Publications

March 2025
Case

YouTube: Bidding for NFL Sunday Ticket

By: Anita Elberse and Crystal Yao

In December 2022, Erin Teague, a senior director and the global head of sports, movies and shows at YouTube, technology giant Alphabet Inc.’s video- sharing platform, received the news that Sundar Pichai, the chief executive officer of Alphabet and its subsidiary... View Details

Keywords: General Management; Entertainment; Media; Sports; Marketing; Management; Business Strategy; Bids and Bidding; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

April–May 2017
Article

Career Concerns of Banking Analysts

By: Joanne Horton, George Serafeim and Shan Wu

We study how career concerns influence banking analysts' forecasts and how their forecasting behavior benefits both them and bank managers. We show that banking analysts issue early in the year relatively more optimistic and later in the year more pessimistic forecasts... View Details

Keywords: Sell-side Analysts; Analyst Forecasts; Analysts; Investment Recommendations; Career Advancement; Career Management; Labor Mobility; Labor Market; Prejudice and Bias; Personal Development and Career; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment Banking

SSRN

Find at Harvard

September 2014 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Turkcell

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Charles C.Y. Wang and Esel Cekin

This case centers around the shareholder dispute between three major shareholders of Turkcell, and how its management vied against increasing regulatory intervention and market competition in the absence of a fully-functioning board. The battle for control of the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Performance; Regulatory Environment; Telecommunications; Marketing; Value Added; Pricing; Shareholder; Boards Of Directors; Governing and Advisory Boards; Corporate Governance; Conflict and Resolution; Business and Shareholder Relations; Telecommunications Industry; Turkey

February 2019
Case

Canibal—Play It Green!

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Joseph B. Fuller, Tonia Labruyere and Elena Corsi

In 2011, Canibal launched a machine that could sort and compress aluminum cans, plastic bottles, and cups. Users could play a jackpot-style game on the machine’s digital display, while disposing of their beverage containers and earning coupons or other rewards. The... View Details

Keywords: Sales Growth; Recycling; Start-up; Scaling; Market Selection; Sales; Marketing; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Segmentation; Product Positioning; Technology Industry; France

01 Dec 2012
News

Taking Time to Make Time

POZEN: Getting people to think about how they are managing their careers in the evolving context of their own personal and professional lives. HBS senior lecturer Robert Pozen is living proof of the adage "If you want to get something... View Details

Keywords: Time management

July 2018
Case

LIXIL Group Corporation: Building a New Company in an Old Industry

By: Boris Groysberg and Akiko Kanno

In the spring of 2018, Kinya Seto, president and CEO of LIXIL Group Corporation, a major housing and building products and services company, called a meeting at the company’s head office in central Tokyo to discuss how to implement the new three-year strategic plan.... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Leadership And Change Management; Consolidation; Change Management; Leadership; Global Strategy; Business Model; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Japan

May 2022
Case

Rawbank's Illico Cash: Can 'Fast Money' Overcome Cash Dependency in the DRC?

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Thomas de Dreux-Brézé, the Head of Strategy and Project Management at Rawbank Congo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), was perplexed as he reviewed annual adoption rates for the bank’s launch of Illico Cash 2.0. As the bank’s mobile money app, Illico Cash... View Details

October 2017
Case

Pricing PatientPing

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Julia Kelley and Amram Migdal

In 2017, Jay Desai, the CEO of Boston-based health care technology company PatientPing, had to consider a number of interrelated pricing challenges. Founded in late 2013, PatientPing sold a software platform that allowed health care providers to receive real-time... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Health Tech; Health Technology; Marketing; Sales Process; Sales Strategy; Price; Sales; Marketing Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Boston; North America; Massachusetts; United States

