Publications

January 2016 (Revised July 2017)
Case

HourlyNerd

By: Jill Avery and Joseph Fuller

HourlyNerd, a two-sided marketplace platform for matching freelance consultants with small companies looking for help, struggles to define a growth plan for the future. The company, started as a class project in HBS' FIELD 3 course, is assessing three growth paths:... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Lean Startup; Two Sided Markets; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Business Startups; Venture Capital; Consulting Industry; United States

31 Jul 2007
First Look

First Look: July 31, 2007

Collaborative Management Research, edited by A. B. Shani, N. Adler, N. Mohrman, W. A. Pasmore and B. Stymne. Sage Publications, Inc. 2007 Abstract The gap between theory and... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Calera Corporation

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Thomas J. Steenburgh and Lauren Barley

Brent Constantz, founder, CEO, and president of Calera Corporation, felt a surge of optimism as he gazed at the recently commissioned prototype flue gas processing line at Calera's R&D facility in Moss Landing, California. It was late May 2009, and Calera was an... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Product Design; Product Development; Environmental Sustainability; Commercialization; Green Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2012
Supplement

Foro Energy (B)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter, William A. Sahlman and James McQuade

Foro Energy developed proprietary and patent-pending fiber-laser technologies that could disrupt existing processes and services for the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. These breakthrough laser technologies were protected by a strong intellectual... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Technologies; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Development Stage Enterprises; Entrepreneurial Management; Entrepreneurs; Petroleum; Natural Gas; High Technology; Energy; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Intellectual Property; Energy Industry

September 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Gain Liquidity

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld and Evan Richardson

Samir Kaul, a Partner at Khosla Ventures, looked out his office window. It was late June, 2011, and like almost every day in Menlo Park, the sun was shining. Kaul was reflecting on what had been a very positive 10 months in the venture capital business. Over that span,... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Product Development; Investment Portfolio; Financial Services Industry

January 2014
Case

Steven Carpenter at Cake Financial (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

Steven Carpenter reflects on the successes and failures of his recent venture, Cake Financial. Carpenter had just sold the four-year-old startup and was at work on a new business plan. But first, he wanted to understand why Cake Financial, a service that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Internet; Financial Services Industry; Web Services Industry

May 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Background Note

Managing Talent Pipelines in the Future of Work

By: William R. Kerr, Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman and Carl Kreitzberg

In the face of a rapidly-changing economy, organizations that wish to compete in the future of work must develop strategies for acquiring, retaining, and developing talent for their organizations. This primer reviews the major trends shaping jobs, workplaces, and... View Details

Keywords: Future Of Work; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Demographics; Labor; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Quality; Supply Chain

March 2012 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Foro Energy (A)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman and James McQuade

Foro Energy developed proprietary and patent-pending fiber-laser technologies that could disrupt existing processes and services for the exploration and production of oil and natural gas. These breakthrough laser technologies were protected by a strong intellectual... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Entrepreneurship; United States

2020
White Paper

Building the On-Demand Workforce

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Manjari Raman, James Palano, Allison Bailey, Nithya Vaduganathan, Elizabeth Kaufman, Renée Laverdière and Sibley Lovett

The right talent, in the right place, at the right time, is the equation for success in today’s world. In an era of technological change, demographic shifts, and economic uncertainty, companies can enhance their ability to compete by building a flexible... View Details

Keywords: Future Of Work; On-demand Economy; Workforce; On-demand Workforce; Competitive Advantage; Human Capital; Talent and Talent Management; Recruitment

Read Now

December 2018
Case

Corporate Transformation at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Amy C. Edmondson, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Tonia Labruyere

When Stefan Oschmann became CEO and chairman of the executive board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in 2016, the company had started its transformation from a mid-tier traditional German industry player to a global modern science and technology player. The... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance With Family Ownership; Transformation; Change Management; Restructuring; Corporate Governance; Family Ownership

March 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

FREEJ

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Firas Alkhatib

Mohammed Harib placed his phone on the desk in front of him. As he sat back in his chair and looked out the window, he began to take stock of how his life had taken such a dramatic path over the last few years. Life was good for the founder and CEO of Lammtara... View Details

Keywords: Animation Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Opportunities; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Arabian Peninsula; United Arab Emirates

March 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Background Note

Seeing What's on Red Auerbach's Mind

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and John T. Gourville

Analysis of an interview with Red Auerbach, HBR No. 87201. Alan M. Webber, who conducted the interview, probed for the lessons that Auerbach has learned from a long and productive career coaching and managing the Boston Celtics, a professional basketball team in the... View Details

Keywords: Markets; Research; Sports; Product Development; Communication Intention and Meaning; Sports Industry

February 2015 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Solar Geoengineering

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Stephanie Puzio

On December 8th 2013, as Dr. David Keith was leaving the set of the Colbert Show, he couldn't help but replay the interview over and over in his mind. Did he actually get his point of view on solar geoengineering across or had he just added to the stereotype that he... View Details

Keywords: Geoengineering; Carbon; Carbon Emissions; Energy; Nuclear; Nuclear Energy; De-extinction; Climate Change; Engineering; Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Invention; Energy Sources; Green Technology Industry; Energy Industry

18 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 18

skilled workers, and getting distribution for Boumi products in major markets such as Europe and the United States. Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/112029-PDF-ENG Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Gain Liquidity Joseph... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 17, 2007

Barriers to Action Author:A. Hoffman and M. H. Bazerman Publication:In Organizations and the Sustainability Mosaic, edited by S. Sharma, M. Starik and B. Husted. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2007 Abstract At its... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

06 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 6

Which U.S. Market Interactions Affect CEO Pay? Evidence from UK Companies Authors: Joseph Gerakos, Joseph Piotroski, and Suraj Srinivasan Publication: Management Science (forthcoming) Abstract This paper... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 18

While many texts teach the theories and frameworks of management education, Managerial Accounting goes further by covering the capabilities and techniques necessary for effective management practice, as well as fostering attitudes that... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

04 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 4

PublicationsWhen Does a Platform Create Value by Limiting Choice? Authors:Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Hanna Hałaburda Publication:Journal of Economics & Management Strategy (forthcoming) Abstract We present a theory for why it... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

February 2020
Supplement

Managing Blackout at Aluminum Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) (B)

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Gamze Yücaoğlu and Youssef Abdel Aal

The case opens in 2017 as Tim Murray, CEO of Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), the largest single-site aluminum smelter in the world outside China and a major contributor to the Bahraini economy, was contemplating the recovery options as the company was facing the most severe... View Details

Keywords: Aluminum Industry; General Management; Cultural Change; Change Management; Crisis Management; Decision Making; Organizational Culture; Safety; Leadership; Emerging Markets; Bahrain; Middle East