Jonathan Berk, Debra Schifrin
2011
The Ameritor family of mutual funds was nicknamed the “Dead Man Funds” because of its terrible performance and the assumption that those who kept their money in the funds had no choice, that is, they were dead. Established in the 1950s, the funds boasted…
Manish Khandelwal, John Roberts
2011
Dabur India, Ltd. had come a long way since 1884. It began as an Indian traditional Ayurveda health products firm and, by 2010, had grown into one of the top four fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in India. The company had established…
William Barnett, Arar Han
2011
The case proceeds through three eras in Facebook’s history. In the first era, we describe the initial rapid growth of Facebook as a social network application. In the second era, we detail the changes in scope made by Facebook as it moved beyond the…
George Foster, David Hoyt
2011
In 2003, Andrew Forrest planned to enter the iron ore industry, which was highly capital intensive, consolidating, and dominated by three companies. Less than five years later, his start-up, Fortescue Metals Group, loaded its first ore onto a ship bound…
John Beshears, Debra Schifrin
2011
The case examines HelloWallet, the online, independent financial guidance service, in the context of behavioral finance concepts. It also looks at the specific challenges faced by online personal financial management (PFM) systems. In addition, the case…
Robert Chess, Sara Rosenthal
2011
The iPierian case profiles a startup biotechnology company leveraging the recent development of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)—adult stem cells that have been reprogrammed to a “pluripotent” state whereby they can differentiate into approximately…
H. Grousbeck, Arar Han
2011
John Stanton (HBS MBA ’79), founder of Western Wireless (T-mobile), faces two management decisions: what to do about a good friend and senior executive whose role needs to be redefined, and how to respond to a departing board member who wants to email…
Neel Bhatia, R. Ellis, J.P. Flaum, Arar Han
2011
All hiring managers want to hire the “right” person for each position. Only half succeed. The other half end in failure, impeding direct projects as well as indirectly eroding revenue, EBITDA, and company valuation. Given such high stakes, managers should…
James Baron, David Larcker, Brian Tayan
2011
This case is a follow up to HR-29A, and explains the actions taken by Keller Williams in response to the residential real estate market downturn in 2008 and 2009. The case explains the programs and initiatives put in place by the company to boost agent…
Neel Bhatia, R. Ellis, J.P. Flaum, Arar Han
2011
This fictional short case sets up a hiring scenario that can be analyzed through the lens of the best practices found in a Note on Hiring. A CEO wants to hire a VP of Strategy and Business Development. How will he know what he is looking for and when he…
Andrea Larson, Raymond Levitt, Erica Plambeck, Sara Rosenthal
2011
Part A of the ZETA Communities case provides the background on the history of the construction industry, the housing crisis and declining economic environment at the time the co-founders were launching the company, and the emergence of the green building…
Andrea Larson, Raymond Levitt, Erica Plambeck, Sara Rosenthal
2011
Part A of the ZETA Communities case provides the background on the history of the construction industry, the housing crisis and declining economic environment at the time the co-founders were launching the company, and the emergence of the green building…
Dennis Rohan, Claire Magat Raffaelli
2010
A new venture team is composed of the founders, employees, and advisors who will guide an idea from its formation stage into a fully functioning company. Each of these groups plays an important role in growing the venture and putting it on the path to…
H. I. Grousbeck, C. G. Prober, Alexander Tauber
2010
Bernie and Ruby Merwald live in Menlo Park, California during their retired ages when Bernie falls ill to dementia and Alzheimer’s. This causes him to have significantly complex medical problems that result in familial conflicts, violence and avoidance of…
Daniela Bouissou, David Hoyt, Bruce. McKern, Leonardo Yamamoto
2010
This case describes the development and international expansion of Natura, a Brazilian cosmetics company. The company was founded in 1969, and developed products using environmentally sustainable practices, and that were distributed using a direct sales…
H. I. Grousbeck, C. G. Prober, Alexander Tauber
2010
Dr. Curley is an obstetrician that deals with a very difficult birth of the new Santorini child. The Santorinis have been through a stillbirth, and upon getting pregnant again, extreme cautions are taken to ensure the safety and health of their new child…
H. I. Grousbeck, C. G. Prober, Alexander Tauber
2010
This case explores three tragic situations that lent themselves to organ donation. In each situation, doctors across the Midwest must work to save borderline deaths while communicating the tragic results to family. The first case deals with an accidental…
H. I. Grousbeck, Alexander Tauber, Elizabeth A. Zambricki
2010
Dystonia is a disease that most of the Marvis family suffered from. Not only this, but mother Stephanie Marvis also was a single mother working hard to finance her four person family. Stephanie and her son David especially had symptoms of dystonia, which…
Maureen McNichols, Nate Blair
2010
Normally, serving on a company’s board of directors is not a full-time job, but in the summer of 2002, Nick Donatiello (GSB 1986) found himself in exactly that position. As a member of Gemstar-TV Guide International’s (Gemstar’s or the Company’s) board…
Sara Leslie, William Meehan III
2010
This case describes a situation faced by the president of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), Tom Kiernan. Kiernan must decide how to straddle its two roles as both an advocate for the National Park Service (NPS) and a service organization…
Victoria Chang, Haim Mendelson
2010
This case study profiles the high-growth social games industry where users played games like Farmville and Mafia Wars on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, with the goal of socializing with friends and/or meeting new people. By 2009, the social…
H. Grousbeck, Arar Han
2010
Geminus Capital Partners, a search fund, acquired Franklin Warranty, an extended service contract company, in early 2008. When the market crashed, issues with due diligence, Board composition, sales management, and others come to light, setting the stage…
Deborah Gruenfeld, Arar Han, Lisa Sweeney
2010
Leigh Rawdon (HBS ’01) started her career in call center software, then call center management. After earning her MBA, she moved to the Silicon Valley to work in a related field and be where her fiancé was. A year later, she was CEO and co-founder of a…
H., Grousbeck, Claire Magat
2010
This case follows Thomas Coughlin and Evan Stern, the new owners of Compass Ventures, through the process of 1) launching a search fund, 2) acquiring two companies in the autism services space and 3) navigating a handful of management issues as new…