Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,137)
- Faculty Publications (472)
- December 2016
- Supplement
Ron Johnson: A Career in Retail
This is a video supplement, to be used when teaching the Ron Johnson case. See abstract:
In April 2013, Ron Johnson (HBS '84) stepped down after just 18 months as CEO of J.C. Penney. In his brief tenure, Johnson, an acclaimed retailer respected for his... View Details
In April 2013, Ron Johnson (HBS '84) stepped down after just 18 months as CEO of J.C. Penney. In his brief tenure, Johnson, an acclaimed retailer respected for his... View Details
- October 2016 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
ASICS: Chasing a 2020 Vision
By: Elie Ofek, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno
In early 2016, Motoi Oyama, president and CEO of ASICS, a major sports apparel and footwear manufacturer based in Japan, lays out his company’s growth plan for the upcoming 5 years. The new plan set ambitious goals in terms of revenue and profit increases. At the heart... View Details
Keywords: Brand Management; Sports Apparel; Competitive Positioning; Direct To Consumer Marketing; Retail Formats; Lifestyle Brands; Information Technology; Competition; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Product Positioning; Marketing Channels; Sports; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry
- October 2016 (Revised February 2019)
- Case
PTC: A Transformation to IoT
By: Rajiv Lal and Sarah McAra
In the 2010s, PTC, a leading provider of software for discrete manufacturers, faced maturing markets and changing customer needs as smart, connected products took hold—the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT). PTC saw a first mover advantage in entering the IoT space... View Details
- September 2016 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
Angie's List: Ratings Pioneer Turns 20
By: Robert J. Dolan and Ayelet Israeli
In 1995, before people “googled” or “yelped,” Angela Hicks (HBS, 2000) was establishing her Angie’s List as a pioneer in the accumulation and dissemination of consumer rating information. Hicks focused on the home repair and maintenance market and, as she put it,... View Details
Keywords: Pricing; Pricing Strategy; Services; Product Line Management; Growth; Conjoint Analysis; Market Research; Freemium; Growth Strategy; Two Sided Markets; Ecommerce; Platform; Platform Business; Platform Businesses; Platform Strategy; Platforms; Platforms And Ecosystems; Business Model; Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Price; Strategy; Digital Platforms; E-commerce; Service Industry; United States
- 2016
- Working Paper
Pros vs Joes: Agent Pricing Behavior in the Sharing Economy
By: Jun Li, Antonio Moreno and Dennis J. Zhang
One of the major differences between markets that follow a “sharing economy” paradigm and traditional two-sided markets is that the supply side in the sharing economy often includes individual nonprofessional decision makers, in addition to firms and professional... View Details
- August 2016
- Case
VMD Medical Imaging Center
By: Susanna Gallani and Eva Labro
VMD Medical Imaging Center, a local independent provider of medical imaging services, is facing some important challenges. Despite efficiency improvements and cost cutting initiatives carried out over the past few years, their profitability is shrinking; their prices... View Details
- July–August 2016
- Article
Minimum Advertised Pricing: Patterns of Violation in Competitive Retail Markets
By: Ayelet Israeli, Eric Anderson and Anne Coughlan
Manufacturers in many industries frequently use vertical price policies, such as minimum advertised price (MAP), to influence prices set by downstream retailers. Although manufacturers expect retail partners to comply with MAP policies, violations of MAP are common in... View Details
- June 2016
- Case
Big Spaceship: The Evolving Agency
By: Boris Groysberg and Matthew G. Preble
This case discusses the evolution of Big Spaceship, an advertising and marketing agency, from a product-focused business to a relationship-oriented one as clients seek deeper and more meaningful long-term partnerships. The 15-year-old company had already evolved... View Details
- May 2016 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
Building the Digital Manufacturing Enterprise of the Future at Siemens
By: Willy Shih
This case describes the motivation for and the development of Siemens' digital manufacturing enterprise vision, which became the foundation for its implementation of Industrie 4.0. While the effort started with a purely defensive move by Anton Huber, head of the... View Details
Keywords: Big Data; Internet Of Things; Internet Of Everything; Industrie 4.0; Digital Factory; Digital Enterprise; Digital Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Production Management; Production Planning; Computer Software; Germany; German Manufacturing; Machinery and Machining; Information Technology; Digital Platforms; Technological Innovation; Production; Supply Chain; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Analytics and Data Science; Manufacturing Industry; Germany
