Publications

April 2000 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Ameritrade Holding Corporation

By: Lisa K. Meulbroek

Some of the senior managers at Ameritrade, an Internet brokerage firm, are selling their holdings in the firm. Why are the managers selling, how will it affect shareholders, and what should the CEO do about it? The CEO is concerned that the market will interpret... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Internet and the Web; Stock Options; Risk Management; Financial Services Industry

October 2022 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Lyra Health: Transforming Mental Health

By: Rembrand Koning and Nicole Keller

In January 2022, Lyra Health was deciding between several different alternatives to grow the business. Founded in 2015, Lyra Health, was a digital mental health platform that combined technology with human therapists and coaches to deliver high quality mental health... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Health Care and Treatment; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Customer Value and Value Chain; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Health Industry; Technology Industry; San Francisco

October 2008 (Revised March 2010)
Case

PlanetTran

By: Lauren H. Cohen and Christopher J. Malloy

PlanetTran is an environmentally-friendly car service that utilizes a fleet of hybrid cars in providing livery service to corporations and individuals. The founder, Seth Riney, is evaluating outside funding options in order to expand the company, and has met several... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Venture Capital; Investment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Expansion; Value

February 2013 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Investindustrial Exits Ducati

By: Francois Brochet and Karol Misztal

In early 2012, Investindustrial, a European private equity group, publicly announced their intention to sell their 76.7% stake in Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A., an iconic Italian producer of sport performance motorcycles. The decision followed a six-year turnaround... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Private Equity; Valuation; Investment Return; Brands and Branding; Financial Services Industry; Motorcycle Industry; Hong Kong; Italy

Article

Earnings and Ratings at Google Answers

By: Benjamin Edelman

I analyze all questions and answers from the inception of the Google Answers service through November 2003, and I find notable trends in answerer behavior: more experienced answerers provide answers with the characteristics askers most value, receiving higher ratings... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Opportunities; Behavior; Value; Jobs and Positions; Wages; Business Earnings

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February 2019 (Revised August 2019)
Case

KangaTech

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Patrick J. Ferguson, Sarah Fleischer, Jin Hyun Paik and Steven Randazzo

On a warm January afternoon in 2019, Steve Saunders, Dave Scerri, Carl Dilena, and Nick Haslam (see Exhibit 1 for biographies), co-founders of KangaTech, wrapped up the latest round of discussions about the future direction of their sports-technology start-up. Focused... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Technology Commercialization; Prototype; Business Startups; Technological Innovation; Sports; Health; Commercialization; Research and Development; Decision Making; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; Sports Industry; Health Industry; Australia

23 Dec 2014
First Look

First Look: December 23

"claim" value individually and cooperative ones to "create" value jointly, as well as efforts to change perceptions of the game itself. Since advice to one side does not necessarily... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

05 Mar 2009
Working Paper Summaries

CPC/CPA Hybrid Bidding in a Second Price Auction

Keywords: by Benjamin Edelman & Hoan Soo Lee

09 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Chance Encounters: What's at Stake in Return-to-Office Decisions

Review article, “What’s the Optimal Workplace for Your Organization?” The article itself, with its two-by-two matrix of strategic space configurations, is an illustration of the value of face time. “This project would very much not exist... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint, HBS Alumni Bulletin

17 Apr 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Technology Choice and Capacity Portfolios Under Emissions Regulation

Keywords: by David Drake, Paul R. Kleindorfer & Luk N. Van Wassenhove

17 Jul 2023
Research & Ideas

Money Isn’t Everything: The Dos and Don’ts of Motivating Employees

false promises. Many companies have offered stock options to upper level employees. But “options are fragile in a way most people don’t understand,” Hall says, “and over half of the time they fall underwater” if the market as a whole... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

April 2004 (Revised August 2004)
Teaching Note

BuildingBlocks International

BuildingBlocks International (BBI) plans to accomplish its mission to help children in developing countries succeed in school by bringing management expertise to local organizations. Two years after founding BBI, however, the team hasn't figured out exactly how to make... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Developing Countries and Economies; Sales

08 Sep 2015
First Look

September 8, 2015

the need for increased upfront financing, but this protection lowers the real option value of the new venture. In equilibrium, financing risk disproportionately impacts innovative ventures with the greatest... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

September 2008 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Marc Abrahams: Annals of an Improbable Entrepreneur

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind

Marc Abrahams was a media entrepreneur who specialized in science humor. In 2008, he sought to boost the scale and monetization potential of his business. That business, called Improbable Research, encompassed a magazine (Annals of Improbable Research), a high-profile... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career

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05 Jul 2011
First Look

First Look: July 5

and threats to organizations and conclude with a research agenda that more fully accounts for the potential of community forms to be a creator (and a possible destroyer) of value for organizations. Download the paper:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

August 2000
Case

Developing Nurse Practitioners at the College of St. Catherine

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Sarah S. Khetani

Margaret McLaughlin has just begun her new appointment as the Dean of Health Professions at the College of St. Catherine in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. As an education leader, her charge is to develop Minnesota's health care workforce for the future. She is... View Details

Keywords: Trends; Debates; Decision Choices and Conditions; Higher Education; Teaching; Growth and Development; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Goals and Objectives; Value Creation; Health Industry