Publications

Find at Harvard

2017
Chapter

Innovation Policies

By: Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

Past work has shown that failure tolerance by principals has the potential to stimulate innovation, but has not examined how this affects which projects principals will start. We demonstrate that failure tolerance has an equilibrium price – in terms of an investor’s... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Investing; Abandonment Option; Failure Tolerance; Innovation and Invention; Venture Capital; Attitudes; Investment; Failure

September 2016 (Revised March 2020)
Teaching Note

Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model

By: Feng Zhu

Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride, as opposed to the 20%–30%... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Transportation; Business Startups; Business Model; Transportation Industry; Boston

2017
Working Paper

Innovation Policies

By: Ramana Nanda and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

Past work has shown that failure tolerance by principals has the potential to stimulate innovation, but has not examined how this affects which projects principals will start. We demonstrate that failure tolerance has an equilibrium price ― in terms of an investor's... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Investing; Abandonment Option; Failure Tolerance; Venture Capital; Attitudes; Investment; Failure; Innovation and Invention

SSRN

Read Now

June 2002 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Pokemon: Gotta Catch 'Em All (Abridged)

By: Youngme E. Moon

Pokemon, the colloquial name given to a collection of 150 fantastic, animal-inspired creatures with organic powers and the capacity to evolve, are the stars of video games, trading card games, and TV cartoons. Conceived in Japan in 1996, Pokemon quickly became that... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Age; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Copyright; Video Game Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Japan; Asia; United States

27 Sep 2018
Research & Ideas

Religion in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know

were placed conspicuously near store entrances because “good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people,” Jeffries said in a 2006 Salon interview. In 2008, 17-year-old Samantha... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage; Apparel & Accessories

01 Sep 2023
News

Solving for Z

With nearly 20 years of experience as a senior human resources executive, Matthew Breitfelder (MBA 2002) has seen a lot of change in the corporate talent space. But what’s happening now looks like a tectonic generational shift. From his perch as global head of human... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; Illustrations by Doug Chayka; Administration of Human Resource Programs; Government

Web

Business Strategy - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Every industry has an inherent structure, driven by five competitive forces. How healthy or attractive an industry is as a whole—as well as a company’s strategic position within it—determines profitability. About the Five Forces About... View Details

28 Jun 2016
First Look

June 28, 2016

Dinr part time and gathered £40,000 of initial capital. Yet, making the decision to leave his corporate job and become an entrepreneur was not easy: Was Dinr a good business opportunity? Would it be attractive to outside investors? What... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Jan 2017
What Do You Think?

How Much Bureaucracy is a Good Thing in Government and Business?

bureaucracy. Both themes have a certain attraction in the business boardroom as well. In business today, effective processes for decision making are associated with words like speed, agility, and ambidexterity--characterized by fewer... View Details

Keywords: by James L. Heskett

February 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Taffi: Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia

By: Paul A. Gompers and Fares Khrais

Taffi was a tech-enabled fashion styling startup founded by Shahad Geoffrey in Saudi Arabia in 2020. Within three years of operating, Geoffrey had pivoted the business multiple times. In 2023, Geoffrey was attempting the business’s most ambitious pivot yet, shifting... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; AI and Machine Learning; Fashion Industry; Technology Industry; Saudi Arabia; Arabian Peninsula

July–August 2020
Article

Price Bargaining and Competition in Online Platforms: An Empirical Analysis of the Daily Deal Market

By: Lingling Zhang and Doug J. Chung

The prevalence of online platforms opens new doors to traditional businesses for customer reach and revenue growth. This research investigates platform choice in a setting where prices are determined by negotiations between platforms and businesses. We compile a unique... View Details

Keywords: Business-to-business Marketing; Platform Competition; Two-Sided Markets; Price Bargaining; Daily Deals; Structural Model; Digital Platforms; Competition; Price; Negotiation

Find at Harvard

Read Now

November 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Rebuilding Puerto Rico

By: Laura Alfaro, Laura Phillips Sawyer and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason

On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria swept over Puerto Rico, devastating the island’s infrastructure and agriculture. The natural disaster was layered atop years of mounting financial distress. Before the hurricane, Puerto Rico had accumulated $74 billion in debt and... View Details

Keywords: Natural Disasters; Financial Crisis; Infrastructure; Borrowing and Debt; Economy; Strategic Planning; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Puerto Rico

January 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

ZappRx

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Olivia Hull

In October 2015, ZappRx founder Zoe Barry is deciding between two business models for her health technology start-up. Her product, a software application that aims to expedite the prescription fulfillment process for patients with rare diseases, has attracted interest... View Details

Keywords: Speciality Drugs; Hub Services; Pivot; Speciality Prescriptions; Health Care and Treatment; Customization and Personalization; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry; Massachusetts

October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Background Note

The U.S. Health Club Industry, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2015, the U.S. health-club industry generated revenues of $25.8 billion, up from $14.8 billion in 2004. Members of health clubs accounted for 17% of the population, up from 14%. The number of clubs had grown from 26,830 in 2004 to 36,180. In the process, the list of... View Details

October 2013
Case

Mitch Daniels and the State of Indiana

By: Robert Steven Kaplan and Wendy K. Winer

Mitch Daniels, Governor of the State of Indiana, knew he had to make a difficult choice as he sat in his office in December 2010. Should he aggressively push the state legislature to pass comprehensive education reform—a major priority of his administration—or,... View Details

Keywords: Education Reform; Priorities; Leadership; Education; Government and Politics; Public Administration Industry; Education Industry; Indiana

July 1996 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Innovative Opportunities to Manage Health Care Delivery

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and D. Scott Lurding

The purpose of this case is: To familiarize the students with the changing landscape of health care delivery, through chains of retail medical centers and those offering value-based care (VBC).

To discuss fundamental managerial decisions about their... View Details

Keywords: Managed Care; Capitation; Strategy