Publications

October 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Verengo Solar Plus!

By: William A. Sahlman, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Liz Kind

In the three years since Bishop and Button purchased Verengo in a leveraged buyout (LBO), the company had gone through dramatic changes. Initially a residential windows and insulation firm, after the economic recession of 2008 the company switched gears and began... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Growth Management; Restructuring; Renewable Energy; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Finance; Product Development; Energy Industry; California

October 2011 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Paddle8: Painting a New Picture of the Art Market

By: Mukti Khaire

The Paddle8 case is a short case that presents the idea for a new business in the global art market and asks students to evaluate whether it will work, given the structure and unique workings of the art market. Paddle8 is a New York-based startup that partners with... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Business Plan; Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Trade; Fine Arts Industry; New York (city, NY)

October 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Northern Telecom (A): Greenwich Investment Proposal (Condensed)

By: Robert J. Dolan

The business products division has developed a business proposal asking for $50 million to fund the creation of a new telephone system for the small business market. The company's last entry into this marketplace lost $70 million. The new product would face 100... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Communication Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment; Product Development; Telecommunications Industry; Canada

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18 Oct 2021
Blog Post

Embracing Activism for Social Change

COVID-19 has reminded us, private corporations rely on public programs and policy for financial assistance during times of crisis. In contrast, ‘good’ corporate strategy often emphasizes minimizing tax... View Details

September 2006 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Friendster (A)

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In January 2006, the president of Friendster needs to choose between two strategic options to revive the company. Friendster started the social networking industry in 2003, but has been overtaken by MySpace and Facebook. The two options are: 1) offer new features to... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Social and Collaborative Networks; Brands and Branding; Service Industry

28 Mar 2016
News

Drawing Connections Between Business and Art

businesses’ affinity for art as a part of the corporate culture. Many of the nation’s corporations have museums in their headquarters, displaying the art collection—everything from pottery to fine... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman

March 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

eFrenzy, Inc. (A)

By: Marco Iansiti and Nicole Tempest

Details how to design, launch, and scale a rapidly growing Internet venture. Focuses on the challenges and opportunities involved in leveraging a network of partners. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Internet and the Web; Product Development; Business or Company Management; Problems and Challenges; Information Technology Industry; United States

December 1996 (Revised June 1998)
Case

Midnight Networks, Inc.

By: H. Kent Bowen and Marilyn Matis

Midnight Networks, Inc., is a small computer network validation company. This case describes how the five founders built their business from operations earnings and how they established "best practices" operational processes to run their firm successfully. Operational... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Operations; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Information Technology Industry; Massachusetts

01 Jun 2004
News

Stevenson Accepts Key University Position

Stevenson Howard H. Stevenson, senior associate dean for External Relations and a leader in the study of entrepreneurship at HBS, has been named senior associate provost for Planning and Resources for Harvard University, effective July 1.... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

July 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

AllHerb.com: Evolution of an E-tailer

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Christina L. Darwall

Serial entrepreneur Ken Hakuta, in the second year of his latest venture, reconsiders his original strategy of maintaining an independent, self-funded, self-led company. His Internet herbal remedy company, AllHerb.com, has already enjoyed considerable success with its... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Strategic Planning; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Web Services Industry

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09 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Come Fly with Me: A History of Airline Leadership

which started in the late 1940s as a short-haul, intrastate airline based in San Diego, provided a model for Southwest. The former director of corporate communications for PSA maintains that Southwest personnel were trained by PSA in... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Air Transportation

20 Oct 2015
First Look

October 20, 2015

understanding of service quality, competition, and inventory, while developing a foundation for the exploration of mobile money by operations management scholars. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=48472 Social Networks, Ethnicity,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Financing New Ideas - Georges F. Doriot : Educating Leaders, Building Companies, Baker Library, Harvard Business School

Clubs Faculty & Research Business & Environment Business History Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning Entrepreneurship Faculty & Research Global Healthcare HBS Working Knowledge Institute for Strategy & Competitiveness Leadership... View Details

25 Apr 2014
News

Pooling resources to tackle India's social challenges

Ravi Venkatesan (MBA 1992), former chairman of Microsoft India, left the corporate world to launch Social Venture Partners (SVP) India, which brings together concerned citizens to solve economic and social problems through venture... View Details

13 Jun 2017
News

Finding Common Ground

and his partners created SharedXpertise Media and took over Corporate Responsibility Magazine, a publication modeled on CFO and Workforce magazines. “We were betting there would be a corporate responsibility... View Details

Keywords: Ralph Ranalli

01 Feb 1999
News

Newman's Own Brand of Charity

Newman's Own, Inc., lunched with Dean Kim B. Clark, and fielded students' questions at an informal hour-long gathering sponsored by the Social Enterprise Club. The case, written by Initiative on Social Enterprise chair Professor James E. Austin for the MBA elective... View Details

Web

Blog | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Curriculum Social Enterprise Student Club Social Entrepreneurship Summer Fellows Technology for Good Transformative Impact Tri-Sector Impact From State Department to Leadership Now Daniella Ballou-Aares 29 Jun 2017 Five years ago I moved... View Details

March 2000
Case

Heartport, Inc.

By: Gary P. Pisano and Shoshana Dobrow

Heartport, an entrepreneurial medical device maker, has introduced several innovative systems for conducting less-invasive cardiac surgery. Despite initially high expectations, the company has struggled to get its technology adopted by cardiac surgeons. The company's... View Details

Keywords: History; Product Positioning; Knowledge Acquisition; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Technology Adoption; Health Care and Treatment