Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(696)
- Faculty Publications (153)
- March 2016 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
Hello Alfred: Come Home Happy
By: Joseph B. Fuller and Carin-Isabel Knoop
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
- March 2016 (Revised February 2021)
- Case
Lotus F1 Team
By: Stefan Thomke, Nikolaos Trichakis, Jérôme Lenhardt and Daniela Beyersdorfer
Describes the detailed inner workings of a high performance Formula One (F1) racing team. It shows how Lotus F1 Team has been able to battle bigger rivals in a very fast-moving, highly regulated, and ultra-competitive environment, where winning races can come down to... View Details
- 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
- December 2015 (Revised February 2016)
- Case
Ocado
By: José Alvarez, David E. Bell and Damien McLoughlin
In 2015, U.K.-based Ocado was the world's largest pure player in the online home-delivery grocery business and was gaining a growing share of the highly competitive U.K. grocery market. Ocado had made heavy investments in technology, including a highly automated... View Details
Keywords: Ocado; Grocery; Retail; Online Grocery; Supermarket; Delivery Models; Service Models; United Kingdom; Technology; Operations Management; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Marketing; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom
- November 2015 (Revised January 2017)
- Case
Uber: Changing the Way the World Moves
By: Youngme Moon
In 2015, Uber is building what may be the largest point-to-point transportation network of its kind; it is literally changing the way the world moves. But unlike traditional transportation logistics companies like FedEx, Uber has an incredibly lightweight... View Details
- June 2015 (Revised August 2018)
- Case
American Electric Power: Facing the Challenges of Distributed Generation
By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Hilary White
American Electric Power, like most utilities in the USA, is currently exposed to distributed generation and the problem of net-metering. Solar installations in particular have been heavily subsidized, by the state and by regulation, which does not allow grid operators... View Details
Keywords: Electricity; Utilities; Electric Power Generation; Net Metering; Distributed Generation; Disruptive Innovation; Energy Markets; Solar Power; Wind Power; Solar; Wind; Subsidies; Legislation; Regulation; Disruption; Energy; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Information Technology; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Utilities Industry; United States
- June 2015 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
Uber and Stakeholders: Managing a New Way of Riding
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Daniel Fox
By 2015, technological innovations—the smartphone and the advanced data connectivity that enabled it—created new opportunities for people to move around cities quickly and conveniently without owning a car, via car-sharing services like Zipcar or new ride-sharing... View Details
Keywords: Uber; Ride-sharing; Sharing Economy; Transportation Network Company; Leadership And Change Management; Stakeholder Management; Managing Change; Leadership; Regulation; Smartphones; Web-enabled Application; Disruptive Technology; Startup Management; Entrepreneurship; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Transportation; Mobile Technology; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry
- January 2015 (Revised October 2016)
- Case
onefinestay: Building a Luxury Experience in the Sharing Economy
By: Jill Avery, Anat Keinan and Liz Kind
onefinestay was a two-sided marketplace that offered high-end home rentals to travelers who sought a more authentic and local experience than a typical upscale hotel might provide. After five years of rapid growth, it was time to do a comprehensive analysis of the... View Details
Keywords: Luxury Goods; Brand Building; Brand Management; Hospitality; Hotels; Digital Marketing; Brand Positioning; Luxury Service; Airbnb; Sharing Economy; Collaborative Consumption; Disruptive Business Model; Travel; Alternatives To Hotel; Branding; Customer Service; Exceeding Consumer Expectations; Client Acquisition; Reputation Management; Word Of Mouth; 2-way Business Model; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Disruption; Business Model; Entrepreneurship; E-commerce; Accommodations Industry; Tourism Industry; Travel Industry; United Kingdom
- December 2014 (Revised August 2024)
- Case
HomeAway: Organizing the Vacation Rental Industry
By: Rory McDonald, Feng Zhu and Cheng Gao
