Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(724)
- Faculty Publications (101)
- February 2013 (Revised December 2015)
- Case
Groom Energy Solutions: Selling Efficiency
By: Michael W. Toffel, Kira R. Fabrizio and Stephanie van Sice
Groom Energy Solutions helps organizations reduce their energy use and costs through the implementation of energy efficiency measures, which create long-term financial and environmental benefits. With early success serving customers in the cold storage and industrial... View Details
Keywords: Groom Energy Solutions; Jon Guerster; Salem, MA; Energy Management; Energy Efficiency Paradox; Sustainability Management; Manufacturing; Cold Storage; Commercial Real Estate; Enterprise Smart Grid; Carbon Accounting; LED Lighting; Sustainability Research; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Entrepreneurship; Energy Entrepreneurship; Energy Services; Electricity; Startup; Expansion; Growth; Sustainability; Business Startups; Forecasting and Prediction; Energy Conservation; Revenue; Geographic Location; Human Resources; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Delivery; Strategic Planning; Science; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Society; Social Issues; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; United States; Boston
- December 2012
- Case
Blink Booking
By: William R. Kerr, Magnus Thor Torfason and Alexis Brownell
Rebeca Minguela hopes to create an arbitrage platform, similar to Rocket Internet, that can bring start-up ideas and opportunities to Spain. However, Blink Booking, her first venture and proof of concept, is rocked by a co-founder's breach of confidence and departure.... View Details
- November 2012
- Case
CSIRO: The Light Metals Flagship Decision
By: Willy Shih, Margaret P. Pierson and Dawn Lau
This case explores the challenge of investing in basic research as a public good. CSIRO was Australia's leading science and research agency, and it was chartered to enhance national prosperity through R&D. Its Flagships program was designed to align research interests... View Details
Keywords: R＆D; Basic Research; Government-funded Research; Public Goods; Extractive Industries; Metals; Metals Processing; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Globalized Markets and Industries; Growth and Development; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Technology Adoption; Technology Platform; Manufacturing Industry; Mining Industry; Oceania; Australia
- October 2012 (Revised April 2017)
- Case
Brazil's Enigma: Sustaining Long-Term Growth
By: Laura Alfaro, Hilary White and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason
Over the past decade, Brazil's future as a leading world economic power appeared certain. An expanding middle class and commodity boom had fueled economic growth, with GDP growth hitting a peak of 7.5% in 2010. However, the high cost of conducting business in Brazil,... View Details
- May 2012
- Case
Westlake Lanes: How Can This Business Be Saved?
By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Alisa Zalosh
Shelby Givens, a new MBA, is the general manager of Westlake Lanes, a near-bankrupt bowling alley that her grandfather founded decades earlier. Givens has been given one year to turn a profit; if the goal is not met Westlake will close. During the first few days on the... View Details
- 2012
- Working Paper
'Power from Sunshine': A Business History of Solar Energy
By: Geoffrey Jones and Loubna Bouamane
This working paper provides a longitudinal perspective on the business history of solar energy between the nineteenth century and the present day. It covers early attempts to develop solar energy, the use of passive solar in architecture before World War 2, and the... View Details
- June 2011 (Revised August 2012)
- Case
Coca-Cola in 2011: In Search of a New Model
By: David B. Yoffie and Renee Kim
Muhtar Kent, CEO of the Coca-Cola Company, faced a critical decision in 2011 after closing a $12 billion deal to buy its troubled North America bottling operations from its biggest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises. The decision was prompted by several changes in the U.S.... View Details
- May 2011 (Revised July 2011)
- Case
Fiat-Chrysler Alliance: Launching the Cinquecento in North America
By: Gary P. Pisano, Phillip Andrews and Alessandro Di Fiore
Fiat ended its 27-year absence in the North American automobile market when the first Cinquecento (500)—a very small, iconic Italian car that had strong sales in Europe—was delivered on March 10, 2011. The Italian automaker re-entered the market through an alliance... View Details
- 2011
- Working Paper
Historical Trajectories and Corporate Competences in Wind Energy
