Publications

February 2021
Case

Threadless: The Renewal of an Online Community

By: Shane Greenstein, Karim Lakhani and Christian Godwin

Threadless, an online apparel company and artist community which Jake Nickell founded in 2000, continued to maintain its status as a top company in the online apparel industry during its second decade. From 2010 to 2020, Threadless continued to operate its... View Details

11 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

10 Rules Entrepreneurs Need to Know Before Adopting AI

experienced teams, and who are successful at selling AI not as a technology but rather as a means to the best solutions. Special thanks to Brian Ascher at Venrock for valuable contributions. Rocio Wu is a second-year MBA candidate at... View Details

Keywords: by Rocio Wu

01 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 1, 2008

engagement. This case describes the concept and described its implementation and early challenges. Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=308010 Studio Moderna—A Venture in Eastern Europe... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

23 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 23, 2008

this is one aspect that the good design of policies on the extraction of oil and mineral resources should take into account. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/08-035.pdf PublicationsEntrepreneurial Ventures and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 2022 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Mastercard Labs (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill, Sunil Gupta, Emily Tedards and Julia Kelley

When Ajaypal (Ajay) Banga became the CEO of Mastercard in 2010, he shifted the company’s competitive focus from card networks to cash itself. Mastercard’s new vision of a “World Beyond Cash” distilled into a three-pronged framework: Grow the core business, Diversify... View Details

January 2011
Case

Masdar and Tianjin: Eco-Cities

By: John D. Macomber

Compares Masdar City and Tianjin Eco-City, two high profile "sustainable cities." Each showcases technological and financial innovation. Is it real? Is it replicable and defensible? The case is intended to introduce main concepts and tradeoffs with respect to rapid... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business Model; Development Economics; Urban Development; Cash Flow; Project Finance; Competitive Advantage; Environmental Sustainability; City; Infrastructure

April 2019 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Ripple: The Business of Crypto

By: David B. Yoffie and George Gonzalez

The case explores Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s mission to disrupt the global payments industry by leveraging the cryptocurrency XRP. Students will learn about Bitcoin and the blockchain industry, as well as Ripple’s unique crypto business model. The case provides an... View Details

Keywords: Payment Systems; Cryptocurrency; Bitcoin; Blockchain; Fintech; Business Startups; Business Model; Disruption; Strategy; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

February 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Apple Inc., 2008

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In January 2007, three decades after its incorporation, Apple Computer shed the second word in its name and became Apple Inc. With that move, the company signaled a fundamental shift away from its historic status as a vendor of the Macintosh personal computer (PC)... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Leadership; Industry Growth; Corporate Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry

09 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Location, Location, Location: The Strategy of Place

not work somewhere else. We tend to believe that technology has made us homogeneous, but distance matters. Countries are different; consumers are different. People in India are different than the people in the United States."... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

March 2003 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Northrop versus TRW

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and James Quinn

TRW, a leading supplier of advanced technology products for the auto, defense, and aerospace markets, receives an unexpected stock-for-stock offer from defense company Northrop Grumman Corp. The $11.4 billion aggregate offer, which represents a 22% premium over the... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decision Choices and Conditions; Governing and Advisory Boards; Laws and Statutes; Negotiation Tactics; Valuation; Aerospace Industry; Auto Industry; Ohio

Find at Harvard

Article

Beyond Magic Bullets: True Innovation in Health Care

By: Vaibhav A. Narayan, Marco Mohwinckel, Gary Pisano, Michael Yang and Husseini Manji

The molecular medicine revolution—based on advances in fields such as genomics and network modeling in the decade since the human genome sequence was completed—has changed the way we think about, study, and approach the development of novel therapies. However, these... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Business Model; Organizational Structure; Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention; Pharmaceutical Industry