Publications

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January 2020
Case

Terra Nova: A Social Business Trying to Unlock Land Rights for the Urban Poor in Brazil

By: Julie Battilana, Ruth Costas, Marissa Kimsey and Priscilla Zogbi

Brothers André and Daniel Albuquerque founded the company Terra Nova in 2001 to mediate land disputes between poor families illegally living in urban areas and the official landowners—with the aspiration to improve the lives of the poor. A business-led approach to the... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Entrepreneurship; Negotiation; Power and Influence; Social Issues; Conflict and Resolution; Business and Government Relations; Infrastructure; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Brazil; Latin America

Web

Design: At, Into, & Beyond - Race, Gender & Equity

stations on public transportation (if all of them are not equipped if you have access to that infrastructure or sidewalks with curb cuts at all)? Are there heat lamps in more wealthy neighborhoods and police cameras in poorer ones? Can... View Details

June 2000
Case

Lifeline Systems, Inc. (A)

By: H. Kent Bowen and Marilyn Matis

Lifeline Systems provides emergency response equipment to the elderly who live at home. The company uses local hospitals to market, sell, and install these units in homes, while the hospital monitors and calls for aid to respond to emergency calls from the elderly... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Marketing; Sales; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Service Operations; Information Infrastructure; Age; Service Delivery; Restructuring; Crisis Management; Health Industry; Health Industry

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17 Jan 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: January 17

infrastructure and ready talent, and an underdeveloped consumer market. Some innovators, however, have succeeded by building franchises to serve poorer consumer segments; tapping the vast opportunity represented by nonconsumption;... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Nov 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas: November 14, 2017

Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53507 forthcoming Journal of Financial Economics Bubbles for Fama By: Greenwood, Robin, Andrei Shleifer, and Yang You Abstract—We evaluate Eugene Fama's claim that stock prices do not exhibit price... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

19 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 19

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53199 forthcoming Industrial and Corporate Change Toward a Prescriptive Theory of Dynamic Capabilities: Connecting Strategic Choice, Learning, and Competition By: Pisano, Gary P. Abstract—The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Apr 2014
First Look

First Look: April 22

occurred in the pharmaceutical industry over the past two decades. Since 1989, a number of major pharmaceutical companies (Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, etc.) have chosen to locate new laboratories in one or more major life science hotspots... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2013 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Rhythm & Blues

By: Willy Shih

The bankruptcy filing of Rhythm & Hues, who received an Oscar for the arresting visual effects in Life of Pi, raised questions about the challenges faced by the firms like it as well as the broader post-production industry. The rapid pace of technology certainly... View Details

Keywords: Post-production; Visual Effects; Digital; Entertainment; Animation Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Los Angeles

May 2013
Case

Yammer (A)

By: Mikolaj J. Piskorski, Kerry Herman and Aaron Smith

In Spring 2012, Yammer was on track to become a highly successful standalone company. Yammer was a leading Enterprise Social Network (ESN), providing companies a private social network in which employees could collaborate securely and efficiently. However, later that... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Opportunities; Applications and Software; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Integration; Decision Choices and Conditions; Social and Collaborative Networks; Acquisition; Information Technology Industry

May 2024
Supplement

gWorks (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In January of 2019, Joe Heieck, CEO of gWorks, was deciding whether to proceed with his acquisition of Data Tech, that was a business roughly the same size as gWorks. gWorks, which provided geospatial software to small city and rural county governments, was acquired by... View Details

14 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 14, 2007

managing a master limited partnership with over $35 billion in infrastructure assets. In the summer of 2006, Richard Kinder, the founder and chairman of Kinder Morgan, led a consortium of buyers to take the company private. The... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2024
Supplement

gWorks (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

In January of 2019, Joe Heieck, CEO of gWorks, was deciding whether to proceed with his acquisition of Data Tech, that was a business roughly the same size as gWorks. gWorks, which provided geospatial software to small city and rural county governments, was acquired by... View Details

21 Dec 2022
News

HBS Community Comes Together in Wake of Ukraine Invasion

Happens Next in Ukraine?” As attack unfolds, escalation, nuclear standoff among Harvard experts’ worst fears Harvard Gazette Wide range of possible targets for Russian cyber strikes, from infrastructure to smartphones Ex-intelligence... View Details

19 Aug 2024
News

Quantum Leap

with one another, making it far easier to do everything from discovering new medicines to designing better batteries. The pharmaceutical and chemical industries have taken note: The venture capital arm of the pharma giant Merck, for... View Details

March 2021
Supplement

Facebook's Libra (B): The Privatization of Money?

By: Marco Di Maggio, Ethan Rouen, George Serafeim and Amy Klopfenstein

This case addresses the events that took place following the conclusion of the case “Facebook’s Libra (A): The Privatization of Money?” In October 2019, several months after the conclusion of the A case, multiple members of the Libra Association announced that they... View Details

May 2020 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Amy Klopfenstein and Amram Migdal

In November 2019, Sandra Richter, co-founder and CEO of Soofa, a network of advertising-supported digital bulletin boards, must decide between two different fundraising and expansion plans for her company. One plan entails raising $15 million in a Series A round and... View Details

13 Jul 2010
First Look

First Look: July 13

holding across a wide range of industries and controlling for factors such as productivity and related technological capabilities. The results are explicated by a framework I develop for understanding the drivers of this behavior and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Caterpillar, Inc. (A)

By: David F. Hawkins

2010 Healthcare Reform Act eliminates Medicare Part D subsidy and Caterpillar recognizes a $100 million change. View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Employment; Cost vs Benefits; Forecasting and Prediction; Change Management; Asset Management; Financial Strategy; Activity Based Costing and Management; Business or Company Management; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States