Research - Global Initiative - Harvard Business School

July 2020
Teaching Material

Instabeat—Crossing the Finish Line

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Nicole Tempest Keller and Alpana Thapar

An examination of the strategic, operational, and personal challenges facing the founder of a startup in the "wearable" technology space.

July 2020
Case

The Second City: the Future of ‘Yes, and…’

By: Francesca Gino and Jeff Huizinga

Leaders from The Second City, the legendary Improv comedy company, reflect on its broad portfolio of activities through the lens of future opportunities and growth. In particular, they discuss ways in which Second City can further invest in its professional arm, Second...

July 2020
Case

Steve Kerr: Coaching the Golden State Warriors to Joy, Compassion, Competition, and Mindfulness

By: Francesca Gino and Jeffrey Huizinga

Steve Kerr, coach of the 3-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors, reflects on his values-driven leadership style in the wake of a challenging season.

May 2020
Case

M-Lab: Enabling Innovation at Mitsubishi Corporation

By: Krishna Palepu and Allison M. Ciechanover

M-Lab’s founding goals were to infuse an innovation mindset into Mitsubishi Corporation; to catalyze new business opportunities; and to enable a dialogue between Japanese business and Silicon Valley. M-Lab housed representatives from each of Mitsubishi Corporation’s...

May 2020
Teaching Material

San Francisco Ballet: On "Pointe" for the Future

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Nicole Tempest Keller

An examination of the strategic challenges facing the SF Ballet in 2019 due to changes in demographics, lifestyles, and the city of San Francisco itself

March 2020
Case

Zoom Video Communications and COVID-19

By: Scott Kominers and George Gonzalez

When a global pandemic forced people around the world to stay home and work remotely, Zoom became the video conferencing tool of choice for many organizations. The case explores Zoom's strengths and weaknesses as a platform, role in society, and emergent use cases. The...

March 2020
Case

Poppy (B)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Scott Duke Kominers, Jeff Huizinga and Allison Ciechanover

Avni Patel Thompson, founder and CEO of Poppy, an online marketplace for on-demand childcare, revisits the venture's final months, and discusses the steps she took in the wake of the shutdown. This case explores experiments the company conducted to refine its original...

March 2020
Case

Opportunity Insights: Research and Policy for Social Mobility

By: Scott Kominers, Jeffrey Huizinga and Allison Ciechanover

Opportunity Insights -- a non-profit that researches drivers of economic opportunity and develops policy solutions to help families achieve better life outcomes -- seeks to expand its impact.

March 2020 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Scaling Nextdoor

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Thomas O. Jones and Jeff Huizinga

Nextdoor, striving to solidify its position as the leading global social media platform for neighborhoods, works to scale audience, geography, and revenue.

March 2020
Case

The Working Circle: Wolves, Ranchers, and Karin Vardaman's Pursuit of the ‘Radical Middle’

By: Francesca Gino and Jeffrey Huizinga

Karin Vardaman, a lifelong conservationist now committed to protecting wolves in the American West, finds herself unexpectedly allied with the one of the species' most fervent opponents: cattle ranchers.

March 2020
Case

Braver Angels: A Grassroots Effort to Depolarize American Politics

By: Francesca Gino, Julia A. Minson and Jeff Huizinga

March 2020
Case

Thinx, Inc. - Breaking Barriers in Feminine Care

By: Rembrand Koning, Elie Ofek and Nicole Keller

An examination of the strategic marketing challenges facing Thinx as it tries to grow in the face of menstruation taboos and competition from large incumbents.

February 2020
Case

San Francisco Ballet: On 'Pointe' for the Future

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Nicole Tempest Keller

The SF Ballet was regarded as one of the top ballet companies in the world. It had an enviable earned revenue percentage of almost 50% and had an internationally recognized ballet school. However, by 2019 the Ballet faced a number of challenges. Ballet was a European...

February 2020
Case

Bill Riddick and the Durham S.O.S. Charrette

By: Francesca Gino and Jeffrey Huizinga

Bill Riddick employs the charrette process to help black and white community leaders overcome differences and desegregate local schools in Durham, North Carolina.

January 2020
Case

Lunchclub: Algorithmic Networking

By: Scott Duke Kominers and George Gonzalez

Algorithmic networking startup Lunchclub coordinates in-person meetings between professionals who would have been unlikely to meet. The company faces marketplace design, growth, and monetization challenges: The executive team has to refine Lunchclub's marketplace...

January 2020
Case

Khan Academy 2018 (Abridged)

By: William A. Sahlman and Nicole Tempest Keller

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...

November 2019
Case

GOAT Group: Jordans, Yeezys, and the Global Secondary Sneaker Market

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Spencer Rascoff and George Gonzalez

November 2019
Case

DeepMap: Charting the Road Ahead for Autonomous Vehicles

By: Shane Greenstein and Nicole Tempest Keller

Founded in 2016, DeepMap developed high definition (HD) mapping software and localization services for Level 4+ autonomous vehicles. Traditional navigational maps were accurate to a few meters, which was sufficient for drivers but not for machine-driven vehicles that...

October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

NewView Capital and Venture Capital Secondaries

By: Shai Bernstein, Ramana Nanda and Allison Ciechanover

While still a general partner at Silicon Valley–based New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Ravi Viswanathan considered the challenges presented by evolving market dynamics in the venture capital space. Startups were staying private longer, which led to limited partners...