Publications

October 2024
Case

GLIN Impact Capital

By: Ethan Rouen and Akiko Saito

In 2024, the co-founders of the venture capital fund GLIN Impact Capital face a critical inflection point as they consider launching a second, significantly larger impact investment fund in Japan. Founded in 2021 by the three Harvard Business School alumni, GLIN is one... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Power and Influence; Japan

October 2020
Supplement

OpenIDEO (B)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Anne-Laure Fayard, Manos Gkeredakis and Jin Hyun Paik

In the midst of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was unfolding, OpenIDEO—an online open innovation platform focused on design-driven solutions to social issues—rapidly launched a new challenge to improve access to health information, empower communities to stay safe... View Details

January 2016
Teaching Note

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.

By: Sunil Gupta and Margaret Rodriguez

In September 2010, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (T2) reported an unexpectedly high third quarter profit of $5.92 million, driven largely by the success of its video game, Red Dead Redemption (which sold over 6.9 million copies since launching in May). Red Dead... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Leadership Style; Marketing; Competitive Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

October 2011 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Company: Marketing Challenges for the Underprivileged Latecomer

By: Willy Shih and Nancy Hua Dai

As Mr. Li Chunrong visited the new assembly line for the Dongfeng Passenger Vehicle Company in Wuhan, China, he contemplated the position his business unit found itself in: a latecomer. As a state-owned enterprise Dongfeng had entered into numerous joint ventures to... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Problems and Challenges; Auto Industry; China

April 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Internet Securities, Inc.: Path to Sustainability

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and Ryan Johnson

Founded in 1994 when the Internet was still a "toy for techies," the case is set in 1998 when Internet IPOs were red-hot. Internet Securities provides hard-to-find financial, business, economic, and political information on emerging markets. Information from over 600... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Model; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Cash Flow; Initial Public Offering; Analytics and Data Science; Growth and Development Strategy; Valuation

March 2011 (Revised October 2011)
Case

If We Ran the World

By: Hanna Halaburda, Radka Dohnalova and Aldo Sesia

Cindy Gallop launched IfWeRanTheWorld (IWRTW) in February 2010, as what the tech world called minimum viable product, in order to real-world test Gallop's "business of the future" concept while development was ongoing. IWRTW was conceived to bring together human good... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Outcome or Result; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Network Effects

June 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Blue Man Group: Creativity, Life and Surviving an Economic Meltdown

In 2008, Blue Man Group's three co-founders are facing the prospect of losing not just a business but a way of life they have built together. The case follows the story of Chris Wink, Matt Goldman, and Phil Stanton as they pursue their creative passion and build the... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career; Creativity; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

15 May 2024
Research & Ideas

A Major Roadblock for Autonomous Cars: Motorists Believe They Drive Better

for marketers is to make such interventions short, memorable, and motivational—as when Metro Trains in Melbourne, Victoria, successfully launched a viral ad campaign on railway safety called “Dumb ways to die.” 4. Get concrete. People... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Transportation; Auto

Web

Creating Shared Value - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

the launch of countless corporate social responsibility initiatives in recent decades. Now more than ever—in the midst of a global economic crisis that has strained the capacity of governments and NGOs to address complex societal... View Details

07 Jul 2022
HBS Case

How a Multimillion-Dollar Ice Cream Startup Melted Down (and Bounced Back)

Lindsay N. Hyde. Eisenmann and Hyde wrote two case studies with HBS case researcher Tom Quinn that analyze the smart moves and simple errors at Ample Hills Creamery, as well as the launch of the company’s new shop afterward. The cases... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

03 Oct 2023
Research Event

Build the Life You Want: Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey Share Happiness Tips

else. We we asked each other this question when we were putting together this book. Look, we're going to launch a book into the world and people are going to read it. Is it going to lift people up? And is it going to bring people... View Details

Keywords: by HBS Staff

May 2025
Case

RTX's Lifetime Income Strategy: Shaping the Future of Retirement

By: Daniel Green, Luis M. Viceira and Sarah Mehta

Set in 2024, this case explores the Lifetime Income Strategy (LIS), a novel retirement product launched by aerospace and defense company RTX in 2012. Aiming to embed the security of a traditional pension within a 401(k) plan, the LIS allowed participants to secure a... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Compensation and Benefits; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Jobs and Positions; Labor; Retirement; Society; Adoption; Personal Finance; Aerospace Industry; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; United States; Virginia

February 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Greening Walmart: Progress and Controversy

By: Rebecca Henderson and James Weber

In 2005, Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, launched a sustainability initiative aimed at reducing waste and making the company more environmentally and socially conscious. By 2015, the company had made progress on multiple dimensions: energy efficiency in its... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Motivation and Incentives; Reputation; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry; United States

February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Supplement

Uniswap: Fighting a Vampire Attack (B)

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Shweta Bagai and Liang Wu

This is the second of a three-case series that explores the challenges faced by Uniswap, a key player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. Founded by Hayden Adams, the case traces Uniswap's rapid growth from a simple idea inspired by a Reddit post to becoming... View Details

Keywords: Decentralized Finance; Entrepreneurship; Problems and Challenges; Competition; Open Source Distribution

June 2020
Teaching Note

Global Brand Management of Anheuser Busch InBev's Budweiser

By: Jill Avery

Brian Perkins, chief architect of the $6 billion Budweiser brand, was excited about 2018, in which the company would launch Budweiser into several new markets in Africa and Latin America. He was feeling the pressure to finalize a global brand strategy that would define... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Global Brands; Brand Equity; Brand Storytelling; Brand Communication; Brand Positioning; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Global Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; China; Africa; Latin America

March 2012 (Revised December 2014)
Case

Schön Klinik: Measuring Cost and Value

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Mary L. Witkowski and Jessica A. Hohman

The case illustrates how a leading German hospital group has invested deeply in the measurement of patient-level outcomes and costs, the foundations of a health care value framework. The company launches a pilot project to use time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC)... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Costing; Activity-Based Costing; Hospitals; Activity Based Costing and Management; Value; Health Care and Treatment; Outcome or Result; Health Industry; Germany