Publications

January 2018 (Revised February 2025)
Teaching Note

Collage.com: Scaling a Distributed Organization

By: Christopher Stanton and Shikhar Ghosh

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-038. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Employees; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy

06 Jul 2017
News

Leadership on a Global Scale

When the inaugural West Point All-Academies Asia Summit opened in Singapore in June 2015, Ray Jefferson (MBA 2000) celebrated a personal moment of triumph. For the Summit’s point person, this first-ever gathering in Asia for graduates of US service academies was a... View Details

05 Dec 2016
News

Scaling Up at Five Below

(photo by Jane M. Von Bergen / Philadelphia Inquirer) (photo by Jane M. Von Bergen / Philadelphia Inquirer) It’s the holiday season and emoji merchandise is flying off the shelves—especially poop emoji (sorry). Chalk it up to the whimsical tastes of the teen and... View Details

Keywords: Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

April 1999
Case

Inktomi: Scaling the Internet

By: Marco Iansiti, Myra M. Hart and Richard Bergin

Presents the early months of Inktomi, a company that invented the world's first truly scalable architecture for the Internet. This core technology provides a platform for a variety of innovative applications. The company must decide the direction it wants to take. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Leadership; Corporate Strategy; Internet

Find at Harvard

March 1994 (Revised April 1994)
Background Note

Notes on Thurstone Scaling

By: Alvin J. Silk

Find at Harvard

04 May 2017
News

Helping MBA Students Scale Mount Everest

October 2016
Teaching Note

CLHS: Scaling a New Venture

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Gabriele Piccoli and Joaquin Rodriguez

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-053. View Details

August 2023
Teaching Note

Newlab: Scaling an Innovation Engine

By: Tarun Khanna and Felicia Belostecinic

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 723-364. View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Social and Collaborative Networks; Global Range; Partners and Partnerships; Networks; Growth and Development Strategy; Opportunities; Brooklyn

01 Jun 2000
News

Debbie Cohen Scales Her Mountain

"I never intended to write a book," says Deborah A. Cohen (MBA '87). Nor did she expect to be diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35. The author of Just Get Me Through This! The Practical Guide to Breast Cancer (Kensington Publishing), Cohen wrote the book that... View Details

Keywords: Morgan Baker

Web

Scaling Work - Research Computing Services

Compute Cluster Scaling Work 3ms There are numerous ways to scale up your work on the HBSGrid, including parallel processing and GPUs . Parallel Processing Also commonly called parallel computing or... View Details

28 Jun 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Scaling a Fintech Startup for the Greater Good

Keywords: Financial Services

10 Oct 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Scaling Two Businesses Against the Odds: Wendy Estrella’s Founder’s Journey

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey J. Bussgang; Legal Services; Real Estate

November 2023
Case

Riiid: Scaling AI Educational Services Globally

By: John Jong-Hyun Kim, Nancy Dai and Ruru Hoong

This article explores the definition and evolution of AI, its applications in education, and the role of AI, particularly in K-12 education. It discusses the founding of Riiid, an AI-driven educational technology company, and its journey in the education sector, with a... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Economic Sectors; Technological Innovation; Education Industry; South Korea; Asia

May 2023
Teaching Note

Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Jill Avery

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 520-051. Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Segmentation; Venture Capital; Consumer Products Industry

October 2018
Case

Accomplice: Scaling Early Stage Finance

By: Ramana Nanda, Raffaella Sadun and Olivia Hull

Accomplice, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Boston, is raising its second fund in November 2017. Since 2009, the firm has followed a seed-led investment model, investing in tech companies at the earliest stages, often when products and business models are... View Details

Keywords: Early Stage Finance; Seed Finance; Scouts; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Private Equity; Investment Portfolio; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Partners and Partnerships; Networks; Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Technology; Financial Services Industry; Massachusetts; Boston; Cambridge; United States

March 2003 (Revised April 2006)
Background Note

Scale and Scope in Professional Service Firms

By: Ashish Nanda

This case discusses why economies (and diseconomies) of scale and scope exist in professional service firms (PSFs) and how they influence the amount and range of services that PSFs offer. It is distributed with a case that focuses on determining the optimal scale/scope... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Operations; Microeconomics; Service Industry

Web

Innovating at Scale - Course Catalog

HBS Course Catalog Innovating at Scale Course Number 1185 Assistant Professor Maria Roche Fall; Q1; 1.5 credits Paper Overview: Innovating inside established organizations is no easy feat. It is difficult to do something new when it... View Details

09 Mar 2021
Cold Call Podcast

A Family Business at a Crossroads: Scaling and Succession

Keywords: Re: Christina R. Wing; Real Estate

October 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Parexel: Scaling Up and Industry Dynamics

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ben Creo

Through the lens of biopharmaceutical contract research organization (CRO) PAREXEL, this case traces the evolution of the firm as it reinvents itself in response to the transformation of the CRO sector from a small, secondary cluster of firms into a major player with... View Details

Keywords: Research; Innovation and Invention; Business Model; Transformation; Globalization; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Pharmaceutical Industry