Publications

Educators

January 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Scott Taylor, CEO & founder of NLM, is a serial entrepreneur faced with an important decision. As his industry consolidates, he knows that his company must grow quickly, yet he believes he has reached the limit of what organic growth can achieve. Should he accept the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply and Industry; Supply Chain

05 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 5, 2019

tighter coupling is more likely in suppliers with certain types of managerial structures (certified management system and unions). We also find important interactions between these organizational structures: managerial structures offset... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

September 1995
Case

Richina Capital Partners Limited

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Richard Yan and Suzanne Foels raise a $52.5 million fund to invest in Chinese companies in concert with major multinational companies. They face all the challenges of starting a business from scratch in addition to the challenges of operating in a cross-cultural... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Venture Capital; Problems and Challenges; Emerging Markets; Multinational Firms and Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Governance Compliance; Business Strategy; Expansion; Investment Return; China

Article

In Microfinance, Clients Must Come First

By: Srikant M. Datar, Marc J. Epstein and Kristi Yuthas

In the debate over whether microfinance works, few microfinance institutions articulate what, exactly, their ultimate goals are and how, exactly, they will achieve them. The authors cut through the confusion by mapping a clear theory of change for microfinance. If the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Focus and Relationships; Social Entrepreneurship; Microfinance; Goals and Objectives; Success; Social Enterprise; Poverty

Read Now

21 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 21

Publications October 2014 Harvard Business Review Press Aligning Strategy and Sales: The Choices, Systems, and Behaviors That Drive Effective Selling By: Cespedes, Frank V. Abstract—There are many books that provide strategy advice and selling methodologies. But... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 14

collection of innovative research and management insights that build upon the foundations of the first book but takes the study of brand relationships outside of traditional realms by applying new theoretical frameworks and considering... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Oct 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Choosing Passion: A Founder’s Mission to Meet a Need for Obesity Care

Keywords: Re: Jon M. Jachimowicz; Health

30 Nov 2021
Interview

TikTok: Super App or Supernova?

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Brian Kenny

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around the simple idea of helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. By May 2020, TikTok operated in 155 countries and had roughly 1 billion monthly active users, placing... View Details

Keywords: Apps; Artificial Intelligence; Business Startups; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Business Model; Digital Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; AI and Machine Learning; Social Media

July 2021
Case

A Close Shave at Squire

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Zoë B. Cullen, William R. Kerr, Benjamin N. Roth and Michael Norris

In 2020, just after closing a $34 million Series B financing round, Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon consider how to adjust their business, Squire Technologies, to the new realities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their barbershop technology, including tools to run a shop... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Pandemics; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Technology Industry; New York (city, NY); San Francisco

Educators

30 Jul 2014
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching The Deal

a reasonable request and deliver it with a smile, hopefully you can keep the other person in the room and see what happens next." Mohan—former managing director and now senior advisor of $15 billion VC and private equity firm Summit... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Education

28 Mar 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, March 28

https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/617010-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 817-002 Classtivity: Payal's Pirouette A few months after launching a new fitness technology product, the small staff of New York startup Classtivity... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Dec 2015
First Look

December 22, 2015

tenets of designing and implementing a change initiative. This is an abridged version of the "Leading and Managing Change" note. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/416021-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

January 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Teaching Note

Somatus: Value-Based Kidney Care (A) & (B)

By: Ariel D. Stern, Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta

This teaching note accompanies case no. 622-009 and 622-045 (Somatus: Value-Based Kidney Care, A and B). View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Management; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Health Industry; United States; Virginia

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

XTV: Xerox’s Attempted Recovery From “Fumbling the Future”

businesses. In reorganizing to capitalize on its technology, Xerox created a new entity in 1989, headed by Robert Adams, that effectively established a third phase for managing spin-offs. Adams had created a new business for Xerox out of... View Details

Keywords: by Henry Chesbrough

January 2022
Supplement

Somatus: Value-Based Kidney Care (B)

By: Ariel D. Stern, Robert S. Huckman and Sarah Mehta

Set in early 2020, this (B) case provides an update to the (A) case (no. 622-009) and provides additional context regarding the challenges facing Somatus. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Management; Strategy; Business Strategy; Value; Value Creation; Health Industry; United States; Virginia

January 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

VendQuest (A): The Business Idea

By: Dwight B. Crane and David Foster

A potential founder of a company is considering whether to start up a new enterprise that would link parts distributors with customers in the construction industries via the Internet. This case describes the industry and the potential advantages to distributors and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Corporate Strategy; Business Model; Distribution; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Business Plan; Customer Relationship Management; Business Ventures; Construction Industry