Publications

June 2018
Case

Meridian Systems

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Michael J. Roberts

The Meridian Systems case focuses on a start-up in the restaurant point of sale (POS) systems market. In early 2018, Meridian is getting ready to roll out a POS system based on a new technology—a tablet-based, Wi-Fi-enabled POS system (the "tablet" system, or... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Sales; Strategy; Salesforce Management; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy

What makes a brand durable even as business models, technology and consumer behavior radically change? They key is that durable brands are adaptable brands — even legacy ones. To create durability, apply the MACE framework: 1) Mastery: Give your consumers... View Details

January 1995 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Cybertech Project (A), The

Describes the development and exploitation of a radical new computer-integrated technology in the largely manual meat-processing industry. The technology has been developed by the meat industry's research organization over a period of 15 years and is now ready for... View Details

Keywords: Production; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Information Technology; Product Marketing; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

March 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

Pakistan Rising: Bazaar's Growth Story (A)

By: Paul A. Gompers and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in September 2021 as Hamza Jawaid and Saad Jangda, co-founders of Bazaar technologies (Bazaar), the Pakistani high growth B2B e-commerce marketplace, are contemplating whether the year-and-a half old startup should also venture into offering financing to... View Details

Keywords: B2B; Business Model; Emerging Markets; For-Profit Firms; Strategy; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Value Creation; Globalization; Competition; Expansion; Profit; Resource Allocation; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Pakistan

October 29, 2020
Article

How to Build a Digital Brand That Lasts

By: William Collis and David Collis

What makes a brand durable even as business models, technology and consumer behavior radically change? The key is that durable brands are adaptable brands—even legacy ones. To create durability, apply the MACE framework: 1) Mastery: Give your consumers... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Business Model; Adaptation; Framework

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February 2011
Case

Chegg: Textbook Rental Takes Flight

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, William A. Sahlman and Evan W. Richardson

In late 2010, Silicon Valley-based Chegg, the leading online college textbook rental company, is scaling rapidly. The case recounts Chegg's history from its origins as a distant competitor to Craigslist in college classified listings through a pivot into textbook... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Books; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Service Operations; Renting or Rental; Online Technology; Education Industry; Service Industry; California

27 Apr 2018
HBS Seminar

Helen Riley, Moonshot Mission Controller at X (formerly Google [x])

Article

Strategic Orientations in a Competitive Context: The Role of Strategic Orientation Differentiation

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Amir Grinstein and Elie Ofek

Strategic orientation studies often provide 'best practice prescriptions' for firms in a given context—matching orientations to environmental conditions. While this perspective has value, empirical results are equivocal, and an important reality has been overlooked:... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Change Management; Situation or Environment; Decision Choices and Conditions

Career Coach

Cathy Hutchinson

Cathy (Kellogg '01) is a member of the Career & Professional Development team and coaches students and alumni interested in entertainment/ media & technology career paths. In addition to managing external marketing,... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Technology; Technology; Technology

Research Summary

Reinvention and “Frame Flexibility”

By: Ryan L. Raffaelli

Adopting a radical innovation creates pressure for leaders to reframe their mental models while they also sustain their organization's existing capabilities and product category variants. Yet at key junctures in a product class and during technological change, a... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Change; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Diffusion Processes; Technology Adoption; Cognition and Thinking; Identity; Emotions

May 2018 (Revised January 2019)
Case

AirFox (A): Embracing the Blockchain and an ICO

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Edward B. Berk and Nate Schwalb

In summer 2017, Victor Santos, CEO of AirFox, considered whether to pivot his startup towards a new product built with blockchain—a quickly growing technology at the time. AirFox was an early stage startup that sold Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) to small telecom... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Initial Coin Offering; ICO; Business Startups; Finance; Currency; Strategy; Decision Making; United States

April 2017
Case

Luminopia: Improving Treatment for Visual Disorders

By: Doug J. Chung and Sarah Mehta

Luminopia—a start-up founded in January 2016 by three Harvard College freshmen—uses virtual reality technology to treat amblyopia (more commonly called “lazy eye”), the single biggest cause of visual disorders among children. By February 2017, the three founders had... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Virtual Reality; Startup; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Business Startups; Price; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Cambridge; Massachusetts; United States

April 1993 (Revised December 1993)
Case

NEC

By: Marco Iansiti

Investigates product development practices at NEC. The company provides an intriguing example of how to build capability through a stream of product development projects. Focuses in detail on an engineering group that develops the core component of its line of... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Product Design; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Information Technology; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Information Technology Industry

Himabindu "Hima" Lakkaraju is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. She is also a faculty affiliate in the Department of Computer Science at Harvard University, the Harvard Data Science Initiative, Center for Research on... View Details

October 1987 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Microsoft Corporation: The Introduction of Microsoft Works

Microsoft must decide how to design a new software product for global markets, identify the timing for entry into different countries, and position the product around the world. View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Applications and Software; Product Design; Product Launch; Globalized Markets and Industries; Information Technology Industry; United States

December 1998
Case

Pioneer Hi-Bred: Turning Seeds Into Factories

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Melissa Dailey

The agricultural sector is among the preeminent information technology users in our economy," exclaimed an August 1998 Forbes ASAP survey of the U.S. economy's best and worst users of information technology (IT). The survey designated Pioneer Hi-Bred International,... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Multinational Firms and Management; Information Management; Infrastructure; Business Strategy; Information Technology; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Iowa

February 2003 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Precise Software Solutions

When and how should a firm introduce an innovative new product? Introduce too early and functionality may not be there, too late and strong competition might appear. Precise Software Solutions, headquartered in Westwood, MA, is a small, growing company with a... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Product Launch; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Sales; Information Technology Industry; Massachusetts