Publications

March 2022 (Revised February 2024)
Case

El Salvador: Launching Bitcoin as Legal Tender

By: Laura Alfaro, Carla Larangeira and Ruth Costas

In June 2021, Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, surprised the world with the announcement that the country would adopt bitcoin as legal tender, becoming the first nation to do so. Bitcoin was mostly used for trading and had one of the most volatile track records... View Details

Keywords: Bitcoin; Cryptocurrency; Currency; Financial Strategy; Economic Growth; Governance; Macroeconomics; Assets; Latin America; El Salvador

April 2013
Case

Sterling Household Products Company

By: William E. Fruhan and Craig Stephenson

Sterling Household Products manufactures and markets a broad line of consumer goods from laundry soap and cosmetics to cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing products. The company has many highly regarded brand names and consistently reports impressive sales and... View Details

August 2004
Teaching Note

Accel Partners' European Launch (TN)

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

Teaching Note to (9-803-021). View Details

Keywords: Financial Services Industry; London; United States

Keywords: Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles; Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles

27 Jan 2012
News

Early-Stage Incubator Launches at Harvard

23 Jul 2021
Blog Post

Trends in Consumer Products

simple and often logical but difficult to predict. Jake Kirsch ‘11, VP Innovation, ABinBev Covid had a massive effect on our business. Fifteen percent of our business is in bars and restaurants and they were effectively closed. Some new View Details

17 Sep 2020
Blog Post

HBS Grads Launch Cybersecurity Nonprofit to Fight Infodemic

Bastian Purrer (MBA 2020), a native German, spent most of his career before HBS launching international offices for Groupon and Rocket Internet. After a few years in Europe and Asia, Bastian enrolled at HBS hoping to continue his... View Details

01 Sep 2007
News

HBS Launches Unique Deferred-Admission Program

the new program — before arriving on campus. “No other business school offers anything similar,” says Dee Leopold (MBA ’80), managing director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid. “This is a bold program that is trying to do three things:... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

April 2021
Teaching Note

Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery

Teaching Note for the "Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community" HBS Case No. 520-086. View Details

22 Apr 2021
Blog Post

Launching the Women in Tech Initiative at HBS

This past year the HBS Tech Club launched a new group called the HBS Women in Tech Initiative. The mission of this group is to connect women who are interested in the tech industry and to empower women with the skills, confidence, and... View Details

January 2007 (Revised December 2008)
Case

The Challenges of Launching a Start-Up in China: Dorm99.com

By: William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Manty

After graduating from Harvard Business School in June 2006, Ken Pao and Bill Li were ready to fully commit to the Internet start-up they had been working on since they first stepped foot on the business school campus. They moved to Beijing, rounded out their management... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Joint Ventures; Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Business and Government Relations; Internet; China

August 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Product Development at Dell Computer Corporation

By: Stefan H. Thomke, Vish V. Krishnan and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how Dell redesigned its new product development process after experiencing a major product setback and a significant decline in firm profits in 1993. Dell's new process is challenged during the development of a new line of portable computers when the incoming... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Profit; Managerial Roles; Risk Management; Product Development; Business Processes; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Hardware; Computer Industry

September 1994 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Citibank: Launching the Credit Card in Asia Pacific (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Consumer Bank pondered the possibilities of launching a credit card in the Asia Pacific region. The bank's New York headquarters, and several of its country managers in the region, were not enthusiastic. But others were supportive because of the opportunity to expand... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Service Operations; Value Creation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Trade; Business Strategy; Expansion; Laws and Statutes; Banking Industry; Asia; New York (city, NY)

May 2010
Supplement

Alpen Bank: Launching the Credit Card in Romania, Spreadsheet Supplement for Instructors (Brief Case)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sunru Yong

Keywords: Consumer Credit; International Business; International Marketing; Product Introduction; Service Management; Product Positioning; Credit Cards; Marketing Strategy; Service Operations; Product Launch; Globalized Markets and Industries; Financial Services Industry; Romania

06 Dec 2021
News

Research Brief: Launching into a Downturn

High-Tech Start-Up Outcomes,” Roche and coauthor Annamaria Conti found that high-tech and medical-device startups launched in uncertain financial times underperform those whose founders have better job... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

March 2004 (Revised April 2005)
Case

Midwest Office Products

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Presents an easy introduction to time-driven activity-based costing (ABC) that allows students to build a simple ABC model of order profitability. Midwest's time-driven ABC approach is based on two categories of parameter estimates. The first is the cost per hour of... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Price; Activity Based Costing and Management; Time Management; Financial Reporting; Profit; Performance Improvement; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Performance Evaluation

May 2007
Teaching Note

Toyota Motor Corporation: Launching Prius (TN)

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Dennis A. Yao

Keywords: Production; Auto Industry; Green Technology Industry

May 2000 (Revised December 2018)
Case

SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (A)

By: Michael Beer and Michael Tushman

The Micro-Electronic Products Division of SMA has financial and organizational problems. Conflict and lack of coordination exist between functional groups. Employees do not have a sense of direction and morale is low. The cause of these problems is found in a change in... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Conflict and Resolution; Business Strategy