The De Beers Group: Launching GemFair for Artisanal Diamonds

Benjamin C. Esty; Daniel  Fisher

Supplement | HBS Case Collection | January 2019

The De Beers Group: Launching GemFair for Artisanal Diamonds

Abstract

In April 2018, the De Beers Group launched a pilot project called GemFair to create a new supply of ethically and environmentally sourced diamonds from artisanal and small-scale mines (ASM) in Sierra Leone. Whether this project would yield a meaningful supply of rough diamonds for De Beers, improve its ability to track diamonds accurately from African mines to consumers around the world, and simultaneously improve both the working conditions in mines and the prices received by local miners remained to be seen. This case is intended to be used in conjunction with and to follow another HBS case: “The De Beers Group: Exploring the Diamond Reselling Opportunity” (HBS no. 717-430).

Keywords: Diamonds; new business; strategy development; strategy execution; scope; ESG; supply; Corporate Strategy; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mining Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Sierra Leone; United Kingdom;

Language: English

Format: Print

2 pages

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Citation:

Esty, Benjamin C., and Daniel Fisher. "The De Beers Group: Launching GemFair for Artisanal Diamonds." Harvard Business School Supplement 719-437, January 2019.

Supplement | HBS Case Collection | January 2020

MoviePass: The 'Get Big Fast' Strategy

Benjamin C. Esty, Daniel Fisher, Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

In August 2017, MoviePass dramatically lowered its subscription price from $50 per month to just $10 for up to one movie per day. The idea was to rapidly scale the business to the point where they could generate incremental revenue streams form related businesses (e.g., a share of ticket and concession revenues from theaters, advertising revenue from movie studios; and revenue from ride-sharing companies). Within two days, Moviepass had gotten 150k new subscribers; within six months, they had more than 2 million. But as of February 2018, the company faced three challenges: theaters were resisting the concept, investors were shorting the stock in record numbers, and competitors were beginning to appear. Could CEO Lowe convince investors that they did, indeed, have a viable business model and could monetize their growing subscriber base? At the same time, Lowe had to decide whether to raise subscription prices to cover the growing losses or keep prices low to attract subscribers as quickly as possible.

Keywords: Market entry; growth strategy; profit vs. growth; subscription business; cash burn; Data Analytics; get-big-fast; Business Strategy; value creation; buyer power; strategy implementation; entrepreneurship; United States; movie industry; Racing; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Consolidation; Cash Flow; Growth Management; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Mobile Technology; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Advertising Industry; Information Industry; United States;

Citation:

Esty, Benjamin C., and Daniel Fisher. "MoviePass: The 'Get Big Fast' Strategy." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 720-854, January 2020. View Details

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Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook based on the idea that connecting people was a fundamentally good thing—and a way to turn a handsome profit. But from the beginning, Facebook received criticism both for how it handled user privacy and how it curated user-generated content. These two issues coalesced in the aftermath of the 2016 United States presidential election, after Facebook’s role in the spread of political misinformation and the leak of Facebook user data to political consulting firms began to receive significant media coverage. In 2019, Facebook announced it was shifting to a “digital living room” model that would focus more on private, encrypted conversations and less on sharing viral content. Several important questions remained. Would the digital living room ease users’ privacy concerns? Would Facebook still be able to effectively curate content? Would its advertising model still work? Or were financial success and good governance mutually exclusive? This case explores the parameters of governing an internet-based platform.

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The De Beers Group: Launching GemFair for Artisanal Diamonds

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