Publications

Read Now

November 2024
Case

Dr. Bombay Ice Cream

By: William R. Kerr, Alexis Brownell and Michael Liu

This case examines the creation, launch, and rapid growth of Dr. Bombay Ice Cream, a joint venture between Happi Co., a consumer packaged goods incubator, and entertainment mogul Snoop Dogg, with his son, Cordell Broadus. The brand was inspired by a Bored Ape Yacht... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Distribution Channels; Disruptive Innovation; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

May 2024 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Hakluyt: From Corporate Intelligence to Trusted Advisors

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Lena Duchene

Established in 1995 by a group of ex-British intelligence officers, Hakluyt & Company (Hakluyt) was a corporate advisory firm that generated insights by leveraging a unique blend of internal expertise and a global network of well-connected individuals. Since 2019, the... View Details

June 2023
Teaching Note

From Cradle to Heaven: Taikang Insurance Group

By: William C. Kirby and Noah B. Truwit

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 320-088. The case explores the rise of Taikang Insurance Group and its quest to be a leader of one of China's fastest-growing industries. Due to China's underdeveloped social welfare state, Taikang saw an opportunity for the private... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Government and Politics; Health Industry; China

2025
Working Paper

Turning Points in Inflation: A Structural Breaks Approach with Micro Data

By: Alberto Cavallo and Gastón García Zavaleta

We introduce a novel methodology for detecting inflation turning points that combines high-frequency, disaggregated price data with standard structural break techniques to provide policymakers with more precise and timely signals of inflation dynamics. The methodology... View Details

Keywords: Inflation and Deflation; Global Range; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Analysis; Price

Read Now

June 2016
Article

Understanding Online Hotel Reviews Through Automated Text Analysis

By: Shawn Mankad, Hyunjeong "Spring" Han, Joel Goh and Srinagesh Gavirneni

Customer reviews submitted at Internet travel portals are an important yet underexplored new resource in obtaining feedback on customer experience for the hospitality industry. These data are often voluminous and unstructured, presenting analytical challenges for... View Details

Keywords: Hotel Reviews; Natural Language Processing; Information Technology; Service Operations; Accommodations Industry; Moscow

Find at Harvard

April 2015 (Revised October 2017)
Teaching Note

Buffett's Bid for Media General's Newspapers

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Annelena Lobb

On May 12, 2012, BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, announced an offer to buy Media General's (MEG) newspaper division for $142 million in cash and provide debt financing to the struggling firm. Reactions from investors and industry... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Bankruptcy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Risk Management; Executive Compensation; Cash Flow; Business Exit or Shutdown; Media; Advertising; Restructuring; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; United States

June 2013 (Revised April 2015)
Case

Buffett's Bid for Media General's Newspapers

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

On May 12, 2012, BH Media Group, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, announced an offer to buy Media General's (MEG) newspaper division for $142 million in cash and provide debt financing to the struggling firm. Reactions from investors and industry... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Bankruptcy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Capital Structure; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Strategy; Risk Management; Executive Compensation; Cash Flow; Business Exit or Shutdown; Media; Advertising; Restructuring; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; United States

2011
Chapter

The Contribution of Teams to Organizational Learning

By: Kathryn S. Roloff, Anita W. Woolley and Amy C. Edmondson

Organizational learning theorists have proposed that teams play a critical role in organizational learning (Senge, 1990; Edmondson, 2002). Indeed, as organizations become increasingly more global, teams are formed to leverage knowledge, to increase efficiency, and to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Groups and Teams; Learning

Find at Harvard

June 2012 (Revised March 2014)
Case

I Paid a Bribe (Dot) Com

By: Karthik Ramanna and Rachna Tahilyani

Anti-corruption web platform "ipaidabribe.com" leverages the transparency and anonymity of the Internet to encourage private citizens in India who have been the victims of corruption to self-report details of bribes paid, including the bribe amount, the name of the... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Internet and the Web; Ethics; Service Industry; India

December 2009 (Revised May 2010)
Case

Codevasf

By: David E. Bell, Marcos Fava Neves, Luciano Thome e Castro and Natalie Kindred

With many countries facing scarcity of freshwater and farmable land, Brazil decided to leverage its wealth of both resources to attract global agribusiness players to the historically poor Sao Francisco Valley (SFV) in the country's northeast. To do so, Brazil was... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Resource Allocation; Bids and Bidding; Infrastructure; Supply Chain; Business and Government Relations; Natural Environment; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Brazil

2011
Working Paper

Fiduciary Duties and Equity-Debtholder Conflicts

By: Bo Becker and Per Stromberg

We use an important legal event as a natural experiment to examine the effect of management fiduciary duties on equity-debt conflicts. A 1991 Delaware bankruptcy ruling changed the nature of corporate directors' fiduciary duties in firms incorporated in that state.... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Capital Structure; Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Laws and Statutes; Conflict and Resolution; Welfare or Wellbeing; Delaware

Read Now

August 2008
Article

From Clusters to Cluster-Based Economic Development

By: Christian H.M. Ketels and Olga Memedovic

Over the last decades, changes in the global economy and the emergence of Global Value Chains (GVCs) have raised the interest in understanding the specific conditions and cross-company interactions within and across locations. For companies, the need to choose the... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economy; Value; Business Strategy; Competition; Performance Productivity; Cost; Natural Environment; Policy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Framework; Industry Clusters