Publications

01 Mar 2004
Lessons from the Classroom

Mission to Mars: It Really Is Rocket Science

a modular, experiment-driven approach, gradually building and verifying the set of technologies that will be needed for such a mission, while adapting our plans as we learn more about what approaches have merit, and which are likely to be... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Aug 2012
What Do You Think?

Should CEOs Worry About ‘Too Big to Succeed?’

become too big to succeed? Of course neither prospect is particularly inviting. But if a growing body of data supports the notion that bigness is not necessarily good, particularly for customers and investors, should leaders of such large organizations, regardless of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Manufacturing; Financial Services

30 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Preparing to Sell

the right owners for your next chapter of wealth-generating (and social value-generating) ventures. Selling a family business can be a wrenching decision, but is an option more families should follow. ©iStock.com/PeopleImages But it's... View Details

Keywords: by Jonathan Pellegrin; Food & Beverage; Retail

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Be an Angel Investor

over 100 early-stage deals, we believe that an investment opportunity has four essential elements, that, when brought together in the right form, represent a high-potential opportunity to make money. If only one of the elements is out of... View Details

Keywords: by David Amis & Howard Stevenson

11 Sep 2000
Research & Ideas

Riding the Internet Fast Track

a single quarter last year, invested $3.8 billion in Internet start-ups. But, is the get-big-fast strategy right for everyone? To what extent is its payoff dependent on speculative excess in the capital markets? These probing questions... View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

15 Feb 2017
News

You Should Consider Buying a Small Business. But When?

February 2022
Case

Toraya

By: Lauren Cohen and Akiko Kanno

Mitsuharu Kurokawa was the 18th generation leader of a family firm that produced and sold premium Japanese sweets, Toraya Confectionery Co., Ltd. He had succeeded the business from his father, Mitsuhiro Kurokawa who had led the firm for thirty years. Mitsuharu was... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Luxury Brand; Succession; Family Business; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Marketing; Expansion; Globalization; Innovation and Invention; Customer Satisfaction; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; Japan

March 2017 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Interline Brands: Don't Stop Believing

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Ricardo Andrade

Interline Brands, a leading distributor of residential housing maintenance and repair parts and equipment in the U.S., had just held its November 2014 board meeting. The meeting had been productive but not without some soul searching for both the company’s management... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Exit; Consumer Goods; IPO; Private Equity; Initial Public Offering; Decision Choices and Conditions

08 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Building Effective R&D Capabilities Abroad

excellence. Xerox also realized that it had to hire a renowned local scientist as the initial laboratory leader. The leader needed to be able to understand the local scientific community, attract junior scientists with high potential, and target the View Details

Keywords: by Walter Kuemmerle

September 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

STARZPLAY: Shooting for the Stars

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini and Alpana Thapar

In mid-2021, Maaz Sheikh, cofounder and CEO of STARZPLAY, a Dubai-based subscription video on demand (SVOD) provider that catered to the Middle East and North Africa region, was wrestling with how to find the right balance between continued subscriber growth and... View Details

April 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Supplement

Eastman Kodak Company: Restructuring a Melting Ice Cube

By: Stuart C. Gilson, John D. Dionne and Sarah L. Abbott

In May 2013, senior managers of GSO Capital Partners, an $80 billion credit-oriented investment firm owned by The Blackstone Group, are considering what to do next with their investment in the senior secured debt of Eastman Kodak Company. Once a great company and an... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Financial Strategy; Investment; United States

31 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

From SpinPop to SpinBrush: Entrepreneurial Lessons from John Osher

Dr. John's, basing the idea for the SpinBrush on the proven design of the SpinPop, getting an early product on the shelves, and then improving it from there. The first iteration of the product was a success right from the beginning,... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Consumer Products

March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Case

MTN: Unlocking Value While Driving Socioeconomic Progress

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha

On March 10, 2021, Ralph Mupita the new CEO of MTN Group, Africa's largest telecommunications company, presented the group’s 2020 annual results and unveiled a new strategy to “drive growth and unlock value.” Despite MTN’s leadership in most of its markets, the... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Goals and Objectives; Valuation; Emerging Markets; Business Strategy; Financial Management; Information Technology; Corporate Finance; Telecommunications Industry; Africa; South Africa; Ghana; Nigeria

24 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

IPR: Protecting Your Technology Transfers

The competitiveness of many multinational companies depends on their ability to transfer intellectual property and other intangible assets to their worldwide production processes. These sources of competitive advantage can be anything from a proprietary manufacturing... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

08 Nov 2021
Blog Post

4 Ways the MS/MBA is Preparing Me for a Career in Health Care and the Life Sciences

learned a lot at McKinsey about business and strategy, but I really missed the science. The plan was to pursue an MS in biomedical engineering, until a few colleagues sent me press articles about the new Harvard joint degree, through... View Details

24 May 2018
Blog Post

3 Ways to Get to Know HBS

An important part of the application process is figuring out which business school is right for you. We would love for you to get to know HBS, so we wanted to take the opportunity to outline our resources in one place. 1. Connect with HBS... View Details

October 2022
Supplement

The SAH Group: The Time is Right, Instructor Spreadsheet

By: Juan Alcacer and Alpana Thapar

In January 2021, Jalila Mezni, CEO of the SAH Group, was preparing to present the company’s future growth plans to its board of directors. The Tunisian company was a leading producer and distributor of personal care and packaged hygiene products. In 2019, it expanded... View Details

Keywords: Growth Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Investment Decisions; Growth Management; Vertical Integration; Distribution; Competition; Strategy; Supply Chain; Presentations; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Consumer Products Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Health Industry; Tunisia