Publications

August 1989 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Fan Pier

By: William J. Poorvu and Katherine Sweetman

The owner of the Fan Pier site in South Boston has been found legally responsible for blocking the efforts of his development partner in attaining the approval necessary to build the $800 million megaproject they had planned together. It was believed that the owner... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Law; Projects; Design; Organizational Design; Marketing Strategy; Government and Politics; Property; Real Estate Industry; Boston

October 2011
Case

CSN Stores

By: William A. Sahlman and Neil Tolaney

In March 2011, CSN Stores is a collection of nearly 200 Internet retail websites, including Cookware.com, Strollers.com, and Luggage.com. Co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine were considering making a major investment to build brand equity at the corporate level. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Distribution Channels; Investment; Brands and Branding; Equity; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

February 2009 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Windows Vista

By: Benjamin Edelman

Microsoft designs, modifies, publicizes, and distributes Windows Vista—against a backdrop of consumers already largely satisfied with their existing Windows XP systems. Microsoft must decide what features to include and what to drop, how to compete with its own... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Demand and Consumers; Partners and Partnerships; Competition; Software; Computer Industry

August 2024 (Revised November 2024)
Case

Commonwealth Fusion Systems: Born at Scale

By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Jim Matheson, Kyle Myers, Gunnar Trumbull and Richard Vietor

This case study chronicles the journey of Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) on its ambitious mission to commercialize fusion energy and become the world’s leading provider of fusion power plants. Emerging from a “special arrangement” with MIT's Plasma Science and... View Details

Keywords: Nuclear Energy; Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Entrepreneurial Finance; Energy Generation; Commercialization; Science-Based Business; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Energy Industry

01 Mar 2003
News

Brazil Banks on Experience

Ranked among the world’s largest economies, Brazil and the left-leaning government of newly elected President Lu íz In ácio Lula da Silva soothed wary financial markets by selecting Henrique Meirelles (93rd... View Details

Keywords: Finance

25 Aug 2022
News

Research Brief: Paying the Price for Remote Work

The pandemic dramatically accelerated the global marketplace’s appetite for remote work, which had already become a $50 billion industry by 2020. But wages for the same remote jobs varied greatly, depending... View Details

Keywords: Jill Radsken; Market Research, Photo, Translation, Veterinary and Other Services; Market Research, Photo, Translation, Veterinary and Other Services

April 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Otis South Africa (A)

By: Michael Beer

Otis Worldwide CEO, George David, was frustrated with the slow pace of nonwhite advancement within Otis South Africa. After a few years of trying to elicit action from South African management, he decided to send a 28-year old U.S. employee to take over as the human... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Multinational Firms and Management; Race; Operations; Business Headquarters; Performance Improvement; Human Resources; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Industrial Products Industry; South Africa; United States

Find at Harvard

December 1999
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (A): An Enterprise of Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

In 1999, Sun Microsystems, Inc., was claiming a leadership position in the burgeoning world of e-commerce and networking computers. Its goal: "to dot-com the world." What was it about Sun's culture that made it so conducive to innovation and entrepreneurship? And how... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Leading Change; Innovation Leadership; Information Infrastructure; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Experience and Expertise; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

30 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 30

Michael W. Toffel Publication:Organization Science (forthcoming) Abstract Governments and other organizations often outsource activities to achieve cost savings from market competition. Yet such benefits are... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Feb 2015
News

Culture Clash: Silicon Valley vs. the U.S. Government

07 Jan 2013
Lessons from the Classroom

Culture Changers: Managing High-Impact Entrepreneurs

"The problem is that there is a reason why these industries have evolved with the structure they have," Khaire points out. Art-works have much more symbolic value than material value. "The criteria for value in these View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics; Food & Beverage; Entertainment & Recreation; Information; Publishing

23 Aug 2016
First Look

August 23, 2016

Abstract—Multinationals exhibit distinct agglomeration patterns, which have transformed the global landscape of industrial production (Alfaro and Chen, 2014). Using a unique... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2007 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Maidenform Bras

By: Tom Nicholas

Uses Ida Rosenthal's entrepreneurship in brassieres to explore how economic, social, and demographic changes reshaped gender and business enterprises in early- to mid-20th century America. It shows the importance of timing and geography to Rosenthal's new firm in New... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Gender; Change; Apparel and Accessories Industry

April 2010 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Malaysia: People First?

By: Diego A. Comin and John Abraham

On March 30, 2010, Prime Minister Najib Razak presented his new economic model (NEM) for Malaysia. With the goal of raising per capita income to over $15,000 by 2020 from the current level of $6,634, the plan included measures to improve human capital, reduce migration... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Economies and Regions; Problems and Challenges; Crime and Corruption; Developing Countries and Economies; Development Economics; Emerging Markets; Transformation; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Wealth and Poverty; Equality and Inequality; Malaysia

April 2011
Case

Shimano: The Intel of the Bicycle Business

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Shimano, known as the Intel of the bicycle business, is contemplating on investing in a new growth market, namely the comfort bicycle market. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Interactive Communication; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Industry Growth; Expansion; Bicycle Industry

September 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Supplement

Keroche (F): Future Growth Plans

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding

This case describes Keroche co-founder Tabitha Karanja’s 2012 decision to invest in additional production capacity. In November 2012, with a loan from Barclay’s bank, Keroche began constructing a new state-of-the-art beer brewery using German technology. The new plant,... View Details

September 1999 (Revised June 2001)
Case

eBay, Inc.

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kelley Porter

eBay was the world's largest and most popular person-to-person trading community on the Internet. In early 1999, the company was doing very well and seemed to have solved many of its early problems. However, on March 30, 1999, Amazon.com announced that it was entering... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Planning; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry; Retail Industry