Publications

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October 2012 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Kleiner-Perkins and Genentech: When Venture Capital Met Science

By: Felda Hardymon and Tom Nicholas

Genentech is a rare success story in the biotechnology industry. Hundreds of billions of dollars of venture capital have been invested without the expected transformational effects. Established in 1976, Genentech was to develop the new science of recombinant DNA into... View Details

Keywords: Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Innovation and Invention; Entrepreneurship; Information Technology; Science; Biotechnology Industry; United States

June 1999 (Revised August 2004)
Case

The American Basketball League: The Last Chapter

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Elizabeth (Lisa) Smyth

Provides information on the demise of the American Basketball League (ABL) in December 1998. Reviews the League's attendance, television activity, and competitive positioning versus the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In conjunction with earlier cases... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Failure; Finance; Sports Industry

Find at Harvard

Program

Private Equity and Venture Capital

Summary Tax reforms, regulatory uncertainty, and global market volatility are creating a more complex investment environment, but the outlook for private equity remains strong. This investment management course provides the frameworks you... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Finance

Program

Finance for Senior Executives

compensation incentives, and play a bigger role in helping your company optimize its financial resources and strengthen its bottom line. Details Apply strategic financial insight Make informed strategic decisions regarding capital... View Details

March 2005 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Brocade: Launching the Multiprotocol Router

By: Elie Ofek and Mamoon Hamid

Brocade management is preparing for the launch of a new technology for data storage. The multiprotocol router improves on existing technology and has the potential to change the way firms design their data storage networks. Students must determine the target market for... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Price; Product Launch; Partners and Partnerships; Segmentation; Information Infrastructure; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry

October 1987 (Revised October 1992)
Case

Black & Decker Corp.: Household Products Group, Brand Transition

This rewritten version differs from Black & Decker Corp.: Household Products Group (A1) in two ways: 1) It has an explicit decision focus. Homa must decide on a program to transfer the Black & Decker name to GE small appliances; and 2) The detailed information... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry

30 May 2019
Working Paper Summaries

US Antitrust Law and Policy in Historical Perspective

Keywords: by Laura Phillips Sawyer; Education

17 May 2017
Research & Ideas

Minorities Who 'Whiten' Job Resumes Get More Interviews

opportunity to recognize this issue as a pinch point, so they can do something about it.” DeCelles co-authored a September 2016 article about the two-year study in Administrative Science Quarterly called Whitened Resumes: Race and Self-Presentation in the Labor View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Program

Strategy: Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage

Summary In the fight for market leadership and the continuous drive toward improved returns, your company needs to devise an effective strategy—and execute it flawlessly. This program prepares you to tackle or lead that challenge in all... View Details

Program

Senior Executive Leadership Program—Middle East

who can deliver value in a global context, drive new levels of innovation, and build accountable, high-performance organizations. Key Benefits The Senior Executive Leadership Program—Middle East prepares you to make the bold market moves... View Details

Web

Live from Klarman Hall - Alumni

Data Science Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Nicolò Fusi General Manager Microsoft Research Sham Kakade Co-Director Harvard University Kempner Institute Armen Mkrtchyan Origination Partner Flagship AI and Marketing Join Sir... View Details

January 2017 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Fitbit

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Christine Snively and Sarah Mehta

In 2019, Fitbit lost its leadership in the wearable sensor market to Apple and to cheaper alternatives.
Why did it lose its market position?
How will the proposed acquisition affect it and Google? View Details

Keywords: Wearable Sensors; Smart Watches In Health Care; Google Acquisition; Health Care and Treatment; Information Technology; Acquisition

March 1999 (Revised August 2005)
Case

Pandesic: The Challenges of a New Business Venture (A)

By: Joseph L. Bower and Clark Gilbert

Pandesic is a joint venture of SAP and Intel designed to develop turnkey information architectures for marketspace companies. The case explores the problems of developing the joint venture from the perspective of its general management. Describes the development of its... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Design; Information; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing Communications; Performance

December 2023 (Revised August 2024)
Supplement

Microsoft Azure and the Cloud Wars (B)

By: Andy Wu and Matt Higgins

By 2023, the global market for cloud infrastructure had consolidated into a three-horse race. As of Q4 2022, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google collectively accounted for 66% of the global market. AWS had a market share of 33%, Microsoft Azure had 23%, and Google Cloud had... View Details

Keywords: Microsoft; Artificial Intelligence; AI; Competition; Information Infrastructure; Market Participation

11 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 11, 2009

profit from their private information relating to a specific financial reporting element, goodwill impairments, prior to its incorporation by the equity market or recognition by the firm's accounting system.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2020
Working Paper

Overcoming the Cold Start Problem of CRM Using a Probabilistic Machine Learning Approach

By: Eva Ascarza

The success of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs ultimately depends on the firm's ability to understand consumers' preferences and precisely capture how these preferences may differ across customers. Only by understanding customer heterogeneity, firms can... View Details

Keywords: Customer Management; Targeting; Deep Exponential Families; Probabilistic Machine Learning; Cold Start Problem; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Consumer Behavior; Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods; Retail Industry