Publications

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March 2011 (Revised October 2011)
Case

If We Ran the World

By: Hanna Halaburda, Radka Dohnalova and Aldo Sesia

Cindy Gallop launched IfWeRanTheWorld (IWRTW) in February 2010, as what the tech world called minimum viable product, in order to real-world test Gallop's "business of the future" concept while development was ongoing. IWRTW was conceived to bring together human good... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Outcome or Result; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Network Effects

February 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

AGENTS.inc: Pathways to Growth at an AI Startup

By: Frank Nagle, Manuel Hoffmann, Karoline Ströhlein and Susan Pinckney

The case describes the history of AGENTS.inc. Despite being a small startup, with only four employees, that had never had a funding round, the company boasted an impressive client portfolio including multiple Fortune 500 companies. While AGENTS.inc had been an early... View Details

22 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

Manager Visibility No Guarantee of Fixing Problems

Observing and understanding the tasks and challenges that workers face every day is important. But managers who merely put in time "walking the floor" are not doing enough; in fact, it can make employees feel worse about their... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

03 May 2021
News

Why Being Promoted from within Gives You a Key Advantage

October 1997
Case

Polaroid Corporation: Digital Imaging Technology in 1997

Focuses on strategic decisions regarding investment in digital imaging technology facing Polaroid Corp., a worldwide leader in the traditional imaging marketplace, in July 1997. New Polaroid CEO Gary DiCamillo must decide how much emphasis to place on digital vs.... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

April 2021
Exercise

Valuing Employment Exercise

By: George Serafeim, Ethan Rouen and Katie Panella

The Valuing Employment exercise can be used to show the importance of impact measurement in designing incentives and contracts. The exercise has two phases. In the first phase, participants play the role of managers at the State of Massachusetts Infrastructure... View Details

Keywords: Bid Evaluation; Workforce; Impact Measurement; Bids and Bidding; Contracts; Design; Measurement and Metrics

January 2018 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Château Margaux: Launching the Third Wine (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek

Château Margaux, one of only five prestigious estates in the Bordeaux Medoc wine region to have been classified as a "first-growth", is facing a host of strategic decisions in early 2013. Up until this point the estate had been selling two red wines, a first wine whose... View Details

Keywords: New Product Launch; Marketing Plan; Brand Management; Go To Market Strategy; Channels Of Distribution; Wine Industry; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; France

February 2015
Case

Founder Field Day

By: Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, Ramana Nanda and Nathaniel Burbank

Branded as the "Millennial firm for Millennials," Mike Rothenberg founded Rothenberg Ventures (RV) in 2012 while earning his MBA at the Harvard Business School (HBS). Over the following 24 months, Rothenberg raised $20 million and built a venture capital firm that made... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Startups; Seed-investing; Micro-VC; Venture Capital; Business Startups; San Francisco; New York (city, NY)

05 Nov 2021
News

Leaders: Stop Confusing Correlation with Causation

Program

The Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports

sale of creative goods and services Balance risks and rewards to manage multiple new releases simultaneously Execute strategic marketing decisions that take into account different industry players' roles View Details

Keywords: Media & Entertainment; Media & Entertainment

07 Jan 2015
What Do You Think?

SUMMING UP: What Are the Limits On Workplace Transparency?

today most often is associated with good management practice. It is thought by some to generate the trust that fosters everything from cooperation to speed in decision making and execution. It forces... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

Companies compete on the decisions they make. For years—even decades—in response to intensifying global competition, companies decided to outsource their manufacturing operations in order to reduce costs. But we are now seeing the alarming long-term effect of those... View Details

June 2011
Case

Changes to Harvard University's Governing Board

By: Rakesh Khurana and Eric Baldwin

This case examines the decision made by the governing board of Harvard University, known as the Harvard Corporation, to alter its size and operations. The case provides background on Harvard's history, its existing governance structure, and some of the issues that... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Decisions; Education Industry