Publications

September 2018
Supplement

Advent International: Kroton Investment

By: Victoria Ivashina, Priscilla Zogbi and Ruth Kostas

Keywords: Private Equity; Acquisition; IPO; Valuation; Education; Distance Learning; Turnaround; Growth; Exit; PE; Buyer; Middle-class; Low Income; K-12; Entrepreneur; Family Business; University; College; Consolidation; Fragmentation; Penetration; Value; Shares; Control; Negotiation; Equity; Transaction; Board; Majority; Minority; Post-secondary; Leverage; Campus; Deal; Shareholder; Tag Along

30 Sep 2002
Research & Ideas

Your Crisis Response Plan: The Ten Effective Elements

should represent a broad range of potential emergency situations that the organization could plausibly face. Examples include: shooter on site, epidemic, bomb threat, major fire, major external terrorist... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Watkins

31 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Why the Largest Minority Group Faces the Most Hate—and How to Push Back

increased violence and negative attitudes toward any group perceived to be the largest minority. “When the minority group becomes larger, the majority group feels more threatened.” The study, published in August in Nature Human Behaviour,... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

23 Jan 2023
Research & Ideas

After High-Profile Failures, Can Investors Still Trust Credit Ratings?

During the financial crisis of 2008, major credit rating agencies faced sharp criticism for failing to recognize and warn of the risks of emerging instruments like mortgage-backed securities. Since that time, the results of a new study... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

February 2023 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Twitter Turnaround and Elon Musk

By: Andy Wu and Goran Calic

Late afternoon on Friday, October 27th, 2022, Elon Musk was the center of attention at Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. The night before, Musk officially took the company private and became Twitter’s majority shareholder, finally ending a months-long acquisition... View Details

Keywords: Elon Musk; Twitter; Acquisition; Revenue; Advertising; Social Media; Business or Company Management; Public Opinion; Job Cuts and Outsourcing

20 Jun 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Elon Musk’s Twitter Takeover: Lessons in Strategic Change

Keywords: Re: Andy Wu; Technology

12 Mar 2024
HBS Case

How Used Products Can Unlock New Markets: Lessons from Apple's Refurbished iPhones

Some of Apple’s most loyal customers think nothing of upgrading to the latest iPhone every time one comes out. But what about consumers who can’t splurge on a $1,000 iPhone 15 Pro? And what about the electronic waste that would accrue if people threw away functional... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Electronics; Information Technology

25 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Is Baseball Ready to Compete for the Next Generation of Fans?

While football and basketball are now the most popular and financially successful of the four major professional sports leagues, Major League Baseball appears to be rallying. Last week, MLB said revenue for... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Media & Broadcasting; Sports

October 1997 (Revised November 2000)
Background Note

Note on Marketing Strategy

By: Robert J. Dolan

Describes the major elements of marketing strategy: the decisions to be made and the underlying analysis to support that decision making. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy

18 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

The Best Person to Lead Your Company Doesn't Work There—Yet

Companies looking for the best possible leaders—and leaders looking to become CEOs—would do well to heed the model of private-equity (PE) backed companies, which often look outside their ranks when hiring for the top job and see excellent results. Three-quarters of new... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services

18 Mar 2024
Research & Ideas

When It Comes to Climate Regulation, Energy Companies Take a More Nuanced View

Common wisdom holds that oil and gas companies, electric utilities, and other industries known for their large carbon emissions generally oppose clean energy policies. Now, a study of corporate advocacy spanning 30 years reveals that many companies are more flexible... View Details

Keywords: by Desmond Dodd; Energy; Utilities

March 2018 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Designing a Compliance Program at AB InBev

By: Eugene Soltes

Compliance programs help companies align the interests and behavior of employees with external expectations and regulation. The case discusses how AB InBev, a major brewer, developed its compliance program. View Details

Keywords: Governance; Crime and Corruption; Governance Compliance; Consumer Products Industry; Africa; Europe; India; North America

22 Jun 2022
Book

Four Elements for Finding the Right Career Path

my 40 years of working as a psychologist and a trainer of coaches and counselors. The question I asked was: “What issues are always present when individuals are faced with major career and life decisions?” I arrived at an heuristic that I... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

October 1982 (Revised May 1992)
Case

Johnson & Johnson: The Tylenol Tragedy

By: Stephen A. Greyser

In October 1982, Johnson & Johnson was confronted with a major crisis when seven deaths were attributed to poisoned Tylenol. The case reviews the facts as known a week after the incident occurred, and raises a wide range of questions regarding consumer behavior,... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competitive Strategy; Crisis Management; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry

01 Nov 1999
Research & Ideas

John H. Patterson and the Sales Strategy of the National Cash Register Company, 1884 to 1922

John H. Patterson created an intricate system of management to monitor and train company salesman. He gave them scripts to memorize and assigned them territory to cover. He held conventions and thematic sales contests, and pressured salesmen to rid their regions of... View Details

Keywords: by Walter A. Friedman

September 2023
Case

David Beckham (A)

By: Anita Elberse and David Moreno Vicente

In January 2022, superstar-athlete-turned-entrepreneur David Beckham is deciding on a proposal that has the potential to significantly change the trajectory of his business career: Authentic Brands Group (‘Authentic’) has offered to engage in a strategic partnership... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decisions; Brands and Branding; Negotiation Offer; Partners and Partnerships; Sports

10 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Being Your Own Boss Can Pay Off, but Not Always with Big Pay

For generations, American workers have dreamed of striking out on their own, starting their own business, being their own boss—and ideally making a lot of money in the process. That sentiment appears to be alive and well today, amid an acute labor shortage that has... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

23 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

8 Strategies to Sustain Business Innovation

Sooner or later, every company runs into challenges that force them to make tough trade-offs during the innovation process. Harvard Business School associate professor Rory McDonald calls these moments “tensions.” The streaming service Netflix, for instance, has faced... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

November 2015 (Revised April 2017)
Case

Streaming Over Broadband: Why Doesn't My Netflix Work?

By: Shane Greenstein and Michael Norris

In late 2013 and early 2014, Netflix service over the major U.S. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) suffered major slowdowns. What were the causes of these problems? What could Netflix do to solve them? View Details

Keywords: Digital Innovation; Internet; Broadband Service; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Utilities Industry; United States