Publications

October 1998
Case

Excite, Inc.--1998

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kelley Porter

Reviews recent trends and the evolution of the emerging portal industry, highlighting the competitive position of the industry's major participants. The business model of Excite, Inc., and its major competitors are presented. In addition, the case looks at the new... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Business Model; Emerging Markets; Transformation; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Structures; Web Services Industry

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January 2022
Case

Walmart Goes Global (A)

By: Juan Alcácer

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Success; Globalized Markets and Industries; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Failure; Retail Industry; Germany; China; Argentina; South Korea; Canada; Japan; Brazil; Africa; United Kingdom; United States; Mexico

August 2021
Case

Mylestone: Can Multiple Pivots Preserve the Life of a Death Tech Startup?

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Marilyn Morgan Westner

Dave Balter and Jim Myers co-founded Mylestone, a death tech startup that applied technology to transform how grieving people memorialize the dead. The startup addressed a cultural problem and promised to solve a pressing need in the antiquated, multi-billion dollar... View Details

Keywords: Pivot; Startup; Business Model; Cryptocurrency; Ethical Decision Making; Emotions; Growth and Development Strategy; Ethics; Market Entry and Exit; Customer Relationship Management; Loss; Change Management; Relationships

January 2020
Case

Celata Bioinnovations

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In December 2019, Jon Hu (HBS ‘19) and Dr. Samantha Dale Strasser, co-founders of Celata Bioinnovations, were raising $1 million to launch their company. They had founded Celata less than six months earlier with the aim of redefining the drug discovery process.... View Details

June 2001 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Spir-It, Inc. (A): Building the Business

Early in February 1934, two and a half months after the end of prohibition, Jack Sindler sat with a friend in Boston's Ritz Hotel bar enjoying a drink. Sindler worked for the Converse Rubber Co., and he was always inventing something. He held several patents for rubber... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Production; Market Entry and Exit; Management Succession; Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Acquisition; Growth and Development; Product Development; Manufacturing Industry; Boston

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Profile

Marla Malcolm Beck

into a highly-regarded brand and a destination location. Seeking faster growth, Beck recently sold the company to Macy’s for $210 million but it was not an exit strategy. The Becks will continue to run Bluemercury as an independent... View Details

March 2012
Article

The Influence of Prior Industry Affiliation on Framing in Nascent Industries: The Evolution of Digital Cameras

By: Mary J. Benner and Mary Tripsas

New industries sparked by technological change are characterized by high technological, market, and competitive uncertainty. In this paper we explore how a firm's conceptualization of products in this context, reflected in its introduction of product features, is... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Transformation; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Product; Values and Beliefs; Mathematical Methods; Power and Influence; Behavior; Experience and Expertise; Design; Market Entry and Exit; Employment Industry; Computer Industry

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2010
Working Paper

The Influence of Prior Industry Affiliation on Framing in Nascent Industries: The Evolution of Digital Cameras

New industries sparked by technological change are characterized by high uncertainty. In this paper we explore how a firm's conceptualization of products in this context, as reflected by product feature choices, is influenced by prior industry affiliation. We study... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Growth; Product Development; Behavior; Competitive Strategy; Electronics Industry

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February 2024
Supplement

ReNew (B): A New Direction

By: Gunnar Trumbull and Malini Sen

The global renewables sector was in a slump, but the Indian market was booming. India’s largest renewable electricity generator, ReNew, faced a dilemma: it traded on the Nasdaq in New York, but saw huge opportunity in the Indian market. In response, CEO Sumant Sinha... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction; Trends; Transformation; Private Ownership; Environmental Sustainability; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Energy Industry; Asia; India

June 2002 (Revised July 2002)
Case

NTT DoCoMo: Marketing i-mode

By: Youngme E. Moon

i-mode is a wireless Internet service offered in Japan by NTT DoCoMo. In just three years, the service has won over 30 million subscribers and achieved a 60% share of Japan's mobile Internet market, making it the most successful mobile data service in the world. It is... View Details

Keywords: Price; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Market Entry and Exit; Market Participation; Success; Competition; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry; Japan

22 Apr 2015
Op-Ed

Reforming Greece: Myths and Truths

totaling 950 million euros to the International Monetary Fund by May 12. However, major confusion exists about what has happened in this period and why we are still talking about Greece being at the Eurozone's exit door and at the brink... View Details

Keywords: by George Serafeim

22 Jul 2014
First Look

First Look: July 22

This structure allows bank depositors to remain "sleepy": they do not have to pay attention to transient fluctuations in the mark-to-market value of bank assets. In contrast, shadow banks create safe claims by giving their investors an early View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

The Ingredients of a Deal Disaster

Experienced negotiators are generally comfortable working out the terms of an economic contract: They bargain for the best price, haggle over equity splits, and iron out detailed exit clauses. But these same seasoned professionals often... View Details

Keywords: by Ron S. Fortgang, David A. Lax & James K. Sebenius

09 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 9, 2015

315-003 Nokia's Bridge Program: Outcome and Results (B) Nokia's leaders reflect on the Bridge program, lessons learned during its implementation, and the business benefits it brought to the company. Nokia's Bridge program resulted in 60% of employees knowing their next... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 May 2015
First Look

First Look: May 5

threshold, ii) the offshoring threshold, and iii) the exit threshold. In this chapter, through examples of regulatory failures and successes, we develop a framework for understanding how these thresholds interact with the type of... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

April 2012
Case

People Express Airlines

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lauren Barley

Recounts the history of People Express Airlines, which grew rapidly after its inception in 1980 then failed spectacularly in 1986. Profiles People's aggressive strategy and its distinctive approach to human resource management, which emphasized job rotation and minimal... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Air Transportation; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Growth and Maturation; Organizational Structure; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Human Resources; Business Startups; Air Transportation Industry

September 2008
Teaching Note

Chi Mei Optoelectronics (TN)

By: Willy C. Shih

Teaching Note for [608-123]. View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Information Technology; Market Entry and Exit; Standards; Industry Clusters; Supply Chain; Production; Experience and Expertise; Biotechnology Industry; Chemical Industry; Taiwan; Asia; Korean Peninsula; China

March 2019
Supplement

KITEA (B): Getting Ready to Face IKEA

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in September 2015, when IKEA is about to open its first store in Morocco. It then chronicles the efforts of KITEA CEO Amine Benkirane and his son Othman between 2013 and 2015 to prepare KITEA for IKEA’s entry. After incurring losses for the first time in... View Details

April 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Vale: Global Expansion in the Challenging World of Mining

By: Tarun Khanna, Aldo Musacchio and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

In 2009 the management of Vale, a Brazilian diversified mining company and the largest iron ore producer in the world, was under pressure from at least two fronts. First, the emergence of China as the most important consumer of iron ore in the last few years had... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Investment; Global Strategy; Risk Management; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Mining Industry; Brazil