Publications

October 2024
Case

Sacoor Brothers: From Co-Family CEOs to No Family CEOs?

By: Lauren Cohen, David Ager and Alpana Thapar

Sacoor Brothers, a luxury clothing retail company, was founded in 1989 in Lisbon, Portugal, by four brothers—Malik, Salim, Rahimo, and Moez. After establishing a strong presence in Portugal, the brothers were drawn to the rapidly growing retail markets in the Middle... View Details

May 2016 (Revised June 2016)
Case

A Succession as the Engine for Success

By: Jay Lorsch, Emily McTague and Rosa Maria Fite

Francisco J. Riberas sat in his office reflecting on his first summer working at the family business, in 1989. Growing up, Francisco Riberas had learned about the company through conversations with his father, Francisco Riberas Pampliega, over the dinner table and in... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Alignment; Organizational Behavior; Corporate Governance; Family Business; Family-owned Business; Succession; CEO Mentoring; Spain; Family and Family Relationships; Management; Leadership; Auto Industry; Europe; Spain

25 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model

information technology to directly match consumer demand to dispersed production by a collection of factories in China. This method of reaching customers should inspire any business that provides products or services that come from many... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Fashion; Retail; Consumer Products

May 2025
Case

The Micro-Family Office: Aamir Rehman

By: Lauren Cohen and Sophia Pan

With a successful career and strong academic credentials, Aamir Rehman sought to design a life grounded in autonomy. For him, this meant serving on boards, continuing his professorship, and ensuring a secure and comfortable life for his family. While he didn’t possess... View Details

16 Aug 2024
In Practice

Election 2024: What's at Stake for Business and the Workplace?

vital infrastructure that keeps the economy—and goods and services—moving, including roads, bridges, ports, and freight trains. Businesses that want employees to return to the office know that commute times... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

26 Jun 2000
Research & Ideas

What’s an Internet Business Model? Ask a Health Care Professional

panelists went on to describe could not claim that ideal framework, the projects they described did identify niches and illuminate business issues that are already reshaping the health care field. Daniel D. Moriarty, Assistant Provost and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

24 Jul 2019
Lessons from the Classroom

Can These Business Students Motivate Londoners to Do the Right Thing?

choices are presented—can encourage people to change their behavior in pursuit of policy goals, says Michael Luca, the Lee J. Styslinger III Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

20 Mar 2000
Research & Ideas

No Place Like Home: America’s Housing Crisis and Its Impact on Business

(For example, 86 percent of the companies in one recent survey said that housing costs were a serious deterrent to attracting businesses and middle-income employees to New York City.) On the lower end of the wage scale, companies are... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Construction; Real Estate

31 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Why These Business School Professors Oppose Trump's Executive Order on Immigration

interests of the United States,” and “opposes undue burden on members of our community.” As of this writing, the signatories include some 50 Nobel Laureates and more than 14,800 faculty members at US colleges and universities. Harvard View Details

Keywords: by Staff

02 Sep 2002
What Do You Think?

What Can Business Schools Do to Avoid Bad Apples?

sorting process in industry were generally more sympathetic to business school admissions offices and the Herculean task they face in taking values into consideration in admissions. As Linda Abraham said,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

01 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

How Politics Drives Business Decisions in a Polarized Nation

at Harvard Business School. “Political polarization can create distortions within the economy,” says Kempf, one of the coauthors of the new review. “Partisanship seems to be a really important determinant of many decisions made by... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

July 2012 (Revised August 2012)
Case

Friend Bank: The Time for Hope (Abridged)

By: Clayton Rose and Aldo Sesia

In 2010, Friend Bank was entering the fifth year of Hope Harris Johnson's ambitious 20-year growth plan to transform her family's one-branch community bank into an institution with a substantial presence in southeastern Alabama. Harris Johnson was pleased, so far, with... View Details

Keywords: Banking; Family Business; Strategy And Execution; Banks and Banking; Family Ownership; Financial Institutions; Strategy; Banking Industry; United States; Alabama

August 2018 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Edward Jones: Implementing the Solutions Approach

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

In 2017 Edward Jones, the largest brokerage firm in the U.S., is deciding whether and how to implement a new "solutions" business model to replace its traditional "product" or "transactional" approach. Many of the required changes appeared to violate some of the... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Formulation; Strategic Change; ＂Brokerage Industry; ＂Solutions Approach; Strategy Implementation; ＂USA,＂; Business Model Innovation; Change Management; Strategy; Business Model; Innovation and Invention; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America; United States

February 2021
Case

A Cultural Transformation at Southeastern Grocers

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Jonah S. Goldberg and Joseph A. Paul

When Anthony Hucker, the CEO of Southeastern Grocers (SEG), took over in that role in July 2017, the company was in dire financial and operational condition and was headed towards bankruptcy. SEG, the fifth largest grocery chain in the U.S. in early 2021, operated... View Details

Keywords: Business Transformation; Strategy Execution; Retail; Organizational Culture; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Performance; Success; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Florida

February 2018 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Blue Haven Initiative: The PEGAfrica Investment

By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Caitlin Reimers Brumme and Amram Migdal

This case examines Blue Haven Initiative (BHI), an impact investing fund and family office, and one of its investments, PEGAfrica (PEG). BHI founder Liesel Pritzker Simmons’ motivations for using her family wealth to start a family office focused on impact investing,... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Family Office; Development; International Development; International Development Investing; Development Fund; Sustainability; Solar Energy; Solar; Pay As You Go; PAYG; MFI; Social Venture; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Economics; Development Economics; Energy; Energy Conservation; Energy Sources; Renewable Energy; Social Entrepreneurship; Finance; Assets; Asset Pricing; Capital; Capital Budgeting; Capital Structure; Venture Capital; Cash; Cash Flow; Currency; Currency Exchange Rate; Equity; Private Equity; Financial Instruments; Debt Securities; Stock Shares; Financing and Loans; Microfinance; International Finance; Investment; Investment Return; Investment Activism; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Price; Geography; Geographic Location; Emerging Markets; Ownership; Ownership Stake; Private Ownership; Social Enterprise; Value; Valuation; Value Creation; Energy Industry; Financial Services Industry; Green Technology Industry; Africa; United States

March 2014
Case

Jurlique: Globalizing Beauty from Nature and Science

By: Geoffrey Jones and Andrew Spadafora

Considers the marketing and strategic challenges faced by natural beauty brands using the case of Australian-based Jurlique, which was acquired by Pola of Japan in 2011. The case opens two years later in July 2013 when Sam McKay, the chief executive officer, on a visit... View Details

Keywords: Australia; China; Environmental Strategies; Green Business; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Globalization; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; China; Australia; United States

2022
Working Paper

Racial Diversity in Private Capital Fundraising

By: Johan Cassel, Josh Lerner and Emmanuel Yimfor

Black- and Hispanic-owned funds control a very modest share of assets in the private capital industry. We find that the sensitivity of follow-on fundraising to fund performance is greater for minority-owned groups, particularly for underperforming groups. We... View Details

Keywords: Buyouts; Capital Formation; Minorities; Venture Capital; Minority-owned Businesses; Race; Diversity; Investment Funds; Financial Services Industry

Read Now

June 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

High Liner Foods, 2015

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2015, Canadian-based High Liner Foods Ltd was one of North America's largest frozen fish processors with extensive shares of both the food service and retail channels in Canada, the USA and Mexico. With over C$1 billion in revenues, the company had grown four fold... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Strategic Decision Making; Family Business; Commodities; Strategic Planning; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; North America; Canada