Publications
Publications
Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,767)
- Faculty Publications (395)
Debates
→
- September 2018 (Revised October 2018)
- Supplement
Lexoo: Building a Long-Lasting Platform
By: Chiara Farronato and Elena Corsi
Lexoo, a UK-based online marketplace for legal services, was facing the strategic choice of how to grow from early start-up to mature platform. Daniel van Binsbergen, Lexoo's CEO, and web developer Chris O'Sullivan, CTO, had set up Lexoo to help Small and Medium-Sized... View Details
- August 2018 (Revised April 2019)
- Case
Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (A)
By: Jonas Heese, Suraj Srinivasan, Francois Brochet and Christine Johnson
In May 2018, Berkshire Hathaway announced an unprecedented loss of more than $1 billion for the first quarter of 2018. Warren Buffett blamed this loss on the new accounting rules for equity securities which he criticized. In the case ‘Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire... View Details
- August 2018 (Revised February 2023)
- Case
Hubble Contact Lenses: Data Driven Direct-to-Consumer Marketing
By: Jill Avery and Ayelet Israeli
As its Series A extension round approaches, the founders of Hubble, a subscription-based, social-media fueled, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand of contact lenses, are reflecting on the marketing strategies that have taken them to a valuation of $200 million and debating... View Details
Keywords: DTC; Direct To Consumer Marketing; Health Care; Mobile; Attribution; Experimentation; Experiments; Churn/retention; Customer Lifetime Value; Internet Marketing; Big Data; Analytics; A/B Testing; CRM; Advertising; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Media; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Digital Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Social Media; E-commerce; Analytics and Data Science; Health Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; North America; Europe
- June 2018 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
Renegotiating NAFTA
By: Laura Alfaro, Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason and Sarah Jeong
January 1, 2019 marked the 25th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Twenty-five years after the landmark trade pact was signed by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, considerable debate surrounded it. Trade and trade agreements were a... View Details
- June 2018 (Revised October 2019)
- Case
Back to the Roots
By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Leslie K. John
Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.
Back to the Roots (BTTR) is a start-up with a social mission to “undo food”—to reconnect people to where their food comes from. In late 2017, Back to the Roots cofounders... View Details
Back to the Roots (BTTR) is a start-up with a social mission to “undo food”—to reconnect people to where their food comes from. In late 2017, Back to the Roots cofounders... View Details
- March 2018 (Revised July 2018)
- Case
Cadre
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Scott Duke Kominers and David Lane
Late in 2017, CEO Ryan Williams and his team debated whether Cadre should become not only a technology-enabled investment manager, but also an online trading exchange providing high levels of liquidity for investors in commercial real estate (CRE) equity. Cadre was a... View Details
- March 2018 (Revised August 2018)
- Case
Matching Markets for Googlers
By: Bo Cowgill and Rembrand Koning
This case describes how Google designed and launched an internal matching market to assign individual workers with projects and managers. The case evaluates how marketplace design considerations—and several alternative staffing models—could affect the company’s goals... View Details
- March 2018
- Teaching Note
The Ready-Made Garment Industry: A Bangladeshi Perspective (A), (B), (C), and (D)
By: Nien-hê Hsieh
Responsibility for working conditions in contract factories within the supply chain presents an ongoing challenge for managers and area of debate. Much of the debate approaches the challenge from the perspective of large global apparel brands. This case helps students... View Details
- March 2018
- Teaching Note
Making Target the Target: Boycotts and Corporate Political Activity (A) and (B)
By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Victor Wu
Through the challenges facing Target, the case examines the ways in which corporations can become involved in political and legislative debates and processes, ranging from campaign contributions to lobbying. In 2016, Target CEO Brian Cornell must determine how to... View Details
Keywords: Public Opinion; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Problems and Challenges; Laws and Statutes; Rights; Crisis Management; Risk Management; Media; Political Elections; Taxation; Corporate Accountability; Values and Beliefs; Fairness; Diversity; Customers; Communication; Business and Government Relations; Retail Industry; United States
