Publications

October 1991 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Becton Dickinson & Company: VACUTAINER Systems Division (Condensed)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Frank V. Cespedes

Becton Dickinson, a phenomenally successful company with an 80% market share in the blood collection needles and syringes market faces a change in the customer buying environment (cost containment pressures at hospitals). This forces a reevaluation of the company's... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Customer Satisfaction; Demand and Consumers; Market Participation; Distribution Channels; Success; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation; Health Industry

August 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Supplement

Urban Water Partners (A) (CW)

By: Karthik Ramanna and George Serafeim

The case explores a new venture to bring clean water to Tanzanians who otherwise cannot access or afford it. Management has enough money to get their company through August 2010, but needs more capital. An HBS alum is interested in investing in the company;... View Details

Keywords: Human Needs; Accrual Accounting; Financial Statements; Health Industry; Health Industry; Dar es Salaam

09 May 2017
First Look

New Research and Ideas, May 9

adoption of feed-in tariffs, subsidies, and tax credits in the 1980s. However the poor technological capabilities of U.S.-based firms meant that it was Danish and other foreign companies that benefitted most. Subsequently the combination... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 8

valuable information. Companies need to invest as much in learning from their start-ups as they do in making and overseeing deals. Publisher's link: http://hbr.org/2013/10/corporate-venturing/ar/1 August 2013 Harvard Business Review The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

8 Strategies to Sustain Business Innovation

followed by flexible execution. McDonald says that might seem like the reverse of a good strategy—shouldn’t a new firm be flexible at the beginning to see what works? But he says focused selection earlier is what allows a company the best... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

05 Mar 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, March 5, 2019

Organizational Challenge of Pursuing Joint Social and Financial Goals: Social Enterprise as a Laboratory to Understand Hybrid Organizing By: Battilana, Julie Abstract— While in recent decades the social and business sectors have evolved on fairly separate tracks, today... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

April 1993 (Revised May 1994)
Case

Genzyme Corporation: Strategic Challenges with Ceredase

Genzyme Corp., one of the largest biotechnology companies, has succeeded in developing, manufacturing, and commercializing its first therapeutic, a treatment for a rare genetic disease. Analysis of the case requires students to identify and understand how Genzyme has... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Corporate Strategy; Technology; Health; Product Development; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

May 2020
Article

Sales Leadership During and After the Crisis

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Because customer acquisition and retention are the lifeblood of a for-profit enterprise, sales activities establish foundational conditions for a business. In turn, sales managers’ responsibilities in a crisis extend beyond keeping the lights on. Their leadership makes... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Leadership; Health Pandemics; Crisis Management

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Web

Your Social Entrepreneurship checklist | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Student ventures are placed into one of three tracks – Open, Health & Life Sciences, and Social Impact. Applications are due in December. Harvard Law Entrepreneurship Project: Harvard Law Entrepreneurship Project matches a team of 4 to 5... View Details

February 2006 (Revised August 2006)
Case

deCODE Genetics: Hunting for Genes to Develop Drugs

By: Debora L. Spar

In 1996, Kari Stefansson launched a new kind of biotechnology company and a whole new way of attacking diseases. Based in Iceland, his firm, deCODE Genetics, plans to identify the individual genetic markers that lead to society's most prevalent diseases. To do so, it... View Details

Keywords: Information; Innovation Strategy; Genetics; Ethics; Health Disorders; Biotechnology Industry; Iceland

2024
Working Paper

Cephalosporins—Fighting Hospital Infections: Case Histories of Transformational Advances

By: Amar Bhidé, Srikant Datar and Katherine Stebbins

This case history describes the development of three generations of cephalosporins – antibiotics that have significantly reduced hospital infections. Specifically, we chronicle how: 1) Early (pre-cephalosporin) antibiotics were developed in the first half of the 20th... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Technology Adoption; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Invention; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms