Publications

August 2020
Supplement

Luckin Coffee (B): Revelations of Fraud

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes revelations of fraud at Luckin Coffee, beginning with an anonymous report in January 2020 and continuing with the company’s admission in April 2020 that it had inflated its revenues by 2.2 billion RMB ($310 million), almost half its reported... View Details

Keywords: Fraud; Corporate Misconduct; Business Earnings; Financial Statements; Financial Condition; Stocks; Financial Management; Profit; Revenue; Price; Food; Lawfulness; Crime and Corruption; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Asia; China

01 Oct 2014
What Do You Think?

Is Too Much Focus a Problem?

"fail to consider or know how to recognize what is outside their industry that is impacting their business (such as) customers who are buying their goods but don't fit the target profile, or alternative (product) uses Focus has a... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Web

Introducing One-Step Photography - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

New Medium Medium of Artistic Expression A NOBLE PROTOTYPE OF INDUSTRY Harvard Business School and Polaroid Innovation and Entrepreneurship TIMELINE POLAROID FILMS RESEARCH LINKS Digital Archival Resources Archival Collections... View Details

February 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Tire City, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester

A small, rapidly growing retail distributor of automotive tires must present a set of forecasted financial statements to a bank in order to obtain a five-year loan. Expected growth rates given in the case and historical financial ratios derived from recent financial... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Forecasting and Prediction; Financing and Loans; Price; Supply Chain; Distribution Industry; Distribution Industry

03 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 3

doubled effort within the competitive regime and increased effort by roughly half in the cooperative regime, while accounting for incentives. Our experimental approach and results indicate the importance of View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

April 2017 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Making Target the Target: Boycotts and Corporate Political Activity

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Victor Wu

Through the challenges facing Target, the case examines ways in which corporations can become involved in political and legislative debates and processes, ranging from campaign contributions to lobbying to political activism. In 2016, Target CEO Brian Cornell must... View Details

Web

Commercialization of the Polarizer - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

charismatic style of presentation along with Polaroid's inviting advertising literature and product packaging bolstered sales. The company's colorful, easy-to-read promotional kits for its glare-free desk lamps, crafted by industrial... View Details

Web

Business Economics Online Course | HBS Online

4 Markets Apply market principles to analyze industries in which no traditional market functions. Highlights The Concept of Market Equilibrium Internet versus Traditional Retail Prediction Markets Show Hide Details Concepts Market... View Details

12 Nov 2019
Research & Ideas

Corporate Innovation Increasingly Benefits from Government Research

spending. “If more inventions are building on federal grants, it suggests that support is becoming more important to research generally.” Since then, corporate spending has continued to rise, while government funding has leveled off. By 2016, businesses View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

January 2021 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Dick's Sporting Goods: Getting Out Of The Gun Business (A)

By: George A. Riedel

Dick's Sporting Goods was one of the top five retailers of a range of firearms in the US. Over the last several years and specifically following the Parkland shooting of 2018, Ed Stack, the CEO and chairman, had wrestled with the question of their role as a leading... View Details

Keywords: Gun Policy; Gun Violence; Sporting Goods; Sport; Human Behavior; Violence; Ethics; Decision Making; Social Issues; Corporate Accountability; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; United States

October 2021 (Revised October 2022)
Case

The Opioid Settlement and Controversy Over CEO Pay at AmerisourceBergen

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

In 2020, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, a Fortune 50 company in the drug distribution industry, agreed to settle thousands of lawsuits filed nationwide against the company for its opioid distribution practices that critics alleged had contributed to the nationwide... View Details

19 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

Rethinking Company Loyalty

their bosses' boss, and career coaches to discuss career-path possibilities at the company. "These meetings are separate from performance reviews," says Grantham. According to Grantham, one staff accountant at CHELCO recently... View Details

Keywords: by Lauren Keller Johnson

August 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Luckin Coffee (A): Caffeine-fueled Growth?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the founding of Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee in 2017 and its path to surpassing Starbucks as the largest coffee chain in China (by number of stores) in 2019. Unlike Starbucks stores, which were designed to be welcoming “third places” for... View Details

07 Nov 2012
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Sir Alex Ferguson--Managing Manchester United

the heart of his long-run success” Ferguson's career indeed is an impressive feat. Look around for leading executives in any industry who have managed to succeed with the same firm at the highest levels for nearly three decades.... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Sports; Entertainment & Recreation

November 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Natura Cosméticos, S.A.

Rodolfo Guttilla, Director of Corporate Affairs for Natura Cosméticos S.A. (Natura), prepared for a meeting with key stakeholders to discuss the future of integrated reporting at Natura. A cosmetics company with a strong brand, robust growth in international and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Decision Making; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Brazil