Publications

March 2017
Teaching Plan

The Maine Food Cluster Project

By: Karen Mills

The case introduces Craig Denekas, the head of the Libra Foundation, an unusual, private foundation based in Maine, which owns three locally based food companies. Denekas has initiated a project to explore how to grow the food sector in Maine, benefiting not only... View Details

Keywords: Maine; Clusters; Libra Foundation; Locally-based Companies; Food Industry; Development Economics; Industry Clusters; Food; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Maine

21 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Do Friends Influence Purchases in a Social Network?

Keywords: by Raghuram Iyengar, Sangman Han & Sunil Gupta; Technology

17 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

Quantifying the Economic Impact of the Internet

brand or product Website (61 percent); paid bills (56 percent); watched a video clip (51 percent); used a price comparison site (50 percent); listened to an audio clip (44 percent ). “Social networks and the easy connections they... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Advertising; Publishing

Research Summary

Cross-Sector Partnering

By: James E. Austin

This on-going research project is examining the motivations, dynamics, and effectiveness determinants of partnering between nonprofit organizations, businesses, and government entities. The first major output of the research focusing on nonprofits and businesses was... View Details

April 2006 (Revised June 2008)
Case

New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.

By: H. Kent Bowen, Robert S. Huckman and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Considers whether New Balance, one of the world's five largest manufacturers of athletic footwear, should respond to Adidas' planned acquisition of Reebok--a transaction that would join the second- and third-largest companies in the industry. Highlights the unique... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Production; Supply Chain Management; Performance Improvement; Competition; Consolidation; Apparel and Accessories Industry

Jeremy Yang is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Marketing Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches Marketing in the MBA required curriculum. He develops data products for... View Details

Keywords: advertising; media; entertainment; information; consumer products

June 2009 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Goldman Sachs: The 10,000 Women Initiative

By: Christopher Marquis, V. Kasturi Rangan and Cathy Ross

Describes the conception, development, and implementation of Goldman Sachs' five-year, $100 million philanthropic initiative to provide practical business and management education to 10,000 women around the globe. The initiative recently celebrated its first... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business Education; Gender; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry

March 2001 (Revised December 2007)
Case

Katharine Graham

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Lisa M. Gunther and Dina R. Pradel

Details the career of Katharine Graham of the Washington Post Co., a pioneer in her field and one of the first high-profile women to lead a major public company. Her story is a unique example of how power and expertise are built over time, and differs from those of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Values and Beliefs; Leadership; Personal Development and Career; Power and Influence; Social and Collaborative Networks; Journalism and News Industry

09 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 9, 2008

that a leading affiliate network could have invoked an optimal payment delay to eliminate 71% of fraud without decreasing profit. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-072.pdf Secrets of the Academy: The Drivers of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Program

Owner/President Management

enduring network with OPM peers worldwide Who Should Attend OPM is designed for business owners and founders who meet the following criteria: You (or your family) hold a significant equity stake in the firm... View Details

03 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at Research and Ideas, October 3, 2017

gender and commercial activity within founders’ local communities. The presence of female business owners in the same community mitigates the role of founders’ gender on the use of commercial activity. We examine these issues through a... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

19 Apr 2016
First Look

April 19, 2016

forthcoming Journal of Marketing Research Does 'Liking' Lead to Loving? The Impact of Joining a Brand’s Social Network on Marketing Outcomes By: John, Leslie K., Oliver Emrich, Sunil Gupta, and Michael I. Norton Abstract—Does “liking” a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Program

General Management Program

Summary Taking your organization and your career to the next level requires going beyond your field of expertise to gain an end-to-end view of the enterprise, an in-depth understanding of business operations, and a multidisciplinary... View Details

September 2003 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Alessi: Evolution of an Italian Design Factory (A)

By: Youngme E. Moon, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman

Alessio Alessi, head of distribution at family-run Alessi S.p.A., is facing price and brand confusion among customers and is considering reorganizing Alessi's worldwide network of distributors. By describing the challenges facing Alessi, an internationally acclaimed... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Transition; Cost Management; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Production; Problems and Challenges; Networks; Consumer Products Industry

30 Sep 2019
Book

6 Steps to Building a Better Workplace for Black Employees

When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, some saw it as proof that the color of one’s skin could no longer hold people back from achieving important leadership roles in the United States. Not true, says Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

December 2011 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Cancer Treatment Centers of America: Scaling the Mother Standard of Care

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

The CEO of a private and growing national network of specialty care hospitals focusing on advanced-stage and complex cancer treatments reflected on the firm's past phase of growth before meeting with the company's Chairman and founder to discuss how to further scale... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Business Growth and Maturation; Medical Specialties; Service Delivery; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry

January 2025
Case

Ontra: Embracing GenAI in the Legal Technology Industry

By: Christopher Stanton and George Gonzalez

Ontra built a network of legal professionals to enable financial institutions to outsource contract negotiations. The rise of generative AI inspired the company to build software solutions to streamline its processes through automation. Now company leadership must... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Technology Industry; Legal Services Industry; United States

September 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Atomwise: Strategic Opportunities in AI for Pharma

By: Satish Tadikonda

Abraham Heifets and his co-founder, Izhar Wallach, had founded Atomwise to develop i) an AI engine to transform drug discovery by creating better medicines faster, and ii) a machine learning-based discovery engine that combined the power of convolutional neural... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Science-Based Business; Technological Innovation; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

September 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Zalora Philippines: From Growth to Profitability

By: Donald Ngwe and Thales Teixeira

In May 2015 Paulo Campos, co-founder and CEO of Zalora Philippines, found himself at a crucial turning point in his young company’s development. In just three years, Zalora had come from entering the Philippine fashion retail industry as an unknown quantity to becoming... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Business Subsidiaries; Business Growth and Maturation; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Sweden; Southeast Asia; Philippines