Business Ventures →
- 02 Feb 2009
- Research & Ideas
The Success of Persistent Entrepreneurs
Want to be a successful entrepreneur? Your best bet might be to partner with entrepreneurs who have a track record of success, suggests new research by Paul A. Gompers, Josh Lerner, David S. Scharfstein, and Anna Kovner. Key concepts include: Previously successful entrepreneurs are significantly more likely to lead successful new ventures than first-timers or those who previously failed. Successful entrepreneurs are adept at selecting the right industry and time to start new ventures. Suppliers and customers are more likely to back a person with previous successes. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Dec 2008
- Research & Ideas
The Surprisingly Successful Marriages of Multinationals and Social Brands
What happens when small iconic brands associated with social values—think Ben & Jerry's—are acquired by large concerns—think Unilever? Can the marriage of a virtuous mouse and a wealthy elephant work to the benefit of both? Professors James E. Austin and Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard discuss their research. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 06 Oct 2008
- Research & Ideas
Updating a Classic: Writing a Great Business Plan
Harvard Business School professor William A. Sahlman's article on how to write a great business plan is a Harvard Business Review classic, and has just been reissued in book form. We asked Sahlman what he would change if he wrote the article, now a decade old, today. Key concepts include: A business plan can't be a tightly crafted prediction of the future but rather a depiction of how events might unfold and a road map for change. The people making the forecasts are more important than the numbers themselves. What matters is having all the required ingredients (or a road map for getting them), not the exact form of communication. The best money comes from customers, not external investors. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 26 Sep 2007
- Sharpening Your Skills
- 09 Jul 2007
- Research & Ideas
Five Steps to Better Family Negotiations
Family relationships are complicated, even more so when your uncle, mother, or daughter is your business partner. Harvard Business School's John A. Davis and Deepak Malhotra outline 5 ways to analyze and improve dealmaking and dispute resolution while protecting family ties. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 13 Nov 2006
- Research & Ideas
Science Business: What Happened to Biotech?
After thirty years the numbers are in on the biotech business—and it's not what we expected. The industry in aggregate has lost money. R&D performance has not radically improved. The problem? In a new book, Professor Gary Pisano points to systemic flaws as well as unhealthy tensions between science and business. Key concepts include: The biotech industry has underperformed expectations, caught in the conflicting objectives and requirements between science and business. The industry needs to realign business models, organizational structures, and financing arrangements so they will place greater emphasis on long-term learning over short-term monetization of intellectual property. A lesson to managers: Break away from a strategy of doing many narrow deals and focus on fewer but deeper relationships. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 Nov 2005
- Research & Ideas
Unilever: Transformation and Tradition
In a new book, professor Geoffrey Jones looks at Unilever's decades-old transformation from fragmented underperformer to focused consumer products giant. This epilogue summarizes the years 1960 to 1990. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 14 Nov 2005
- Research & Ideas
How Can Start Ups Grow?
For new ventures a lack of resources makes growth difficult to come by—just ask those nine out of ten fledgling firms that fail. Professor Mukti Khaire says the key may be in acquiring intangible resources such as legitimacy, status, and reputation. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 03 Mar 2003
- Research & Ideas
Top Ten Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs
The life of a startup can be precarious, a wrong turn disastrous. Harvard Business School professor Constance Bagley discusses the most frequent legal flops made by entrepreneurs, everything from hiring the wrong lawyer to puffing up the business plan. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Nov 2001
- Research & Ideas
The Three Components of Family Governance
Having described the framework of family business governance and the governance of the business, John Davis discusses the most challenging of the family business governance topics—governance of the family itself. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Oct 2001
- Research & Ideas
Organizing the Family-Run Business
Part Two: The intricacies of creating a board for the family-run business. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 01 Oct 2001
- Research & Ideas
How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company
A bungled corporate restructuring can turn a good idea into disaster. In an excerpt from his new book, HBS professor Stuart Gilson outlines the keys for a successful corporate makeover. Plus: Gilson Q&A. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 04 Sep 2001
- Research & Ideas
Governing the Family-Run Business
Corporate governance can be difficult enough—but what happens when your board of directors is comprised of your cousins? Or when your CEO is your sister? Harvard Business School's John Davis discusses governance issues unique to the family-run business. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Apr 2001
- Research & Ideas
The Gulf: It’s a Family Affair
In a wide-ranging interview with HBS Working Knowledge, HBS professor John Davis discusses the state of family-business research—and the special challenges faced by families in the Gulf Region. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Apr 2001
- Research & Ideas
Not All M&As Are Alike—and That Matters
In this Harvard Business Review article, Professor Joseph L. Bower shares some of the results of his year-long study of M&A activity sponsored by HBS. Discover how five distinct merger and acquisition strategies scenarios play out—and his recommendations for success. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 12 Oct 1999
- Research & Ideas
How to Write a Great Business Plan
HBS Professor William Sahlman tells entrepreneurs how to give themselves a better shot at success. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Determinants of Early-Stage Startup Performance: Survey Results
In this study of 470 founders/CEOs and their management practices, startups that employ lean startup techniques had better valuation outcomes. So did ventures that balanced hiring for skill versus attitude and, more broadly, made early efforts to professionalize human resource management.
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How to Revive Health-Care Innovation
Simple solutions to complex problems lead to breakthroughs in industries from retailing to personal computers to printing. So let's try health care, too. According to HBS professor Clayton M. Christensen and coauthors of The Innovator's Prescription, such disruption to an industry might look like a threat, but it "always proves to be an extraordinary growth opportunity." Book excerpt. Key concepts include: Most disruptions have three enablers: a simplifying technology, a business model innovation, and a disruptive value network. Business model innovations are almost always forged by new entrants to an industry. Disruption of an industry rarely happens piecemeal. It is more common that entirely new value networks arise, displacing the old. Always, the technological enablers of disruption are successfully deployed against an industry's simplest problems first. Health care is no different. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.