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December 2016
Case

thredUP: Think Secondhand First

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Allison Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga

In the fall of 2016, the management team at thredUP, the largest U.S. online retailer of second hand clothing, is deciding whether to expand into international markets. Over the past 12 months the 7-year-old startup, which had raised over $130 million in venture... View Details

Keywords: Scaling Start-ups; International Expansion; Online Consignment; Apparel; Internet and the Web; Expansion; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Business Startups; E-commerce; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; San Francisco

January 2008 (Revised March 2009)
Case

Framedia (A) Abridged

By: Li Jin, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Li Liao, Huabing Li and Jielun Zhu

Examines an acquisition in the highly competitive outdoor media advertising industry in China in late 2005. The transaction leads to eventual consolidation of the whole industry and positive stock reactions. Discusses equity consideration in the context of an M&A... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Venture Capital; Equity; Private Equity; Corporate Governance; Emerging Markets; Organizations; Consolidation; Valuation; Advertising Industry; China

April 1999 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Aluminum Smelting in South Africa: Alusaf's Hillside Project

With prices at all-time lows at the beginning of 1994, South Africa's sole primary aluminum producer--Alusaf--is considering building the world's largest greenfield smelter. Using cost estimates in this case, students can evaluate the relative cost position of this... View Details

Keywords: Metals and Minerals; Analysis; Markets; Profit; Capital; Industrial Products Industry; South Africa

March 1987 (Revised January 1988)
Case

Paul Revere Insurance Co. (B)

Describes a program of value-analysis workshops undertaken by this company as part of its massive effort to regain the number one position in its industry. The value-analysis workshops are the second half of the company's two-part Quality Has Value process. The focus... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Valuation; Competitive Strategy; Insurance Industry; United States

24 May 2010
News

A New Damascus

01 Nov 2015
News

The Payoff of Pay-for-Success

17 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

What the Stockdale Paradox Tells Us About Crisis Leadership

constant positivity are a hallmark of emotional adjustment during crisis. “In general, resilient people have intensely negative reactions to trauma,” writes Emily Esfahani Smith. “They experience despair and stress, and acknowledge the... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

July 2008 (Revised December 2009)
Case

Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships

By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, Robert S. Kaplan and Katherine Miller

This case analyzes Infosys' innovative approach to measuring performance in client relations. Infosys' strategy is evolving to build transformational partnerships from its original position as an outsourcer of end-to-end IT projects. A transformational partner helps... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Performance Evaluation; Attorney and Client Relationships; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Balanced Scorecard; Competitive Strategy; Commercialization; Competitive Advantage; Economic Growth; Growth and Development Strategy; Consulting Industry; Information Technology Industry; India

2015
Other Teaching and Training Material

Competitive Strategies Marketing Reading

By: Jill Avery and Sunil Gupta

Core Curriculum Readings in Marketing cover the fundamental concepts, theories, and frameworks that business students must study.
This Reading illuminates the dynamics of companies in competition and offers a process for planning and executing marketing... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy

Robert Hayes is the Philip Caldwell Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, at the Harvard Business School. Prior to his appointment to the Harvard Faculty in 1966, he worked for I.B.M. and McKinsey & Company. He received his Ph.D. degree in 1966 from... View Details

16 Nov 2015
HBS Seminar

Vish Krishnan, Professor of Innovation, Technology & Operations, University of California San Diego Rady School of Man

Web

The Diamond Model - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

areas as captured in the diamond model. The nature of home-market demand for the industry’s product or service. The location’s position in factors of production, such as skilled labor or infrastructure, necessary to compete in a given... View Details

October 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

GoPro: Becoming a Subscription Hero

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2021, Nick Woodman, founder and CEO of GoPro, was reviewing the company’s subscription offering, considering whether to extend it beyond benefits that were directly related to the company’s iconic camera. Founded in 2002, GoPro had gained renown for its innovative... View Details

Keywords: Subscription Model; Pricing; Lifestyle Brands; Value Proposition; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; California

Web

Managing the Future of Work

B2B, how fast she should ramp up the recruitment of care coordinators, and as she looked to raise another round of capital, whether she should position Wellthy as a B Corporation. Media Coverage 6 Career Mistakes That Could Be Holding You... View Details

March 2010
Article

Further Improvements of Lower Bounds for the Least Common Multiples of Arithmetic Progressions

By: Shaofang Hong and Scott Duke Kominers

For relatively prime positive integers u_0 and r, we consider the arithmetic progression {u_k := u_0+k*r} (0 <= k <= n). Define L_n := lcm{u_0,u_1,...,u_n} and let a >= 2 be any integer. In this paper, we show that, for integers alpha,r >= a and n >=... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods