Publications

July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Property Finder's Strategy for Online Classifieds in the MENA Region

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Gamze Yucaoglu and Fares Khrais

The case opens in 2020 as Michael Lahyani, founder and CEO of Property Finder, Dubai’s leading online real estate classifieds portal, contemplates the company’s five-year growth strategy.
Since its founding in 2005 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Property... View Details

Keywords: General Business; Real Estate; Entrepreneurship; Property; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Growth Management; Online Technology; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; United Arab Emirates; Saudi Arabia; Egypt; Turkey

November 2008 (Revised March 2011)
Case

a-connect: In Search of Talent Partners (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Dilyana Karadzhova

a-connect was started in 2002 by three former McKinsey partners who wanted to develop an alternative business model consulting firm, which they have positioned as a high-end staffing company. The company has been very successful, growing to revenues of CHF 30 million... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Initial Public Offering; Selection and Staffing; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketplace Matching; Expansion; Consulting Industry

28 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Racism and Digital Design: How Online Platforms Can Thwart Discrimination

Chesky responded to the findings and publicly acknowledged that the potential for discrimination on the platform hadn't occurred to him or his two cofounders prior to the site's launch, a blind spot he attributed in part to the fact that all three View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Travel; Entertainment & Recreation; Service

30 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Breaking Barriers and Building Community: Get to Know the HBS Women’s Student Association (WSA)

and Founding Partner at Imaginary Ventures), and Angela F. Williams (President and CEO of United Way Worldwide) as well as 7 panels and a startup pitch competition. Panel speakers included women execs from big tech, AI startups, medical fields, and NGOs, and female... View Details

16 Nov 2023
News

Dean Datar Meets with Alumni in Boston

Starting last fall and continuing through this coming year, Dean Srikant Datar is traveling to meet with alumni around the world. On November 8, more than 170 alumni and guests gathered in Klarman Hall to hear the dean discuss how the School is addressing today’s... View Details

November 2013
Case

Canyon-Agassi Investing in Charter Schools

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas, Nicole Shomair, Vernon Beckford and Lisa Strope

After an unusual round of doubles in May 2011, real estate investor Bobby Turner, Managing Partner, Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund (CACSFF) and Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors, found himself at a loss for words. Turner was... View Details

Keywords: Charter Schools; Real Estate; Fund Raising; Social Entrepreneurship; Education; Real Estate Industry; United States

January 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Cisco Systems (2001): Building and Sustaining a Customer-Centric Culture

By: Ranjay Gulati

Customer centricity has been an important part of the culture at Cisco Systems since its inception. While part of this is attributable to values put in place by the founders and retained by subsequent management, it is also closely interwoven with its organizational... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Research and Development; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Employees; Brands and Branding; Customer Relationship Management; Business Units

From HBSP: " Companies have always found it hard to balance pressing operational concerns with long-term strategic priorities. The tension is critical: World-class processes won't lead to success without the right strategic direction, and... View Details

04 Apr 2024
News

The Making of a Medical Milestone

On March 16, doctors at the Massachusetts General Hospital made history when they successfully transplanted a kidney from a genetically modified pig to a living human. The groundbreaking procedure marked a significant milestone in animal-to-human transplant, or... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

Web

Eligibility & Rules - Alumni

founder and have an active daily leadership role in the company. Investment funds, acquisitions, and consulting services are not deemed "new ventures" and are not eligible. No subsidiary companies are permitted to apply. You can only... View Details

09 Oct 2020
Blog Post

4 Things To Know About the MS/MBA Biotech

noticed during our orientation. The faculty for this program have widespread experiences in health care, and have truly been pioneers in their field. You can read more about our three faculty members here, but the gist is that they are View Details

02 Nov 2022
News

Strong Finish

Heela Yang and Alicia Sontag Four years after its launch in 2015, the Brazilian-inspired beauty brand Sol de Janeiro was already profitable; its skin-tightening Bum Bum Cream had been Sephora’s top-selling skin care product for three years running. But when View Details

Web

AASU50 - Alumni

students, including the first black woman to graduate from HBS, joined forces to form the predecessor of the African American Student Union (originally called the Afro-American Student Union). More on the history of AASU AASU Founders... View Details

25 Apr 2024
News

Origin Stories

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Dan Morrell: Hi, this is Dan Morrell, host of Skydeck. Where we come from and how we were raised has a profound effect on who we become. The recipients of this year’s Alumni Achievement Award grew up... View Details

Web

Cumnock Hall | About

Room . About the Name Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Alexander Cumnock came to the United States with his family in 1846 and began his career in the textile industry as a young man. By the turn of the century, he was a well-known figure in New England fabric manufacturing... View Details

23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

organizations. We propose that individual founders of hybrid organizations acquire imprints from past exposure to work environments, thus predisposing them to incorporate the associated logics in their subsequent ventures, even when doing... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

August 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Discerene Group: Long-Term Public-Markets Investing

By: Luis M. Viceira and Brent Schwarz

This case discusses active investing based on fundamental valuations and price distortions created by market events, and whether contractual terms between investment managers and their investors can help align incentives between long-term investors and active managers.... View Details

Keywords: Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Valuation; Financial Markets; Financial Services Industry; Connecticut

July 2013 (Revised August 2017)
Case

TaKaDu

By: Elie Ofek and Matthew Preble

In December 2012, Amir Peleg, founder and CEO of TaKaDu, reflected on how to position his young firm for the next fiscal year and beyond. The small Israeli startup had developed an innovative software system that used patented algorithms and statistical analysis to... View Details