Publications

2009
Working Paper

Don't Just Survive - Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad

By: Lynda M. Applegate and J. Bruce Harreld

Battered by contracting markets and frozen credit, many businesses today are fighting for survival. Indeed, the current global financial crisis provides a mandate for restructuring. But survival is not the end goal. In fact, cost cutting and restructuring are simply... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Risk Management; Leading Change; Innovation and Management; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy

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August 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Patagonia

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Hyunjin Kim and Forest L. Reinhardt

Patagonia was deeply committed to the environment. This commitment, at times, conflicted with the company's goal to create the most innovative products in its industry. Patagonia's founder and executives welcomed imitation of both its environmental commitment and its... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Environmental Sustainability; Business Model; Business Strategy; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry

Luis M. Viceira is the George E. Bates Professor in the Finance Unit and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research, course development, and teaching focus on the areas of investment management... View Details

Keywords: banking; education industry; financial services; nonprofit industry; retail financial services

October 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Loris

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Das Narayandas, Stacy Straaberg and David Lane

In December 2022, Loris’s executive team considered their go-to-market strategy. Loris was an artificial intelligence (AI) software startup for the customer service industry with two products on the market: 1) Agent Assist which provided customer service agents (CSAs)... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Marketing Strategy; Sales; Technology Industry; United States

Reshmaan Hussam is an associate professor of business administration in the Business, Government and International Economy Unit, a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and a faculty affiliate at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty... View Details

2010
Book

Winning in Emerging Markets: A Road Map for Strategy and Execution

By: Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu and Richard Bullock

The best way to select emerging markets to exploit is to evaluate their size or growth potential, right? Not according to Krishna Palepu and Tarun Khanna. In 'Winning in Emerging Markets,' these leading scholars on the subject present a decidedly different framework... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Emerging Markets; Organizations; Opportunities; Business Strategy

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February 2018
Case

Montes Calcados: A Step Ahead

By: James L. Heskett and James T. Kindley

Montes Calçados (MC) is a well-known "fast-fashion" Brazilian manufacturer of casual, but fashionable, shoes for women aged 18–35 in major cities worldwide. To boost its declining revenues, MC must evaluate two growth options: whether to expand distribution online (at... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Distribution Channels; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Global Range; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

November 1999 (Revised July 2003)
Case

Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.

By: Paul M. Healy and Jacob Cohen

Pre-Paid Legal Services' business model reveals two key issues--managing the sales force and sales growth and managing claims. Students analyze the economics of the business and consider how to measure firm performance, how to evaluate and reward the sales force, and... View Details

Keywords: Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Salesforce Management; Marketing Strategy; Accrual Accounting; Business Cycles; Forecasting and Prediction; Insurance; Business Growth and Maturation; Insurance Industry

2009
Chapter

Chinese Railroads, Local Society, and Foreign Presence: The Tianjin-Pukou Line in pre-1949 Shandong

By: Elisabeth Koll

This chapter explores issues of how Chinese railroads improved social mobility and standards of living along major trunk lines, and how foreign investment shaped the integration of the Chinese railroad network from the early 1900s to 1949. As this case study of the... View Details

Keywords: Foreign Direct Investment; Business History; Industry Growth; Welfare or Wellbeing; Rail Transportation; Rail Industry; China

28 Jan 2020
News

High-Yield Was Oxy. Private Credit Is Fentanyl.

08 Dec 2017
News

Why Independent Bookstores Work in the Age of Amazon

December 2010 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Growing Pains at Stroz Friedberg

By: David A. Garvin and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In late spring 2009, Stroz Friedberg co-presidents Edward Stroz and Eric Friedberg had to set growth targets for 2010. The leading global consulting firm they had built specialized in managing digital risk and uncovering digital evidence and had grown very rapidly.... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Change Management; Transition; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Consulting Industry

July 1993 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Millipore Corporate Strategy

By: Nitin Nohria and V. Kasturi Rangan

Millipore, a $750 million (sales) company with three divisions, had been growing at a rate of 20% in the 1970s, but this growth rate had slowed considerably in the 1980s. CEO John Gilmartin was looking for ways to reenergize the organization and redirect its strategy... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Corporate Strategy; Restructuring; Growth and Development Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Business Processes; Organizational Structure

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September 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Endeavor: Creating a Global Movement for High-Impact Entrepreneurship

By: William A. Sahlman

This case describes a critical inflection point in the growth of an international development "mentor capitalist" nonprofit, Endeavor. As Endeavor aims to scale its high-impact entrepreneurship model globally, founder Linda Rottenberg must determine what success looks... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Social Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Nonprofit Organizations; Jordan

February 2024
Case

FIGS: Scrubbing the Status Quo

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Nicole Tempest Keller

In October 2023, FIGS had revolutionized the medical scrubs industry with its fashionable and functional designs, but the venture was at a critical juncture. The digitally native vertical brand (DNVB) had gone public in a successful IPO in 2021 and reached $500 million... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Channels; Corporate Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles; Europe; Canada

28 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, February 28

of promoting from within, particularly with its chefs, and it took time to develop the necessary talent. Now DO & CO faced a decision: What type of growth should it pursue, and at what pace? Purchase this... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Mar 2016
HBS Seminar

Scott Stern, MIT Sloan School of Management

October 2013 (Revised July 2024)
Teaching Note

Amazon in 2024

By: Sunil Gupta

Amazon launched its website in July 1995 to sell books online and by 2020 it has grown to become a digital giant with over $280 billion in annual sales. A large part of its growth came from expanding into a variety of businesses that some see as unrelated. Has it... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry

August 2009
Case

Intel NBI: Vivonic

By: Willy C. Shih and Thomas Thurston

Vivonic was a start-up that was part of Intel's New Business Initiatives that sought to develop and sell personal health monitoring hardware and software. When it was first funded, Intel was in the midst of record growth and was seeking diversification. But the company... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Experience and Expertise; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Development; Failure; Diversification; Semiconductor Industry