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- February 2023
- Case
Doing Business in Nairobi, Kenya
By: Archie Jones, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Kuria Kamau
This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Nairobi, Kenya. It highlights Kenya's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2023 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main...
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- January 2023
- Case
Natura: Weathering the Pandemic at Brazil's Cosmetic Giant
By: Brian Trelstad, Pedro Levindo and Carla Larangeira
Brazil's Natura, a multi-brand cosmetics group, has taken several measures to safeguard the livelihoods of its thousands of employees and millions of sales representatives during the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. The company has also made strides in its efforts...
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Keywords:
COVID-19 Pandemic;
ESG Reporting;
Acquisition;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Decision Making;
Social Entrepreneurship;
Environmental Sustainability;
Environmental Management;
Climate Change;
Ethics;
Moral Sensibility;
Values and Beliefs;
Global Strategy;
Corporate Governance;
Health Pandemics;
Human Resources;
Human Capital;
Crisis Management;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Marketing;
Distribution Channels;
Supply Chain;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Mission and Purpose;
Organizational Culture;
Customer Ownership;
Relationships;
Business and Community Relations;
Business and Stakeholder Relations;
Networks;
Partners and Partnerships;
Science-Based Business;
Reputation;
Human Needs;
Social Issues;
Strategy;
Equality and Inequality;
Beauty and Cosmetics Industry;
Brazil;
Latin America
- December 2022 (Revised January 2023)
- Case
Cann: High Hopes for Cannabis Infused Beverages
By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne V. Wilson
Founded in 2018 by Jake Bullock and Luke Anderson, Cann sold “social tonics,” or cannabis-infused beverages. By 2022, the company had several notable celebrity investors and talent partners, had sold over 10 million beverages to consumers, was distributing in six...
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Keywords:
Stigma;
Product Innovation;
Product Introduction;
Product Differentiation;
New Products;
New Product Marketing;
New Product Management;
Brand Management;
Branding;
Packaging;
Positioning;
Growth Strategy And Execution;
Growth;
Cannabis Industry;
Purpose;
Purpose Brands;
LGBTQ;
Direct-to-consumer;
DTC;
Regulations;
Channels Of Distribution;
Product Development;
Product Marketing;
Product Positioning;
Product;
Innovation and Invention;
Brands and Branding;
Marketing;
Marketing Communications;
Marketing Channels;
Advertising;
Advertising Campaigns;
Digital Marketing;
Market Entry and Exit;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Consumer Products Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
United States;
Canada;
North America
- December 2022
- Supplement
Freelancer, Ltd. Case Supplement
By: Christopher Stanton, Karim R. Lakhani, Jin Hyun Paik and Nina Cohodes
Over the course of the 2010s, the rapid advancement of mobile technologies and the rise of online freelancing platforms seemed to portend a radical transformation of labor markets into on-demand, flexible talent pools. Even though several Fortune 500 companies,...
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Keywords:
Labor Markets;
Freelancers;
Change Management;
Corporate Entrepreneurship;
Globalized Firms and Management;
Human Capital;
Employment;
Digital Platforms;
Global Range;
Adoption;
Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Computer Industry;
Electronics Industry;
Employment Industry;
Information Industry;
Australia;
United States;
Philippines
- November 2022
- Case
The Battle Among Channels for Marketing Pharmaceuticals: UpScript, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, and Direct-to-Consumer Sales
By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Tiffany Farrell
Can an online, direct-to-consumer pharmacy both improve the quality and speed of care for patients who need branded drugs and stabilize profits for pharmaceutical manufacturers? UpScript, after years spent achieving legal and regulatory compliance and simultaneous...
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- Article
Do the Right Firms Survive Bankruptcy?
By: Samuel Antill
In U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, firms are either reorganized, acquired, or liquidated. I show that decisions to liquidate often reduce creditor recovery, costing creditors billions of dollars every year. I exploit the within-district random assignment of...
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- February 2022
- Case
Agora (A)
By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn
Agora was a civic technology (civic tech) startup founded by Elsa Sze, who wanted to enhance the connection between political officials and their constituents by facilitating virtual “town halls,” making underrepresented voices heard and benefiting elected and...
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- February 2022
- Supplement
Agora (B)
By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn
This is the conclusion to Agora (A), where founder Elsa Sze decides if she wants to continue investing energy in her civic technology startup.
Agora was a civic technology (civic tech) startup founded by Elsa Sze, who wanted to enhance the connection between...
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- December 2021 (Revised February 2022)
- Case
Bed Bath & Beyond: The New Strategy to Drive Shareholder Value
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. Fisher
At one time, Bed Bath & Beyond was one of the most successful specialty retailers in the United States—its growth and profit margins far exceeded both peer retailers in the home goods market as well as many other discount retailers. But in 2014, its stock price peaked,...
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- 2021
- Working Paper
Deregulation, Market Power, and Prices: Evidence from the Electricity Sector
By: Alexander MacKay and Ignacia Mercadal
When deciding whether to introduce market competition in a regulated industry, a regulator faces an important tradeoff. Market-based prices can provide incentives to allocate resources more efficiently and reduce costs, but the presence of market power may lead to...
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- January 2021
- Article
State and Local Government Employment in the COVID-19 Crisis
By: Daniel Green and Erik Loualiche
Local governments are facing large losses in revenues and increased expenditures because of the COVID-19 crisis. We document a causal relationship between fiscal pressures induced by COVID-19 and the layoffs of state and local government workers. States that depend...
