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2017
Working Paper

The Right Mix: Angels, Venture Capitalists, and the Assembly of Entrepreneurial Resources

By: Benjamin Hallen and Rory McDonald

New ventures rely on external relationships for capital, knowledge, and networks. We examine how ventures assemble these resources—and whether they are all accessible from the same sources—in relationships with two types of investors: venture capital firms and angels.... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship

20 Jan 2011
News

Tribes still matter

April 2014
Article

The Limits of Scale: Companies That Get Big Fast Are Often Left Behind. Here's Why.

By: Hanna Halaburda and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

The value of many products and services rises or falls with the number of customers using them; the fewer fax machines in use, the less important it is to have one. These network effects influence consumer decisions and affect companies' ability to compete. Strategists... View Details

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2012
Article

Friends with Money

By: Christopher Parsons, J. Engelberg and P. Gao

When banks and firms are connected through interpersonal linkages—such as their respective management having attended college or previously worked together—interest rates are markedly reduced, comparable with single shifts in credit ratings. These rate concessions do... View Details

Keywords: Social and Collaborative Networks; Interest Rates; Banking Industry

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11 Jun 2025
Blog Post

Alumni Career Video | Nicole Ledoux (MBA 2008)

an unexpected pivot from finance to entrepreneurship, launching the healthy snack brand 88 Acres with no background in the food industry. She reflects on the challenge of building a new network from scratch and the circuitous path that... View Details

04 Jan 2021
Blog Post

The First Alumni of the MS/MBA: Engineering Sciences Program

Network. In effect, the Alumni Network nearly doubled overnight. Students have always been able to interact with the Alumni Advisors within the core MS/MBA curriculum. Advisors present to students on technology topics through the... View Details

September 2009
Case

The Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions, Inc.

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer, Stephen P. Bradley and Natalie Kindred

Through its uniquely proactive approach to medical malpractice risk management, the Risk Management Foundation (RMF) has decreased claims—and premiums—for the Harvard hospitals it insures. The RMF is the captive medico-legal insurer of the Harvard medical institutions... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Risk Management; Performance Improvement; Safety; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; Boston

January 2022
Case

Bee-ing Better at Bombas

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Youngme Moon and John Masko

David Heath and Randy Goldberg founded Bombas in 2013 to serve two missions: to deliver the “best socks in the history of feet,” and to donate socks (the most requested item in homeless shelters) to Americans experiencing homelessness. Eight years later, Bombas had... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Digital Marketing; Distribution; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Quality; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Human Needs; Poverty; Growth and Development Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; New York (city, NY)

November 2000
Case

Reuters Greenhouse Fund

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Daniel Galvin

Reuters Greenhouse Fund had successfully invested in a portfolio of 79 companies working in areas relevant to Reuters Group's strategic interests. It had itself facilitated a powerful network among the companies and become a respected global venture capital firm.... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Investment Portfolio; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Financial Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Transition; Partners and Partnerships; Networks; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry

January 2023 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Klopfenstein

This case concerns the industrial automation division at Belden, a hardware manufacturer. While Belden historically sold products such as cables, wires, and other networking devices, EVP of Industrial Automation Ashish Chand recognized that IT vendors were entering the... View Details

Keywords: Implementation; Sales Cycle; Digital Transformation; Sales; Product Positioning; Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Supply and Industry; Technology Industry; North America; United States

November 2006
Case

Tickle

By: William A. Sahlman and Dan Heath

Describes a set of decisions confronting the management team of a rapidly growing online psychological testing and social networking company. They can either sell the company to a large public company, raise another round of capital from a preeminent venture capital... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Internet and the Web; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy; Corporate Finance

07 May 2008
News

Harvard Business School Hosts Business and Human Rights Conference

June 2023
Article

The Effect of Firms' Information Exposure on Safeguarding Employee Health: Evidence from COVID-19

By: Lisa Yao Liu and Shirley Lu

We show that information exposure through international business networks enables firms to take proactive measures that benefit employees and potentially the local community. Specifically, in the early days of COVID-19, firms that have business networks with China and... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Networks; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Health Pandemics; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact

August 2012 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Public Health Insurance Exchanges: The Massachusetts Experience

By: Regina Herzlinger and Jordan Bazinsky

The CEO of Tufts Health Plan, James Roosevelt, is wondering whether to offer insurance products on the Massachusetts Connector, the first U.S. exchange. He wonders if he should enter these uncharted waters at all. And, if yes, with a broad network or a narrow network... View Details

Keywords: Health Insurance Exchange; Healthcare Reform; Public Health Insurance Exchange; Decision Making; Market Entry and Exit; Emerging Markets; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; Massachusetts

Clubs

Real Estate Club

Keywords: Real Estate

28 Feb 2019
HBS Seminar

Lori Rosenkopf, Wharton, University of Pennsylvania

July 2004
Supplement

World Vision International: The AIDS Initiative

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Management discusses the organizational and governance challenges of operating a global network of partner organizations. Then key managers reflect on the decision World Vision must make on the AIDS Hope Initiative--a new strategic direction that challenges many of the... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Goals and Objectives; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Problems and Challenges; Core Relationships; Welfare; Value; Health Industry