Publications

20 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Exploring Cleantech at HBS

1.3 billion people around the world lack access to energy, and for everyone else, most of their energy comes from sources that are often unreliable, expensive, and detrimental to the environment. I had worked on sustainable transportation... View Details

January 2017
Case

Danaher Corporation, 2007–2017

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

On July 2, 2016, Danaher Corporation completed the spinoff of Fortive Corporation. The previous day, Danaher’s stock price had reached an all-time high. In 2015, Danaher had decided to split off its test and measurement, fuel and fleet management, and automation... View Details

Keywords: Danaher; Fortive; Larry Culp; Beckman Coulter; Pall; Life Sciences; Diagnostics; Environmental Operations; Water Management; Dental; Testing; Measurement; Fuel; Fleet Management; Automation; Toolmaking; Tools; Disease Management; Continuous Improvement; Toyota Production System; Divestiture; Spinoffs; Spin-off; Networks; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Business Subsidiaries; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Engineering; Chemicals; Construction; Machinery and Machining; Profit; Revenue; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties; Business History; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Management Succession; Management Systems; Resource Allocation; Market Entry and Exit; Measurement and Metrics; Logistics; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Science; Genetics; Natural Environment; Wastes and Waste Processing; Science-Based Business; Opportunities; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Technology; Software; Technology Networks; Technology Platform; Value; Valuation; Aerospace Industry; Auto Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Chemical Industry; Computer Industry; Construction Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Retail Industry; Rubber Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Utilities Industry; United States; District of Columbia

September 1983 (Revised February 1989)
Background Note

The Oil Tanker Shipping Industry in 1983

By: Michael E. Porter

Describes the international oil tanker shipping industry both historically and in 1983. Designed to provide a vehicle for practicing industry analysis in a volatile commodity business, and for formulating strategy in such an environment. Also can be used to examine... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Globalized Markets and Industries; Goods and Commodities; Volatility; Vertical Integration; Supply and Industry; Shipping Industry

14 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Can Entrepreneurs Drive People Movers to Success?

personal rapid transport, or PRT for short, has been percolating since the mid-1950s and is finally gaining ground, according to HBS professor Benjamin G. Edelman. Business and communities small and large are increasingly aware of PRT as a "green" solution to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Transportation

Research Summary

Railroads and the Making of Modern China

My current book project is entitled Railroads and the Making of the Modern China and explores China’s economic and socio-political transformation from the last decades of the empire to the present using railroad infrastructure as a focus. Based on a large... View Details

May 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Supplement

Global Knowledge Management at Danone (B)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Ruth Dittrich and Daniela Beyersdorfer

The (B) case gives an update on the development of knowledge management at Danone two years after the (A) case: The Networking Attitude spread throughout the company and the question is posed whether Danone should move to virtual networking in addition to face-to-face... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management

November 2016 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Hyperloop One

By: William A. Sahlman, Ramana Nanda, Robert White, Allison Ciechanover and Jeff Huizinga

This case explores the attempt of Shervin Pishevar, a prominent Silicon Valley investor, to shepherd hyperloop, a futuristic pod-in-tube transportation technology, from concept to transformative reality via Hyperloop One and Sherpa Capital, both companies he... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurial Finance; Startup; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Finance; Transportation; Product Development; Innovation and Invention; Transportation Industry

August 1996 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Charlotte A. Tasker

Discusses the joint venture between two companies with different capabilities: 1) technology provider and 2) transportation agent. Discusses how to capture value from joint venture and biotechnology: 1) who are winners and who are losers; 2) how much value can/should... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Joint Ventures; Marketing Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Performance Consistency; Information Technology; Transportation; Valuation; Biotechnology Industry

December 2005 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Los Grobo

Los Grobo, a grain farming company based in Argentina, must decide whether to expand internationally to neighboring Paraguay and Uruguay. Los Grobo has built an IT-facilitated network with hundreds of participants who work together to produce corn and soybeans. Los... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Information Technology; Supply Chain Management; Global Range; Globalization; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Paraguay; Argentina; Uruguay

August 2015 (Revised June 2019)
Case

Shonda Rhimes' ShondaLand

By: Anita Elberse and Henry McGee

In January 2015, superstar television creator Shonda Rhimes, whose production company ShondaLand dominates American television's most competitive and lucrative night with three shows in primetime on network ABC's Thursday night, is plotting the future. One challenge... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Television; Broadcasting; Creative Industries; Television Industry; Product Portfolio Management; Superstar; Talent Management; Television Entertainment; Media; Creativity; Marketing; Talent and Talent Management; Personal Development and Career; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

April 2020 (Revised January 2022)
Case

Uber: Competing Globally

By: Alexander J. MacKay, Amram Migdal and John Masko

This case describes Uber’s global market entry strategy and responses by regulators and local competitors. It details Uber’s entry into New York City (New York), Bogotá (Colombia), Delhi (India), Shanghai (China), Accra (Ghana), and London (United Kingdom). In each... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Geography; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Globalization; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Governance Controls; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Innovation and Invention; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Law; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Consumer Behavior; Network Effects; Emerging Markets; Market Design; Market Entry and Exit; Market Participation; Supply and Industry; Industry Structures; Planning; Strategic Planning; Relationships; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Labor and Management Relations; Networks; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Digital Platforms; Transportation; Transportation Networks; Transportation Industry; Transportation Industry; Africa; Ghana; Asia; China; Shanghai Shi; Shanghai; India; New Delhi; Europe; United Kingdom; England; London; Latin America; North and Central America; United States; New York (city, NY); New York (state, US); South America; Colombia

16 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

The Inner Workings of Corporate Headquarters

valuable than the individual components of the portfolio.” In other words, it's a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing—each unit is trying to maximize its own performance, generally without much regard to what will increase value for... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

03 Mar 2020
News

From Disruption to Collision: The New Competitive Dynamics

August 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

TNT Limited's Logistics Services in Asia (A): The Strategy

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Meredith Hellicar's mission as general manager of corporate development is to make TNT Ltd. one of the biggest and most diverse transport and logistic companies in the world, with approximately $5 billion in turnover in 1993, a leading provider of logistics services in... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Managerial Roles; Distribution; Logistics; Mission and Purpose; Partners and Partnerships; Strategy; Diversification; Transportation Industry; Asia; China; Indonesia; Thailand

Clubs

Hospitality & Travel Club

Keywords: Hospitality

regulating — and competing with — decentralized software platforms

New platforms reinvent traditional markets as varied as transport, short-term accomodations, and media. (Consider Uber, Airbnb, and YouTube.) With new business models come new questions of regulation which Edelman and coauthor Damien Geradin assess in View Details

October 19, 2021
Article

The Facebook Trap

By: Andy Wu

Facebook has a clear mission: Connect everyone in the world. Clarity is good, but in Facebook’s case, it has also put the company in a bind because the mission—and the company’s vision for creating value through network effects—has also become the source of its biggest... View Details

Keywords: Business And Society; Mission and Purpose; Network Effects; Value Creation; Corporate Accountability; Strategy