Publications

September 2023
Supplement

Design and Evaluation of Targeted Interventions

By: Eva Ascarza

Targeted interventions serve as a pivotal tool in business strategy, streamlining decisions for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness. This note delves into two central facets of such interventions: first, the design of potent decision guidelines, or targeting... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Design; Business Strategy; Policy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

July 2016
Case

Spotify

By: Anita Elberse and Alexandre de Pfyffer

In November 2014, Spotify's chief content officer Ken Parks learns that record label Big Machine Records has requested the immediate removal of superstar artist Taylor Swift's entire catalogue from Spotify's music streaming service. Is it time for Spotify to reconsider... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Marketing; Superstar; Music; Entertainment Marketing; Media; Digital Technology; Creative Industries; Product Portfolio Management; General Management; Management; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Open Source Distribution; Creativity; Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Music Industry

August 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

C3.ai—Driven to Succeed

By: Robert Simons and George Gonzalez

CEO Tom Siebel navigates his artificial intelligence (ai) startup through a series of pivots, market expansions, and even an elephant attack to become a leading platform ad service provider. The case describes his unusual management approach emphasizing employee... View Details

April 2019
Supplement

Upwork in 2019

By: David Yoffie and Allison M. Ciechanover

Stephane Kasriel, the CEO of Upwork, the leading platform for freelance labor, updates his progress on how to redesign its business model in 2019. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Platform; Platform Businesses; Technology; Business Model; Digital Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Labor

14 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

You're Right! You Are Working Longer and Attending More Meetings

administration in the HBS Strategy Unit. “It’s very taxing, to be honest.” Shifting to remote work at the start of the pandemic stripped away whatever was left of the elusive 9-to-5 business day and replaced... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

21 Nov 2013
News

Case Study: BlackBerry and Thorsten Heins

which was facing numerous challenges: a rapidly decreasing market share, falling revenues, and cratering investor faith. Heins went about cutting costs—including the layoff of more than 5,000 workers in May 2012—scrapped plans to make the... View Details

Keywords: Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises

January 2025
Article

Overcoming Barriers to Employee Ownership: Insights from Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

By: John Guzek and Ashley Whillans

This research investigates the limited adoption of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) among small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) in the U.S. Through interviews with 30 SMB owners across various industries, we identify the key barriers to ESOP adoption as lack of... View Details

Keywords: Profit Sharing; Employee Ownership; Management Practices and Processes; Compensation and Benefits; Small Business; Adoption; Employees

Find at Harvard

Read Now

14 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

The Widening Rift Between Corporations and Society

new digital technologies with a new logic of capitalism. What kinds of businesses and services do you think could be first in line? A: Exactly how distributed capitalism will... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

07 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis

marketing communications for the first and second quarter of the year. What’s the right strategy for a CMO during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic? During the week of March 23, 2020, Edelman, a global... View Details

Keywords: by Jill Avery and Richard Edelman

August 2015 (Revised August 2015)
Case

Hoag Orthopedic Institute

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Jonathan Warsh

Two groups of orthopedic surgeons form a joint venture with a community hospital to establish Hoag Orthopedic Institute, a for-profit hospital and two ambulatory service centers. By controlling and integrating all aspects of the patients' medical treatment, the... View Details

Keywords: Outcomes Measurement; Bundled Payment; Health Care; Activity-based Costing And Management; Measurement and Metrics; Activity Based Costing and Management; Competitive Strategy; Medical Specialties; Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Health Industry

11 Jul 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research, July 11

July–August 2017 Harvard Business Review Finding the Platform in Your Product: Four Strategies That Can Reveal Hidden Value By: Hagiu, Andrei, and Elizabeth J. Altman Abstract—Five of the 10 most valuable... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Research Summary

Overview

By: Roberto Verganti

Roberto’s research focuses on how to create innovations that are meaningful for people, for society, and for their creators. He explores how leaders and organizations generate radically new visions, and make those visions come real. His studies lie at the intersection... View Details

Keywords: Integrated Design; Strategy; Design Thinking; Innovation; Artificial Intelligence; Design; Technology; Leadership; Innovation Strategy

March 2022
Teaching Note

The Robin Hood Army (A) and (B)

By: Susanna Gallani and Brian Trelstad

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 119-007 and 120-017. View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Expansion; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Delivery; Social Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; India; Pakistan

June 2008
Case

Brigham and Women's Hospital: Shapiro Cardiovascular Center

By: Michael E. Porter, Robert S. Huckman and Jeremy Lance Friese

Considers the situation facing Gary Gottlieb, president of Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), prior to the opening of BWH's integrated cardiovascular center. This case allows students to develop an appreciation of the strategic, financial, organizational, clinical,... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Service Delivery; Organizational Design; Integration; Health Industry

December 1999 (Revised November 2000)
Background Note

Pricing and Market Making on the Internet

By: Robert J. Dolan and Youngme E. Moon

Considers the impact of the Internet on how market exchanges will take place. Discusses the role of shopping agents and alternatives to fixed prices such as negotiations, auctions, and exchanges. View Details

Keywords: Price; Marketing Strategy; Auctions; Digital Platforms; Negotiation; Internet and the Web

November 2007 (Revised August 2014)
Case

D2Hawkeye: Growing the Medical IT Enterprise

By: Robert F. Higgins, Rosie O'Donnell, Sophie LaMontagne and Brent Kazan

In mid-March 2007, Chris Kryder sat in his office and thought about how to best finance his company's growth. Over the previous five years as founder and CEO of D2Hawkeye, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based healthcare analytics company, Kryder had grown the firm from a... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Development; Strategic Positioning; Strategic Vision; Venture Capital; Small Business; Investment; Growth Management; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Financial Strategy; Business Strategy; Service Industry; Service Industry; Waltham