E314
Katherine Bose, Garth Saloner
2008
The protagonist is Gina Bianchini, a 32-year-old GSB graduate recovering from having co-founded a well-funded, well-led, but failed tech company. When presented with the opportunity of starting a new company in the social networking space with her former…
E285
Katherine Bose, Kathryn Shaw
2008
Looking at two companies, ISG and ArcelorMittal, the case examines the steel industry over several decades, but with an emphasis on the 2000-2004 timeframe, when heavy international consolidation affected dozens of mills and mini-mills. ISG’s take-over…
E298
R. Ellis, Garth Saloner, Amanda Silverman
2008
In the tenth year of their business, Circles’ co-founders, Janet Kraus and Kathy Sherbrooke, had completed a successful exit for their company. They had worked closely for years, building their early venture into a leading provider of concierge services…
E327A
Jocelyn Hornblower, Garth Saloner
2008
The case follows Rose Hanna and her three business partners (Richard Hanna, Bob Francis and Faye Francis) as they launch and grow a scientific instrument company, MicroSample. It covers the idea discovery stage, their decision to work together as a team…
E316
Jocelyn Hornblower, Garth Saloner
2008
This case follows entrepreneur Nicole Alvino in the early days as she started a new company, dermalounge. Issues covered include building networks, writing a business plan, and fundraising.
E286C
Katherine Bose, Robert Chess, Peter Reiss
2008
The protagonist (“Howard Glass”) is a recent GSB graduate (2007) heading up a biomedical device start-up focused on the gastric bypass market. The case tracks Glass and team from the team formation and idea generation phases through the company’s first 6…
E277
Katherine Bose, Kathryn Shaw
2008
The case looks at Bialecki, Inc., a boutique search firm based in NYC for senior level managers in the financial services industry. The case protagonist as well as the firm’s founder and president, Linda Bialecki, struggles to reconcile consistent…
E327B
Jocelyn Hornblower, Garth Saloner
2008
The case follows Rose Hanna and her three business partners (Richard Hanna, Bob Francis and Faye Francis) as they launch and grow a scientific instrument company, MicroSample. It covers the idea discovery stage, their decision to work together as a team…
E308
Sean Harrington, Garth Saloner
2008
It was July 2007, and Linda Rottenberg, cofounder and CEO of Endeavor—a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the economies of emerging markets by identifying and supporting high-impact entrepreneurs—was preparing for a quarterly meeting with the global…
E315
Garth Saloner, Alex Tauber
2008
This vignette is used in the seminar “Entrepreneurship from the Perspective of Women” that is led by Professor Garth Saloner. The class that uses this vignette hopes to touch on five generic questions regarding women who pursue entrepreneurial ventures…
GS59
Hau Lee, Jennie Tung
2008
As the middle classes of many Asian countries grow, we are beginning to see countries like China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Indonesia becoming emerging markets for many consumer goods. Markets for higher end, branded products in…
E305
Katherine Bose, Garth Saloner
2007
Two female GSB alums stumble on a new market - better fitting and more technologically advanced equestrian footwear. The vignette discusses the backgrounds of the partners, the idea discovery phase and their partnership formation.
E207B
Katherine Bose, Garth Saloner
2007
A female HBS alumna is convinced of the market possibilities for a gaming company aimed at Baby Boomers, but is strapped by the demands of her family as well as some potential pitfalls involved with getting the company off the ground. The vignette…
E278
Bethany Coates, Kathryn Shaw
2007
Alejandro Ramirez, the CEO of Cinepolis, the largest film exhibitor in Latin America, sat in the back of row of the company’s flagship movie theatre in Mexico City one evening in January 2005. The company was preparing to roll out an expensive new IT…
E304
Robert Chess, Peter Reiss, Sean Harrington, Matt Saucedo
2007
In the spring of 2007, four budding companies were in the very early phase of their development. These entrepreneurial ventures illustrate the variety and breadth of new business ideas that can be pursued, and the unique issues that need to be tackled in…
E260
Garth Saloner, Bethany Coates, Ana Garcia Azuelo, Jessica Flannery and Haydee Moreno
2007
James Mwangi, the CEO of Equity Bank, a microfinance services provider, oversaw a remarkable turnaround at his organization beginning in the early 1990s. Mwangi’s association with the bank began in 1992, when a founder (who was also a family friend) urged…
GS54
Stacy Duda, LaShawn James, Hau Lee, Zeryn Mackwani, Raul Munoz, David Volk
2007
Starbucks Corporation was the world’s largest specialty coffee retailer, with 2005 annual revenue of $6.4 billion. Despite gigantic growth in specialty coffee in the 1990s, a worldwide oversupply of lower-grade coffee had depressed market prices in the…
GS58
Hau Lee, Brian Tayan
2007
In 1996, Andrea and Barry Coleman launched Riders for Health, a United Kingdom-based nonprofit dedicated to the improvement of transportation systems for health workers in Africa. The nonprofit’s main program, Transportation Resource Management, involved…
IB81
John Roberts, Jennie Tung
2007
SK-II was Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) only high-end skincare brand in China and sales accounted for an estimated 7 percent of SK-II global revenue in 2005. China was also P&G’s fastest-growing market for skincare products and among the top markets in value…
GS56
David Hoyt, Hau Lee, Samir Singh
2007
In 2006, Rio Tinto Iron Ore (RTIO) faced a number of challenges. The iron ore business had traditionally been dominated by a few large suppliers, who sold to a relatively few large steel producers. The business environment was changing, however, with the…
SM150
Victoria Chang, Garth Saloner
2006
For the die-hard cycling enthusiast, the Spring Classics, Dura-Ace components, and Phil Liggett were words that conjured up exciting images and enthusiastic anticipation for a new road bike racing season. Cyclists often spoke of the wind in their faces…
E211
R. Ellis, Garth Saloner, Alex Tauber
2006
The case starts by describing a typical day in the life of Randy Hetrick, the founder and sole full-time employee of Fitness Anywhere. Hetrick starts his work day on Friday, September 10, 2004, at 6:00 a.m. By 8:30 p.m., he has accomplished a lot….
E225
Katherine Bose, Mike Harkey, Garth Saloner
2006
Circles is a company that runs employee and customer loyalty programs for enterprises. The company was founded by two GSB alumnae in the late 90s. The case describes the idea formation process, the founding of the company, various dilemmas management had…
GS53
Luis Blancas, Hau Lee
2006
This case is about inter-firm IT-enabled supply chain collaboration and focuses on supplier-manufacturer collaboration. In order to assess collaboration from a holistic point of view, the case describes the distinct role played by the various parties…
