Publications

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Strategy - Faculty & Research

Ownership Model Shapes the Mistakes It Makes By: Josh Baron April 2025 Case Breezm: Innovative 3D-Printed Eyewear (A) By: Juan Alcácer , Brian Mao Fu and Adina Wong 2021 Book Harvard Business Review Family... View Details

December 2022 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Iberdrola: Leading the Energy Revolution

By: Juan Alcácer and Emer Moloney

At the end of 2019, Ignacio Galán, the Chairman and CEO of the world's third largest utility, Iberdrola, reflected on his almost 20 years at the company. He managed a portfolio of three very different businesses, each with their own specific opportunities and... View Details

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Placement - Doctoral

studies, are uniquely individualized. Factors like departmental fit, location preferences, dual career choices, and family needs shape these decisions. We celebrate when students secure a position that brings them joy! Students are supported throughout their job search... View Details

January 2014
Case

Emirates Airline: Connecting the Unconnected

By: Juan Alcacer and John Clayton

Narrates the story of Emirates, an airline founded in 1985 in Dubai that by 2013 was among the three largest commercial airlines in the world. The case emphasizes how Emirates capitalized on its location—a small city–state strategically located to reach ¾ of the world... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Competitive Advantage; Airlines; Multinational; Location Strategies; Geographic Location; Multinational Firms and Management; Air Transportation; Competitive Advantage; Business Strategy; Air Transportation Industry; Middle East; Dubai

2023
Working Paper

Deglobalization and Entrepreneurial Investment: The Natural Experiment of Brexit

By: Elisa Alvarez-Garrido and Juan Alcácer

We seek to gain insight into the consequences of deglobalization on entrepreneurial investment by analyzing an instance of economic disintegration: the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. Brexit is not only a unique empirical opportunity, a natural... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; International Relations; Trade; Disruption; Globalized Economies and Regions; United Kingdom

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January 2011 (Revised September 2024)
Case

The Globalization of the NFL

By: Juan Alcacer, Mary Furey and Noah Roberson

By 2010, the National Football League (NFL) was still having trouble attracting both a global roster and fan base despite systemized attempts at internationalizing since 1989. Why? Was it simply a bad idea to try to export football, a sport that many considered... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Sports; Failure; Sports Industry; United States

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Middle East & North Africa - Global

Center in Istanbul in 2013, followed by offices in Dubai and Cairo. Separately an office was opened in Tel Aviv in 2016 reporting to the Europe Research Center. All play an important role in helping HBS develop and strengthen... View Details

November 2020
Case

The Rise and Fall of Nokia (Abridged)

By: Juan Alcácer and Tarun Khanna

In 2013, Nokia sold its Device and Services business to Microsoft for €5.4 billion. For decades Nokia had led the telecommunications (telecom) industry in handsets and networking. By the late 2000s, however, Nokia's position as market leader in mobile devices was... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Phones; Smartphones; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Emerging Markets; Technological Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Telecommunications Industry

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Africa - Global

Africa Research Center in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2017 followed by an office in Lagos, Nigeria in 2019, and an office in Nairobi, Kenya in 2022. This center plays an important role in helping HBS develop and strengthen relationships... View Details

June 2020
Case

What IKEA Do We Want?

By: Juan Alcácer, Cynthia A. Montgomery, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In 2018, Swedish furniture maker IKEA was undergoing a significant transformation. Challenged by the rise of online shopping and changing consumer behavior, and mourning the death of its founder, the Company's top executives knew they had to step out of their comfort... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Transformation; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Business Model; Emerging Markets; Customer Focus and Relationships; Organizational Culture; Disruption; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; Europe; Netherlands; Sweden; China; India; United States

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South Asia - Global

business schools across India. Hosted in Mumbai on March 20-21, the one-and-a-half-day workshop was led by HBS Professors Rohit Deshpandé and Willis Emmons . Seventy-three doctoral students participated and described the experience as... View Details

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Latin America - Global

competitiveness. Participants also identified a significant gap between corporate skill demands and academia, calling for greater collaboration between the private and public sectors with educational institutions to develop relevant curricula. Throughout this event led... View Details

February 2025
Case

Hyperscaling Dreams: Ualá's Path from Startup to Fintech Champion

By: Juan Alcácer and Manuel Franck

Ualá, a fintech startup founded in Argentina in 2017 by Pierpaolo Barbieri, aimed to increase financial inclusion in Latin America through a digital platform linked to a prepaid card. After rapid success in Argentina, it expanded into Mexico and Colombia, acquiring... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Leadership; Venture Capital; Talent and Talent Management; Strategy; Credit; Business Startups; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Banking Industry; Argentina; Mexico; Colombia; Latin America

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Faculty & Research - Business & Environment

While Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) increasingly guides investment management and corporate agendas nowadays, public reactions to firms' ESG performance remain under-studied. This paper fills this gap by investigating whether... View Details

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Technology & Innovation - Faculty & Research

James Barnett, and Maxim Pike Harrell. "Sharon Goldberg and BastionZero." Harvard Business School Case 825-102, April 2025. Breezm: Innovative 3D-Printed Eyewear (A) By: Juan Alcácer , Brian Mao Fu and Adina... View Details

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Nonprofit Strategy & Governance | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

transfers—giving people cash via mobile money—to combat poverty wo... Transforming Talent at Teach For Taiwan By: Juan Alcácer and Chi Kuan January 2025 | Faculty Research The Teach For Taiwan (TFT) case... View Details

December 2022 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Circles.Life at a Crossroads of Growth

By: Juan Alcácer and Adina Wong

In June 2022, the founders of Singapore mobile operator Circles.Life had a crucial decision to make. Circles.Life developed a new business model in mobile telecommunications—a digital telco—built around its proprietary operating system. After expanding its brand in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Applications and Software; Business Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Singapore