Publications

November 2018 (Revised June 2019)
Case

ofo

By: Mitchell Weiss

Dai Wei and his co-founders grew Beijing-based ofo from a school-based startup to a bike-share behemoth in a matter of months, topped an all-out market-share battle fueled with almost $1 billion in venture capital, provided 2 billion bicycle rides, soaked up the... View Details

March 2016
Case

N12 Technologies: Building an Organization and Building a Business

By: David A. Garvin and Aldo Sesia

N12 Technologies was a startup founded in 2010 that employed nanotechnology to manufacture a patented material to improve the performance of carbon fiber composites, which were used in a wide variety of products, ranging from bicycles to automobiles to aircraft parts.... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Organizational Structure; Nanotechnology; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Management Systems; Commercialization; Bicycle Industry; Bicycle Industry; Bicycle Industry; Bicycle Industry; Bicycle Industry; United States

14 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Can Entrepreneurs Drive People Movers to Success?

personal rapid transport, or PRT for short, has been percolating since the mid-1950s and is finally gaining ground, according to HBS professor Benjamin G. Edelman. Business and communities small and large are increasingly aware of PRT as a "green" solution to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Transportation

June 2016
Teaching Note

N12 Technologies: Building an Organization and Building a Business

By: David A. Garvin

N12 Technologies was a startup founded in 2010 that employed nanotechnology to manufacture a patented material to improve the performance of carbon fiber composites, which were used in a wide variety of products, ranging from bicycles to automobiles to aircraft parts.... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Organizational Structure; Nanotechnology; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Management Systems; Commercialization; Bicycle Industry; Bicycle Industry; Bicycle Industry; Bicycle Industry; Bicycle Industry; United States

August 2023 (Revised April 2024)
Case

eBee: Affordable Mobility for Africa

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in March 2023, as Sten van der Ham and Jaap Maljers, CEO and co-founder of eBee, an electric bike (e-bike) company in Africa, are contemplating the different avenues for growth and path to profitability for the young and ambitious company. In 2023, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Bicycle Industry; Africa; Kenya

April 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Teaching Note

eBee: Affordable Mobility for Africa

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Gamze Yucaoglu and Jordan Mitchell

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 724-360.The case opens in March 2023, as Sten van der Ham and Jaap Maljers, CEO and co-founder of eBee, an electric bike (e-bike) company in Africa, are contemplating the different avenues for growth and path to profitability for the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Value Creation; Competition; Expansion; Logistics; Profit; Resource Allocation; Corporate Strategy; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Product Marketing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Bicycle Industry; Africa; Kenya

September 2012
Teaching Note

On Two Wheels in Paris: The Vélib' Bicycle-Sharing Program (TN)

Keywords: Bicycle Transportation; Bicycle Industry; Paris

December 2011 (Revised January 2016)
Case

On Two Wheels in Paris: The Vélib' Bicycle-Sharing Program

By: Peter A. Coles, Elena Corsi and Vincent Dessain

Keywords: Bicycle Transportation; Bicycle Industry; Paris

Web

Curriculum - Business & Environment

that exports roses to predominantly Europe. Because cut flowers have a limited shelf life and consumers want them to retain their appearance for as long as possible, Sian or its distributors used international air cargo to transport them... View Details

March 2003 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Threshold Sports

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Todd H Thedinga

Describes the sales, marketing, and operating issues facing Threshold Sports, a small cycling event management company that produces the Pro Cycling Tour. Examines the issues facing the company as it approaches breakeven and attempts to grow the business substantially.... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Bicycle Transportation; Service Delivery; Sports; Bicycle Industry; Bicycle Industry

01 Sep 2024
News

The Road Less Traveled

Most cars in the United States weigh more than 4,000 pounds, and new models are trending larger, even in countries where people drive less. And the larger the vehicle, the more fuel required to power it, which means more greenhouse-gas emissions that contribute to... View Details

Keywords: Janine White; illustrations by WACSO; Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation; Transportation

September 2013 (Revised August 2015)
Background Note

Leadership and Teaming

By: Ethan Bernstein

Small differences in the leadership of teams can have large consequences for the success of their efforts. Many initiatives fail not because of a fatal error in judgment or insufficient ideas, knowledge, motivation, or capabilities to deliver a solution. They fail... View Details

31 May 2023
Research & Ideas

With Predictive Analytics, Companies Can Tap the Ultimate Opportunity: Customers’ Routines

course, you can better predict what will happen in the future at an exact point in time,” she says. “Understanding patterns of behavior in transport could be super relevant for policymakers.” Take transportation. Knowing when drivers are... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Transportation

James E. Casey

Starting with two bicycles and $100 in capital in 1907, Casey went on to build one of the most respected and recognized companies of the 20th century – United Parcel Service. UPS’s trademark brown delivery vehicles have become synonymous... View Details

Keywords: Transportation

September 2008 (Revised August 2009)
Case

Columbus Tubing: Steel is Real

By: Daniel C. Snow, Gary P. Pisano, Elena Corsi and Gudrun Urfalino Kristinsdottir

Columbus Tubing must choose to improve an old technology (steel) or to develop a new material (carbon fiber). The decision must take into account a complicated context: increased demand for the "old" steel products made in Italy, increasing power of carbon fiber... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Resource Allocation; Production; Research and Development; Information Technology; Bicycle Transportation; Asia; Italy

14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

By 2050, the Earth's population will likely exceed 9 billion people, up 30 percent from 6.9 billion today, according to projections from both the US Census Bureau and the United Nations. What's more, the population in the world's cities is expected to increase by 3... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

May 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Mobike and ofo: Dancing with Titans (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Haibo Zhao

This case address pacing issues – how fast does a company need to scale? It also examines the role of investors in determining company strategy and exit.
Mobike and ofo were two dominant players in China’s emerging dockless bike-sharing market, that allowed users... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Competition; Value Creation; Governance; Economics; Business Startups; Strategy; Business Exit or Shutdown; Entrepreneurship; Infrastructure; Transportation; Bicycle Transportation; China