Publications

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February 1985 (Revised September 1988)
Case

Reviews and updates the structure and characteristics of the earth-moving equipment industry presented in the companion case, Caterpillar Tractor Co. After revealing that CAT has suffered major financial losses during the period from 1981 through 1984, the case... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Machinery and Machining; Price; Growth and Development; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Production; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Industrial Products Industry

March 2011 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Cree, Inc.: Which Bright Future?

By: David J. Collis, Mary Furey and Matthew Shaffer

After its founding in the late 1980s, Cree Inc. quickly grew into a major player in the emerging LED market. By 2007, technological improvements in LEDs had made them suitable for TV, computer, and mobile "backlighting"; and concerns over global warning led to calls to... View Details

December 1993 (Revised August 1998)
Case

Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Company versus NutraSweet (A)

The NutraSweet Co. has very successfully marketed aspartame, a low-calorie, high-intensity sweetener, around the world. NutraSweet's position was protected by patents until 1987 in Europe, Canada, and Japan, and until the end of 1992 in the United States. The case... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada; Japan; United States; Europe

January 2014 (Revised June 2020)
Case

The Rise and Fall of Nokia

By: Juan Alcacer, Tarun Khanna and Christine Snively

In 2013, Nokia sold its Device and Services business to Microsoft for €5.4 billion. For decades Nokia had led the telecommunications (telecom) industry in handsets and networking. By the late 2000s, however, Nokia's position as market leader in mobile devices was... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Phones; Smartphone; Telecommunications; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Emerging Markets; Technological Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Asia

February 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Tata Consultancy Services: High Technology in a Low-Income Country

Explores the development of the software services industry in India and the challenges facing the market leader as domestic competition intensifies and new countries attempt to replicate India's success. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Software; Information Technology Industry; India

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05 Sep 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Structural Transformation: A Competitiveness-based View

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

May 2013
Case

Launching Krispy Natural: Cracking the Product Management Code

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Heather Beckham

Pemberton Products is a U.S. market leader in the cookie and bakery snacks segment of the sweet snack market. Looking to expand into the salty snack market, the company acquires Krispy Inc., a maker of salty snack crackers located in the southeastern U.S. To compete... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Competition; Organizational Culture; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Acquisition; Food and Beverage Industry; Ohio; United States

November 2018
Case

Cepuros Foods Malaysia: Finding the Secret Sauce for Growth (Brief Case)

By: John A. Quelch and Katherine B. Hartman

Shelby Diaz, country manager for Cepuros Foods International—Malaysia (CFI-M), must decide a growth strategy for the expansion of CFI-M's line of salsas, particularly regarding whom to target and how to allocate marketing investments. CFI-M could expand aggressively by... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Product Positioning

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; Technology 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

June 1993 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Bajaj Auto Ltd.

By: John A. Quelch

Bajaj Auto Ltd., the world's second-largest manufacturer of two- and three-wheeler vehicles, is facing increasing competition in its domestic Indian market. The case evaluates appropriate marketing responses both in the Indian market and export markets. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Marketplace Matching; Product Development; Product Marketing; Transportation Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; India

13 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Diagnosing the Public Health Care Alternative

U.S. Senator) Tom Coburn (R-OK) argue against a government-run public market for health insurance. Reform must include incentives for entrepreneurship and innovation, which only a private market could... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Health

October 2001 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Harrah's Entertainment Inc.

By: Rajiv Lal and Patricia Carrolo

Describes a situation facing Philip Satre, chairman and CEO of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. Satre was reading a May 2000 Wall Street Journal story that discussed the company's marketing success in targeting low rollers, the 100% growth in stock price and profits in the... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Marketing; Marketing Reference Programs; Performance Evaluation; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

October 2018 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Masayoshi Son and the Vision Fund

By: Tom Nicholas, Ramana Nanda and Benjamin N. Roth

In October 2016, SoftBank Group Corp., the Japanese conglomerate giant caused a significant shock to the worldwide market for venture capital and private equity by announcing the Vision Fund, the largest tech investment fund in the world at close to $100 billion. The... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Entrepreneurship; Competitive Strategy

2010
Working Paper

Marketplace Institutions Related to the Timing of Transactions

By: Alvin E. Roth

This paper describes the unraveling of transaction dates in several markets, including the labor markets for new lawyers hired by large law firms and for gastroenterology fellows, and the market for post-season college football bowls. Together these will illustrate... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Market Timing; Market Transactions; Marketplace Matching; Competitive Strategy

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May 2022
Case

Maestro Pizza: Coming in Hot!

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Fares Khrais

Maestro Pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of... View Details

April 2022
Case

NIO: A Chinese EV Company's Global Strategy

By: William C. Kirby, Shu Lin and Noah B. Truwit

Founded in November 2014 and based in Shanghai, NIO designed, jointly manufactured, and sold premium “smart” EVs. Its mission was to “shape a joyful lifestyle by offering high-performance smart electric vehicles and being the best user enterprise. At NIO Day 2021,... View Details

Keywords: Electric Vehicles; Expansion; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Green Technology; Auto Industry; China; Europe; Norway

May 1996 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Bombardier TEG (A)

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Bombardier, a Canadian manufacturer of passenger railcars and market leader in the United States, faces aggressive competition from a new entrant, U.S.-owned Morrison Knudsen, that has come into the industry with closely related capabilities in engineering and... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Goals and Objectives; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Rail Transportation; Manufacturing Industry; Rail Industry; Canada; United States

June 1995 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Ready-to-Eat Breakfast Cereal Industry in 1994 (A), The

Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal has historically been a stable and highly profitable industry, dominated by the Big Three of Kellogg, General Mills, and Kraft General Foods (Post). In 1994, private label cereals are making significant market share gains, and promotional... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Food; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry; United States