By: Geoffrey Jones and Loubna Bouamane
This working paper surveys the business history of the global wind energy turbine industry between the late nineteenth century and the present day. It examines the long-term prominence of firms headquartered in Denmark, the more fluctuating role of U.S.-based firms,... View Details
- April 2011
- Article
Private Equity and Long-Run Investment: The Case of Innovation
By: Josh Lerner, Morten Sorensen and Per Stromberg
A long-standing controversy is whether LBOs relieve managers from short-term pressures of dispersed shareholders, or whether LBO funds themselves are driven by short-term profit motives and sacrifice long-term growth to boost short-term performance. We investigate 495... View Details
- February 2011 (Revised April 2012)
- Case
PepsiCo Peru Foods: More than Small Potatoes
The regional head of supply chain for PepsiCo South America Foods and his team had worked for 10 years to realize their dream of creating an agricultural research center in Peru that could provide more productive and healthier varieties of potatoes for the Frito-Lay... View Details
- January – February 2011
- Article
Creating Shared Value
By: Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer
The capitalist system is under siege. In recent years business has been criticized as a major cause of social, environmental, and economic problems. Companies are widely thought to be prospering at the expense of their communities. Trust in business has fallen to new... View Details
- Article
Are Crises Good for Long-term Growth? The Role of Political Institutions
By: Alberto Cavallo and Eduardo Cavallo
This paper provides empirical evidence for the importance of institutions in determining the outcome of crises on long-term growth. We show that once unobserved country-specific effects and other sources of endogeneity are accounted for, political institutions affect... View Details
- 2008
- Simulation
Strategic Innovation Simulation: Back Bay Battery
By: Willy C. Shih and Clayton Christensen
This online simulation allows students to play the role of a business unit manager at Back Bay Battery Company who faces the dilemma of balancing a portfolio of investment strategies across products in the rechargeable battery space. Players have to manage R&D... View Details
- March 2008 (Revised April 2008)
- Case
Corning: 156 Years of Innovation
By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington
The executive team at Corning has committed to double the rate of new business creation per decade, while at the same time growing the company's current businesses, including glass substrates for LCD displays. Their strategy, built on more than 150 years of successful... View Details
- March 2008
- Case
Novartis AG: Science-Based Business
By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington
Novartis is a science-based drug company, which has important implications for its business strategy. It is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world with over $38B in sales in 2007. Pharmaceuticals account for slightly over $24B of that total. In 2007,... View Details
- February 2008 (Revised September 2008)
- Case
Indesit Company: Does Global Matter?
By: Joseph L. Bower
In 2007, the leadership of the Indesit Company is focused on long-term corporate strategy. After 3 decades, the company has emerged as the number 2 home appliance producer in Europe. Should they invest further to be number 1, or should they focus on the global market,... View Details
- January 2008
- Article
Innovation Killers: How Financial Tools Destroy Your Capacity to Do New Things
By: Clayton M. Christensen, Stephen P. Kaufman and Willy C. Shih
Most companies aren't half as innovative as their senior executives want them to be (or as their marketing claims suggest they are). What's stifling innovation? There are plenty of usual suspects, but the authors finger three financial tools as key accomplices.... View Details
- June 2007 (Revised January 2008)
- Case
The Vanguard Group, Inc. in 2006 and Target Retirement Funds
By: Luis M. Viceira
The Vanguard Group is one of the largest asset managers in the U.S., with over $1 trillion in assets, ninety percent of which are mutual fund assets, and more than 12,000 employees at year-end 2006. Vanguard has built a strong reputation as the manager of reference for... View Details
- May 2007 (Revised September 2008)
- Case
Biocon Limited
By: Krishna G. Palepu and Ananth Chepuri
Biocon Limited was facing significant pricing pressure in their cash cow business, that primarily consisted of manufacturing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). To combat this commoditization, Biocon's leadership had chosen an innovation-led strategy. This new... View Details