- February 2018 (Revised August 2019)
- Case
The Rise Fund: TPG Bets Big on Impact
By: Vikram S. Gandhi, Caitlin Reimers Brumme and Sarah Mehta
It is March 2017, and TPG, a global alternative investment firm with $74 billion assets under management, has recently launched its inaugural impact-investing fund—the $2 billion Rise Fund. In an effort to “take the religion out of impact investing,” Maya Chorengel,... View Details
- February 2018 (Revised August 2019)
- Case
Amazon's HQ2 (A)
By: Karen Mills and Jan W. Rivkin
In September 2017, the Internet giant Amazon announced that it aimed to open a second headquarters in some city other than Seattle, its current home base. By 2032, the company projected, this “HQ2” would be home to as many as 50,000 high-paying tech jobs and up to $5... View Details
- 2017
- Working Paper
Creating the Market for Organic Wine: Sulfites, Certification, and Green Values
By: Geoffrey Jones and Emily Grandjean
This working paper examines the history of organic wine, which provides a case study of failed category creation. The modern organic wine industry emerged during the 1970s in the United States and Western Europe, but it struggled to gain traction compared to other... View Details
- Article
(Mis)perceptions of Inequality
By: Oliver P. Hauser and Michael I. Norton
Inequality is arguably the defining societal issue of the 21st century. The debate over “who gets what’ underlies policy debates ranging from taxation to health care to wages and permeates society at all levels, attracting increasing interest from policymakers,... View Details
- October 2017
- Article
Toward a Prescriptive Theory of Dynamic Capabilities: Connecting Strategic Choice, Learning, and Competition
By: Gary P. Pisano
The field of strategy has mounted an enormous effort to understand, define, predict, and measure how organizational capabilities shape competitive advantage. While the notion that capabilities influence strategy dates back to the work of Andrews (1971, The Concept... View Details
- September 2017 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
By: Anita Elberse and Saskia Van Rheenen
Should the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament gamble most of its player budget on superstar player Rafael Nadal, even after the event’s previous two editions saw Nadal and Roger Federer pull out at the last moment due to injury, leaving the tournament without any... View Details
- September 2017
- Teaching Note
The Productivity Decline: Demographics, Robots, or Globalization?
By: Laura Alfaro and Hayley Pallan
In the early 21st century, there was a noticeable trend of declining productivity growth. Despite the persistent decline in productivity growth, a consensus on its explanation had not been reached. Some of the debate focused on the technicalities of productivity... View Details
- September 2017 (Revised August 2018)
- Case
The Productivity Decline: Demographics, Robots, or Globalization?
By: Laura Alfaro, Hayley Pallan and Sarah Jeong
In the early 21st century, there was a noticeable trend of declining productivity growth. Despite the persistent decline in productivity growth, a consensus on its explanation had not been reached. Some of the debate focused on the technicalities of productivity... View Details
- September 2017 (Revised July 2018)
- Case
CyberArk: Protecting the Keys to the IT Kingdom
By: Raffaella Sadun, David Yoffie and Margot Eiran
CyberArk was the recognized leader in the Privileged Account Management (PAM) space, a cybersecurity subsegment it had essentially created to secure organizations’ IT systems and sensitive data. Over 17 years, the Israeli company had grown to a market capitalization of... View Details
- August 2017 (Revised March 2020)
- Case
Flex Hungary: Launching Production (A)
By: Willy Shih
This case examines design choices in the construction of flow lines. Flow lines are a popular way of arranging production because they are simple and inherently efficient. Equipment or workstations are arranged according to the sequence of steps in which a product is... View Details
Keywords: Manufacturing; Line-balancing; Flow Line; Conveyor-paced Line; Consumer Goods; Consumer Products; Production Management; Production Planning; Production Scheduling; Operations; Production; Management; Supply Chain; Design; Analysis; Goods and Commodities; Consumer Products Industry; Manufacturing Industry; European Union
- July 2017 (Revised November 2017)
- Case
'Clarín Lies!': Bias, Post-Truth, and Populism in Argentina's Media War
By: Rafael Di Tella, Jose Liberti and Sarah McAra
In 2012, Argentine media conglomerate Grupo Clarín and President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner were embroiled in what some called “the mother of all battles.” Grupo Clarín was one of the preeminent media companies in Argentina, with leading newspapers, cable... View Details