October 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

JCPenney: Back in Business

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Christine Snively

In 2016, JCPenney was in the midst of a multi-year turnaround after coming dangerously close to bankruptcy. Under CEO Marvin Ellison, the company had identified three strategic objectives—a focus on omnichannel, private label goods, and increasing revenue per... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Customer Management; Omnichannel; Turnarounds; Private Label; Promotions; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Customer Relationship Management; Goals and Objectives; Competition; Retail Industry; United States

01 Dec 2011
News

Ticktock

planned to publicize Clocky beyond some photos on the course website, but a few gadget aficionado blogs linked to the images, and the buzz went viral. Around the same time, HBS professor Elie Ofek was seeking case studies for his second-year View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel; viral marketing; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

September 2019
Teaching Note

Boxed

By: Laura Huang and Andy Wu

Boxed.com (“Boxed”) is an ambitious e-commerce retailer start-up, founded by visionary CEO Chieh Huang in 2013. From starting in Huang’s garage in 2013, to winning Emerging E-Retailer of the Year in 2016, to having 4 operational distribution centers in 2018, Boxed used... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Business Startups; Leadership; Strategy; Success; E-commerce; Retail Industry

Research Summary

Overview

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

Rayport focuses his teaching and research on launching and scaling technology ventures, with emphasis on digital media, e-commerce, and multi-channel retail. View Details

April 2019
Case

Boxed

By: Laura Huang, Andy Wu and Jiayi Bao

Boxed.com (“Boxed”) is an ambitious e-commerce retailer start-up, founded by visionary CEO Chieh Huang in 2013. From starting in Huang’s garage in 2013, to winning Emerging E-Retailer of the Year in 2016, to having 4 operational distribution centers in 2018, Boxed used... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Management; Business Startups; Leadership; Strategy; Success; E-commerce; Retail Industry

November 2016
Case

But, It's For a Good Cause

By: Elizabeth Keenan and John Gourville

Companies have long tried to enhance consumers’ perceptions of their firms and the products they sell in a variety of ways. Such efforts include the development of a brand image that the public views favorably, as in the case of Apple. It extends to the development of... View Details

Keywords: Social Change; Marketing And Society; Social Marketing; Brands and Branding; Customers; Perception; Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Partners and Partnerships; Trends; Environmental Sustainability

February 2022
Teaching Note

AptDeco: Circular Economy Furniture Marketplace

By: Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 521-069. AptDeco, a used furniture marketplace, was growing rapidly in the tri-state area. The co-founders were confident that the business model, financial position, and unit economics positioned AptDeco for scaling in the massive $120... View Details

Keywords: E-Commerce Strategy; Mobile; Word-of-Mouth; Word Of Mouth; Word-of-mouth Marketing; Internet Marketing; Growth Strategy; Platform; Platforms; Two Sided Markets; Two-sided Market; Two-sided Marketplace; Two-Sided Markets; Two-sided Network; Black Entrepreneurs; Black Leadership; African Americans; African-American Protagonist; Circular; Peer-to-peer Markets; Furniture Industry; Growth Hacking; Monetization Strategy; Growth Management; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Marketing Channels; Digital Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Acquisition; Retention; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Expansion; Brands and Branding; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Technology Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; North America; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US)

April 2011
Case

Porcini's Pronto: "Great Italian cuisine without the wait!"

By: James L. Heskett and Richard Luecke

Porcini's Inc. operates a chain of 23 full-service restaurants located near shopping malls and downtown areas in the northeastern United States. Known for providing excellent service, Porcini's serves high-quality Italian cuisine made from fresh ingredients. Looking... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

My research lies at the intersection of strategic management and international business, with a focus on how firms’ heterogeneous national environments affect competition, corporate strategy, and firm performance. View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Emerging Markets; Corporate Strategy; Competitiveness; Competitive Dynamics; United States; Brazil; Africa

March 2011
Teaching Note

United Cereal: Lora Brill's Eurobrand Challenge (Brief Case)

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Carole Carlson

Teaching Note for 4269. View Details

Keywords: Subsidiaries; Market Entry; Multinational Corporations; Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Design; Market Entry and Exit; Organizational Structure