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Many executives believe that all failure is bad (although it usually provides lessons)--and that learning from it is pretty straightforward. The...
- May–June 2021
- Article
Why Start-ups Fail
If you’re launching a business, the odds are against you: Two-thirds of start-ups never show a positive return. Unnerved by that statistic, a professor of entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School set out to discover why. Based on interviews and surveys with hundreds...
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- January 2021
- Supplement
What Went Wrong with Boeing’s 737 Max? (B)
By: William W. George and Amram Migdal
Following the March 10, 2019, crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, en route to Nairobi, Kenya and the October 29, 2018, downing of Lion Air flight 610 as it took off from Jakarta, Indonesia, Boeing’s 737 Max jet, the model flown in both instances, was grounded by...
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Keywords:
Ethics;
Values and Beliefs;
Governance;
Corporate Accountability;
Governance Controls;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Leadership;
Management;
Business or Company Management;
Crisis Management;
Risk Management;
Organizations;
Organizational Culture;
Problems and Challenges;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Safety;
Failure;
Transportation;
Air Transportation;
Aerospace Industry;
Air Transportation Industry;
North America;
United States
- 2020
- Working Paper
Determinants of Early-Stage Startup Performance: Survey Results
To explore determinants of new venture performance, the CEOs of 470 early-stage startups were surveyed regarding a broad range of factors related to their venture’s customer value proposition, product management, marketing, technology and operations, financial...
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- October 2020 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
When Institutions Fail: HIV/AIDS in the 1980s
By: Tom Nicholas and Christian Godwin
During the early 1980s, young gay men in urban centers such as San Francisco and New York City began contracting a mysterious illness that would come to be known as HIV/AIDS. A diagnosis meant almost certain death, with a less than 1% survival rate. Conflicting...
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Keywords:
Ethics;
Policy;
Government and Politics;
Health Pandemics;
History;
Rights;
Media;
Organizations;
Business and Community Relations;
Religion;
Social Psychology;
Identity;
Prejudice and Bias;
Social Issues;
Public Opinion;
Pharmaceutical Industry;
Biotechnology Industry;
Health Industry;
Journalism and News Industry;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
Public Administration Industry;
United States
- Fall 2020
- Article
Sizing Up Corporate Restructuring in the COVID Crisis
By: Robin Greenwood, Benjamin Iverson and David Thesmar
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial and legal system will need to deal with a surge of financial distress in the business sector. Some firms will be able to survive, while others will face bankruptcy and thus need to be liquidated or reorganized. Many...
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- June 2020 (Revised October 2020)
- Case
What Went Wrong with Boeing's 737 Max?
By: William W. George and Amram Migdal
This case describes the development of the Boeing 737 Max airplane model and the events leading up to two tragic plane crashes, in which a total of 346 people died: the crash of Lion Air flight 610 on October 29, 2018, in Indonesia, and the crash of Ethiopian Airlines...
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Keywords:
Communication;
Communication Intention and Meaning;
Communication Strategy;
Forms of Communication;
Announcements;
Decision Making;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Judgments;
Ethics;
Moral Sensibility;
Values and Beliefs;
Globalization;
Global Strategy;
Governance;
Corporate Accountability;
Governance Controls;
Human Resources;
Resignation and Termination;
Leadership;
Leadership Style;
Management;
Business or Company Management;
Crisis Management;
Management Practices and Processes;
Management Skills;
Management Style;
Management Systems;
Risk Management;
Time Management;
Markets;
Demand and Consumers;
Market Platforms;
Supply and Industry;
Duopoly and Oligopoly;
Industry Structures;
Operations;
Product Development;
Organizations;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Organizational Culture;
Outcome or Result;
Failure;
Success;
Planning;
Strategic Planning;
Problems and Challenges;
Relationships;
Business and Community Relations;
Business and Government Relations;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Safety;
Strategy;
Transportation;
Air Transportation;
Aerospace Industry;
Air Transportation Industry;
Africa;
Ethiopia;
Asia;
Indonesia;
North and Central America;
United States;
Seattle;
Chicago
- Article
Using the Balanced Scorecard for Successful Health Care M&A Integration
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The failure of merged organizations to achieve stated goals is commonplace. In health care, the challenge is exacerbated by the industry’s third-party payer system and multiple stakeholders, especially the physicians in the merging entities. This article describes how...
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- April 29, 2020
- Article
The Case for AI Insurance
By: Ram Shankar Siva Kumar and Frank Nagle
When organizations place machine learning systems at the center of their businesses, they introduce the risk of failures that could lead to a data breach, brand damage, property damage, business interruption, and in some cases, bodily harm. Even when companies are...
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- April 2020 (Revised July 2020)
- Case
Amazon in China and India
By: Krishna G. Palepu and Kairavi Dey
Amazon has been unsuccessful in its efforts to develop a business in China. Even though Amazon was an early entrant into China’s e-commerce space, its domestic rivals, especially Alibaba, created innovative business models uniquely suited for the conditions in China. ...
