Publications

Web

Research - Global

Research April 2025 Case #FutureFresenius: Implementing a New Strategy to Transform the Company and Advance Patient Care By: David J. Collis , Benjamin C. Esty and Haisley Wert In February 2024, Fresenius CEO Michael Sen reflected on the... View Details

January 2020
Case

Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd.

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In 2019, Wuxi Lead Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (Lead) was the largest supplier of lithium-ion rechargeable battery manufacturing equipment in the world. Based in Wuxi, China, the company generated RMB 3.9 billion ($557 million) in revenues in 2018, up from RMB 175... View Details

Keywords: Lithium-ion Batteries; Electric Vehicles; Government Subsidies; Industry Dynamics; Markets; Change; Strategy; Decision Making; Manufacturing Industry; China

Web

Europe - Global

New Strategy to Transform the Company and Advance Patient Care By: David J. Collis , Benjamin C. Esty and Haisley Wert In February 2024, Fresenius CEO Michael Sen reflected on the company’s transformation journey from his office in Bad... View Details

Web

Latin America - Global

Direct Cash Transfers End Extreme Poverty? By: Natalia Rigol , Benjamin N. Roth , Sarah Mehta and John Schultz Founded in 2008, GiveDirectly was a nonprofit organization that used direct cash transfers—giving people cash via mobile... View Details

December 2021 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Bed Bath & Beyond: The New Strategy to Drive Shareholder Value

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. Fisher

At one time, Bed Bath & Beyond was one of the most successful specialty retailers in the United States—its growth and profit margins far exceeded both peer retailers in the home goods market as well as many other discount retailers. But in 2014, its stock price peaked,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Diversification; Corporate Governance; Leading Change; Performance Evaluation; Valuation; Investment Activism; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

April 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Nghe An Tate & Lyle Sugar Company (Vietnam)

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Frank J. Lysy and Carrie Ferman

In September 1998, Paul Cooper, Tate & Lyle's finance director for international investments, asked the International Finance Corp. (IFC) to consider lending up to $45 million to finance a $90 million sugar mill in northern Vietnam. Ewen Cobban, an IFC agricultural... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Food and Beverage Industry; Viet Nam

Web

Courses | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

First-Year Required Curriculum (RC) During the first year at Harvard Business School, all students pursue the same course of study: the Required Curriculum . By studying under a common curriculum, students build a solid, broad foundation... View Details

Web

Faculty & Research - Entrepreneurship

Challenges and Business Reinvention By: Paul A. Gompers and Shu Lin Founded in 2012, Mobvoi evolved through multiple transformations—from AI-driven voice technology to smart wearables and later AI-generated content. Backed by major... View Details

Web

Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

Info Do Fire Sales Create Externalities? By: Sergey Chernenko & Adi Sunderam DEC 2018 How do cash policies affect stock returns? A mutual fund that uses its cash reserves to accommodate outflows will lower the volatility of its underlying holdings View Details

September 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Blenheim Chalcot

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In April 2019, Manoj Badale and Charles Mindenhall, co-founders of Blenheim Chalcot, were contemplating how they might go about developing their portfolio. Since founding the company as an internet consultancy called netdecisions in 1998, Badale and Mindenhall had... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; United Kingdom; United States; India

June 2023
Case

Investing in the Climate Transition at Neuberger Berman

By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta

By mid-2023, Neuberger Berman (NB), an active asset manager, had grown its assets under management to about half a trillion dollars and took pride in its client centricity and innovative spirit. Responding to client demand for investment products that integrated... View Details

Web

Strategy Curriculum - Faculty & Research

and how to sustain competitive advantage. How to generate superior value for customers by designing the optimum configuration of the product mix and functional activities. How to balance the opportunities and risks associated with dynamic... View Details

November 2019
Case

Gillette: Cutting Prices to Regain Share

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

After losing market share to low-priced competitors such as Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club for several years, Gillette decided to fight back by launching new products and increasing advertising. When these efforts failed to stem the losses, Gillette decided to cut the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Business Strategy; Competition; Price; Public Equity; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

01 Dec 2023
News

Research Brief: Staying in the Game

Illustration by Peter Hoey In Monopoly, declaring bankruptcy has a very permanent consequence. Game over; you lose. In the paper “Life After Death: A Field Experiment with Small Businesses on Information Frictions, Stigma, and Bankruptcy,” HBS professor Shai Bernstein... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers; Administration of Economic Programs; Government

November 2020
Case

Valuing Celgene's CVR

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

When Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) acquired Celgene Corporation in November 2019, Celgene shareholders received cash, BMS stock, and a contingent value right (CVRs) that would pay $9 if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved three of Celgene’s late stage... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Value; Valuation; Judgments; Decision Making; Cash Flow; Financial Instruments; Cognition and Thinking; Pharmaceutical Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States

March 2001 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Chase's Strategy for Syndicating the Hong Kong Disneyland Loan (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

In late 1999, the Walt Disney Co. and the Hong Kong government agreed to develop Hong Kong Disneyland, a HK$28 (U.S.$3.6) billion theme park and resort complex planned to open in late 2005. As part of the total financing package, the sponsors decided to raise HK$3.3... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Project Finance; Relationships; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Tourism Industry; Hong Kong