Publications

December 2009 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Phreesia: The Patient Intake Company

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Sunaina Yarlagadda and Brian L. Walker

How should the co-founders of an organization that provides patient sign-in and billing services scale their company after five years of successfully targeting small private physician practices? Phreesia had deployed a direct mail and sales force strategy that resulted... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Social Entrepreneurship; Revenue; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

02 Nov 2020
What Do You Think?

Is Antitrust Just a Quaint Notion in the Digital Age?

etc.” Several responses questioned whether there was damage to the consumer, often at issue in antitrust. As Shoshanna Zuboff pointed out, in “free” high-tech services, the consumer benefits and resulting satisfaction are highly visible; the costs are not.” Nick C... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Service; Service; Service; Service; Service; Service

14 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 14

accelerated economic growth since adopting an outward-oriented market strategy. The services sector has largely driven GOP while manufacturing has expanded and foreign direct investment has become robust.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Analyst Disagreement, Forecast Bias and Stock Returns

Keywords: by Anna Scherbina; Financial Services

June 2005 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Hale and Dorr (A)

Highlights how word-of-mouth is crucial in the acquisition of new customers. Specifically, it shows the existence of both internal (to the firm) and external markets for customer leads. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communications; Social and Collaborative Networks; Sales; Service Industry

March 2005
Case

Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), The

By: George C. Chacko, Anders Sjoman, Daniela Beyersdorfer and George Robert Nelson

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBEO) must decide how to respond to new competition in the market for financial options. Options have typically been a very liquid asset class, despite the fact that many single-name options are listed on the CBOE, the second largest... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Financial Liquidity; Financial Markets; Financial Services Industry; Chicago

April 1998 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Hambrecht & Quist

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Nicole Tempest

Hambrecht & Quist (H&Q), an investment bank headquartered in San Francisco, has a very unique culture relative to its Wall Street counterparts. Firm members and even competitors describe the culture as entrepreneurial, team-driven, non-bureaucratic, and... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Investment Banking; Growth and Development Strategy; Emerging Markets; Organizational Culture; Competitive Advantage; Banking Industry; San Francisco

2019
Chapter

From Coast to Hinterland: Fiscal State Formation in British and French West Africa, c. 1880–1960

By: Ewout Frankema and Marlous van Waijenburg

This chapter contrasts and compares the ways different colonial states in West Africa developed local fiscal capacity. We show that per capita revenues were higher in the more commercialised coastal export economies than in remote parts of the interior. We argue that... View Details

Keywords: Fiscal Capacity; Public Debt; French West Africa; British West Africa; Geography; History; Africa

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02 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Where Does Apple Go From Here?

Apple Computer knows how to make headlines. The company is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh and is enjoying the fruits of its launch into the digital entertainment business. In its December quarter, Apple sold 730,000 iPods. And the iTunes music... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

January 1998 (Revised September 2001)
Background Note

A Note on Angel Financing

By: Paul A. Gompers

Discusses the economics of the private equity market and recent efforts by the U.S. Small Business Administration to promote greater angel financing. View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Government and Politics; Financing and Loans; Financial Services Industry; United States

Winter 2013
Article

The New Patent Intermediaries: Platforms, Defensive Aggregators and Super-Aggregators

By: Andrei Hagiu and David B. Yoffie

The patent market consists mainly of privately negotiated, bilateral transactions, either sales or cross-licenses, between large companies. There is no eBay, Amazon, New York Stock Exchange, or Kelley's Blue Book equivalent for patents, and when buyers and sellers do... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Platforms; Intermediaries; Aggregator; Patents; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Distribution Channels

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05 Jul 2023
HBS Case

What Kind of Leader Are You? How Three Action Orientations Can Help You Meet the Moment

specific task at hand (e.g., an appreciation for broader market changes, competitor behaviors, or emergent industry trends). Relational. Relational leaders design a plan of action based on how others will perceive and be affected by the... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

October 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Transforming Singapore's Public Libraries (Abridged)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Roger H. Hallowell

The Singapore Public Library system was transformed from being mediocre at best to world class using information technology, progressive human-resources management, and marketing approaches unusual for government agencies. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Delivery; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Human Resources; Information Technology; Nonprofit Organizations; Public Administration Industry; Singapore

Web

Programs & Events - Alumni

to lead breakthrough change, capture and defend market opportunities, and sustain competitive advantage. Jun 22 22–27 JUN 2025 Executive Education HBS Campus Leading Professional Service Firms Develop... View Details

Brian J. Hall

Brian J. Hall is the Albert H. Gordon Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He served as the Unit Head for the Negotiation, Organizations and Markets (NOM) Unit for 14 years. Previously, he was an assistant professor of economics in the... View Details

Keywords: financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services; financial services

23 Apr 2008
Op-Ed

The Gap in the U.S. Treasury Recommendations

regulatory structure proposed by the Treasury would consist of three key parts. In addition to its role as the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve would act as a market stability regulator, focusing on systemic risk. It would take... View Details

Keywords: by Dwight Crane; Financial Services; Financial Services; Financial Services; Financial Services

October 1996 (Revised January 1997)
Case

Mt. Auburn Hospital

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Jaan Elias

In December of 1993, two of Boston's largest and best known hospitals, Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's, announced that they were setting aside their historic rivalry to form an alliance and build a regional health network. The announcement set off a wave... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Negotiation Offer; Alliances; Networks; Social Enterprise; Horizontal Integration; Health Industry; Boston