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- November 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
Starbucks: Reaffirming Commitment to the Third Place Ideal
By: Francesca Gino, Katherine B. Coffman and Jeff Huizinga
On April 12, 2018, two African American entrepreneurs had scheduled a business meeting at a Starbucks in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. They sat without ordering, waiting for a local businessman to show up for the meeting. The store manager called 911...
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- October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
Dulcie Madden (A)—Growth or Exit?
By: Shikhar Ghosh, Christopher Payton and Shweta Bagai
This is part of a three-case series that follows Dulcie Madden's journey as a founder over five years. Case (A) is about managing growth and cash flow; Case (B) is about the exit decision and conditions on a sale; Case (C) shows Madden dealing with adversity and the...
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Keywords:
Entrepreneurial Management;
Family;
Family Conflicts;
Founders' Agreements;
Growth And Development;
Hardware;
VC;
Scaling;
Start-up;
Female Ceo;
Risk Assessment;
Entrepreneurship;
Growth Management;
Equity;
Cash Flow;
Success;
Failure;
Acquisition;
Business Model;
Technology;
Valuation;
Family and Family Relationships;
Apparel and Accessories Industry;
Technology Industry;
United States
- October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Supplement
Dulcie Madden (B)—A Difficult Choice
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai
This is part of a three-case series that follows Dulcie Madden's journey as a founder over five years. Case (A) is about managing growth and cash flow; Case (B) is about the exit decision and conditions on a sale; Case (C) shows Madden dealing with adversity and the...
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Keywords:
Entrepreneurial Management;
Family;
Family Conflicts;
Founders' Agreements;
Growth And Development;
Hardware;
VC;
Scaling;
Start-up;
Female Ceo;
Risk Assessment;
Entrepreneurship;
Growth Management;
Cash Flow;
Equity;
Success;
Failure;
Acquisition;
Business Model;
Technology;
Valuation;
Family and Family Relationships
- October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Supplement
Dulcie Madden (C)—A Final Chance?
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Shweta Bagai
This is part of a three-case series that follows Dulcie Madden's journey as a founder over five years. Case (A) is about managing growth and cash flow; Case (B) is about the exit decision and conditions on a sale; Case (C) shows Madden dealing with adversity and the...
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Keywords:
Entrepreneurship;
Growth Management;
Cash Flow;
Success;
Failure;
Acquisition;
Business Model;
Technology
- September 2019 (Revised December 2019)
- Case
Anthony Soohoo at Dot & Bo: Bringing Storytelling to Furniture E-Commerce
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Allison M. Ciechanover and George Gonzalez
The case provides students an opportunity to examine the founding of an e-commerce startup that used storytelling and compelling images to sell furniture and home accessories to millennials. The case describes the rapid sales growth the company experienced, as well as...
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Keywords:
E-commerce;
Startups;
Furnishing;
Leadership;
Business Startups;
Entrepreneurship;
Internet;
Failure;
United States
- September 2019 (Revised December 2019)
- Supplement
Anthony Soohoo: Retrospection on Dot & Bo
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Allison M. Ciechanover and George Gonzalez
The case describes the final year of the once-promising furniture e-tailer, Dot & Bo, that included a challenging fundraising market, troubles with logistics and operations, and a team tragedy. The founder looks back at the experience and shares his learnings about...
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Keywords:
E-commerce;
Startups;
Furnishing;
Leadership;
Business Startups;
Entrepreneurship;
Internet;
Failure;
Learning;
United States
- August 2019
- Case
Baroo (A): Pet Concierge
By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Susie L. Ma
Baroo CEO Lindsay Hyde was facing unrest from the board of her pet services startup in August 2017. One board member (and lead investor) was alarmed that Baroo’s growth was slowing while its appetite for funding was accelerating. Hyde wanted to hit the gas and continue...
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- August 2019
- Supplement
Rand Fishkin at Moz (B)
Supplements the (A) case.
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Keywords:
Startups;
Scaling;
Entrepreneurship;
Failure;
Business Startups;
Diversification;
Growth Management
- August 2019
- Supplement
Rand Fishkin at Moz (C)
Supplements the (A) case.
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Keywords:
Startups;
Scaling;
Entrepreneurship;
Failure;
Business Startups;
Diversification;
Growth Management
- August 2019
- Case
Rand Fishkin at Moz (A)
In 2016, senior management at Moz, a venture capital–backed startup providing software tools for digital marketing professionals, must decide how to address a looming cash flow crisis precipitated by failed efforts to broaden its product line. Seattle-based Moz had...
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- July 2019 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
Momofuku Ando and the Globalization of Noodles
By: Geoffrey Jones and Megumi Takada
This case examines the entrepreneurial career of Momofuku Ando, the Taiwanese-born Japanese entrepreneur who pioneered instant boodles with his Chicken Ramen (1958) and Cup Noodle (1971) products. It begins by reviewing his many previous unsuccessful ventures,...
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