Publications

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April 2019 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Western Governors University: 10x Vision

By: William R. Kerr and Susie L. Ma

Western Governors University (WGU) was a nonprofit institution of higher education whose online learning model served more than 100,000 students in 2019 and was scaling rapidly. President Scott Pulsipher wanted to expand WGU’s reach to millions more with a plan called... View Details

Keywords: Online Education; Enrollment; Scaling; Higher Education; Internet and the Web; Business Model; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Education Industry; United States

August 2015
Case

Yabbly (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Christopher Payton

In November 2013, with less than 10 months of cash on hand, Tom Leung, the founder and CEO of Yabbly, must decide where to focus his resources. His startup, a question-and-answer application for shopping decisions, had benefited from a strong showing at the SXSW... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Mobile; Online Product Reviews; Consumer Products; Business Model; Business Plan; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Innovation Strategy; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; North America; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

October 2012
Article

Target the Right Market

By: Jill Avery and Thomas Steenburgh

SparkPlace is a two-year-old business with a hot new product: software that manages and measures the effectiveness of permission-based marketing campaigns for social media. The company is in the process of deciding on which of two customer segments to focus its... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Market Segmentation; Customer Defection; Customer Lifetime Value; Customer Relationship Management; CRM; Market Segmentation And Target Market Selection; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Technology Industry; United States

Read Now

December 2012 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Greencore

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

Patrick Coveney, CEO of Greencore, one of the top producers of private label prepared foods sold through UK grocery retailers, was assessing Greencore's growth options. Growth potential was limited in the UK, a mature market in which retailers were unlikely to grant... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United Kingdom; United States

2008
Mimeo

Do Hedge Funds Profit from Mutual-Fund Distress?

By: Joseph Chen, Samuel G. Hanson, Harrison Hong and Jeremy C. Stein

This paper explores the question of whether hedge funds engage in frontrunning strategies that exploit the predictable trades of others. One potential opportunity for front-running arises when distressed mutual funds—those suffering large outflows of assets under... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Profit; Strategy; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment Return; Opportunities; Asset Management; Sales

SSRN

November 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Digital Angel

By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman

Digital Angel is considering the appropriate marketing plan for the launch of its new locator device. The device, a watch and pager worn in combination, provides GPS location information and monitors heart rate and body temperature via body sensors. Parents of young... View Details

Keywords: Information; Safety; Rights; Market Entry and Exit; Ethics; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Product Development

April 1990
Case

Nestle Alimentana S.A. -- Infant Formula (Abridged)

By: James E. Austin

The new vice president of infant and dietetic products of Nestle Alimentana S.A. has to make recommendations on the company's marketing programs for its infant formulas in developing countries. The U.S. subsidiary is currently the target of a consumer boycott because... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Emerging Markets; Developing Countries and Economies; Distribution Channels; Marketing Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Food; Business Subsidiaries; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Switzerland

April 1996 (Revised June 1996)
Case

City Year Enterprise

City Year, a national, nonprofit, youth-service corps, decided to diversify its funding base by seeking opportunities to gain "earned income." In 1995, the initiative, dubbed "City Year Enterprise," had already launched its first project, a collaboration with the... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Partners and Partnerships; Joint Ventures; Social Entrepreneurship; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

30 Oct 2018
News

The Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger Language of Dieting

Web

Global Impact of the Collapse | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Since its beginnings, the firm showed vision in its ability to foresee the potential of diverse industries, including transportation, retail, entertainment, advertising, manufacturing, utilities, communications, and high tech. By 1957,... View Details

19 Nov 2014
Working Paper Summaries

The Search for Benchmarks: When Do Crowds Provide Wisdom?

Keywords: by Charles M.C. Lee, Paul Ma & Charles C.Y. Wang

15 Aug 2023
HBS Case

(Virtual) Reality Check: How Long Before We Live in the 'Metaverse'?

The recent rollout of ChatGPT by OpenAI has set the world abuzz about the potential of artificial intelligence. But whatever happened to the last tech phenomenon, the “metaverse”? The once-heavily hyped future of immersive 3D technology... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Technology; Computer; Information Technology

06 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 6, 2008

supplement: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=708491 Microsoft's Unlimited Potential Harvard Business School Case 508-072 In April 2007, Bill Gates announced Microsoft Unlimited Potential. Its mission was to... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

28 May 2024
In Practice

Job Search Advice for a Tough Market: Think Broadly and Stay Flexible

New graduates entering the job market will face a very different landscape from even a year ago, with a murky economy and potentially more limited career prospects. Though unemployment figures in the US remain near historically low... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

31 May 2023
HBS Case

From Prison Cell to Nike’s C-Suite: The Journey of Larry Miller

leaders should give the formerly incarcerated a second chance. ARTICLE: A Nike Executive Hid His Criminal Past to Turn His Life Around. What If He Didn't Have To?An HBS case study shows the barriers that formerly incarcerated Black men are up against and the View Details

Keywords: by Jamal Meneide; Entertainment & Recreation; Consumer Products

02 May 2023
What Do You Think?

How Should Artificial Intelligence Be Regulated—if at All?

(iStockphoto/Rost-9D) Artificial intelligence (AI) is the topic of the moment in circles ranging from science to business to religion. Its potential and implications are driven home when you see robot soccer players improve their game to... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Information Technology; Technology

26 Jun 2023
Research & Ideas

Want to Leave a Lasting Impression on Customers? Don't Forget the (Proverbial) Fireworks

people’s potential willingness to repurchase,” De Freitas says. Conversely, expressing a little thoughtfulness after a purchase can go a long way in endearing a customer to a brand. Investing in customer lifetime value Following these... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Entertainment & Recreation

October 2023 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Thermo Fisher Scientific: Foray into Contract Research

By: Satish Tadikonda, William Marks and Kevin Emancipator

After publicly declaring that they would not enter the contract research organization (CRO) business in 2017, Thermo Fisher purchased Pharmaceutical Product Development (PPD), one of the biggest players in the CRO space, in 2021. Much had changed in the intervening... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Biotechnology Industry

September 2022
Article

Trends in Remote Patient Monitoring Use in Traditional Medicare

By: Mitchell Tang, Carter Nakamoto, Ariel Dora Stern and Ateev Mehrotra

Remote patient monitoring (RPM), the collection by patients of physiological measurements that are automatically sent to their health care practitioners, has been touted as a promising tool for improving chronic disease management. Interest in RPM has grown because of... View Details

Keywords: Medicare; Remote Monitoring; Reimbursement; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry