Publications

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July 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

Echoing Green

By: Julie Battilana, Thomas J. DeLong and James Weber

This case presents the leadership challenges that Cheryl Dorsey, the president of Echoing Green, faces in early 2009. Echoing Green is a fellowship program that seeks to improve society by identifying and supporting social entrepreneurs who launch organizations to... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Financial Crisis; Social Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Organizational Structure; Personal Development and Career; Social Enterprise

February 2019 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (A)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Christina R. Wing, Emilie Fournier and Anna Resman

This case covers the rise and fall of Theranos, the company founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2004 to revolutionize the blood testing industry by creating a device that could provide from a small finger prick the same results and accuracy as intravenous blood draws. As... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Entrepreneurship; Lawsuits and Litigation

August 2005 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Kemps LLC: Introducing Time-Driven ABC

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Kemps is making a strategy shift: from being focused on fulfilling customer requests to becoming the best cost dairy producer in the industry. Its existing manufacturing cost system, however, fails to capture the costs associated with handling special flavors, small... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Customer Relationship Management; Cost Accounting; Managerial Roles; Cost Management; Earnings Management; Business Strategy; Time Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Decisions; Food and Beverage Industry

Web

Teaching by the Case Method - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

Teaching Questions for Class Discussions Teaching Quantitative Material Strategies and Tactics for Sensitive Topics Curriculum Innovation The case method has evolved so students may act as decision-makers in... View Details

July 2006 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Changan Automobile Co., Ltd.

By: Dennis Campbell and Donglin Xia

Chairman Yin Jiaxu must communicate that the company's extraordinary reported performance in 2002 reflects Changan's unique strategy within the competitive dynamics of China's automobile industry. Changan's 2002 annual report demonstrated an extraordinary level of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Ethics; Corporate Disclosure; Media; Business and Shareholder Relations; Auto Industry; China

Find at Harvard

June 2025
Exercise

Full-Funnel Advertising on TikTok: An Experiment

By: Jeremy Yang and Ayelet Israeli

TikTok’s Marketing Science team developed a new type of advertising strategy beyond branding and performance advertising, called full-funnel advertising. Branding ads focused on brand building at the top of the funnel by generating consumer awareness, while performance... View Details

Keywords: Social Media; Advertising; Brands and Branding; Digital Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Measurement and Metrics

Henry McGee joined the HBS faculty in 2013 after retiring as President of HBO Home Entertainment, the digital and DVD program distribution division of Home Box Office, the pioneering premium television company. A member of the Entrepreneurial Management Unit,... View Details

Keywords: television; motion pictures; media; e-commerce industry; entertainment; broadcasting; distribution; health care; journalism; wholesale; arts; nonprofit industry

28 Nov 2023
Book

Economic Growth Draws Companies to Asia. Can They Handle Its Authoritarian Regimes?

and others do not, or for why some crony relationships facilitate growth and others create crisis or stagnation. What strategies do authoritarian political elites adopt to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

May 03 2022
Interview

Interview with Faculty Cochairs Robert S. Kaplan & Herman B. 'Dutch' Leonard

01 Feb 2023
Blog Post

How I Spent My HBS 2+2 Deferral: Jada Haynes

office for two years. Because I knew that I was deferring admission to HBS, I then wanted to try something outside of consulting before matriculation. I spent a year in Retail Operations Strategy at lululemon View Details

March 2024
Supplement

Negotiating the Gift of Life (B)

By: Alex Chan

Describes a negotiation where lives are truly at stake, where key lessons on persuasion and the role that identity might play in a negotiation are on display through an effort by a frontline negotiator from OneLegacy, the US's largest organ procurement organization. As... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Negotiation; Communication; Diversity; Nonprofit Organizations; Emotions; Mission and Purpose; Health Industry

August 2016 (Revised June 2018)
Teaching Note

VMD Medical Imaging Center

By: Susanna Gallani and Eva Labro

VMD Medical Imaging Center addresses a number of issues related to the role of costing systems in organizations and the challenges impacting their design and maintenance as the organization grows and develops over time. This teaching note begins by offering detailed... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Cost Management; Management Systems

February 2005
Case

L. Londell McMillan (A)

On the plane back to New York City, L. Londell McMillan focused on the music on his headphones, the latest offering from his friend and long-time client, Prince Rogers Nelson--the artist known as "Prince." McMillan and Prince had spent several days contemplating a... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Music Industry

2013
Working Paper

Competing Ad Auctions

By: Itai Ashlagi, Benjamin Edelman and Hoan Soo Lee

We present a two-stage model of competing ad auctions. Search engines attract users via Cournot-style competition. Meanwhile, each advertiser must pay a participation cost to use each ad platform, and advertiser entry strategies are derived using symmetric Bayes-Nash... View Details

Keywords: Online Advertising; Auctions; Market Participation; Market Platforms; Mathematical Methods; Competition

SSRN

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07 Jun 2023
Blog Post

My One Case: MBA Class of 2023 Looks Back

middle-skill workforce. What case made an impact on you and why?The “QuikTrip” case stands out for me. The case features a CEO who is expanding his business to a new market and must decide what kind of... View Details

May 2020
Case

Big Boom Beverages: Fight or Flight?

By: Stephen A. Greyser and William Ellet

Four college friends market a beverage that combines ingredients like those in a drink they consumed in college bars. It includes a caffeinated energy drink, malt liquor, and a soft drink flavoring. They launch the business, Big Boom Beverages (BBB), with their own... View Details

Keywords: Alcoholic Beverages; Energy Drinks; Regulation; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Marketing Communications; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Reputation; Communication Strategy; Decision Making

29 Oct 2020
News

The Search for Racial Equity

March 2005
Case

Vignette: Waiting for a CEO

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

A venture capitalist must decide how to respond to an e-mail from his long-time troubleshooter now installed as interim CEO at a struggling contract manufacturing exchange for the custom car business. The investors have been seeking a full-time CEO but have made little... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business or Company Management; Investment; Business Ventures; Corporate Governance; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Financial Strategy