Publications

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December 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Barteca: The Challenge and Opportunity of Private Equity

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Michael S. Kaufman

Andy Pforzheimer and Sasa Mahr-Batuz, co-founders of a highly successful seven-location restaurant brand, had just opened the first location of a new brand. They had mapped out future expansion for both brands but wondered if, rather than lining up an assortment of... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Private Equity; Strategy; Decision Making

November 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Amazon: Cult or Culture?

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott and Tricia Gregg

Amazon was one of the first entrants in e-commerce. Under the leadership of founder Jeff Bezos, Amazon had expanded beyond books to manufacturing and selling a wide range of products and services globally. Bezos had built a customer-centric culture that permeated all... View Details

Keywords: Culture; Technology Companies; Retail; Human Resource Practices; Growth; Founder; Leadership; Organizational Culture; Growth Management; Information Technology; Human Resources; Talent and Talent Management; Retail Industry; Technology Industry

05 Aug 2014
Blog Post

Leverage the Power of Alumni Networks in Recruiting

A few weeks ago, the HBS Career & Professional Development (CPD) team had a very successful trip to Minneapolis where we met local recruiting partners, alumni and current students pursuing internships in the area this summer. The trip... View Details

April 1995
Case

Minnetonka Corporation: From Softsoap to Eternity

Minnetonka Corp. which was founded in 1964, began as a niche player in the gift soap and novelty toiletries markets. In 1980, it entered--and managed to capture a piece of--the mass bar-soap market with pump-dispensed Softsoap liquid soap. In 1984, the company took on... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

28 Mar 2016
Video

The Qualities That Define a Leader

October 2007
Article

Opinion: Place Your Bets on the Future You Want

By: Forest Reinhardt

This piece posits that success in a carbon-constrained world will be determined by innovation and acumen, requiring companies to make bold moves. View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Leadership; Success; Environmental Sustainability; Climate Change; Competitive Advantage

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November 2003 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Beverly Stern: Retail Executive

By: H. Kent Bowen and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Beverly Stern has been a successful operating manager in three prominent retail chains: GAP, Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma. Stern's last job at a start-up did not meet her expectations, and she must now decide what to do next. She has an offer to start a new retail... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Experience and Expertise; Personal Characteristics; Jobs and Positions; Decisions; Retail Industry

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April 2010 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Apple Inc. in 2010

By: David B. Yoffie and Renee Kim

On April 4, 2010, Apple Inc. launched the iPad, the company's third major innovation released over the last decade under its iconic CEO Steve Jobs. Apple's strategy of shifting its business into non-PC products had thrived so far, driven by the smashing success of the... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry

May 2014 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Houston We Have A Problem: NASA and Open Innovation (A)

By: Michael Tushman, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf and Kerry Herman

Jeff Davis, director of Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) at NASA, has been working for several years to raise awareness amongst scientists and researchers in his organizations of the benefits of open innovation as a successful and efficient way to collaborate on... View Details

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Initiative Summit: The Business of Crowdsourcing

Gaining the community's trust is vital to building a successful business with crowdsourcing, agreed business leaders at the Digital Initiative Summit at Harvard Business School on March 30. When Tongal got its start in 2009, some members... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

April 2010
Article

Performance Persistence in Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital

By: Paul A. Gompers, Josh Lerner, David Scharfstein and Anna Kovner

This paper presents evidence of performance persistence in entrepreneurship. We show that entrepreneurs with a track record of success are much more likely to succeed than first-time entrepreneurs and those who have previously failed. In particular, they exhibit... View Details

Keywords: Performance; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Market Timing; Competency and Skills; Success; Business Startups

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December 1995
Case

City Year: National Expansion Strategy (A)

City Year, a successful nonprofit organization, is studying how, when, and where to expand to new sites. This case provides the opportunity to understand the strategy and structure of a successful delivery system for human services. That analysis raises the question of... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Growth Management

07 Apr 2021
News

Harvard Business School Professor Details 'Why Startups Fail' in New Book

April 2008
Case

TerraCog Global Positioning Systems: Conflict and Communication on Project Aerial

By: Michael Beer and Sunru Yong

TerraCog, a successful privately held high-tech firm that develops GPS (global positioning system) and similar products for consumer markets, has recently been caught off-guard by a competitor's new product that makes novel use of satellite imagery. When TerraCog... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Behavior; Meetings; Decision Making; Group Dynamics; Human Resource Management; Conflict; Information Technology; Leadership; Conflict Management; Competition; Groups and Teams; Organizational Culture; Human Resources; Communication; Decision Choices and Conditions; Crisis Management; Technology Industry

August 2012 (Revised July 2017)
Case

Netflix: Valuing a New Business Model

By: Francois Brochet, Suraj Srinivasan and Michael Norris

In autumn 2011, Netflix was working to right the ship after publicly stumbling through a price hike and strategic shift and then retreat. The company was changing its business model to focus on streaming video service rather than the DVDs by mail that had brought the... View Details

Keywords: Performance Measurement; Online Business; Asset Recognition; Accounting; Performance Evaluation; Online Technology; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States; Canada; Latin America; West Indies