• 08 Aug 2022
• HBS Case

Building an 'ARMY' of Fans: Marketing Lessons from K-Pop Sensation BTS

the product of heavy government investment to create a unique cultural export. Music agencies built acts using an idol system that managed all aspects of stars’ lives and trained them in singing, dance, and even foreign languages.... View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta; Media & Broadcasting; Music

• September 2016 (Revised September 2017)
• Case

Collage.com: Scaling a Distributed Organization

By: Christopher Stanton and Shikhar Ghosh

Kevin Borders and Joe Golden, co-founders and co-CEOs of Collage.com, must decide how to grow their custom photo-products startup in the face of fierce competition. From 2011 through 2016, the business evolved from a hobby to a startup with $22 million in revenue and... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Internet and the Web; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Employees; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry

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Stanton, Christopher, and Shikhar Ghosh. "Collage.com: Scaling a Distributed Organization." Harvard Business School Case 817-038, September 2016. (Revised September 2017.)

• August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
• Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

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Wells, John R., Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth, and Galen Danskin. "Amazon.com, 2021." Harvard Business School Case 716-402, August 2015. (Revised June 2021.)

• 14 Sep 2020
• Research & Ideas

You're Right! You Are Working Longer and Attending More Meetings

Probing the productivity and morale toll The anonymized nature of the data made it difficult to discern the quality of the meetings and email communication, and the impact on employees’ well-being. The study also didn’t include the time... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

• March 2018 (Revised March 2018)
• Teaching Note

OpenInvest

By: Boris Vallee and Caitlin Reimers Brumme

Founded by a team of hedge fund and NGO alumni, OpenInvest launched its platform in 2015 to enable retail investors to tailor their portfolio to their personal values in an automated way, for instance by screening out weapon manufacturers stocks or overweighting LGBTQ... View Details

Keywords: Socially Responsible Investing; Investing For Impact; Robo-advisors; Investment; Values and Beliefs; Customization and Personalization; Technology; Financial Services Industry

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Vallee, Boris, and Caitlin Reimers Brumme. "OpenInvest." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 218-089, March 2018. (Revised March 2018.)

• May 2017
• Teaching Note

Hilti Fleet Management (A) and (B)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Oliver Gassmann and Roman Sauer

These notes are meant to accompany Hilti Fleet Management (A): Turning a Successful Business Model on Its Head (717-427) and Hilti Fleet Management (B): Towards a New Business Model (717-465).
This case explores the introduction of fleet management in the... View Details

Keywords: Hilti; Business Model Innovation; BMI; Fleet Management; Decision-making; Implementation; Power Tools Industry; Europe; Switzerland; Liechtenstein; Business Model; Restructuring; Transformation; Transition; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Focus and Relationships; Construction; Innovation and Invention; Leasing; Strategy; Decision Making; Growth Management; Construction Industry; Switzerland; Liechtenstein; Germany; Austria; Europe; United States; Asia; Brazil; China; Latin America; Africa; Japan; Hong Kong; France; Italy; Spain

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Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, Oliver Gassmann, and Roman Sauer. "Hilti Fleet Management (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 717-507, May 2017.

• 19 Sep 2019
• News

How TiVo is trying to make a comeback

• 07 Jul 2019
• HBS Case

Walmart's Workforce of the Future

explores how technology and demographics are changing the way companies like Walmart, and their workers, operate. “The pace of change in the retail sector is truly extraordinary,” says Kerr, the D’Arbeloff Professor of Business... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail

• February 2000 (Revised December 2000)
• Case

Staples.com

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joanna M. Jacobson and Gillian Morris

Staples.com, the online unit of the U.S. office supplies retailing chain Staples, faces a range of strategic and organizational issues as it accelerates its growth. Should it pursue only existing Staples customers or consumers who do not shop in Staples stores? How... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Business Units; Business Model; Growth and Development; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Service Industry; United States

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Eisenmann, Thomas R., Joanna M. Jacobson, and Gillian Morris. "Staples.com." Harvard Business School Case 800-305, February 2000. (Revised December 2000.)

• April 2019 (Revised February 2025)
• Case

Wendell Weeks at Corning Inc.: Extending a History of Life-Changing Innovations (A)

By: Ryan Raffaelli, David G. Fubini and Aldo Sesia

This case examines the leadership challenges associated with maintaining a culture of innovation in established organizations. It asks students to step into the shoes of a leader faced with making several tough decisions about when to invest (or to stop investing) in... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Organizational Culture; Innovation Leadership; History; Technological Innovation; Investment; Decision Making

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Raffaelli, Ryan, David G. Fubini, and Aldo Sesia. "Wendell Weeks at Corning Inc.: Extending a History of Life-Changing Innovations (A)." Harvard Business School Case 419-003, April 2019. (Revised February 2025.)

• September 1993 (Revised June 1994)
• Case

Hewlett-Packard: Singapore (A)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

In the over 20 years since Hewlett-Packard (HP) set up a manufacturing site in Singapore to produce calculators, HP has invested managerial talent and resources in developing its licensor into a technology development partner. The case details the growth of high-volume... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Multinational Firms and Management; Market Entry and Exit; Competency and Skills; Research and Development; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Product Development; Computer Industry; Singapore

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Leonard, Dorothy A. "Hewlett-Packard: Singapore (A)." Harvard Business School Case 694-035, September 1993. (Revised June 1994.)

• February 1995 (Revised August 1995)
• Case

Microsoft in the People's Republic of China, 1993

By: Tarun Khanna

Explores some of the economic and political tradeoffs that need to be negotiated by a firm seeking to influence industry structure. The setting is the nascent personal computer software industry in the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1993. Microsoft has to localize... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Product Marketing; Market Entry and Exit; Market Transactions; Industry Structures; Partners and Partnerships; Vertical Integration; Software; Information Technology Industry; China

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Khanna, Tarun. "Microsoft in the People's Republic of China, 1993." Harvard Business School Case 795-115, February 1995. (Revised August 1995.)

• September 1993
• Case

Manufacturing at ALZA: The Right Prescription? (A)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

ALZA, a company specializing in drug delivery systems such as transdermal patches, considers manufacturing its own products. Until now, the company has conducted research and development on its patented system but has then licensed the technology to client-partner... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Production; Research and Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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Leonard, Dorothy A. "Manufacturing at ALZA: The Right Prescription? (A)." Harvard Business School Case 694-019, September 1993.

• Web

HBS - The year in Review

Faculty Brian K. Baik Accounting & Management Sebastian Hillenbrand Finance Ebehi Iyoha Entrepreneurial Management Elisabeth Kempf Finance Jacqueline Ng Lane Technology & Operations Management Joseph Pacelli Accounting & Management... View Details