Strategy

- September 2025
- Case
BairesDev: Culture and Growth

By: Raffaella Sadun, Jorge Tamayo and Karina Souza

In February 2025, Nacho de Marco, CEO of BairesDev, the nearshoring tech company founded in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was planning the company’s next growth phase. After ten years of organic expansion, the COVID-19 pandemic had validated BairesDev’s fully remote model and fueled its rapid scale-up, growing from a 500-person team to a talent pool of 4,000 people across 50 countries. By 2025, the company aimed to double its workforce within five years, but this leap would put its culture to the test. While BairesDev remained committed to attracting the “top 1% talent,” employee engagement metrics were steadily declining. Did the company’s purpose-driven culture need to evolve to support further growth? Moreover, would its remote-only model remain sustainable under a shifting business strategy?
- September 2025
- Case
BairesDev: Culture and Growth

By: Raffaella Sadun, Jorge Tamayo and Karina Souza

In February 2025, Nacho de Marco, CEO of BairesDev, the nearshoring tech company founded in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was planning the company’s next growth phase. After ten years of organic expansion, the COVID-19 pandemic had validated BairesDev’s fully remote model and fueled its rapid scale-up, growing from a 500-person team to a talent pool of...
- September–October 2025
- Article
The Founder's Final Act: How to Hand Over Ownership—and Burnish Your Legacy

By: Josh Baron, Ben Francois, Tony Guidotti and Nien-hê Hsieh

As they approach retirement, company founders face a critical choice: Who will own their business next? That decision will reverberate for years, affecting not only them and their family but all the people whose lives are touched by the company. Though it can cement or undo an entrepreneur’s legacy, many founders postpone or avoid making it. And down the road that can lead to enormous tax consequences, family or employee infighting, and instability that disrupts or destroys the business. This article describes a structured process entrepreneurs can follow to choose the owner who will come after them, drawing on the experiences of the founders of Patagonia, John Lewis, Vanguard, Rolex, and more. The first step is to think about the outcomes they want for themselves, their family, their employees, their business partners, and their community and prioritize them.
- September–October 2025
- Article
The Founder's Final Act: How to Hand Over Ownership—and Burnish Your Legacy

By: Josh Baron, Ben Francois, Tony Guidotti and Nien-hê Hsieh

As they approach retirement, company founders face a critical choice: Who will own their business next? That decision will reverberate for years, affecting not only them and their family but all the people whose lives are touched by the company. Though it can cement or undo an entrepreneur’s legacy, many founders postpone or avoid making it. And...
- August 2025
- Case
The Rise of Advanced Packaging: Kulicke & Soffa's Strategic Crossroads

By: Maria P. Roche, Ram Mudambi and Solon Moreira

In early 2025, semiconductor equipment maker Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) confronts a pivotal strategic decision. As Moore’s Law slows and chiplet-based architectures take center stage, advanced packaging has become the industry's new frontier. K&S, long dominant in wire bonding, must choose between investing in cutting-edge technologies like hybrid bonding to serve top-tier customers, or reinforcing its leadership in the mid-market with proven, high-volume solutions. The case explores the transformation of the semiconductor value chain, the strategic implications of architectural innovation, and how a legacy firm should navigate a technology-driven shift that could either elevate or marginalize its future role.
- August 2025
- Case
The Rise of Advanced Packaging: Kulicke & Soffa's Strategic Crossroads

By: Maria P. Roche, Ram Mudambi and Solon Moreira

In early 2025, semiconductor equipment maker Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) confronts a pivotal strategic decision. As Moore’s Law slows and chiplet-based architectures take center stage, advanced packaging has become the industry's new frontier. K&S, long dominant in wire bonding, must choose between investing in cutting-edge technologies like hybrid...

About the Unit

The Strategy unit studies firms as competitors in an economic landscape. Key issues include: the development and effectiveness of firm strategy at both a business and corporate level; the analysis of the competitive environment; and the sustainability of strategy over time.

Our research, course development, and teaching draws on multiple disciplines, including economics, sociology, and political science, and focuses on both domestic and global competition. The objective of the work is to generate findings and develop concepts that will help managers improve their strategic decisions while advancing the state of knowledge in the academic study of strategy and related disciplines.

