Publications

March 2025
Case

No One Left Behind (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, Max Hancock and David Lane

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat translators;... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Service Industry; Afghanistan; United States

March 2025
Case

No One Left Behind (B)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, Max Hancock and David Lane

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat translators;... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Service Industry; Afghanistan; United States

March 2025
Case

No One Left Behind (C)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, Max Hancock and David Lane

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat translators;... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Service Industry; Afghanistan; United States

March 2025
Case

No One Left Behind (D)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard, Max Hancock and David Lane

In September 2021, the board of directors for the nonprofit No One Left Behind (NOLB) faced a crucial decision. Since its 2013 founding, NOLB had helped resettle in the United States thousands of Afghans and Iraqis who had assisted U.S. forces as combat translators;... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations; Service Industry; Afghanistan; United States

February 2025
Teaching Note

Influencer-Led Brand Building: Hairitage and the McKnights

By: William R. Kerr and James Palano

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 825-066. Mindy McKnight started in 2009 as an early influencer on social media whose videos of creative hairstyles for girls launched her family on an entrepreneurship journey. The McKnights transitioned from YouTube ad revenue to brand... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Social Media; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Power and Influence; Expansion; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

2025
White Paper

Data & Technology in Action: Community Colleges Advancing Economic Mobility

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Kerry McKittrick and Amanda Holloway

Keywords: Higher Education; Demographics; Economic Growth; Competency and Skills; Employment

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February 2025
Teaching Note

India Stack: Digital Public Infrastructure for All

By: Tarun Khanna

Keywords: Digital Transformation; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Asia; South Asia; India

February 2025
Supplement

eBee: Affordable Mobility for Africa

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

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; Value Creation; Competition; Logistics; Profit; Resource Allocation; Expansion; Corporate Strategy

February 2025
Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Transition; Interpersonal Communication; Forms of Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Making; Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Alternative Energy; Engineering; Global Strategy; Governance; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Technology Adoption; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Leading Change; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; Transportation; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; France; Europe; China

February 2025
Case

Luca de Meo at Renault Group (A) (Abridged)

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Lydia Begag

When Luca de Meo became CEO of Renault Group in 2020, the 122-year-old French automaker faced financial challenges and the double technological disruption of the automotive industry: the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) and the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs).... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Transition; Interpersonal Communication; Forms of Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Experience and Expertise; Customer Value and Value Chain; Decision Making; Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Alternative Energy; Engineering; Global Strategy; Governance; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Technology Adoption; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Technological Innovation; Innovation Leadership; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Leading Change; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Crisis Management; Management Skills; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Efficiency; Transportation; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; Transportation Industry; France; Europe; China

February 2025
Case

Blue Owl Financing of Ping Identity

By: Victoria Ivashina and Srimayi Mylavarapu

In the fall of 2022, Blue Owl Capital's investment committee evaluated a potential investment in the technology sector. The proposed transaction centered on Ping Identity Corporation (“Ping”), a fast-growing identity access management (IAM) software company that was... View Details

2025
Working Paper

Impact Investing and Worker Outcomes

By: Josh Lerner, Markus Lithell and Gordon M. Phillips

Impact investors claim to distinguish themselves from traditional venture capital and growth equity investors by also pursuing ESG objectives. Whether they successfully do so in practice is unclear. We use confidential Census Bureau microdata to assess worker... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Private Equity; Venture Capital; Wages

SSRN

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2025
Book

Space to Grow: Unlocking the Final Economic Frontier

By: Matthew Weinzierl and Brendan Rosseau

Your guide--using the compelling stories of changemakers and the tools of economics--to the transformation and future possibilities of the business and economics of space.

Space is a place of unparalleled possibility for humanity, and it's undergoing a... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Economics; Innovation and Invention; Market Entry and Exit; Aerospace Industry

2025
Chapter

Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter argues that since the nineteenth century capitalism has created much wealth, but at the cost of massive ecological destruction, which has been particularly severe in Latin America. During the first global economy before 1929, considerable wealth was... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Business History; Globalization; Economic Growth; Latin America

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January 2025 (Revised February 2025)
Technical Note

Skills-First Talent Management Onboarding, Development, and Performance Management

By: Boris Groysberg, James Barnett, Robin Abrahams and Katherine Connolly Baden

The second in a series of notes on how organizations manage skills-first talent-management chains, covering onboarding, development, and performance management. Onboarding included the practices, programs, and policies used by an organization to facilitate new employee... View Details

January 2025
Case

Arsenal Capital Partners’ Refinancing of Pinnacle

By: Victoria Ivashina and Srimayi Mylavarapu

Arsenal Capital Partners’ portfolio company, Pinnacle, a leading producer of high-performance adhesive technologies, has experienced rapid growth under Arsenal’s ownership. Over just two years, Pinnacle's EBITDA increased from $13.5 million to $60 million. By mid-2021,... View Details

January 2025
Supplement

Go Mobile: Aligning District Managers and Store Teams (B)

By: Tatiana Sandino and Samuel Grad

In January 2025, Modi reflects on the past decade of Go Mobile and looks ahead to new growth strategies. View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Salesforce Management; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Telecommunications Industry; India

January 2025
Case

Duolingo: On a 'Streak'

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Nicole Tempest Keller and Nicole Luo

In December 2024, Severin Hacker, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Duolingo, reflected on the remarkable evolution of the language-learning app he helped launch in 2011. As the #1 most downloaded education app in the world, Duolingo had over 100 million... View Details

Keywords: Learning; AI and Machine Learning; Growth and Development Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Diversification; Technology Industry; Education Industry; United States

January 2025
Teaching Note

AGENTS.inc: Pathways to Growth at an AI Startup

By: Frank Nagle and Susan Pinckney

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 724-444. In 2024, AI agent startup company AGENTS.inc faced multiple strategic decisions that could shape the company’s ability to grow into the future AI agent market leader. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; AI and Machine Learning; Growth and Development Strategy; Computer Industry; Technology Industry; Europe; Germany