Publications

November 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Khanmigo: Revolutionizing Learning with GenAI

By: William A. Sahlman, Allison M. Ciechanover and Emily Grandjean

Already a leader in the edtech space since its 2008 launch, Khan Academy was now one of the first edtech organizations to embrace generative artificial intelligence ("genAI"). In March 2023, Khan Academy began beta testing Khanmigo, a genAI “guide” and tutor built with... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Leading Change; Entrepreneurship; Risk and Uncertainty; Education; AI and Machine Learning; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Education Industry; Education Industry; United States; San Francisco

June 2010
Supplement

Digital Link (B)

The Digital Link (A) and (B) cases present the struggles of a small public technology company to get and maintain analyst and investor attention during the "dot-com boom" of the 1990's. The case can be used in MBA or Executive Education classes. The (A) case takes... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Privatization

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November 2011 (Revised December 2013)
Case

The Long and Short of Apollo Group and the University of Phoenix (A)

By: Luis M. Viceira, Joel Heilprin, Andrew S. Holmes and Damian M. Zajac

A hedge fund is deciding whether to liquidate its position in Apollo Group, a for-profit education firm, in light of significant political and macro-economic uncertainty facing the industry. As part of the investment analysis a complete discounted cash flow analysis... View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Internet and the Web; Education Industry; Education Industry

October 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

upGrad: Delivering Career Outcomes Online: Degree by Degree

By: John J-H Kim, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

In August 2021, the founders of upGrad, the latest unicorn in the Indian higher education online space, were deciding how to best use the funds to execute on their ambitious growth plans. Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli had envisioned upGrad as an... View Details

Keywords: Unicorns; COVID-19 Pandemic; Higher Education; Internet and the Web; Spending; Growth and Development Strategy; Education Industry; India

Article

Contextual Intelligence

By: Tarun Khanna

The author has come to a conclusion that may surprise you: trying to apply management practices uniformly across geographies is a fool's errand. Best practices simply don't travel well across borders. That's because conditions not just of economic development but of... View Details

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2017
Working Paper

The Rise of American Ingenuity: Innovation and Inventors of the Golden Age

By: Ufuk Akcigit, John Grigsby and Tom Nicholas

We examine the golden age of U.S. innovation by undertaking a major data collection exercise linking inventors from historical U.S. patents to Federal Censuses between 1880 and 1940 and to regional economic aggregates. We provide a theoretical framework to motivate the... View Details

Keywords: Economic Development; Patents; Economic Growth; Innovation and Invention; Demographics

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January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Duolingo: On a 'Streak'

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Nicole Tempest Keller and Nicole Luo

In December 2024, Severin Hacker, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Duolingo, reflected on the remarkable evolution of the language-learning app he helped launch in 2011. As the #1 most downloaded education app in the world, Duolingo had over 100 million... View Details

Keywords: Learning; AI and Machine Learning; Growth and Development Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Diversification; Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States

March 2021
Teaching Plan

The Black New Venture Competition

By: Karen G. Mills, Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Martin A. Sinozich and Gabriella Elanbeck

Black entrepreneurs encounter many unique obstacles when raising capital to start and grow a business, some stemming from deep systemic discrimination. During their second year at Harvard Business School (HBS), MBA students Kimberly Foster and Tyler Simpson decided to... View Details

Research Summary

Retailing: Past, Present, and Future

Walter J. Salmon is working on several retailing-related research and course development projects, including a study (with Gwen K. Ortmeyer) of the evolution and future of American department stores, and a case book (with DAVID E. BELL) for use in graduate... View Details

02 Apr 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Making the Move to General Manager

to go in the future." Launched in autumn 2006, GMP is a new executive education comprehensive leadership program designed to address the needs and concerns of precisely these managers. GMP's innovative teaching philosophy and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

11 Jun 2020
In Practice

Are Digital Organizations Better at Overcoming COVID?

chains and people analytics to artificial intelligence-based models and automated biotechnology research, organizations further along the digital curve are responding differently than those still wondering how to evolve. The digital View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

May 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Headspace vs. Calm: A Mindful Competition

By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne Wilson

By 2021, the mindfulness app wars reached their apex. Over 2,000 meditation apps were available to consumers, but two apps, Headspace and Calm, dominated the space, jointly holding about 70% of the total market. Headspace had established itself as the approachable... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communication; Integrated Strategy; Brand; Brand ＆ Product Management; Brand Communication; Brand Differentiation; Brand Building; Brand Management; E-Commerce Strategy; Ecommerce; App; App Development; Applications; COVID; COVID-19; Pandemic; Pricing; Pricing Strategy; Subscription Model; Subscription; Partnerships; Strategic Partnerships; B2B Vs. B2C; B2B; Health ＆ Wellness; Wellbeing; Digitization; Commoditization; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Mobile Healthcare; Mobile Marketing; Digital Brand; Digital Health; Consumer Health; Apps; Online Business; Online Competition; Online Community; Online Entertainment; Entertainment And Leisure; Meditation; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Price; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Partners and Partnerships; Health; Well-being; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Communication; Communication Strategy; Disruption; Consumer Behavior; Digital Marketing; E-commerce; Applications and Software; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; United States; North America; United Kingdom

15 Feb 2000
Lessons from the Classroom

Delivering Information Services: A 30-Year Perspective

As the information economy emerges and technology transforms "business-as-usual," senior-level executives need to understand the "big picture" of how IT impacts their entire organization—from top to bottom. The HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

January 2018 (Revised March 2020)
Case

SAP: Branding in the Digital Age

By: Das Narayandas and Amram Migdal

By 2017, digital, social, and mobile technologies were rapidly changing the way many of SAP’s traditional customers did business over the last decade. In response to this trend, SAP had acquired companies with capabilities in e-commerce, human capital, workforce... View Details

Keywords: Brand Positioning; Marketing; Sales; Brands and Branding; Strategy; Technology Industry

August 2013 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Coursera

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Hyunjin Kim

By providing free and open-access online courses at a large scale, Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms seek to innovate the business models of the traditional higher education industry. In a little over a year, Coursera had grown at a rapid rate to emerge as a... View Details

Keywords: Business Models; Strategy; Competition; Business Model; Internet and the Web; Higher Education; Competitive Advantage; Education Industry

16 Nov 2010
Lessons from the Classroom

Data.gov: Matching Government Data with Rapid Innovation

may have not ” Joined in class by the Chief Information Office (CIO) of the United States, Vivek Kundra, who oversees Data.gov, Lakhani led the case discussion for 50 technology executives in a weeklong HBS executive View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

25 Feb 2015
Lessons from the Classroom

Scholars and Students Unpack the Digital Business Revolution

hedge fund, an Amazon employee focused on retail data, and a forecaster at General Electric," says HBS David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration Marco Iansiti, who serves as faculty chair of the initiative and head of the View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education; Education

2010
Working Paper

Being a Leader and the Effective Exercise of Leadership: An Ontological Model (PDF File of PowerPoint Slides)

By: Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen and Kari Granger

This presentation is based on our research program over the last seven years in which our objective has been to rigorously distinguish leader and leadership and to create a technology for providing access to being a leader and exercising leadership effectively (in... View Details

Keywords: Curriculum and Courses; Innovation and Invention; Leadership Development; Goals and Objectives; Research and Development; Attitudes; Perception; Technology; United States