- April 2016
- Teaching Note
Flipkart: Transitioning to a Marketplace Model
By: Sunil Gupta and Das Narayandas
In 2015, Sachin and Binny Bansal, co-founders of India's largest e-tailer, Flipkart, announced that the company would switch to a marketplace model and move its logistics arm into a separate company. At the time of the announcement, Snapdeal already claimed to be... View Details
- Article
Products to Platforms: Making the Leap
By: Feng Zhu and Nathan Furr
Following the path of companies such as Apple and Amazon, more and more firms are trying to become not just product purveyors but also platform providers, facilitating direct connections between customers and other groups. Although launching a platform can generate new... View Details
- 2016
- Working Paper
The Impact of Patent Wars on Firm Strategy: Evidence from the Global Smartphone Market
By: Feng Zhu
Strategy scholars have documented in various empirical settings that firms seek and leverage stronger institutions to mitigate hazards and gain competitive advantage. In this paper, we argue that such “institution-seeking” behavior may not be confined to the pursuit of... View Details
- March 2016 (Revised November 2021)
- Teaching Note
T-Mobile in 2013: The Un-Carrier
By: John Beshears and Francesca Gino
By 2013, the U.S. wireless industry was in the midst of a costly transition. As consumers began to embrace more sophisticated mobile devices, the industry's four main players spent heavily to improve their infrastructures for providing reliable high-speed data... View Details
- Other Article
Online Discounting: Who is Leading the Race to the Bottom?
By: Ayelet Israeli, Eric Anderson and Anne Coughlan
A short review of the finidings in: Israeli, Ayelet, Eric Anderson, and Anne Coughlan. "Minimum Advertised Pricing: Patterns of Violation in Competitive Retail Markets." Marketing Science 35, no. 4 (July–August 2016): 539–564. View Details
Keywords: Pricing; Price Policies; Pricing Policies; Discounting; Retailing; Retailing Industry; Minimum Advertised Price; Ecommerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Price; Distribution Channels; Distribution; Digital Marketing; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; Advertising Industry; United States
- February 2016 (Revised February 2017)
- Case
The Climate Corporation
By: David E. Bell, Forest Reinhardt and Mary Shelman
Climate Corporation is a San Francisco–based data analytics company focused on agricultural applications. It was acquired by Monsanto in 2013. In 2015, Climate's decision support platform was used on 75 million acres of farmland in the U.S.; however, most of those... View Details
- February 2016 (Revised September 2020)
- Case
T-Mobile in 2013: The Un-Carrier
By: John Beshears, Francesca Gino, Jonathan Lee and Sean (Yixiang) Wang
By 2013, the U.S. wireless industry was in the midst of a costly transition. As consumers began to embrace more sophisticated mobile devices, the industry's four main players spent heavily to improve their infrastructures for providing reliable high-speed data... View Details
- January 2016
- Teaching Note
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
By: Sunil Gupta and Margaret Rodriguez
In September 2010, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (T2) reported an unexpectedly high third quarter profit of $5.92 million, driven largely by the success of its video game, Red Dead Redemption (which sold over 6.9 million copies since launching in May). Red Dead... View Details
- January 2016
- Case
TransDigm Inc.
By: Eric Van den Steen, Kavita Mathews and Alon Galor
Transdigm had been very successful with a PE-like business model: it acquired smaller producers of aircraft components and improved their profits, mainly by increasing efficiency and applying value pricing. By 2014, Transdigm had completed almost 50 acquisitions. Its... View Details
- December 2015 (Revised February 2016)
- Case
Ocado
By: José Alvarez, David E. Bell and Damien McLoughlin
In 2015, U.K.-based Ocado was the world's largest pure player in the online home-delivery grocery business and was gaining a growing share of the highly competitive U.K. grocery market. Ocado had made heavy investments in technology, including a highly automated... View Details
Keywords: Ocado; Grocery; Retail; Online Grocery; Supermarket; Delivery Models; Service Models; United Kingdom; Technology; Operations Management; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Marketing; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom
- November 2015 (Revised February 2016)
- Case
Allianz Turkey: Focus on the Customer (A)
By: W. Earl Sasser and Gamze Yucaoglu
At the age of 39, Solmaz Altın took over the helm at Allianz Turkey. Solmaz quickly realized that, although the insurance market was thinly penetrated in Turkey, the company was operating in a very competitive environment with pressure on prices and, hence, cost... View Details