Publications

15 Jul 2015
News

Bring Your Own Bag, Treat Yourself to Ice Cream

April 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Biotechnology Strategies in 1992

Describes the strategies of biotechnology companies which face similar uncertainties and illustrates different types of strategic responses to uncertainty. Each firm faces the strategic issues of which end-use industries to choose, how broad their product line should... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Business Strategy; Biotechnology Industry

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19 Jan 2021
Video

Sunil Bharti Mittal

Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, discusses entering the telecommunications industry by creating India’s first pushbutton phones in the early 1980s as a result of India banning the import of generators – his previous business. In 1992, he... View Details

August 2023
Case

BYD, China, and Global Electric Vehicle Rivalry

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Max Hancock

In 2023, BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker, surpassed Tesla to become the world's best-selling EV brand. BYD began selling mobile phone batteries in 1995, acquired a license to sell vehicles in 2002, and spent two decades building its EV brand, growing its... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Vertical Integration; Market Participation; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Electronics Industry; China; Europe; United States; Japan; South Korea

October 2017 (Revised April 2019)
Case

Data Breach at Equifax

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Quinn Pitcher and Jonah S. Goldberg

The case discusses the events leading up to the massive data breach at Equifax, one of the three U.S. credit reporting companies, the organizational and governance issues that contributed to the breach, and the consequences of the breach. The case supplement provides... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Information Management; Cybersecurity; Technology Industry; United States

December 2011
Case

Keurig: Confidential Information for Negotiation with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Shikhar Ghosh and James K. Sebenius

Case provides confidential information for students assuming the role of senior executives of Keurig, a startup that has developed an innovative "portion pack" coffee brewing solution, in a negotiation to license technology to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR). The... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Food and Beverage Industry

April 2024
Teaching Plan

Seeds of Innovation: GALY’s Quest to Cultivate the Future of Agriculture in the Lab

By: George Serafeim, Michael Norris and ZeSean Ali

This Teaching Plan for the case “Seeds of Innovation: GALY’s Quest to Cultivate the Future of Agriculture in the Lab,” HBS No. 124-017, and its related products, serves to help faculty deepen students’ comprehension of business issues and energize classroom discussion.... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

August 2011 (Revised November 2017)
Case

Adaptive Engineering, LLC

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

The owner and CEO of Adaptive Engineering was facing an important decision: should he focus on rebuilding its core professional services business which had generated significant revenue and cash flow over the past several years, or should he focus on developing and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Making; Service Industry; Technology Industry

April 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Black Duck Software

By: Constance E. Bagley and David Lane

Black Duck Software involves a venture-backed start-up that converted software developers' concerns about violating copyright licensing agreements or open source protocols into an opportunity to help firms use technology to better manage their compliance efforts.... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Law; Open Source Distribution; Applications and Software; Business Startups; Copyright

May 2014
Supplement

RCA: Color Television and the Department of Justice (B)

By: Willy C. Shih and Gregory Dieterich

This case is a supplement to 614-072, which examines the early history of the color television receiver market, and the global consequences of an historic 1958 consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice that opened RCA's patents to licensing by domestic... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Patents; Rights; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Business History; Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Communications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Electronics Industry; United States; Japan

June 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

fortu PowerCell GmbH

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman, Vincent Dessain, Monika Stachowiak and Anders Sjoman

Describes the financing, strategy, and growth decisions facing fortu, a young German battery company. The company is contemplating a facility in East Germany, where state subsidies make the finances appealing. A sudden offer to license fortu technology for application... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Battery Industry; Germany

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21 Jan 2021
Video

Y. V. Reddy

Y.V. Reddy, Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, reflects on India’s balance of payments crisis in 1991, during which he headed the BoP division within the Ministry of Finance. He describes the three main features of the reform process: removing the License... View Details

October 1995
Case

Johnson-Grace: March 1994

Johnson-Grace is a cash-strapped start-up company negotiating a licensing agreement with America OnLine (AOL), a leading provider of on-line services in the United States. The Johnson-Grace technology would enable AOL to transmit visual images to its customers more... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Online Technology; Negotiation; Business Startups