Publications

21 Oct 2022
News

An Introduction to BiGS

April 2012
Case

Meli Marine

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Sunru Yong

Meli Marine, a container shipping company, is facing an important strategic decision after an interesting acquisition opportunity presents itself. Founded in 1974 by the Chang Family, the Singapore-based company has carved out a niche in the intra-Asia transport... View Details

21 Sep 2017
Cold Call Podcast

State Street’s SHE: Investing in Women Leaders

Keywords: Re: Vikram Gandhi; Financial Services

Management Culture & Surveillance

Highlighted in Columbia L. Sch.’s Blue Sky and Duke L. Sch.’s Global Markets blogs. Featured in its own episode of Stanford L. Sch.’s Business Scholars podcast. Selected for “New and Emerging Voices in Workplace Law,” 2020 AALS Ann. Meeting. View Details

November 2021 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Farfetch: Digital Transformation for Luxury Brands

By: Sunil Gupta, Jill Avery, Elena Corsi and Federica Gabrieli

Farfetch, a global luxury technology platform and digital marketplace had been surfing the wave of digital transformation in the luxury fashion industry since 2008. While the company’s stock price and market valuation had fluctuated since its IPO in 2018, it had... View Details

January 1996 (Revised September 1997)
Case

Scott Paper Company

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Jeremy Cott

A professional turnaround manager attempts to implement a massive global downsizing program at the world's largest producer of consumer tissue products. The plan involves laying off almost one third of the company's 34,000 hourly and salaried employees and dramatically... View Details

Keywords: Assets; Global Strategy; Resignation and Termination; Goals and Objectives; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Sales; Value Creation; Pulp and Paper Industry

02 Sep 2014
News

Contextual Intelligence

February 1996 (Revised November 1996)
Case

Viacom, Inc.: Carpe Diem

By: Joseph L. Bower and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Viacom has reached a powerful position in the global entertainment industry through skillful and very bold acquisitions. Now its further expansion is challenged by the moves of Rupert Murdock's News Corp. Different businesses within Viacom have contradictory positions... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Cost vs Benefits; Decisions; Entertainment; Global Strategy; Management; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Find at Harvard

May 2019
Case

Mobileye Update, 2019

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

Mobileye was an Israeli company, officially headquartered in The Netherlands, which was a Tier 2 supplier to the global automobile industry. This short case updates Mobileye's business performance and strategy, following the acquisition by Intel in 2017. View Details

Keywords: Driverless Car; Competitive Advantage; Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Technology; Auto Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Technology Industry; Israel

18 Dec 2006
Lessons from the Classroom

Grooming Next-Generation Leaders

Finding and nurturing future leadership talent is a primary concern for most organizations. How can they identify top people, train them, and—here's the catch—retain them? And do so in the face of ever-increasing global challenges?... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

April 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Maersk: Betting on Blockchain

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

In March 2018, international shipping giant Maersk is getting ready to debut a trade digitization platform. Maersk hopes the platform will help streamline global trade since shipping goods internationally is an extraordinarily complicated and inefficient process.... View Details

Keywords: Maersk; IBM; Blockchain; Shipping; Shipping Line; Trade; Bitcoin; Digitization; Container Shipping; Joint Ventures; Ship Transportation; Transportation Networks; Digital Platforms; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Applications and Software; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry

November 2007 (Revised December 2008)
Background Note

China Rising: An Economic Snapshot

"China Rising: An Economic Snapshot" provides readers with an overview of China's economic transformation, relying on economic data from a variety of sources. It is organized into three sections: (1) "The Big Picture" explores macroeconomic indicators, as well as those... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Macroeconomics; Microeconomics; Local Range; Globalized Economies and Regions; Business and Government Relations; China

Brian J. Hall is the Albert H. Gordon Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He served as the Unit Head for the Negotiation, Organizations and Markets (NOM) Unit for 14 years. Previously, he was an assistant professor of economics in the... View Details

Keywords: accounting industry; consulting; consumer products; executive search; financial services; high technology; investment banking industry; management consulting; private equity (LBO funds); restaurant; sports; venture capital industry

October 2016 (Revised February 2017)
Teaching Note

Alvogen

By: Daniel Isenberg, William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

Alvogen is an Icelandic pharmaceutical company that makes and sells generic drugs. Founder and CEO Robert Wessman is deciding whether to take on private equity investors willing to buy out all shareholders, merge with a large and publicly-traded US pharmaceutical... View Details

Keywords: Biotechnology; Globalization; Entrepreneurship; Biotechnology Industry

07 Jul 2022
HBS Case

How a Multimillion-Dollar Ice Cream Startup Melted Down (and Bounced Back)

frosting, and lemon-ginger ice cream. When the Brooklyn-based screenwriter first met his future wife and business partner, he wooed her by hosting ice cream socials with homemade concoctions that guests raved about. Flying high on these... View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

20 Mar 2019
News

In five charts: Almost all US employers still consider H-1B talent a lifeline

May 2020 (Revised July 2020)
Case

MassChallenge

By: Rembrand Koning, Andy Wu, Nataliya Langburd Wright and Tarun Khanna

The case explores the strategic decision of global non-profit startup accelerator MassChallenge on whether to pursue a for-profit spinoff, discussing: (1) the costs and benefits of this decision, (2) how best to manage the risks of the decision, and (3) alternative... View Details

Keywords: Accelerators; Nonprofit Organizations; Business Startups; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Cost vs Benefits; Risk Management; Decision Making; Strategy