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- July 2020
- Technical Note
Digital Natives Growing Without a Sales Force
By: Das Narayandas, Michael Norris and Amram Migdal
This brief case describes the rise of so-called digital natives (also called born-in-digital) in the 2000s and 2010s that successfully grew without a sales force. The case highlights the emergence of business-to-business Internet and cloud-based companies and their...
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Keywords:
Government Administration;
Crisis Management;
Health;
Health Pandemics;
Innovation and Invention;
Innovation Leadership;
Innovation Strategy;
Technological Innovation;
Social Issues;
Information Technology;
Mobile and Wireless Technology;
Applications and Software;
Technology Adoption;
Information Technology Industry;
Australia;
North and Central America;
United States;
Illinois;
Chicago;
California;
San Francisco
- December 2019 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Mãe Terra and Unilever (A)
By: Lynn S. Paine, Ruth Costas and Priscilla Zogbi
The case concerns the sale of Mãe Terra, one of Brazil's leading brands for packaged organic foods, to the consumer goods giant Unilever in 2017. Working with Unilever management, Mãe Terra’s CEO Alexandre Borges must determine whether and how to keep Mãe Terra's B...
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Keywords:
Mergers ＆ Acquisitions;
Brand Management;
Sustainability;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Mission and Purpose;
Social Enterprise;
Corporate Governance;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Environmental Sustainability;
Organizational Culture;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry;
Brazil;
Latin America
- December 2019
- Supplement
Mãe Terra and Unilever (B)
By: Lynn S. Paine, Ruth Costas and Mariana Cal
Unilever is making strides to integrate the operations of Mãe Terra—one of Brazil's leading brands for packaged organic foods—into its own structures, after acquiring the company in 2017. Mãe Terra’s CEO, Alexandre Borges, must decide whether to implement his original...
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Keywords:
Brand Management;
Sustainability;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Mission and Purpose;
Social Enterprise;
Corporate Governance;
Governing and Advisory Boards;
Environmental Sustainability;
Organizational Culture;
Food and Beverage Industry;
Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry;
Brazil;
Latin America
- December 2019
- Case
WeWork Files for an IPO
By: Lynn S. Paine and Will Hurwitz
For the board of The We Company—better known as WeWork—August 14, 2019, promised to be a pivotal day. It was then that WeWork’s IPO prospectus, known as an S-1 filing, would be made public, giving potential investors, the media, and the general public a window into the...
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- September 2019 (Revised August 2020)
- Case
Engineering an Inclusive Bioeconomy
By: Tarun Khanna, Raffaella Sadun and Susie L. Ma
In 2019, entrepreneur Juan Carlos Castilla-Rubio was developing a project he hoped could generate and share wealth from the natural resources of the Amazon without destroying those resources. His idea, called Earth Bank of Codes (EBC), would create a library of the...
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Keywords:
Decision Making;
Development Economics;
Entrepreneurship;
Innovation and Invention;
Intellectual Property;
Emerging Markets;
Market Design;
Marketplace Matching;
Science;
Genetics;
Natural Environment;
Environmental Sustainability;
Climate Change;
Social Enterprise;
Strategy;
Strategic Planning;
Information Technology;
Ownership;
Social Psychology;
Trust;
Society;
Biotechnology Industry;
South America;
Amazon Basin
- September 19, 2019
- Article
Walmart CEO’s Decision on Guns Is the Kind of Corporate Courage We Need
Corporate courage is in short supply. CEOs generally avoid controversial public issues lest disgruntled groups strike back. That’s why Walmart’s actions to limit ammunition sales and advocate for new gun safety legislation mark a significant milestone. CEO Doug...
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- August 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
New Hope Liuhe: Building an Integrated Agri-Food Business
By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Shu Lin, Natalie Kindred and Nancy Hua Dai
In October 2018, LIU Chang (Angela), chairman of Beijing-based New Hope Liuhe (NHL), was considering the strategy of the firm. With $9 billion in sales and a presence in nearly 20 countries, NHL was China’s largest animal feed producer and a major pork and poultry...
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Keywords:
Strategy;
Corporate Strategy;
Food;
Agribusiness;
Expansion;
Diversification;
Growth Management;
Consumer Behavior;
Change Management;
Entrepreneurship;
Organizational Structure;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Government and Politics;
Animal-Based Agribusiness;
Transformation;
Volatility;
Business Cycles;
Goods and Commodities;
Supply Chain;
Product;
Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry;
Food and Beverage Industry;
China;
Asia
- 2021
- Working Paper
Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Case Histories of Significant Medical Advances
By: Srikant M. Datar, Amar Bhidé and Katherine Stebbins
We describe how and why Magnetic Resource Imaging (MRI) came to complement – and partially replace -- computed tomography (CT) imaging of soft tissue. Specifically we chronicle: 1) the development of foundational techniques and prototypes (through the 1970s); 2)...
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- April 2019 (Revised December 2021)
- Case
Sears: The Demise of an American Icon
By: Kristin Mugford and Sarah L. Abbott
In 2019, ESL Investments’ $5.2 billion offer to purchase Sears Holdings out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, was accepted, despite opposition from the company's unsecured creditors and other parties. ESL, which was led by Eddie Lampert, had acquired a stake in Sears following...
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