Publications

February 2024
Case

Nuwa Capital: Investing During Uncertainty

By: Paul A. Gompers and Fares Khrais

Nuwa Capital (Nuwa) was a venture capital firm based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The business was founded in 2020 by Khaled Talhouni and his partners Sarah Abu Risheh, and Stephanie Nour Prince (they were later joined by Nitin Reen... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Decisions; Middle East; Saudi Arabia; United Arab Emirates; Dubai; Bahrain

December 1993 (Revised August 1998)
Case

Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Company versus NutraSweet (A)

The NutraSweet Co. has very successfully marketed aspartame, a low-calorie, high-intensity sweetener, around the world. NutraSweet's position was protected by patents until 1987 in Europe, Canada, and Japan, and until the end of 1992 in the United States. The case... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada; Japan; United States; Europe

March 2019
Supplement

Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (B)

By: Jonas Heese, Suraj Srinivasan and Francois Brochet

This case serves as a complement to the case "Fair Value Accounting at Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (A)". View Details

15 Nov 2021
Video

Professor Anita Elberse: Storytelling

August 2020 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Luckin Coffee (A): Caffeine-fueled Growth?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the founding of Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee in 2017 and its path to surpassing Starbucks as the largest coffee chain in China (by number of stores) in 2019. Unlike Starbucks stores, which were designed to be welcoming “third places” for... View Details

December 2019 (Revised June 2024)
Supplement

The Dutch East India Company in 1612 (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci

The case relates the decision made in the A case and what happened in the aftermath. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Structure; Laws and Statutes; Financial Markets; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business History; Shipping Industry; Netherlands

27 Apr 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Equity Bank CEO James Mwangi: Transforming Lives with Access to Credit

Keywords: Re: Caroline M. Elkins; Banking; Financial Services

June 2001
Background Note

Dot com Business Models

By: Richard L. Nolan

Describes dot com business models. Intended to be used as a handout with a case about dot com companies following case discussion. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business or Company Management; Web Sites; Web Services Industry

Find at Harvard

May 2021 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Accounting for Bitcoin at Tesla

By: Charles C.Y. Wang and Siyu Zhang

On February 8, 2021, Tesla revealed, through its 10-K filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that it had purchased $1.5 billion of Bitcoin, totaling 7.5% of the company’s cash, and that it planned to accept payments in the cryptocurrency soon. These... View Details

Keywords: Bitcoin; Accounting; Currency; Communication Intention and Meaning; Strategy; Investment Portfolio; Emerging Markets; Risk and Uncertainty; Value Creation

August 1999 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Taran Swan at Nickelodeon Latin America (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Eighteen months after launching Nickelodeon Latin America, general manager Taran Swan must leave the company's Miami headquarters for her New York home because of complications with her pregnancy. Unable to travel for at least the next six months, Swan must decide how... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Leadership Style; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Groups and Teams

March 2018 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Alaska Airlines: Empowering Frontline Workers to Make It Right

By: Ranjay Gulati, Andrew O'Connell and Caroline de Lacvivier

This case documents the ongoing efforts by Alaska Airlines to enhance its efforts to become more customer centric by empowering its employees using a service framework. It explores how the airline starts with a completely hands-off approach to empowerment in which... View Details

Keywords: Employee Empowerment; Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Integration; Air Transportation Industry

March 2025
Supplement

Rose Electronics Distributing Company (B)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Supplement to HBS Case No. 217-018. Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details. View Details

Dr. Austin holds the Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. Previously he held the John G. McLean Professorship and the Richard P. Chapman Professorship. He has been a member of the Harvard... View Details

Keywords: agribusiness

Rohit Deshpande

Rohit Deshpandé is a Baker Foundation Professor and Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing, Emeritus at Harvard Business School, where he has been teaching in the Advanced Management Program,... View Details

Keywords: advertising; agribusiness; airline; banking; beauty products; beverage; financial services; home video games; marketing industry; pharmaceuticals; telecommunications; tourism; video games

Web

Resumes & Cover Letters - Alumni

pursuing your first post-graduate role, switching careers, or returning to the workforce after a period of absence, your job search begins by making a case for yourself. Learn how to market yourself to potential employers. Resume Writing... View Details

Richard S. Ruback

Richard S. Ruback is a Baker Foundation Professor and the Willard Prescott Smith Professor of Corporate Finance, Emeritus at the Harvard Business School. He is currently focusing his research in applied corporate finance, especially... View Details

02 Feb 2022
News

Cold Call: Black Business Leaders Series 2022

August 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Supplement

Cosmeticos de Espana, S.A. (C)

By: David F. Hawkins

The third case in the Cosmeticos de Espana case series. What should management's accounting response be to a further devaluation of the Bolivar? View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Decision Choices and Conditions; Inflation and Deflation; Currency Exchange Rate; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Spain; Venezuela