Publications

October 2023 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Rheaply: Circularity For Every Business

By: Rembrand Koning and Alicia Dadlani

In March 2023, Garry Cooper, cofounder and CEO of Chicago-based Rheaply, needed to demonstrate that Rheaply’s expanded vision could translate into building cash flows and metrics needed to raise a Series B and turn the business into a model for financial and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Social Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Environmental Sustainability; Entrepreneurial Finance; Technology Industry; Green Technology Industry; United States; Illinois; Chicago

Career Coach

Cathy Hutchinson

Cathy (Kellogg '01) is a member of the Career & Professional Development team and coaches students and alumni interested in entertainment/ media & technology career paths. In addition to managing external marketing,... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Technology; Technology; Technology

January 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Data-Driven Denim: Financial Forecasting at Levi Strauss

By: Mark Egan

The case examines Levi Strauss’ journey in implementing machine learning and AI into its financial forecasting process. The apparel company partnered with the IT company Wipro in 2017 to develop a machine learning algorithm that could help Levi Strauss forecast its... View Details

Keywords: Investor Relations; Forecasting; Machine Learning; Artificial Intelligence; Apparel; Corporate Finance; Forecasting and Prediction; AI and Machine Learning; Digital Transformation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

04 Mar 2019
What Do You Think?

What’s the Antidote to Surveillance Capitalism?

trusts like Standard Oil were busted by President Theodore Roosevelt. They were the Big Tech of their day. Where is the outrage today?” Facebook should be broken up, he added. Wildebeest proclaimed, “The best approach is to break up the big View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Advertising; Consumer Products

July 2005 (Revised September 2016)
Case

24 Hour Fitness (A): The Rise, 1983–2004

By: John R. Wells, Elizabeth A. Raabe and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2004, Mark S. Mastrov, CEO of 24 Hour Fitness, reflected on how far his company had come in just over 20 years. From humble beginnings in 1983 in San Leandro, California, 24 Hour Fitness had grown to become the largest privately-owned health-club chain in... View Details

Keywords: 24 Hour Fitness; Mark Mastrov; Health Clubs; Fitness; Gyms; Chain; Weight Loss; Exercise; Personal Training; Retention; Sales Force Compensation; Incentive Systems; Buildings and Facilities; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Private Equity; Revenue; Geographic Scope; Multinational Firms and Management; Nutrition; Business History; Employees; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Operations; Service Operations; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Salesforce Management; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Capital Structure; Performance; Organizational Structure; Organizational Culture; Health Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

March 1998 (Revised August 1998)
Case

BSkyB

By: Debora L. Spar

In 1983, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. bought a floundering two-year-old British company called Satellite Television plc. and renamed it Sky. Without external financing, without having been allocated any space on Britain's existing satellites, and over the opposition of... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Change Management; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Great Britain

Find at Harvard

1994
Book

The Making of Global Enterprises

By: G. Jones

This volume presents new insights on the history of international business. Two main themes are addressed: how and when has global business developed over the last century? and what has been its impact on host economies? The volume includes a pioneering study by Mira... View Details

Keywords: Economic History; Business Subsidiaries; Economy; Trade; Globalized Firms and Management; Information Technology

04 Dec 2019
Book

Creating the Experimentation Organization

subtle tweaks to everything from varying shades of color to alternative placement of links and menu options for booking properties. It’s part of an innovative culture of experimentation that pervades every aspect of how the company... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

Web

The Five Forces - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

value is divided among industry actors. First described by Michael Porter in his classic 1979 Harvard Business Review article, Porter’s insights started a revolution in the strategy field and continue to shape business practice and academic thinking today. A Five... View Details

March 2008 (Revised December 2011)
Case

IBM Values and Corporate Citizenship

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

IBM's transformation into a globally integrated enterprise (GIE) began with a conviction about what should never change. Since its founding in 1911, the company operated under a set of principles articulated by founder Thomas Watson and became known for a strong... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Globalized Firms and Management; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Integration

March 2017
Case

Swagbucks

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Matthew G. Preble

In early 2016, Chuck Davis, chairman and CEO of Prodege LLC, parent company of the brand promotion business Swagbucks, and Josef Gorowitz, Prodege’s founder and president, must decide whether to acquire MyPoints, a competitor to Swagbucks, after the company’s... View Details

19 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Digital Technology’s Profound Game Change for Marketers

innovative thought leaders and companies who are transforming marketing. Hosted in Boston, at the nexus of the technology and advertising industry, FutureM is a weeklong extravaganza that will bring together... View Details

Keywords: by Jeffrey Bussgang; Technology; Technology

January 2021
Case

Andela: Africa's AWS for Talent

By: Caroline M. Elkins, Tarun Khanna and Joyce J. Kim

Five years after the company’s founding, Andela, a company that built and trained remote engineering teams, became arguably Africa’s greatest technology unicorn. By January 2019, Andela raised $100 million in Series D funding. As Andela looked to scale in an... View Details

Keywords: Education In Africa; Entrepreneur; Remote Work; Software Engineering; Edtech; Entrepreneurship; Education; Applications and Software; Engineering; Growth and Development Strategy; Africa

Program

Competing in the Age of AI—Virtual

Summary Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the way today's businesses compete and operate. By putting AI and data at the center of their capabilities, companies are redefining how they create, capture, and share value—and are... View Details

January 1999 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Metapath Software: September 1997

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Bill Wasik

In September 1997, John Hansen called together his board to debate an interesting choice that his company had to make. Hansen--the CEO of Metapath Software, a provider of software and services to wireless carriers--had two offers to describe. The first was an offer to... View Details

Keywords: Private Ownership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Management Teams; Stocks; Public Ownership; Negotiation Deal; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

September 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Aramco: Navigating the Energy Transition

By: Tarun Khanna and Gizem Cihan Dincsoy

In March 2024, Amin Nasser, president, and CEO of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco), had just delivered a speech about the future of energy at a global energy conference. The world was behind schedule in meeting long-term climate change goals. The global shift... View Details

Keywords: Energy Transmission; Oil ＆ Gas; Economic Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Leadership; Business Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Transition; Environmental Sustainability; Diversification; Energy Industry; Saudi Arabia

July 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

York Capital and Enovix

By: William Vrattos, Jo Tango and Alys Ferragamo

In June 2020, Jeremy Blank prepared for a meeting with his fellow partners at York Capital to discuss an investment he had championed in Enovix, a company developing a state-of-the-art, silicon-based battery. Early-stage technology companies, like Enovix, were not... View Details

Keywords: Investment Evaluation; Partners and Partnerships; Investment Portfolio; Judgments; Opportunities

25 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

Will Machine Learning Make You a Better Manager?

the firm will all rely on data science capabilities.” In short, to be competitive next decade, most companies should be thinking today about investing in data-driven technologies such as data analytics,... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Information Technology

July–August 2025
Article

Case Study: Do We Reskill or Replace Our Workforce?

By: William Kerr

To remain competitive in the internet-of-things era, should the CEO of SolidTech Innovations, a fictional elevator company, invest a lot of money in reskilling its entire staff? The industry is moving from hardware to software in the form of smart, connected elevators.... View Details

Keywords: Training; Competency and Skills; Employees; Change Management; Leading Change