Publications

SSRN

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August 2014
Case

Netflix in 2011

By: Willy Shih and Stephen Kaufman

Reed Hastings founded Netflix to provide a home movie service that would do a better job satisfying customers than the traditional retail rental model. But as it encountered challenges it underwent several major strategy shifts, ultimately developing a business model... View Details

November 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

NYSE vs. NASDAQ: International Competition

By: Estelle S. Cantillon and Tarun Khanna

Compares and contrasts the international strategies of the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ as they looked overseas for new sources of growth in the late 1990s. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Financial Markets; Globalization; United States

Find at Harvard

17 Mar 2020
Cold Call Podcast

Is There a Winner in Huawei’s Digital Cold War with the US?

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby; Technology

Video

Funke Opeke

Funke Opeke, founder and CEO of MainOne, explains how her company's expansion of internet access helped facilitate the growth of the tech industry in Nigeria. View Details

December 2023 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Boortmalt: The Master Maltster

By: Forest Reinhardt, Jose B Alvarez, Damien McLoughlin, Lena Duchene and Emer Moloney

By May 2023, Boortmalt was the world’s leading producer of malt, with a production capacity of 3 million tonnes, 15% of global market share, and 27 malting plants across five continents. It had recently acquired a major competitor and had sustained an EBITDA growth of... View Details

24 Aug 2021
Cold Call Podcast

Why Did Pet Concierge Startup Baroo Fail?

Keywords: Re: Thomas R. Eisenmann; Technology; Service

March 2000 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Thomas Weisel Partners (B): Year One

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scott D Landry

After its launch in February 1999, Thomas Weisel Partners experiences rapid growth in its first year. This case details the inaugural year's development and probes what steps the firm should take to continue the momentum. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Financial Institutions; Management Teams; Growth Management; Financial Services Industry

July 2008 (Revised January 2010)
Case

PCCW now

By: Andrei Hagiu and Waishun Lo

In 2007, PCCW had to formulate a strategy for growth of its successful NOW TV platform and its quadruple play implementation outside of Hong Kong. Launched in September 2003 by PCCW (Hong Kong's largest telecommunications operator), NOW TV had swiftly become the... View Details

Keywords: Television Entertainment; Growth and Development Strategy; Multi-Sided Platforms; Technology Platform; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Hong Kong

18 Oct 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Chewy.com’s Make-or-Break Logistics Dilemma

Keywords: Re: Jeffrey F. Rayport; Retail

August 2015 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Riot Games: Can Culture Survive Growth?

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Norris

In 2015, Riot Games, the maker of the top PC game League of Legends, considers its growth strategy as it moves into a new campus in Los Angeles. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Culture; Organizational Behavior; Video Games; Culture; Strategy; United States

March 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

NIKE, Inc. in the 1990s (C)

By: John A. Quelch

In 1998, Nike's earnings and sales growth slowed. Management faced new competition from Adidas. This case asks students to review the various strategies (including diversification into sports equipment) pursued by Nike to resuscitate corporate growth. View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Competition; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry

Mar 2012
Article

Rethinking School

Economists have found that the higher a country's academic test scores, the faster its GDP grows. That puts the United States' perennially mediocre test scores in a particularly ominous light. Progress is being made, says Childress, of the Gates Foundation, but at the... View Details

02 Oct 2015
News

Green shoots: the irresistible rise of the clean tech startup

Career Coach

Shub Chhokra

Having worked across all these industries, Shub can provide insight on how these industries recruit, personal brand positioning, cover letter/resume reviews, career visioning/mapping, and interview prep. He enjoys working with students in all parts of their journey -... View Details

November 2007 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Iceland: Small fish in a global pond

By: Michael E. Porter and Christian H.M. Ketels

Describes the economic development of Iceland since 1945, focusing in particular on the years since 2000, when Iceland experienced strong growth and Icelandic companies aggressively internationalized. View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Competition; Macroeconomics; Iceland

TeachingInterests

Scaling Ventures, HBS Online

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

This course is for startup founders and senior leaders who have achieved product-market fit and now need to successfully guide their company through cycles of rapid growth and organizational change. Topics include optimal growth rate, recruiting and motivating... View Details

Kevin P. Mohan

Kevin Mohan joined the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets unit at Harvard Business School in 2012 after a long career as a private equity investor. He teaches Negotiation in the MBA program and the Owners, Presidents, and Managers program. He also teaches War... View Details

October 2016
Case

The Quiet Ascension of LA Fitness

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, LA Fitness was the largest chain of non-franchised fitness clubs in North America, operating 676 clubs, serving 4.9 million members, and generating revenues of over $1.9 billion. Founded by Chinyol Yi, Louis Welch, and Paul Norris in 1984, the privately held... View Details

Keywords: LA Fitness; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Bally Total Fitness; 24 Hour Fitness; Planet Fitness; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Demographics; Age; Gender; Income; Residency; Borrowing and Debt; Capital; Capital Structure; Cash; Cash Flow; Cost; Private Equity; Financial Condition; Financial Liquidity; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Contracts; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Service Operations; Leasing; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Technology Platform; Health Industry; United States; California; Los Angeles