In less than 10 years, cofounders Brian Sharples and Carl Shepherd had transformed HomeAway from just another Internet startup into the world's leading vacation-rental marketplace—a global online platform that links customers seeking vacation-home rentals to the... View Details
- September 2014 (Revised February 2015)
- Case
Pfizer and AstraZeneca: Marketing an Acquisition (A)
By: John A. Quelch and James Weber
In 2014, Pfizer proposed a friendly acquisition of AstraZeneca, but the AstraZeneca board resisted over price and strategy concerns. Was this good for pharmaceutical consumers? Pfizer, like pharmaceutical companies in general, faced difficulties in growing sales due to... View Details
- September 2014
- Supplement
HGRM (B): Launching Hoxell, a New IT Venture
By: Lynda M. Applegate, Gabriele Piccoli and Arnold Peinado
- August 2014
- Case
Netflix in 2011
By: Willy Shih and Stephen Kaufman
Reed Hastings founded Netflix to provide a home movie service that would do a better job satisfying customers than the traditional retail rental model. But as it encountered challenges it underwent several major strategy shifts, ultimately developing a business model... View Details
Keywords: Netflix; DVD; DVD-by-mail; Streaming; Online Entertainment; Online Video; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Business Model; Disruption; Operations; Service Operations; Entertainment; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Media; Strategy; Business or Company Management; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Technology; Technology Adoption; Technology Platform; Web; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States
- January 2014 (Revised October 2014)
- Case
Andreessen Horowitz
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Liz Kind
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a venture capital firm launched in 2009, has quickly broken into the VC industry's top ranks, in terms of its ability to invest in Silicon Valley's most promising startups. The case recounts the firm's history; describes its co-founders'... View Details
- March 2013 (Revised April 2014)
- Case
Barnes & Noble: Managing the E-Book Revolution
By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Kimball Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer
The case describes competition in the market for E-Books, and Barnes & Noble's Strategy in this industry. As a traditional retailer, B&N was challenged by the introduction of digital technologies that allow books to be published, distributed and sold to consumers... View Details
- January 2013 (Revised April 2013)
- Case
Microsoft Server & Tools
By: Marco Iansiti and Alain Serels
In 2011, Microsoft's Server & Tools Business (STB) was large, fast growing and highly profitable on the strength of traditional packaged product lines led by the Windows Server operating system. Even as the current packaged business was performing exceptionally well,... View Details
- September 2012
- Supplement
Industrial Metrology: Getting In-Line? (B)
By: Willy Shih
Rainer Ohnheiser, the President of Carl Zeiss's Business Group Industrial Metrology (IMT), was focused on the threat that in-line metrology posed to Carl Zeiss IMT's core business. Historically, coordinate measurement machines (CMMs) that employed tactile measurement... View Details
- 2012
- Working Paper
When Supply-Chain Disruptions Matter
By: William Schmidt and Ananth Raman
Supply-chain disruptions have a material effect on company value, but this impact can vary considerably. Thus, it is important for managers and investors to recognize the types of disruptions and the organizational factors that lead to the worst outcomes. Prior... View Details
- April 2012
- Case
Renesas Electronics and the Automotive Microcontroller Supply Chain (A)
By: Willy Shih and Margaret Pierson
The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan in March 2011 caused extensive damage to Renesas Electronics wafer fabrication facility, a critical link in the global automotive supply chain. Many OEMs sole-sourced customized microprocessors from the fab, so its... View Details
- March 22, 2012
- Article
Global Team Leaders Must Deliberately Create 'Moments'
By: Tsedal Neeley
Global teams face the challenge of having to operate with limited face-to-face contact and across vast distances, time zones, language backgrounds, and contexts, as well as cultural differences. In turn, these differences generate disruptions to team cohesion and top... View Details
- December 2011
- Case
Roger Caracappa: Package Deals for the Estée Lauder Companies
Roger Caracappa must negotiate a cost-saving, innovative proposal from a potential French supplier that could displace the otherwise satisfactory, long-time incumbent supplier. Shortly after being promoted to executive vice president of the Estée Lauder Companies with... View Details