Publications

2001
Working Paper

Airbus vs. Boeing in Superjumbos: Credibility and Preemption

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Pankaj Ghemawat

In December 2000, Airbus formally committed to spend $12 billion to develop and launch a 555-seat superjumbo plane known as the A380. Prior to and after Airbus’ commitment, Boeing started and canceled several initiatives aimed at developing a “stretch jumbo” with... View Details

Keywords: Air Transportation; Product Development; Market Entry and Exit; Valuation; Game Theory

Read Now

February 1989 (Revised November 1991)
Case

Science Technology Co.--1985

By: Thomas R. Piper

The CEO of a U.S. electronics firm is assessing the financial forecasts and the financing plan prepared by the chief financial officer. Given the cyclicality of the industry and the volatility of the firm's performance, the CEO is unsure as to the usefulness of... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Change Management; Industry Growth; Forecasting and Prediction; Financial Strategy; Volatility; Electronics Industry

December 2020 (Revised March 2021)
Case

eXp Realty and the Virbela Platform

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Jan Bena, David Rowat and Emma Salomon

As he considered his plans for the future, Glenn Sanford, CEO of eXp World Holdings, Inc., faced an exciting conundrum. He had built the first all-remote real estate brokerage firm, eXp Realty, which had been growing exponentially and was thriving, even amidst the... View Details

Keywords: Real Estate; All Remote; Virtual Platform; Internet and the Web; Strategy; Decision Making; Resource Allocation; Digital Platforms; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry

April 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

eAccess, Ltd.

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Masako Egawa and Ariko Ota

The managers of eAccess, Japan's third largest provider of digital subscriber line (DSL) service, must decide whether to enter the mobile communications business. Japan's mobile services are among the world's most expensive, and incumbent carriers' profits are high. To... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Diversification; Policy; Business Startups; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communications Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Japan

Find at Harvard

December 2002 (Revised January 2004)
Case

Basel II: Assessing the Default and Loss Characteristics of Project Finance Loans (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Aldo Sesia

In June 1999, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision announced plans to revise the capital standards for banks. The Basel Committee believed that project loans were significantly riskier than corporate loans and, therefore, warranted higher capital charges under... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Project Finance; Financing and Loans; Projects; Standards; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

14 Feb 2013
News

Wagaroo: A matching market for pet dogs from responsible sources

November 1999 (Revised June 2006)
Case

DLJdirect: "Putting Our Reputation Online"

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Gillian Morris

Online broker DLJdirect faced two decisions during the fall of 1999: what customer segments should it target and how much should it spend on marketing? Unlike its competitors, who focused either on day traders or more mainstream investors, DLJdirect differentiated its... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Cost Management; Business Plan; Research and Development; Customers; Budgets and Budgeting; Online Advertising; Internet; Financial Services Industry

David E. Bell is a Baker Foundation Professor at HBS. He has taught marketing many times in the MBA program including as course head.

During his career at HBS, David has taught a variety of other courses to both MBAs and executives, including risk... View Details

Keywords: agribusiness; agriculture; apparel; e-commerce industry; fashion; food; food processing; grocery; insurance industry; marketing industry; retailing

June 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Inditex: 2012

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In the 11 years since its public offering, Inditex and its flagship brand, Zara, had expanded into 86 countries, achieved $21.6 billion in revenue, and become the largest specialty apparel retailer in the world. In marked contrast to the general malaise of the Bolsa de... View Details

Keywords: Fashion; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Fashion Industry; Spain

February 2011 (Revised November 2013)
Case

The Cheezburger Network

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Cheezburger Network was a Web publisher of humorous, user-contributed content, using social media for dissemination, and selling advertising against the traffic of 1 billion page views per quarter. In January 2011, it raised $30 million in venture capital for the... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Digital Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Venture Capital; Emerging Markets; Strategic Planning; Sales; Internet and the Web; Publishing Industry; Web Services Industry

18 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

Time to Rethink the Corporate Tax System?

focused on the issue, corporations are turning the tax function into a profit center, says Desai, an expert on international corporate and public finance. In this e-mail interview, he discusses new ways businesses are looking to shrink... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

September 2003 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Virgin Mobile USA: Pricing for the Very First Time

Dan Schulman, the CEO of Virgin Mobile USA, must develop a pricing strategy for a new wireless phone service targeted toward consumers in their teens and twenties, many of whom are believed to have poor credit quality and uneven usage patterns. Contrary to conventional... View Details

Keywords: Price; Market Entry and Exit; Wireless Technology; Telecommunications Industry; United States

12 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 12, 2019

Reorientation in New Ventures By: McDonald, Rory, and Cheng Gao Abstract—New ventures often experience deviations from their plans that oblige them to reorient in pursuit of better fit between their evolving products and their target... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

2015
Other Teaching and Training Material

Marketing Reading: Digital Marketing

By: Sunil Gupta and Joseph Davin

Digital technology has changed how consumers search for information, interact with each other, and buy products. The popularization of these technologies has made it possible for companies to have a better understanding of their customers' decision journey and... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Buzz Marketing; Internet Marketing; Marketing; Marketing Management; Social Media; Social Networks; Viral Marketing; Word-of-mouth Marketing; Digital; Internet; Marketing Channels; Marketing Reference Programs; Online Advertising; Advertising Industry

September 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Hearthside Homes

By: Jason R. Barro, Brian J. Hall and Aaron Zimmerman

Investigates the "controllability problem" inherent in bonus systems. Ideally, an incentive system accurately measures performance in areas that the individual can control. But most measures are either too broad, including factors outside the influence of the employee,... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Housing; Performance Evaluation; Construction Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Real Estate Industry

2011
Case

Wrapitup

By: W. Earl Sasser

A restaurant chain based in California offers made-to-order sandwich wraps using fresh, healthy ingredients. The founders of the company take a very active role in day-to-day business and tightly control every aspect of the restaurant operation from hiring store... View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Governance Controls; Revenue; Employee Relationship Management; Planning; Customer Satisfaction; Problems and Challenges; Profit; Change Management; Compensation and Benefits; Leadership Style; Service Industry; California