Publications

March 2025
Case

Mobvoi’s Path Through Market Challenges and Business Reinvention

By: Paul A. Gompers and Shu Lin

Founded in 2012, Mobvoi evolved through multiple transformations—from AI-driven voice technology to smart wearables and later AI-generated content. Backed by major investors, the company navigated shifts in strategy while facing two failed IPO attempts. As market... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry; China

October 1998 (Revised January 1999)
Case

Echlin vs. SPX

By: Paul M. Healy, Bjorn N. Jorgensen and Penny Joseph

Echlin has received a hostile takeover offer from SPX. Both companies have been undertaking major restructurings, and Echlin's shareholders face a difficult decision of whether to support current management or sell out to SPX. Students are asked to analyze the two... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Financial Statements; Business and Shareholder Relations

Find at Harvard

February 2016 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Nuclear Energy: An Answer to Climate Change?

By: Michael W. Toffel, Glen W. S. Dowell and James Weber

Environmental activist groups have traditionally opposed nuclear energy. However, the growing environmental problems associated with global climate change require major changes to reduce the carbon intensity of electricity generation. Should environmental groups... View Details

Keywords: Nuclear Energy; Nuclear Power; Climate Change; Safety; Activism; Nonprofit; Environment; Environmental Protection; Social Movements; Energy; Energy Generation; Environmental Sustainability; Non-Governmental Organizations; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; United States

February 2015
Background Note

A Note on the Affordable Care Act and the U.S. Health Care System

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Norris

This note provides an overview of the U.S. health care system as it stood in 2014, including an overview of hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, and other health care providers. It also discusses the major political actions on health care in the 20th century,... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Policy; Political Process; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; United States

June 2002 (Revised July 2002)
Background Note

Government Games: Understanding the Role of Government In Business Strategy

Lays out a framework for understanding the impact of government on business strategy. Distinguishes between two major types of "games" that businesses play that involve government: value net games and public interest games. Highlights the multiple roles that government... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Business and Government Relations

April 1992 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Brigham and Women's Hospital in 1992, The

Brigham and Women's Hospital is a highly successful teaching hospital in 1992. However, the hospital sector is undergoing a major transition and the hospital faces uncertainty about changing demographic trends, new types of competitors, and technological and scientific... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Change Management; Social Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Health Care and Treatment; Business Strategy; Education Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

21 Sep 2009
News

Harvard Business School Program To Help Media Executives Identify Growth Opportunities In Rapidly Changing Industry

17 Mar 2017
News

Corporate social media ripe for political hacking

09 Aug 2016
News

Know Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done”

04 Feb 2020
Video

Francis Okomo-Okello

Francis Okomo-Okello, Chair of a leading Kenyan luxury hotel group and of the subsidiary of a major foreign bank, observes the eco-system of corruption in Africa, which adds greatly to the cost of doing... View Details

October 2019
Supplement

Airbus vs. Boeing (L): Discontinuing the A380 (February 2019)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes Airbus’ February 2019 announcement that it was ending production of the A380, with the last delivery scheduled for 2021. The announcement followed an order cancellation by Emirates, a major customer of the A380. The A380 had faced significant... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Air Transportation; Projects; Competition; Air Transportation Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; Europe

July 2011 (Revised August 2013)
Background Note

Note on Evaluating Empirical Research

By: Michael I. Norton

This note is intended to provide students with a basic understanding of how to evaluate empirical research papers. While reading both case studies and empirical research require close attention and scrutiny, evaluating empirical research requires a different... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Research; Cases; Perspective

March 2008
Case

Ujjivan: A Microfinance Institution at a Crossroads (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Pamela Freed

Samit Ghosh, the CEO and founder of Ujjivan, a major microfinance provider in Bangalore, wants to grow his business rapidly and become financially sustainable, but he's struggling with staff fraud, high costs, and how to stay true to Ujjivan's mission of poverty... View Details

Keywords: Financial Institutions; Microfinance; Ethics; Mission and Purpose; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Bangalore

May 2007
Case

Free the Grapes--Direct-to-Consumer Shipping in the Wine Industry

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis A. Yao, Patricia Wu and Libby Cantrill

While wine tourism in the United States was booming, the majority of consumers who tasted a Cabernet Sauvignon in one of Napa Valley's tasting rooms were not permitted to ship the wine directly to their home. In 2002, direct-to-consumer shipping was either banned or... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Lawsuits and Litigation; Agreements and Arrangements; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

June 1996
Case

Armscor: Life After Apartheid?

After taking office, South Africa's new president, Nelson Mandela, must decide whether to dismantle or support Armscor, South Africa's state-owned arms company, which has been a pillar of the apartheid regime. Complicating matters is the fact that the arms industry was... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Competitive Advantage; State Ownership; Government Administration; Business and Government Relations; Public Administration Industry; South Africa

29 Jan 2013
News

Analysis: Immigration reform could boost U.S. economic growth

08 Nov 2021
News

Why Millions of Job Seekers Aren’t Getting Hired in this Hot Job Market

02 Jun 2022
Video

Risks, Opportunities, and Investments In the Era of Climate Change

July 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Lenovo: Building A Global Brand

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Announced in December 2004, the $1.75 billion acquisition of IBM's PC division by Lenovo, China's largest PC maker, made headlines around the world. A relative upstart in the business, Lenovo acquired the division of IBM that invented the PC in 1981. While Lenovo was... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Information Infrastructure; Global Strategy; Acquisition; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Computer Industry; China