Publications

04 Sep 2019
News

Case Study: Up in the Air

on IT services in 2018, and the direction of global tech trends, the shortage isn’t going away quickly. Berendt cofounded Talent Alpha in 2018 to fill that gap. The Kraków-based startup is building a... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

05 Dec 2023
Research & Ideas

Lessons in Decision-Making: Confident People Aren't Always Correct (Except When They Are)

vote for the accuracy of their own solution to each task. These decisions served to find out whether the aggregate outcomes that emerge from people self-selecting into participating more or less aggressively View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

May 2025
Case

'Net Zero in Action': Impact Investing at the McKnight Foundation

By: Lauren Cohen, Christina R. Wing and Sophia Pan

Elizabeth McGeveran, Vice President of Investments at the McKnight Foundation, reflected on how to effectively advance the organization’s net-zero strategy. The foundation had committed 10% of its endowment to building a portfolio of impact investments and was among... View Details

06 Sep 2006
Lessons from the Classroom

Mixing Students and Scientists in the Classroom

five or ten universities in the world where you could teach a course like this. We draw on science from labs across Harvard, and our student teams are tasked with determining if there is a market for the... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Education

February 2006
Case

Bumble and bumble: Building a Successful Business in Beauty and Fashion

By: Nancy F. Koehn and Erica Helms

Explores the creation and subsequent rise of Bumble and bumble, a trend-setting hair-care company. Analyzes the vision and achievements of the founding entrepreneur, Michael Gordon, and charts the evolution of the company within the $230 billion global beauty industry.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Financial Condition; Business Growth and Maturation; Success; Distribution; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Fashion Industry

Article

Organizational Innovation in the Multinational Enterprise: Internalization Theory and Business History

By: Teresa da Silva Lopes, Mark Casson and Geoffrey Jones

This article engages in a methodological experiment by using historical evidence to challenge a common misperception about internalization theory. The theory has often been criticized for maintaining that it assumes a hierarchically organized MNE based on knowledge... View Details

Keywords: Internalization; Multinational Strategy; Business History; Organization And Management Theory; Globalization; Entrepreneurship; Governance; History; Organizations; Theory; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; North and Central America

Find at Harvard

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November 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Sercomm: Operating in China Amid COVID-19 and Beyond

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Gary P. Pisano and Bonnie Yining Cao

The COVID-19 pandemic had forced a production cut in the factory of Sercomm, one of the world’s major telecom equipment producers, in China. The case explores and highlights the challenges that Chief Executive Officer James Wang faced: How could Sercomm recover and... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Information Technology; Operations; Management; Health Pandemics; Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China

February 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

AptDeco: Circular Economy Furniture Marketplace

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jamie Merkrebs

AptDeco, a used furniture marketplace, was growing rapidly in the tri-state area. The co-founders were confident that the business model, financial position, and unit economics positioned AptDeco for scaling in the massive $120 billion furniture market, despite its... View Details

March 2010 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Mirae Asset: Korea's Mutual Fund Pioneer

By: Mukti Khaire, Michael Shih-ta Chen and G.A. Donovan

Park Hyeon-Joo, the founder and chairman of Korea's earliest and largest mutual fund company, plans to expand internationally. After first offering emerging market funds to its Korean customers, the company then began selling local-currency funds in India and Brazil.... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Global Strategy; Emerging Markets; Financial Services Industry; South Korea

Web

Understanding Entrepreneurial Opportunity in Kazakhstan - Global Activities 2020

underserved and operating under so many constraints—there is a lot of entrepreneurship in sectors such as banking,” she explains. “In the US economy or in Europe, these areas... View Details

23 Jan 2015
News

Q&A: Tarun Khanna

2013
Dissertation

Designing Freemium: A Model of Consumer Usage, Upgrade, and Referral Dynamics

By: Clarence Lee, Vineet Kumar and Sunil Gupta

Abstract. Over the past decade "freemium" (free + premium) has become the dominant business model among internet start-ups for its ability to acquire and monetize a large install-base with limited marketing resources. Freemium is a hybrid strategy where a firm offers... View Details

Keywords: Discrete-Continuous Choice Dynamic Structural Models; Bayesian Estimation; Word-of-Mouth; Digital Services; Freemium; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Motivation and Incentives; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Reference Programs; Business Startups

16 Sep 2019
Blog Post

Finding my Passion in the Startup Space

in the US or in Europe's tech hubs, but ultimately from following Greece's entrepreneurship scene, I found Blueground, a rare exception from the lot. The company is View Details

April 2018
Supplement

Celgene

By: Malcolm Baker and Emily R. McComb

In February 2011, Adam Koppel, a Managing Director at Brookside Capital, the public equity arm of Bain Capital, must decide whether to increase or exit the firm’s position in Celgene Corporation. News has emerged that raises potential safety concerns associated with... View Details

Keywords: Life Sciences; Biotechnology; Public Market Investing; Celgene; Revlimid; Hedge Fund; Growth Stocks; Valuation; Investment; Decision Choices and Conditions; Analysis