Recent Publications

BairesDev: Culture and Growth

By: Raffaella Sadun, Jorge Tamayo and Karina Souza

September 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

In February 2025, Nacho de Marco, CEO of BairesDev, the nearshoring tech company founded in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was planning the company’s next growth phase. After ten years of organic expansion, the COVID-19 pandemic had validated BairesDev’s fully remote model and fueled its rapid scale-up, growing from a 500-person team to a talent pool of 4,000 people across 50 countries. By 2025, the company aimed to double its workforce within five years, but this leap would put its culture to the test. While BairesDev remained committed to attracting the “top 1% talent,” employee engagement metrics were steadily declining. Did the company’s purpose-driven culture need to evolve to support further growth? Moreover, would its remote-only model remain sustainable under a shifting business strategy?

Citation

Educators

The Founder's Final Act: How to Hand Over Ownership—and Burnish Your Legacy

By: Josh Baron, Ben Francois, Tony Guidotti and Nien-hê Hsieh

September–October 2025 |
Article |
Harvard Business Review

As they approach retirement, company founders face a critical choice: Who will own their business next? That decision will reverberate for years, affecting not only them and their family but all the people whose lives are touched by the company. Though it can cement or undo an entrepreneur’s legacy, many founders postpone or avoid making it. And down the road that can lead to enormous tax consequences, family or employee infighting, and instability that disrupts or destroys the business. This article describes a structured process entrepreneurs can follow to choose the owner who will come after them, drawing on the experiences of the founders of Patagonia, John Lewis, Vanguard, Rolex, and more. The first step is to think about the outcomes they want for themselves, their family, their employees, their business partners, and their community and prioritize them.

Keywords: Management Succession; Ownership; Entrepreneurship; Family Business

AI Wars in 2025 Unit Economics Analysis

By: Andy Wu

August 2025 |
Supplement |
Faculty Research

Citation

Purchase

The Rise of Advanced Packaging: Kulicke & Soffa's Strategic Crossroads

By: Maria P. Roche, Ram Mudambi and Solon Moreira

August 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

In early 2025, semiconductor equipment maker Kulicke & Soffa (K&S) confronts a pivotal strategic decision. As Moore’s Law slows and chiplet-based architectures take center stage, advanced packaging has become the industry's new frontier. K&S, long dominant in wire bonding, must choose between investing in cutting-edge technologies like hybrid bonding to serve top-tier customers, or reinforcing its leadership in the mid-market with proven, high-volume solutions. The case explores the transformation of the semiconductor value chain, the strategic implications of architectural innovation, and how a legacy firm should navigate a technology-driven shift that could either elevate or marginalize its future role.

Citation

Educators

Accelerating AI Adoption in the U.S. Air Force

By: Maria Roche

August 2025 |
Supplement |
Faculty Research

PowerPoint Supplement for HBS Case No. 723-429.

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Organizational Design; AI and Machine Learning; Adoption; Technology Adoption; United States

Citation

Purchase

ZEISS: Commercializing Science

By: Maria Roche

August 2025 |
Supplement |
Faculty Research

PowerPoint Supplement for HBS Case No. 725-359.

Citation

Golden Goose: Reshaping Luxury

By: Juan Alcacer and Alexandre Daillance

August 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

In 2025, Golden Goose, an Italian luxury brand renowned for its handcrafted, intentionally distressed sneakers, is at a pivotal crossroads. Under the leadership of CEO Silvio Campara, the brand has evolved from a niche footwear label into a global presence, generating over $650 million in revenue and garnering a devoted customer base. The company's innovative Co-Creation model, commitment to craftsmanship, and emotionally resonant branding have set it apart in the competitive luxury market. Now, Campara must decide how to drive Golden Goose toward the next phase of growth. Should the company expand its core sneaker offerings and enhance in-store services such as Co-Creation? Should it double down on its growing ready-to-wear and accessories lines to become a holistic lifestyle brand? Or should it accelerate geographic expansion into emerging luxury markets? The case invites students to assess these strategic options, grounded in the company's unique value proposition, evolving customer base, and the competitive dynamics of the luxury and sneaker industries.

Keywords: Strategy; Marketing; Fashion Industry; Italy

Citation

Educators

Strategy as Core Guidance

By: Eric Van den Steen

August 2025 |
Technical Note |
Faculty Research

This note gives managers a concrete perspective on what ‘a strategy’ really is, what makes a decision ‘strategic,’ and what ‘strategic thinking’ means. It also gives them practical frameworks to assess whether some set of decisions is really a strategy and how to assess a strategy’s effectiveness. It finally also gives managers a starting point for developing strategy in the form of the ‘4+3 Elements.’ The note builds on the theory of ‘strategy as core guidance.’ (This is an rewrite of “Strategy and Strategic Decisions” HBS 712-500.)

Keywords: Strategic Alignment; Strategy Definition; Strategy And Execution; Strategy Test; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Decision Making

Citation

Educators

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