Publications

May 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Mobike and ofo: Dancing with Titans (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Haibo Zhao

This case address pacing issues – how fast does a company need to scale? It also examines the role of investors in determining company strategy and exit.
Mobike and ofo were two dominant players in China’s emerging dockless bike-sharing market, that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Competition; Value Creation; Governance; Economics; Business Startups; Strategy; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Infrastructure; Transportation; Bicycle Transportation; China

31 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

One Quarter of Entrepreneurs in the United States Are Immigrants

contractors with no employees may call themselves self-employed, while the CEO of a rapidly growing startup might not. Research shows that the immigrant percentage of entrepreneurship in America has grown over time, from 17 percent in... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 Feb 2012
What Do You Think?

Is Support for Small Business Misplaced?

well known for decades: general management. The old way, centered around cases involving the leadership of large corporations, was not working. (I can speak from experience, because I led one of the unsuccessful efforts.) Student interests had shifted to the world of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 2010 (Revised December 2011)
Case

WildChina: Taking the Road Less Traveled

By: Mukti Khaire, Daniel Isenberg, Victoria Song and Shirley Spence

This case deals with supplier difficulties faced by WildChina—a travel service provider in China. WildChina is a classic case of a company that is trying to bring a local, within-country product to a market outside the country (in this case, travelers to China from... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Customer Focus and Relationships; Local Range; Globalized Markets and Industries; Supply Chain Management; Conflict Management; Travel Industry; China

March 2006
Module Note

Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World

By: Alan D. MacCormack

Describes the second module of the 30-session Harvard Business School elective course Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome these challenges. The course... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Problems and Challenges; Business Processes; Perspective; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Managerial Roles; Product Design; Business Startups; Organizational Design

25 Oct 2016
First Look

October 25, 2016

reorientations, we conducted an inductive, longitudinal field study of two startups in the “robo-advisor” sector. Despite similar initial profiles, parallel reorientations, and comparable end products, the startups’ fortunes diverged in a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2000 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Garage.com (A)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Elizabeth Kind

Silicon Valley's Garage.com matches venture capital and corporate angel investors with high-tech start-ups that are looking for early stage funding. As a Web-based service, Garage.com fields inquiries from entrepreneurs and investors around the world, and is eager to... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Corporate Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Venture Capital; Investment; Internet and the Web; Expansion; Operations; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Technological Innovation; Brands and Branding; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

October 2016 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Innovating Beyond Ochsner

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Olivia Hull

The Ochsner Health System has developed a proprietary software tool designed to treat hypertension. Built into the system’s electronic medical records, the Hypertension Digital Medicine program allows patients to record their blood pressure at home and share readings... View Details

March 2003
Background Note

A Short Note on the AccuFlow Excel Model

By: Jay O. Light

Describes an Excel spreadsheet workbook that facilitates the analysis of AccuFlow, Inc. View Details

Keywords: History; Analytics and Data Science; Cost of Capital; Negotiation; Capital; Business Model; Economic Systems; Machinery and Machining; Leveraged Buyouts; Business Startups; Equity

10 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 10, 2018

informal organizational networks; and during periods of credit expansion. Overall, we provide novel evidence of non-agency related costs in the use of soft information in credit decisions. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54618... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 2021
Case

Inclusive Innovation at Mass General Brigham

By: Katherine Baldiga Coffman and Olivia Hull

Massachusetts General Brigham (MGB) Chief Innovation Officer Christopher Coburn had overseen a period of exciting transformation and growth in healthcare innovation at MGB. In November 2019, the health system was the largest recipient of National Institutes of Health... View Details

December 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Levenger Company

By: Myra M. Hart, Kristin Lieb and Victoria Winston

The Leveens started a high-end catalog business as a small home-based venture in 1987. It grew into a nationally recognized, $60 million company, offering products that ranged from unique pens and pencils to leather briefcases and fully furnished offices. In 1999, it... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Financial Liquidity; Business Exit or Shutdown; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Value; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Globalization; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

10 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 10

effect of different legal and cultural environments on bankruptcy proceedings. Purchase this case: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/214055-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 815-044 DoubleDutch Lawrence Coburn and Pankaj Prasad, co-founders of the event... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 Sep 2024
HBS Case

If a Car Can Drive Itself, Can It Make Life-or-Death Decisions?

Silicon Valley startups have adopted the “fail fast” approach of releasing innovative products quickly rather than waiting for perfection. Badaracco disagrees: “It’s a potentially catastrophic mistake, with technology like this, to have... View Details

Keywords: by Tom Quinn; Auto; Technology

September 2000
Background Note

Professional Services Module Two: External Strategy for Sustained Competitive Advantage

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scot H. Landry

Concerns itself with the strategic dynamics which influence organizations externally. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Business Plan; Service Operations; For-Profit Firms; Power and Influence; Measurement and Metrics; Business Processes; Management Practices and Processes; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques