Publications

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January 2007
Exercise

Multifactor Models

By: Malcolm P. Baker

Students evaluate the performance of four mutual funds and compute the cost of capital for two companies using fixed benchmarks, the CAPM, and a multifactor model of returns. View Details

Keywords: Cost of Capital; Performance Evaluation; Business Model; Investment Funds; Investment Return; Motivation and Incentives; Markets

March 2016 (Revised May 2016)
Case

UFO Moviez—Gentle Disruption

By: Hong Luo, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Saloni Chaturvedi

UFO Moviez is an Indian technology services provider that enables low-cost, digital delivery of films to cinemas. UFO’s satellite-based technology enables a significantly wider release of films compared to traditional analog prints and standard, higher-resolution... View Details

Keywords: Film Entertainment; Information Technology; Distribution; Disruption; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; India

October 1999
Case

Intel Labs (B): A New Business Model for Commercializing Research in Photolithography

Intel deployed a creative business model to commercialize its EUV technology in photolithography. This model assigned intellectual property and machine priority in an industry consortium. View Details

Keywords: Commercialization; Operations; Research and Development

January 2017
Supplement

Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy — Operating the Business Model Exercise

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Christopher Payton

On a mission to "automate the on-demand economy," Harvard Business School classmates Marcela Sapone and Jessica Beck launched Hello Alfred in 2013 to provide subscribers with an "Alfred" to complete various chores for a monthly fee. In early 2016, the company has built... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Service Operations; Service Industry; New York (city, NY); Boston

September 1992
Background Note

Kodak Business Imaging Systems Division, ROI Model Note

By: Marie-Therese M. Flaherty and Steven C. Wheelwright

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08 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Clayton Christensen on Disrupting Health Care

affordable, changing the way we consumers pay for the services doesn't fix anything. What we need is a system of new value networks that will disrupt the old business models in... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg; Health

July 2020
Case

Kathy Fish at Procter & Gamble: Navigating Industry Disruption by Disrupting from Within

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

When Kathy Fish, Procter & Gamble’s Chief Research, Development & Innovation Officer, and a 40-year company veteran, stepped into her role in 2014, she was concerned that the world’s leading consumer packaged goods company had lost its capability to produce a steady... View Details

Keywords: Female Protagonist; Organizational Change; Organizational Behavior; Culture Change; Digital; Innovation; Lean Startup; Experimentation; Metrics; Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG); Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Disruption; Innovation and Invention; Digital Transformation

April 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Ping An: Pioneering the New Model of ‘Technology-driven Finance’

By: Feng Zhu, Anthony K. Woo and Nancy Hua Dai

In mid-December 2018, Peter Ma, Chairman and CEO of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. was considering whether the company should grow a fifth ecosystem of Smart City Services. Established in 1988, Ping An was one of the top 10 global financial... View Details

Keywords: Business Ecosystems; Fintech; Finance; Information Technology; Business Model; Expansion; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

August 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Technical Note

Congruence Model Note

By: Shon R. Hiatt and James Weber

This note describes the Congruence Model, a method by which an organization can assess whether its building blocks (critical tasks, formal organizational arrangements, people, and culture) are aligned (congruent) with its strategy. The model postulates that... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Business Processes; Alignment

April 2024
Case

Cyrus: Turning a Traditional Business Model on Its Head (A)

By: James Heskett

The loss of the lease at their Michelin-starred Cyrus 1.0 in Sonoma County, California gives the partners an opportunity to shut down and rework a “broken” business model, one with labor intensive experiences six or seven nights a week, high burnout, high... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Retention; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leasing; Work-Life Balance; Strategic Planning; Loss; Profit; Working Conditions; California

January 2021
Case

Bespoken Spirits: Disrupting Distilling

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

On October 7, 2020, Bespoken Spirits publicly announced it had received $2.6 million of seed funding for its “sustainable maturation process,” a process that could produce award-winning whiskeys in just days rather than years using a novel technology and data science. ... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Cash Flow; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Brands and Branding; Business Model; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry; United States; California

Research Summary

Models of Success

By: Myra M. Hart

Myra Hart is conducting research on the career and personal paths that Harvard Business School alumnae pursue over the course of their lives. She is developing programs to encourage and support the creation of dynamic and multi-facted models of success. These programs... View Details

September 9, 2024
Article

Ten Questions for a Winning Climate-transition Business Strategy

By: George Serafeim

The move to a low-carbon economy will create opportunities for innovation and growth. To make the most of them, leaders must understand the challenges they could face along the way. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Organizational Transformations; Business Model Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Climate Change; Transformation; Leadership; Business Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Change Management; Entrepreneurship

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October 2001 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Centagenetix (A): Building a Business Model for Genetic Longevity

Describes a start-up company seeking to exploit population genetic data from long-lived, healthy people. The company must address legal, financial, ethical, and personal issues among its team to launch the company. View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Genetics; Business Startups; Biotechnology Industry

spring 2002
Article

Foundations for Growth: How to Identify and Build Disruptive New Businesses

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Mark W. Johnson and Darrell K. Rigby

Keywords: Growth and Development; Disruption; Business Ventures

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March 2019
Module Note

The Entrepreneurial Manager, Module 3: Operating the Business Model

By: Stig Leschly, Mark Roberge and Christopher T. Stanton

August 2004
Article

A Function-Centered Model of Interest Assessment for Business Careers

By: Timothy Butler and James Waldroop

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Interests; Surveys

May 2016 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model

By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride as opposed to the 20-30%... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Transportation; Business Startups; Business Model; Transportation Industry; Boston

2024
Working Paper

Case Studies of the Emulation of Chinese Entrepreneurial Business Models

By: Josh Lerner, Junxi Liu, Jacob Moscona and David Yang

This working paper presents four short case studies of emerging market businesses whose founders emulated Chinese firms. These examples are part of a more systematic pattern, documented extensively in Lerner et al. (2024), in which businesses developed in China were... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Business Ventures