Publications

November 2024
Case

Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?

By: Willy C. Shih, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds,... View Details

November 2000 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Tellme Networks, Inc.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Nicole Tempest

Tellme, an early-stage, venture-backed company based in Silicon Valley, leverages speech-recognition technologies to provide: 1) a "voice portal" with news and other information accessible through any telephone, and 2) turnkey application development and hosting... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Business Conglomerates; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Venture Capital; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Information Technology; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

May 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Mobike and ofo: Dancing with Titans (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Haibo Zhao

This case address pacing issues – how fast does a company need to scale? It also examines the role of investors in determining company strategy and exit.
Mobike and ofo were two dominant players in China’s emerging dockless bike-sharing market, that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Competition; Value Creation; Governance; Economics; Business Startups; Strategy; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Infrastructure; Transportation; Bicycle Transportation; China

27 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 27, 2007

Working PapersFrom Manufacturing to Design: An Essay on the Work of Kim B. Clark Authors:Sylvain Lenfle and Carliss Y. Baldwin Abstract Kim Clark occupies a unique place in management scholarship. As a member of the Technology and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Faculty & Research - Business & Environment

plans for the Angostura dam in the Bío Bío River, a hydroelectric construction venture with major challenges given the region’s history of indigenous resistance. This context was especially unfavorable given the highly contentious...... View Details

Web

HBS - The year in Review

Venture Competition Turns 25 Celebrating a quarter century of innovation and entrepreneurship, the New Venture Competition in March featured 20 student and alumni finalist teams coming together to compete... View Details

June 2016
Case

Publicis Groupe 2016: Maurice and the Millennials

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

Having built Publicis Groupe through acquisitions maintained as separate brands, CEO Maurice Lévy wanted to transform the advertising and marketing firm to an integrated digital-ready enterprise to address industry changes. In early 2016, following a reorganization, he... View Details

Geoffrey Jones is the Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, and Faculty Chair of the School's Business History Initiative. He holds degrees of BA, MA and PhD from Cambridge University, UK. He has an honorary Doctorate in Economics and Business Administration... View Details

Keywords: green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology; green technology

October 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Reactivity: A Case of Re-Invention

By: Myra M. Hart and Sylvia Sensiper

By the time Glenn Osaka joined Reactivity as its new CEO in January 2001, the Internet bubble had burst, the financial markets had turned, and the company's core businesses were drying up. He was not hired to lead a turnaround, but Osaka found that the firm's future... View Details

Keywords: Management Style; Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Leadership Style; Product; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

December 2011 (Revised January 2012)
Supplement

Pierre Frankel in Moscow (B): Plowing Ahead

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Matthew Bird

After several months into his turnaround of a global technology company's Russia subsidiary, a young and upcoming French executive reflected on how to institutionalize the subsidiary's transformation by further driving cultural change and breaking down internal silos.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Business Subsidiaries; Leadership; Manufacturing Industry; Russia

Web

Africa - Global

from limited partners and a fintech startup seeking venture capital, the company’s dual structure had created operational challenges and conflicting priorities. This case provides an opportunity to examine the potential of RBF to address... View Details

October 2009 (Revised February 2010)
Supplement

Merger of Equals: The Integration of Mellon Financial and The Bank of New York (B)

By: Ryan D. Taliaferro, Clayton S. Rose and David Lane

[Continuation of "A" case.] Less than a month after the close of the merger between The Bank of New York and Mellon Financial, managers at the two firms realized that plans for combining their asset servicing businesses – and realizing the $180 million of annual cost... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Integration; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

06 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Updating a Classic: Writing a Great Business Plan

business plan and its relation to new venture formation. I tried to explain that a business plan can't be a tightly crafted prediction of the future but rather a depiction of how events might unfold and a road map for change. I emphasized... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

17 Jan 2023
In Practice

8 Trends to Watch in 2023

As 2023 begins, businesses and employees face an uncertain economy and labor market, as the twin dilemmas of inflation and interest rates weigh on forecasts. Harvard Business School faculty share the top trends that they believe will shape the workplace and markets... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

06 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

Skills and Behaviors that Make Entrepreneurs Successful

can include small “lifestyle” businesses, multi-generational family businesses, high-growth, venture funded technology businesses, and new ventures designed to commercialize... View Details

Keywords: by HBS Working Knowledge

March 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Background Note

Service on the Internet: The Effect of Physical Service on Scalability

Develops a framework for exploring the idea of, how service affects the economics of Internet organizations. Development of the framework requires an understanding of the different forms service takes in organizations that conduct business through the Internet. These... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Service Delivery; Service Industry

Web

Leadership Initiative - Leadership

Practice of Communication” at Buenos Aires University. Karina is currently an Ed. M. Candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, in the Learning, Design, Innovation & Technology program. She also holds a Master of Liberal Arts... View Details

October 2011 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Paddle8: Painting a New Picture of the Art Market

By: Mukti Khaire

The Paddle8 case is a short case that presents the idea for a new business in the global art market and asks students to evaluate whether it will work, given the structure and unique workings of the art market. Paddle8 is a New York-based startup that partners with... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Business Plan; Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Trade; Fine Arts Industry; New York (city, NY)