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Entrepreneurship - Faculty & Research

advised, #AfterTheIdea is full of time-tested strategies to help founders, joiners and investors navigate the operational challenges of startup ventures, including validating problem hypotheses, building and... View Details

February 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Doing Business in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

By: Karen G. Mills, Allison H. Mnookin, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Shu Lin, Julianne Bliss and Morgane Herculano

Le Thi Thu Thuy, Vice Chairwoman of Vingroup, the largest private conglomerate in Vietnam, and Global CEO of VinFast, Vingroup’s automotive subsidiary established in 2017, was contemplating VinFast’s future strategy. Domestically, the EV market in Vietnam was in its... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Global Strategy; Emerging Markets; Business Strategy; Infrastructure; Competition; Auto Industry; Viet Nam

June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Reckitt Benckiser: Fast and Focused Innovation

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson

Since its 1999 merger Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a global consumer goods company, led by its CEO Bart Becht, RB developed a reputation for rapid product innovation and industry leading profit margins. RB's stated strategy was to focus on its Powerbrands and high growth... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Global Strategy; Innovation Leadership; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Commercialization; Consumer Products Industry

June 2023
Case

Grittiness at Convene

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

Based in New York, Convene was founded in 2009 by Ryan Simonetti and Chris Kelly. Convene was founded on the question: “What if you ran an office building like a hotel?” The company offered a premium corporate events and workspace product. Convene initially took a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneur; Hospitality Industry; Growth; Culture; Entrepreneurship; Change Management; Growth Management; Strategy; Leadership; Service Industry; United States

August 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Lan Airlines in 2008: Connecting the World to Latin America

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Jorge Tarzijan and Mitchel Jordan

Lan Airlines operates three distinct models: low-cost for domestic short-haul flights, full-service for international routes; and an international cargo business, the latter of which makes up 33% of Lan's overall revenues (markedly different from many U.S. legacy... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Air Transportation Industry; Latin America

January 1985 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Turner Construction Co.

By: Frank V. Cespedes

In June, 1984, a vice president at Turner Construction Co. must decide whether to approve a construction project being considered by one of Turner's territorial offices and how to manage that territory general manager's apparent reluctance to pursue another account... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Projects; Market Entry and Exit; Integration; Contracts; Marketing Strategy; Sales; Business or Company Management; Business Offices; Geographic Location; Construction Industry

December 2010 (Revised January 2011)
Case

Los Grobo: Farming's Future?

By: David E. Bell and Cintra Scott

This case describes the international expansion plans of the second largest grain producer in Latin America, Los Grobo. Based in Argentina with US$550 million in annual sales, Los Grobo also operated in Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay--usually with local partners. Los... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Business Model; Ownership; Networks; Expansion; Information Technology; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Argentina

2021
Working Paper

Accounting for Product Impact in the Consumer-Packaged Foods Industry

By: Amanda Rischbieth, George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the consumer-packaged goods industry. We design a methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates on customer... View Details

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January 2012 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Ctrip: Scientifically Managing Travel Services

By: David A. Garvin and Nancy Hua Dai

Ctrip is a $437 million Chinese on-line travel services company with a scientific, data driven approach to management. The case explores Ctrip's founding and early growth, its expansion into multiple market segments including hotel reservations, air ticketing, leisure... View Details

Keywords: Scientific Management; Data-driven Management; Management; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Market Entry and Exit; Mathematical Methods; Business Processes; Information Management; Travel Industry; China

June 1995
Case

Polaroid Corporation: European Distribution System

By: Janice H. Hammond and Afroze A Mohammed

Describes distribution operations in Polaroid Europe. In the late 1980s, Polaroid senior management in the United States proposed moving from a system of 12 decentralized warehouses to a centralized distribution system in which all inventory for European retailers... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Operations; Risk Management; Distribution Channels; Logistics; Transition; Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Industry Structures; Consumer Products Industry; Europe; European Union; United States

February 2017
Case

Dick's Sporting Goods

By: Rajiv Lal, Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew G. Preble

Edward Stack, chairman and CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), faced a rapidly changing sporting goods landscape in October 2016. Two large competitors—The Sports Authority and Sport Chalet—had folded earlier that year, and DKS had to contend with increasingly robust... View Details

August 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Case

Shindigz

By: Frank Cespedes

Shindigz provides party and celebratory items for various occasions and events through its branded online channel, through third-party retail and wholesale channels, and external online marketplaces. The case focuses on pricing challenges facing a venture with an... View Details

Keywords: Ecommerce; Pricing; Price; Strategy; Decision Making; Brands and Branding; Distribution Channels; E-commerce; Consumer Products Industry

July 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

Icebreaker: The US Entry Decision

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Dan Heath

Jeremy Moon, CEO of Icebreaker, merino wool, outdoor apparel manufacturer, believed the company could be a big hit in the United States, despite the presence of entrenched rivals. But Icebreaker clearly needed a new distribution approach. One option was to position... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; New Zealand; United States

2014
Book

Los Buenos Tiempos Son Éstos: Los efectos de la incursión de la banca extranjera en México después de un siglo de crisis bancarias [These Are the Good Old Days: Foreign Entry and the Mexican Banking System]

By: Stephen Haber and Aldo Musacchio

This book is the Spanish edition of our award winning paper "These Are the Good Old Days: Foreign Entry and the Mexican Banking System." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 18713, January 2013. The book examines the effects of foreign bank entry into Mexico. Foreign banks... View Details

Keywords: Banks And Banking; Mexico; Commercial Banking; Foreign Direct Investment; Competition; Financial Markets; Banking Industry; Mexico

October 1990 (Revised November 1992)
Case

Ceramics Process Systems Corp. (A)

By: Clayton M. Christensen

A small ceramics company started by a group of MIT professors struggles with some basic technology strategy issues. A plan to take "one commercializable step" at a time in order to get a foothold in the market goes awry because of incompatibility between the company's... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Technology; Problems and Challenges; Market Entry and Exit; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Research and Development; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Cambridge

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April 2006 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Chrysanthemum and Dragon: JAFCO Asia in China

By: Rawi E. Abdelal and David Lane

In the autumn of 2002, JAFCO Asia, a subsidiary of JAFCO Co., Ltd., became the first foreign private equity firm to open an office in Beijing's Haidian Science Park. JAFCO was the only Japanese private equity firm operating in China. As such, Managing Director Vincent... View Details

Keywords: History; International Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Performance Effectiveness; Foreign Direct Investment; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; China; Beijing; Japan