corporation
By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar
Oracle Corp., the world's second-largest independent software company (behind Microsoft) was the world's dominant supplier of database software. Oracle also sold application software, such as the popular enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management... View Details
Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Applications and Software; Management Teams; Innovation and Invention; Web Services Industry; Information Technology Industry
Frei, Frances X., and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar. "Oracle Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 601-043, November 2000. (Revised May 2002.)
- August 2021 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
Camera IQ and the Metaverse: Building Augmented Reality Brand Experiences
By: Jill Avery and Rayan Nahas
Camera IQ, a camera marketing software company that empowered brands to create and launch augmented reality experiences (AREs) across social platforms, had just raised an additional $5 million to fund further product development and expand its marketing and sales... View Details
Keywords: Brand Management; Virtual Reality; Augmented Reality; B2B; Technology Platform; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Digital Marketing; Internet and the Web; Growth Management; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Social Media; E-commerce; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Advertising Industry; United States
Avery, Jill, and Rayan Nahas. "Camera IQ and the Metaverse: Building Augmented Reality Brand Experiences." Harvard Business School Case 522-002, August 2021. (Revised March 2022.)
- January 2004 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Timberland and Community Involvement (Abridged Version)
By: James E. Austin and James Quinn
When Jeffrey Swartz became the third generation in his family to lead the Timberland Co., he made community involvement an integral part of the company's strategy. Under Swartz's leadership, Timberland formed a close partnership with City Year, the national corps of... View Details
Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Manufacturing Industry
Austin, James E., and James Quinn. "Timberland and Community Involvement (Abridged Version)." Harvard Business School Case 304-086, January 2004. (Revised February 2005.)
- 09 Mar 2003
- Research & Ideas
Education, Technology, and Business: What’s the Catch?
Enterprise held on campus on February 22nd. The panel, moderated by Lumry Family Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Alan MacCormack, examined the $50 billion education industry, discussing the business opportunities and... View Details
- September 2020 (Revised November 2020)
- Case
d.light
By: Michael Chu, Krishna G. Palepu and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha
Kenyan off-grid-solar pioneer d.light can power entire homes in rural Africa but must now decide how to fund the growth of its asset-heavy business model. Ned Tozun and Sam Goldman founded d.light in 2006 to transform lives through solar solutions enabling access to... View Details
Keywords: Alternative Energy; Business Model; Capital; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Financial Strategy; Renewable Energy; Strategy; Social Entrepreneurship; Energy Industry; Africa; Kenya; India
Chu, Michael, Krishna G. Palepu, and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha. "d.light." Harvard Business School Case 321-069, September 2020. (Revised November 2020.)
- August 2015 (Revised September 2015)
- Case
Shareholder Activists and Corporate Strategy
By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman
By 2015, there had been an upsurge in activist shareholders arguing for radical changes in companies' corporate strategies. Personalities like Carl Icahn, Bill Ackman, and Daniel Loeb were feared and loathed in some quarters, celebrated in others. With nearly $120... View Details
Keywords: Scope; Activist Investors; Spin-offs; Synergy; Diversification; Consolidation; Hedge Fund; Corporate Strategy
Collis, David, and Ashley Hartman. "Shareholder Activists and Corporate Strategy." Harvard Business School Case 716-403, August 2015. (Revised September 2015.)
- March 2023
- Case
Ownership Works: Scaling a Profitable Social Mission
By: Ethan Rouen, Dennis Campbell and Andrew Robinson
Pete Stavros was on a high after his latest experiment with employee ownership. As the head of industrial investments for KKR, Stavros orchestrated the sale of CHI Overhead Doors, which turned into KKR’s best investment in more than two decades and created $360 million... View Details
Rouen, Ethan, Dennis Campbell, and Andrew Robinson. "Ownership Works: Scaling a Profitable Social Mission." Harvard Business School Case 123-079, March 2023.
- September 2012 (Revised December 2013)
- Case
Roxbury Technology Corporation
By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff
Roxbury Technology is a Boston-based re-manufacturer of ink and toner cartridges. In early 2012 RTC was re-evaluating its approach to the company's two most important goals: reducing customer concentration and increasing profitability. RTC's largest customer accounted... View Details
- July 2020
- Supplement
PeopleAnswers (B): The Infor Acquisition
By: Daniel P. Gross
In the fall of 2009, founder and CEO Gab Goncalves has turned PeopleAnswers, Inc. from a fledgling startup to a steadily growing company of nearly 50 employees and $10 million recurring revenue. PeopleAnswers provides people analytics software which its clients use to... View Details
Keywords: People Analytics; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Growth and Development; Human Resources; Selection and Staffing; Mergers and Acquisitions
Gross, Daniel P. "PeopleAnswers (B): The Infor Acquisition." Harvard Business School Supplement 720-433, July 2020.