Publications

20 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Getting the Marketing Mix Right

to the effectiveness of their marketing instruments” Thomas J. Steenburgh, an associate professor in the Marketing Unit at Harvard Business School, has developed a new analytical tool that more accurately measures the effectiveness of... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

November 1997 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Medical Foods, Inc.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Tom Clay

Dr. Franklin Lowe is CEO of a new kind of company in a new kind of industry--medical foods. He must select a business model and partners that will help make this a viable business. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Partners and Partnerships; Business or Company Management; Strategy; Business Startups; Health Care and Treatment; Food; Innovation and Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry

01 Nov 2019
Video

James Mwangi

James Mwangi, CEO and Managing Director of CBS Group and Equity Group Holdings, discusses innovation in microfinance business models in Kenya.

View Details

January 2021
Case

mPharma (A)

By: Rembrand Koning, John D. Macomber, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal

mPharma pioneered electronic prescriptions in Ghana, and aimed to increase drug affordability and accessibility in Africa, but the company remained unprofitable. Following investor concerns about mPharma's business, CEO Gregory Rockson considered alternative business... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Acquisition; Health; Business Model; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Ghana

August 2019
Case

Humanistic Capitalism at Brunello Cucinelli

By: Francesca Gino and Gary Pisano

This case explores one company’s attempt to experiment with a different underlying model for a capitalist enterprise. Brunello Cucinelli, S.p.A. is a leading manufacturer of luxury fashion apparel. Despite being a publicly traded enterprise with annual revenues... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Culture; Human Resource Practices; Growth; Growth Strategy; Motivation; Values; Fashion; Capitalism; Organizational Culture; Values and Beliefs; Human Resources; Management; Business Model; Policy; Behavior; Growth and Development Strategy; Luxury; Italy

We analyze the optimal strategy of a high-quality incumbent that faces a low-quality ad-sponsored competitor. In addition to competing through adjustments of tactical variables such as price or the number of ads a product carries, we allow the incumbent to... View Details

April 2008
Supplement

ProfitLogic (CW)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Richard G. Hamermesh and Michael J. Roberts

This interactive spreadsheet accompanies the ProfitLogic case (#802-110) to enable analysis of the cash flow implications of three business models that the company is considering. Students are able to change key assumptions and see the impact on cash flow. View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Business Model

January 2021
Supplement

mPharma (B)

By: Rembrand Koning, John D. Macomber, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal

mPharma pioneered electronic prescriptions in Ghana, and aimed to increase drug affordability and accessibility in Africa, but the company remained unprofitable. Following investor concerns about mPharma's business, CEO Gregory Rockson considered alternative business... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Health; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Ghana

July 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Launching Telmore (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Celso Fernandez and Moritz Jobke

When the Danish mobile phone service provider Telmore entered the market in October 2000, few people took notice. Its business model was not perceived as particularly aggressive or threatening to the industry. Less than three years later, Telmore's creative adaptation... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Creativity; Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Telecommunications Industry; Denmark

11 Nov 2021
News

These Fort Worth Nonprofits are Tapping Into the Wedding Industry to Fund Services

2010
Article

Competing against Online Sharing

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Andres Hervas-Drane

This paper aims to explore online sharing of copyrighted content over peer-to-peer (p2p) file sharing networks and its impact on the music industry and to assess the viable business models for the industry in the future. View Details

Keywords: Consumers; Computer Networks; Resource Sharing; Online Operations; Internet and the Web; Copyright; Networks; Business Model; Music Industry

Find at Harvard

March 2002 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Genzyme: Engineering the Market for Orphan Drugs

Genzyme has made money with external technology in orphan drug markets generally considered to be too small to be attractive to other drug companies. Now competition is entering these same markets, placing Genzyme's business model under new pressures. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

June 1997 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Genset Initial Public Offering (A)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Jeffrey M. Anapolsky

Pascal Brandys, founder and CEO of Genset, must decide whether to take this young biotechnology company public. If so, should he do a dual offering in both France and the U.S.? The case also explores the business models in genomics research. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Initial Public Offering; Genetics; Going Public; Management Teams; Biotechnology Industry; France; United States

August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Lemonade: Disrupting Insurance with Instant Everything, Killer Prices, and a Big Heart

By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan

Launching its first products in the fall of 2016 in New York, insurtech startup Lemonade was on a mission to disrupt the insurance market by using AI and behavioral economics principles. The company offered renters, homeowners, and condo insurance and mainly targeted... View Details

Keywords: AI; Business Startups; Insurance; Technological Innovation; Business Model; Disruption; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Decision Making; Insurance Industry; Technology Industry

14 Apr 2018
News

Would you pay $18.75 for ad-free Facebook?

March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Teaching Note

Spotify's Audio-First Strategy: Leading the Podcasting Market

By: Hong Luo and Carol Lin

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-439. Within 15 years, CEO Daniel Ek had led Spotify from an ambitious startup to a multi-billion dollar company that had transformed the music industry. As part of Spotify’s next phase of growth, the platform would invest heavily in... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Divisions; Customer Relationship Management; Revenue; Music Industry