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2024
Working Paper

Patent Hunters

By: Lauren Cohen, Umit Gurun, Katie Moon and Paula Suh

Analyzing millions of patents granted by the USPTO between 1976 and 2020, we find a pattern where specific patents only rise to prominence after considerable time has passed. Amongst these late-blooming influential patents, we show that there are key players (patent... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Product Launch; Product; Innovation and Invention

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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

May 2004 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Instant Messaging

By: David B. Yoffie and Deborah Freier

Explores the usage and technology of instant messaging (IM). IM enables two or more users to communicate almost instantaneously over the Internet with short, private text messages. Most IM service providers chose to remain proprietary and, therefore, a user of most IM... View Details

Keywords: Network Effects; Standards; Communication Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Web Services Industry

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01 May 2006
Research & Ideas

What Companies Lose from Forced Disclosure

wants. When information is not contractible, typically for cost reasons, a firm's ability to offset the distortions caused by career concerns is limited. Q: What unique insight does the model you propose in these papers offer in terms of... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen; Financial Services

July 1991 (Revised August 1991)
Case

Philip Morris Companies, Inc. (B)

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

Looks at the company's plans for a new debt offering under the Rule 415 shelf underwriting provision--in this instance from the vantage point of the lead investment banker for the deal. The decision-maker must assess the risks of the issuer, the tone of the market, the... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Stocks; Initial Public Offering; Consumer Products Industry; United States

August 2016
Case

VMD Medical Imaging Center

By: Susanna Gallani and Eva Labro

VMD Medical Imaging Center, a local independent provider of medical imaging services, is facing some important challenges. Despite efficiency improvements and cost cutting initiatives carried out over the past few years, their profitability is shrinking; their prices... View Details

Keywords: Costing; Death Spiral; Transfer Pricing; Activity Based Costing and Management; Competitive Strategy; Medical Specialties; Health Industry

Research Summary

Enduring Success

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Harvard Business School graduates have achieved many different kinds of success as leaders of businesses, as entrepreneurs and in their public and private lives. After authoring or co-authoring 150 cases, serving on many corporate and non- profit boards, Howard... View Details

23 Jul 2024
In Practice

The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities

lobbying and maneuvering on individual pieces of legislation and regulation, businesses need to use collective institutions to define and promote a positive, values-based, non-partisan agenda. That will allow them to regain credibility in the View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing; Retail; Fashion; Industrial Products; Consumer Products; Steel; Transportation; Telecommunications

16 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

At the Center of Corporate Scandal Where Do We Go From Here?

economy. I know that a lot of things have been done to address these problems already, but my own sense is that what we've seen is incomplete. Too much of our public discussion has operated on the surface of the problems. We need to go a... View Details

Keywords: by Kim B. Clark

24 Jun 2013
Working Paper Summaries

The Entrepreneurial Gap: How Managers Adjust Span of Accountability and Span of Control to Implement Business Strategy

Keywords: by Robert L. Simons

MOVE: Putting America's Infrastructure Back in the Lead

Americans are stuck. We live with travel delays on congested roads, shipping delays on clogged railways, and delays on repairs, project approvals, and funding due to gridlocked leadership. These delays affect us all, whether you are a daily commuter, a frequent... View Details

August 2019
Background Note

Note on Shared Ownership

By: Ethan Bernstein and Nick Rekenthaler

While several tactics can drive company performance by instilling a sense of shared ownership among employees, perhaps the most direct is to actually share ownership with employees. Many public and private companies across industries have done just that, and studies... View Details

Keywords: Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Human Resources; Employees; Human Capital; Ownership; Cooperative Ownership; Employee Ownership; Customer Ownership; Governance