Publications

09 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 9, 2008

With a combination of rock-bottom prices, simplicity, and a focus on customer satisfaction backed by a unique low-cost infrastructure, Telmore's business model, with its powerful virtuous cycles, proved to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Web

Courses - Entrepreneurship

for making those decisions. We will also introduce a range of specific tools—including business model design, lean testing, and customer and channel analytics—that are particularly relevant to entrepreneurs, as well as introduce students... View Details

03 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 3, 2018

enabling new players to innovate without understanding how the technology building blocks they are using actually work inside. This suggests that there are new rules of competition, where firms should move beyond commoditized parts and View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

Web

Finance - Faculty & Research

Aparna Krishna This paper evaluates a low-cost, customized soil nutrient management advisory service in India. As a methodological contribution, we examine whether and in which settings satellite measurements may be effective at... View Details

September 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Mobil USM&R (C): Lubricants Business Unit

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The general manager of a Lubricants Business Unit in Mobil's U.S. Marketing and Refining division launched a project to develop a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for his unit. The purpose was to provide focus for all employees of the unit, enabling it to operate on an... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Employees; Customization and Personalization; Performance Evaluation; Measurement and Metrics; Management Teams; Projects; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

07 Jun 2023
HBS Case

3 Ways to Gain a Competitive Advantage Now: Lessons from Amazon, Chipotle, and Facebook

the price, Karp notes. In some cases, a company might keep its prices lower than the amount customers might be willing to part with to earn brand loyalty or hedge against market fluctuations. Similarly, a company may pay employees or... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Web

MBA Experience | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

HBS offers a rich portfolio of opportunities for MBA students to tailor their social enterprise engagement, including academics, careers, community, and paths for social entrepreneurship. Academics First-year students take courses that incorporate social enterprise,... View Details

November 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Liz Claiborne and the New Working Woman

By: Anthony Mayo and Mark Benson

At age 47, with two decades of experience as a lead designer for a Fortune 500 fashion company, Liz Claiborne put her life savings on the line to form Liz Claiborne, Inc., a partnership that included her husband. A decade later, in 1986, Claiborne was CEO of her own... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Entrepreneurship; Business History; Leadership; Gender; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career; Apparel and Accessories Industry

18 Apr 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Impact of Pooling on Throughput Time in Discretionary Work Settings: An Empirical Investigation of Emergency Department Length of Stay

Keywords: by Hummy Song, Anita L. Tucker & Karen L. Murrell; Health

Allison H. Mnookin

Allison Mnookin is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Unit at the Harvard Business School. She currently is the co-chair of the first-year MBA Technology and Operations Management course. In addition, she... View Details

22 May 2019
Blog Post

What is FIELD Global Immersion?

900+ RC students in a country/city they have never been to before?! FGI has evolved in many ways from being a part of a year-long, three module course to now a stand-alone course that is graded independently from its counterpart FIELD Foundations. The View Details

24 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 24, 2006

fail to focus on a variety of situation-specific (or customer account-specific) factors. We also urge vendors to go beyond just a descriptive tact focusing on the means of these variables, and to study their... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 2002 (Revised June 2002)
Case

EMCF: A New Approach at an Old Foundation

By: Allen S. Grossman and Daniel F. Curran

Michael Bailin, president of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF), embarked on a three-year effort to transform the foundation's grant-making in theory and practice. This case details his efforts to move from an "initiatives-based" approach in philanthropy to a... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Expectations; Non-Governmental Organizations; Cognition and Thinking; Customization and Personalization; Theory

July–August 2019
Article

The Soul of a Startup

By: Ranjay Gulati

There’s an essential, intangible something in start-ups—an energy, a soul. It inspires enthusiasm and fosters a sense of deep connection and mutual purpose. While this spirit persists, engagement is high and businesses keep their edge.
But all too often,... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Mission and Purpose; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Creativity; Business Growth and Maturation