Publications

October 2008 (Revised October 2009)
Case

New Century Financial Corporation

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan and Aldo Sesia

After years of rapid growth and stock price appreciation, New Century Financial Corporation, one of the largest subprime loan originators in the U.S., reported accounting problems in early 2007. The resulting liquidity crisis forced the company to file for Chapter 11... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Financial Reporting; Business Model; Financial Crisis; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Mortgages; Financial Services Industry; United States

13 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Leadership Roles

Editor's note: This is part of a series of occasional columns on managing the family business written by Senior Lecturer John A. Davis. In this article, Davis discusses leadership roles. Part Two: Structuring Leadership Roles My previous... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Davis

December 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand within Unilever

By: James E. Austin and James Quinn

In the months after Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever, Ben & Jerry's head social mission faces challenges and opportunities unique in the company's history, including: how to manage employee morale; whether to include synthetic ingredients to meet consumer... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Problems and Challenges; Mergers and Acquisitions; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Value Creation; Corporate Governance; Employee Relationship Management; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Retail Industry; United States

March 2018
Case

Summit Public Schools (A)

By: John J-H Kim and Aldo Sesia

Summit Public Schools was a very successful charter management organization with schools in California and Washington State. The students came from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, many from economically disadvantaged households. While nearly all of its students... View Details

Keywords: K-12; Online Learning; Virtual Learning; Blended Learning; Secondary Education; Middle School Education; Early Childhood Education; Learning; Business Model; Performance Improvement; Technology

Profile

Henry McCance

Greylock recommended Timothy Armour (MBA 1975) to McCance as a potential consultant. Armour, who had some 20 years’ experience in development and operations at nonprofits, including Harvard Business School, met with McCance over dinner.... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital / Private Equity; Financial Services; Health Care

11 Nov 2014
First Look

First Look: November 11

the only solutions are to either recouple activities or rebalance to create and capture value (i.e., revenues) from both activities separately. Here, digital technologies can be seen as an instrument that will both disrupt traditional... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2017 (Revised May 2020)
Case

Sesame Workshop (A): Bringing Big Bird Back to Health

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ryan Raffaelli and Jonathan Cohen

Sesame Workshop was transforming in 2016. CEO Jeff Dunn had reorganized and shifted the iconic institution to respond to digital disruption and a consensus culture. This case examines his efforts to turn Sesame Workshop around. It notes Sesame's storied history and the... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Information Technology; Education; Media; Strategy; Education Industry

October 2022 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Cigna-Express Scripts: Can a Vertical Merger Rescue an Industry Under Attack?

By: Leemore Dafny

In Fall 2019, Cigna Corporation – a global health services company with a significant presence in the U.S. employer-sponsored health insurance market - was digesting its $54 billion acquisition of Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI), a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM)... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Vertical Integration; Insurance Industry

August 2017
Case

CareMore Health System

By: Robert S. Huckman and Brian W. Powers

CareMore Health System—a physician-founded care delivery system and health plan—had developed and refined an innovative care model for at-risk seniors enrolled in Medicare managed care (i.e., Medicare Advantage) plans. CareMore's President, Sachin Jain, and his... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Delivery; Health Insurance; Medicare; Medicaid; Managed Care; Extensivist; Social Determinants Of Health; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Industry; United States

May 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Airbnb During the Pandemic: Stakeholder Capitalism Faces a Critical Test

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Allison Ciechanover

As the COVID pandemic spread in early 2020, global travel ground to a halt. For Airbnb, the San Francisco-based platform for renting accommodations, the impact was both swift and severe as revenues plummeted more than 70% over the prior year. Responding to the sudden... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Governance; Crisis Management; Leadership; Digital Platforms; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Value Creation; Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Travel Industry; Tourism Industry; Service Industry; United States

15 Jul 2013
Research & Ideas

Five Imperatives for Improving Health Care

Innovation in health care treatment seems to far outpace innovation in health care business management. Just ask President Obama—two weeks ago he delayed enactment of a key provision of the new health care law for fear its requirements... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

04 Feb 2008
Research & Ideas

Putting Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector

health care. But the truth is that many of these efforts, despite best intentions, have not solved the issues they target, says Harvard Business School professor Jane Wei-Skillern. "Traditional approaches are still falling short,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

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

June 2012 (Revised August 2012)
Case

MF Global: Changing Stripes

By: Clayton Rose, Yasmin Dahya and Jenevieve Lee

Jon Corzine became the CEO of MF Global in March of 2010. Eighteen months later, and in the wake of a massive trade in European sovereign debt, the firm filed for bankruptcy, the 8th largest in U.S. history. As the firm failed it was discovered that over $1.6 billion... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Leadership; Governance; Bankruptcy; Financial Firms; Financial Crisis; Brokerage; Asset Management; Sovereign Finance; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Borrowing and Debt; Trade; Business Model

April 2000 (Revised April 2004)
Case

TixToGo: Financing a Silicon Valley Start-up

Describes TixToGo, a Silicon Valley start-up company that offers online solutions to individuals and organizations that want to offer activities and/or collect registration fees for events over the Internet. A serial entrepreneur and his partner started the company in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Information Technology; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Information Technology Industry; San Francisco

September 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Mobile Banking for the Unbanked

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Katharine Lee

The case describes in detail the workings of two mobile banking operators in Africa—WIZZIT in South Africa and M-PESA in Kenya. It explores the dimensions of strategy that make for success in the market for the unbanked. It raises questions regarding the portability of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Financial Institutions; Disruptive Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Banking Industry; Kenya; South Africa

28 Sep 2021
News

Los Nuevos Mandamientos del Trabajo

June 2020
Case

TransDigm: The Acquisition of Aerosonic Corp.

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. Fisher

In April 2013, TransDigm, a company that manufactured a wide range of highly engineered aerospace parts for both military and commercial aircraft, announced an agreement to acquire Aerosonic Corporation for $39 million in cash (1.2 times Aerosonic’s sales of $31... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Growth Management; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Value Creation; Valuation; Negotiation; Cash Flow; Contracts; Aerospace Industry; Air Transportation Industry; United States

September 1997 (Revised October 1997)
Case

Emmet Stephenson: Profile of an Entrepreneur

By: Ashish Nanda

Profiles the career of a Emmet Stephenson, the founder of over a dozen successful companies, as a model of entrepreneurship and management. View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career