Publications

08 Aug 2022
HBS Case

Building an 'ARMY' of Fans: Marketing Lessons from K-Pop Sensation BTS

fan base. The effective use of social media was how they created an ecosystem." In a recent case study, “BTS and ARMY,” Harvard Business School associate professor Doug Chung and research associate Kay Koo show how BTS marshalled its... View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta; Media & Broadcasting; Music

21 Jun 2022
HBS Case

Free Isn’t Always Better: How Slack Holds Its Own Against Microsoft Teams

Salesforce, which acquired the firm in 2021. Microsoft, meanwhile, was finally able to draw users to Teams, the free business communication platform it introduced in 2017 as part of Office 365. "Can these... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Information Technology; Technology

Web

Japan - Global

studies and course materials for use in business education programs around the world. Since opening, the JRC has supported most of the Japan-focused cases and HBS research projects on the region. Location Japan Research Center Tokyo,... View Details

February 2025
Case

Blue Owl Financing of Ping Identity

By: Victoria Ivashina and Srimayi Mylavarapu

In the fall of 2022, Blue Owl Capital's investment committee evaluated a potential investment in the technology sector. The proposed transaction centered on Ping Identity Corporation (“Ping”), a fast-growing identity access management (IAM) software company that was... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Borrowing and Debt; Cash Flow; Investment; Privatization; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

08 Mar 2021
Blog Post

International Women's Day Featured Stories

we can create an inclusive world. To celebrate International Women's Day the Women's Student Association is thrilled to feature 13 incredible women from across our Harvard Business School community - faculty, staff and students - who... View Details

Web

Leadership Initiative - Leadership

cutting-edge research and course development projects about leadership and leadership development, both within Harvard Business School and through collaborations with other organizations. We foster a global conversation that addresses the... View Details

01 Dec 2023
News

Endless Possibilities

Faye Iosotaluno (MBA 2008) met her husband through friends when she was only 19 years old. It was 1999, and the mobile-first app Tinder—which launched in 2012 and where Iosotaluno is currently COO—was not even a distant glimmer on the dating horizon. While the app... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

December 2017
Case

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Sarah Mehta

It is July 2017, and Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, the director general of the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), is making progress toward two of his primary strategic objectives for the nonprofit research Institute: 1) to scale the impact... View Details

Keywords: Scaling Technologies; Youth Unemployment; Innovation In Nonprofits; Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Cash Flow; Labor; Employment; Commercialization; Problems and Challenges; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Nigeria

June 2024
Case

Alignvest Student Housing: Keep Building or Time to Sell?

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Patrick Sanguineti

Sanjil Shah, Managing Partner of Alignvest Student Housing REIT (ASH), faces the most significant decision thus far in his career: is it the right time to sell the company? Together with his partner Reza Satchu, Shah had developed ASH into the largest student housing... View Details

Keywords: Exit Strategy; Real Estate; Founder; Equity Valuation; Decisions; Entrepreneurial Finance; Interest Rates; Health Pandemics; Housing; Partners and Partnerships; Expansion; Entrepreneurship; Business Exit or Shutdown; Canada

October 2009 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Emotiv Systems Inc.: It's the Thoughts that Count

By: Elie Ofek, Jason Riis and Paul Hamilton

Emotiv is getting ready to launch its innovative brain-computer interfacing (BCI) technology. The company has developed a special headset, called EPOC, and highly sophisticated software that can translate a person's emotions, cognitive thoughts, and facial expressions... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Sales; Technological Innovation; Demand and Consumers; Marketing Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Launch; Business Startups; Technology Industry

Web

Standards of Conduct - Recruiting

the following recruiting standards of conduct to provide the foundation for a fair and ethical recruiting process. By using the HBS recruiting platform 12twenty to post jobs, host events, or access resume databases, you are considered a... View Details

July 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Game Time Decision for AppDirect

By: Andrei Hagiu, Laura Arjona and Emily Zhang

AppDirect is a start-up that offers small businesses software-as-a-service solutions through a business app marketplace and portal. Daniel Saks, co-founder and co-CEO, is faced with the key question of deciding distribution strategy: should AppDirect find channel... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Distribution; Applications and Software; Innovation Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry; United States

Web

Research - Global

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... July 2025 Teaching Material Meghna Modi at Revlon... View Details

01 Sep 2023
News

Solving for Z

With nearly 20 years of experience as a senior human resources executive, Matthew Breitfelder (MBA 2002) has seen a lot of change in the corporate talent space. But what’s happening now looks like a tectonic generational shift. From his perch as global head of human... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; Illustrations by Doug Chayka; Administration of Human Resource Programs; Government

01 Dec 2023
News

Joint Venture

knew early on he wanted to pursue a career in health care, his stamina for pre-med studies was flagging by his junior year at Wabash College, in Indiana. He began to wonder if becoming a doctor was the only way to make an impact. Business... View Details

Keywords: Shoshi Parks

2017
Working Paper

Cluster Mapping as a Tool for Development

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

This report builds on the foundational work on cluster mapping that Prof. Michael E. Porter has led at the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness (ISC), Harvard Business School over the last two decades. He launched the U.S. Cluster Mapping Initiative in the late... View Details

Keywords: Industry Clusters; Development Economics