Publications

08 Feb 2022
News

The ‘Do-Gooder’s Dilemma’: Why Purpose-Driven Companies Can’t Lose Focus On Profits

October 2019
Case

China Merchants Bank: Ushering in the Era of Family Office in China

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Billy Chan and Dawn H. Lau

China Merchants Bank, the sixth-largest lender in China, intends to boost its family office business as a result of an increase in the population of ultra-high net worth individuals. Already ranked China’s number-one private bank with AUM exceeding US$300 billion, the... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Strategy; Banks and Banking; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy; Banking Industry; China

April 2025
Case

Sharon Goldberg and BastionZero

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, James Barnett and Maxim Pike Harrell

In December 2023, BastionZero co-founder and CEO Sharon Goldberg considered her startup’s future. Established in 2017 as a blockchain company focused on improving the security of cryptocurrency trading, in March 2020 the VC-backed startup shifted focus to a new... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurial Finance; Technological Innovation; Business Strategy; Business Exit or Shutdown

February 2022
Case

Agora (A)

By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn

Agora was a civic technology (civic tech) startup founded by Elsa Sze, who wanted to enhance the connection between political officials and their constituents by facilitating virtual “town halls,” making underrepresented voices heard and benefiting elected and... View Details

Keywords: Civic Technology; Government Administration; Conferences; Business Startups; Business Strategy

Web

Health Care - Faculty & Research

Health Care Health Care February 2015 Supplement The Affordable Care Act (A): Legislative Strategy in the House of Representatives By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Norris In early 2009, the Obama administration and the Democratically-led... View Details

January 2013
Case

Zappos.com 2009: Clothing, Customer Service, and Company Culture (MM)

By: Frances X. Frei and Robin J. Ely

On July 17, 2009, Zappos.com, a privately-held online retailer of shoes, clothing, and other soft-line retail categories, learned that Amazon.com, a $19 billion multinational online retailer, had won its Board of Directors' approval to offer to merge the two companies.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Culture; Growth and Development Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Breaking the Code of Change

examining the strategies for change employed. Instead of this halfhearted approach, managers are better off picking a pure model: a clear Theory E approach with its benefits and costs or a pure Theory O approach with its benefits and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer & Nitin Nohria

December 2003 (Revised April 2005)
Course Overview Note

Corporate Strategy: Course Note for Instructors

By: Bharat N. Anand

Introduces students to the concerns that impact a firm's choice of strategy, scope, and organization and assists in three central tasks that comprise the typical decision problem: diagnosing the sources of corporate advantage, evaluating the limits to such advantage,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy

March 2024
Case

Lyft 2023: Roads to Growth and Differentiation

By: Ranjay Gulati and Jeffrey Huizinga

Set in San Francisco in winter 2023, this case explores the strategic challenges and initiatives at Lyft under the leadership of its new CEO, David Risher. Confronted with declining market share and financial pressures, Risher spent his first six months at the helm... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Turnarounds; Ridesharing; Transition; Strategy; Culture; Change Management; Transportation Industry; Technology Industry

March 1999 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Honda-Rover (A): Crafting an Alliance

By: Ashish Nanda, James K. Sebenius and Ron Fortgang

Faced with vexing financial challenges in 1993, British Aerospace (BAe) is determined to shed its loss-making automaker, Rover. It offers to sell its stake in Rover to Honda, Rover's partner since 1979, but Honda is reluctant to raise its stake in Rover. Meanwhile, BMW... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Joint Ventures; Alliances; Knowledge Sharing; Strategy; Contracts; Negotiation Process; Change Management; Negotiation Tactics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Auto Industry; United Kingdom

Web

HBS - The year in Review

2022 Annual Report From The Dean Key Metrics Financials PDF Downloads The Year in Review After a tumultuous two years of figuring out how to adapt and thrive in the face of COVID-19, fiscal year 2022 brought a steady return to normalcy at... View Details

April 2012
Article

Bouncing Out of the Banking System: An Empirical Analysis of Involuntary Bank Account Closures

By: Dennis Campbell, F. Asis Martinez-Jerez and Peter Tufano

Using a new database, we document the factors that relate to the extent of involuntary consumer bank account closure resulting from excessive overdraft activity. Consumers who have accounts involuntarily closed for overdraft activity may have limited or no access to... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Customers; Social Issues; Outcome or Result; Budgets and Budgeting; Forecasting and Prediction; Competition; Banks and Banking; Policy; Personal Characteristics; Credit; Employment; United States

Find at Harvard

03 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Marketing Your Way Through a Recession

employees. Economic recession can elevate the importance of the finance director's balance sheet over the marketing manager's income statement. Managing working capital can easily dominate managing customer relationships. CEOs must counter this. Successful companies do... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

September 1992 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Japan Confronts an Interdependent World

By: George C. Lodge

Traces the evolution of Japan's economic strategy from 1972 to 1992. Describes the collapse of the Japanese stock market in the spring of 1992, raising the question: Is this the end of Japan's miraculous growth? To help students consider that question, the case... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Financial Markets; Information Technology; System Shocks; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Crisis; Government and Politics; Growth and Development; Situation or Environment; Japan; United States

Find at Harvard

September 2009 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Western Union: Our World, Our Family®

By: Christopher Marquis

In 2006, Western Union spun-off from its former parent, First Data Corporation, and began the process of defining itself as a stand-alone organization. Part of that effort was the creation of a strategic corporate social responsibility program called Our World, Our... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Programs; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Alignment; Value

Web

Cold Calling - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

participation. Low frequency participant: As the term progresses, an instructor may use cold calls to engage and develop students who have participated with below average frequency in class discussions. This strategy should be used with... View Details

16 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Advancing Black Talent: From the Flight Ramp to 'Family-Sustaining' Careers at Delta

Business School, who wrote a series of three case studies about the company’s focus on DE&I. For Bastian, the strategy is about providing more equitable opportunity for all Delta employees, including Black employees, to move “from the... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Air Transportation

March 2016
Teaching Plan

Emaar: The Center of Tomorrow, Today

By: Sid Yog, Esel Cekin and Marc Homsy

Starting in 1997, Mohammad Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar, has been largely associated with Dubai's most renowned real estate projects: the world's tallest building, largest mall and biggest fountain show. Emaar's pioneering success attracted a large number of private... View Details

Keywords: Middle East; United Arab Emirates; Egypt; Dubai; Real Estate; Finance; Emaar; Public Real Estate Company; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Financial Condition; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Real Estate Industry; Dubai