Publications

October 2016
Case

Supercell

By: William R. Kerr, Benjamin F. Jones and Alexis Brownell

Supercell is a young Finnish smartphone game company with an unusual team structure and company philosophy. It is already one of Finland’s most valuable companies, and despite being only six years old, it has put up some impressive numbers: as of 2016, it has released... View Details

Keywords: Supercell; Finland; Video Games; Firm Structure; Startups; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Groups and Teams; Video Game Industry; Finland

March 2021 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Seeding and Selling Asana

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Susie Ma and Amram Migdal

In December 2019, Oliver Jay, Asana’s Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), was reconsidering his go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Asana was cloud-based work management software that enabled users to break up projects into discrete tasks that could be assigned, scheduled, and... View Details

Keywords: SaaS; Customer Journey; Business Model; Business Organization; Change Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Technology Industry; United States

August 2008 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Polanco: A Fashionable Opportunity

By: Arthur I Segel and Ben Creo

Roberto Charvel is a young MBA graduate making his first personal real estate investment in his native Mexico City. Charvel is planning to purchase and renovate a nine-unit apartment building. Is the market good? Should he sell or lease the units? How should he handle... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Housing; Leasing; Property; Real Estate Industry; Mexico City

30 Jun 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Empire Struck Back: The Mexican Oil Expropriation of 1938 Reconsidered

Keywords: by Noel Maurer; Energy; Utilities

Program

Advancing Women of Color in Leadership

relationships with people who are like and unlike yourself Develop your own career vision and action plan Expand your personal and professional network Extend your network by living and working with accomplished professionals from various backgrounds and View Details

March 2022 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Winning Business at Russell Reynolds (A)

By: Ethan Bernstein and Cara Mazzucco

In an effort to make compensation drive collaboration, Russell Reynolds Associates’ (RRA) CEO Clarke Murphy sought to re-engineer the bonus system for his executive search consultants in 2016. As his HR analytics guru, Kelly Smith, points out, that risks upsetting–and... View Details

March 1995
Case

Procter & Gamble: Improving Consumer Value Through Process Redesign

The evolution of Procter & Gamble's development of efficient consumer response (ECR) involved a series of trials, a resolve to distribute diapers on the basis of product movement, a conscious effort to move to a new means of distribution across all lines, a first cut... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Products Industry

07 Jul 2022
HBS Case

How a Multimillion-Dollar Ice Cream Startup Melted Down (and Bounced Back)

way. We’ve got to do this.’” They invested their entire life savings—$225,000—into opening the store. The store sold all of its products within four days of opening, forcing it to temporarily close. Earning $1 million in total sales, the... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

December 2007 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Xanadu on Broadway

By: Anita Elberse

Can one of Hollywood's biggest flops magically turn into a Broadway hit? Xanadu, an adaptation of a 1980 Olivia Newton-John roller-disco film described by one critic as "the epic failure to end all epic failures," opened on Broadway in July 2007. Producer Rob Ahrens,... View Details

Keywords: Theater Entertainment; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Demand and Consumers; Risk and Uncertainty; Creativity; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

January 2009
Article

From Regional Star to Global Leader

By: Nitin Nohria

Yang Jianguo was recently promoted from country manager for China to global head of product development at a staid French perfume maker. He was chosen for his technical smarts and his knowledge of emerging markets—a critical avenue for growth, given that sales in the... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Leadership Development; Management Teams; Emerging Markets; Product Development; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; China; Paris

Article

The Profits of Power: Commerce and Realpolitik in Eurasia

By: Rawi Abdelal

Although the energy trade is the single most important element of nearly all European countries' relations with Russia, Europe has been divided by both worldview and practice. Why, in the face of the common challenge of dependence on imported Russian gas, have national... View Details

Keywords: Performance; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Profit; Framework; Corporate Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Policy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Crisis Management; Government and Politics; Energy Industry; Europe; Russia; France; Germany; Italy

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February 1990 (Revised March 1990)
Case

Quantum Semiconductor, Inc.

By: Janice H. Hammond and Roy D. Shapiro

Quantum is faced with a difficult ethical dilemma--industry studies provide evidence that chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing may cause women working in fabrication cleanrooms to suffer a higher likelihood of spontaneous abortions. The possibility of other... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Prejudice and Bias; Law; Equality and Inequality; Cost; Production; Ethics; Health; Gender; Semiconductor Industry

10 Nov 2008
Research Event

Social Media Leads the Future of Technology

Internet-connected televisions, social media, and the power of simplicity were all cited as launch pads for future innovation in technology, according to a panel of experts that convened at Harvard Business School as part of the HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Web

Entrepreneurial Management - Faculty & Research

Ownership ; State Ownership ; Privatization ; Public Ownership ; Media and Broadcasting Industry ; United Kingdom Citation Educators Related McGee, Henry. "The Future of the BBC: Public Ownership vs. Privatization." Harvard Business... View Details

April 14, 2017
Article

Companies Like United Need to Cultivate Good Judgment, and Free Their Employees to Use It

By: John A. Deighton

United Airlines has pledged to improve its training programs and empower its employees to put customers first in the wake of a video showing a passenger being dragged from a plane. Of all the U.S. air carriers, United should have known the power of social media and... View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Training; Air Transportation Industry

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January 2014
Case

Social Strategy at Cisco Systems

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Daniel Malter and Aaron Smith

In April 2013, Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, vice president and general manager for Learning@Cisco Systems, was planning the future of the Cisco Learning Network, an online platform hosted at Cisco.com. Since its launch in 2008, the Cisco Learning Network provided content to... View Details

Keywords: Networks; Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Competency and Skills; Learning; Web Services Industry