Publications

October 2016
Supplement

24 Hour Fitness (B): Ownership Changes, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, 24 Hour Fitness was the number-two fitness chain in the United States, generating revenues of $1.4 billion from 441 clubs serving 3.8 million members. Based in San Ramon, California, 24 Hour Fitness operated clubs in 13 states. Having grown rapidly to become... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Buildings and Facilities; Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Age; Training; Private Equity; Financing and Loans; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Health; Nutrition; Business History; Human Resources; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Market Entry and Exit; Media; Organizational Design; Private Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Groups and Teams; Sales; Salesforce Management; Situation or Environment; Welfare or Wellbeing; Sports; Strategy; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Software; Web Sites; Value; Valuation; Health Industry; Health Industry; United States; California; San Francisco

June 1993 (Revised December 1995)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: The Navigator Project (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Richard O. Mason and Melinda Conrad

Provides an overview of the company's recent organizational changes followed by a discussion of the company's new sales promotion software, "Promotion Planner." The president of Frito-Lay's central division must decide how he should proceed with the rollout of this new... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Trends; Innovation Strategy; Marketing Communications; Decision Choices and Conditions; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

Find at Harvard

19 May 2016
Research Event

Crowdsourcing, Patent Trolls, and Other Research Insights Highlighted at Harvard Business School Symposium

submitted. Seeking answers from the crowd may be more important than ever. Even as the use of data science is expanding, we face a shortage of 1.8 million data scientists. “There’s a lot of competition for data science talent,” Lakhani said, with medical schools,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman & Carmen Nobel

June 2017 (Revised August 2018)
Supplement

Making Target the Target: Boycotts and Corporate Political Activity (B)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh and Victor Wu

Supplements the (A) Case. View Details

January 2025
Case

Shifting Winds: DEI in Corporate America

By: Clayton S. Rose, Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon and David Lane

In the 2020s, intense and conflicting social and political pressures challenged organizational leaders around the world. Prominent among these were powerful competing views on workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion programs (DEI) in the United States. Public... View Details

31 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 31

School Case 811-029 Bling Nation, a Palo Alto, California startup, was founded in 2007 as a mobile payment service provider that bypassed industry participants such as Visa and MasterCard. Bling Nation partnered with local View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2018
Supplement

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (B)

By: Marco Di Maggio and Benjamin C. Esty

Analyzes Snap’s value and analyst recommendations following the events described in the (A) case. View Details

June 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Valuing Snap After the IPO Quiet Period (A)

By: Marco Di Maggio, Benjamin C. Esty and Gregory Saldutte

Snap, the disappearing message app, went public at $17 per share on March 2, 2017, making its two 20-something founders the youngest self-made billionaires in the country. Over the next three weeks, 14 analysts made investment recommendations on Snap: two with buy... View Details

28 Aug 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, August 28, 2018

and from electronic communication servers—the effect of open office architectures on employees' face-to-face, email, and instant messaging (IM) interaction patterns. Contrary to common belief, the volume of face-to-face interaction... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

12 Oct 2011
First Look

First Look: October 12

and geographies are communicating to their stakeholders their initiatives and performance within the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) domains. Disclosure of non-financial reports has generated heated debates about whether such... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 23

other sources of entrepreneurial influence: we find that peer influences are strongest for those who have less exposure to entrepreneurship in other aspects of their lives. Family Control of Firms and Industries Authors: Belén Villalonga... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

05 Aug 2010
What Do You Think?

What Is Customer Opinion Good For?

mine]. Our research found that customers can scarcely imagine how to create uncontested market space. Their insight also tends toward the familiar 'offer me more for less.' And what customers typically want 'more' of are those product and service features that the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Technology

01 Aug 2008
What Do You Think?

Has the Time Come for “Stretch” in Management?

progress that the effect of such an agreement may have been fatally compromised. But at least it was discussed and publicized. Is it time to revisit stretch? For example, if the concept had been employed in Detroit, would the American auto View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

December 2018
Case

Choosy

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Julia Kelley

Founded in 2017, Choosy is a data-driven fashion startup that uses algorithms to identify styles trending on social media. After manufacturing similar items using a China-based supply chain, Choosy sells them to consumers through its website and social media pages.... View Details

09 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Andy Grove: A Biographer’s Tale

Soviet Communism when Kremlinologists would take a look at who's standing on the Kremlin Wall. Q: There's a pecking order there. A: Right. And they would try to decode who has power by literally seeing where they were standing. That... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Computer

20 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

US Competitiveness at Risk

findings of this project is the enormous readiness of many in the business community to roll up their sleeves and do things in their communities and companies to make America more competitive. JR: An... View Details

Keywords: Re: Michael E. Porter & Jan W. Rivkin

November 2024
Case

Polish Agro: Where Do We Grow From Here?

By: Willy C. Shih, Lena Duchene and Daniela Beyersdorfer

By July 2024, Polish Agro had grown into one of Poland’s fastest-growing agribusinesses, with €230 million in revenue, 82 employees, and operations across Northern Poland. The company supported farmers with essential agricultural inputs like fertilizers and seeds,... View Details