Publications

18 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

How to Use Free Shipping as a Competitive Weapon

ablokhin Free shipping is an increasingly important tool in the online retailer's marketing arsenal, but few sellers understand the intricacies of the strategy and are leaving significant profits on the table, new research suggests.... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail

1991
Article

Kei-haku-tan-shou Shouhin no Kaihatsu: Global Shijou deno Nihon Kigyou no Kyousou Yuuisei (Development of Light-Thin-Short-Small Products: Competitive Advantage of Japanese Firms in the Global Market)

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Business Ventures; Japan

1997
Chapter

Big Business, Management and Competitiveness in Twentieth Century Britain

By: G. Jones

Keywords: Management; Business Ventures; History; Competition; Great Britain

March 2019
Supplement

KITEA (C): A Surprise Delay

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

This case describes the delay of IKEA’s store opening in Morocco in 2015. After Sweden ordered an internal review of its position on the independence of Western Sahara, a territory Morocco regarded as part of its own, the Moroccan government declared that IKEA did not... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Strategy; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Adaptation; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Retail Industry; Africa; North Africa; Morocco

March 2019
Supplement

KITEA (D): Further Changes

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in February 2016, when the official date of IKEA’s store opening (March 16, 2016) is announced after a five-month delay. It reviews the changes that Amine and Othman Benkirane had made to KITEA’s workforce in the extra five months afforded by the delay... View Details

Keywords: Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Strategy; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Retail Industry; Africa; North Africa; Morocco

October 2022
Supplement

Framebridge (B): A New Approach

By: Rembrand Koning and Alicia Dadlani

In 2022, after revamping operations and expanding retail stores, Framebridge founder and CEO Susan Tynan is optimistic for the future but realizes changing market dynamics. New competitors are entering the market, and margin pressures remained. This case is part two of... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Operations; Market Entry and Exit; Consumer Products Industry; United States; District of Columbia; Kentucky

September 2011 (Revised August 2015)
Case

ScoreBig

By: William A. Sahlman, Jeffrey Glass and Evan W. Richardson

The founding team at ScoreBig, an event ticketing company, is on the verge of a public launch of their product. The company has made great progress in negotiating access to tickets, designing its interface, and building a proprietary architecture. For consumers,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Corporate Finance; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

15 Sep 2016
News

US Competitiveness Report Sees ‘A Nation Divided’

Harvard Business School today released "Problems Unsolved and a Nation Divided," a comprehensive analysis of the state of US competitiveness in 2016, based on five years of the US Competitiveness Project's multi-faculty research. The US... View Details

04 Nov 2016
News

The Competitiveness of Lost Causes

existing strengths and capitalize on those,” advises Duch, who is currently applying that strategy to the challenge of helping rural farmers in Haiti sell their produce directly on world markets. Since joining the World Bank in 2013, Duch... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg

September 2006 (Revised July 2008)
Case

The Rise of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. 1962-1987

By: John R. Wells and Travis Haglock

It is 1988 and David Glass has just taken over as CEO from the legendary Sam Walton at Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, Joe Antonini has just taken the CEO position at Wal-Mart's arch rival, Kmart. Although Wal-Mart is still well behind Kmart, it appears to be in great shape and... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Business Growth and Maturation; Management Succession; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

24 Aug 2021
News

Why Did Pet Concierge Startup Baroo Fail?

18 Feb 2014
News

Stick with Plan A

redefine the concept of banking and financial access in the future." Ezuza is preparing to launch its service after six years of business development, putting partnerships together and building the technology platform. "To some people,... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley; Waleed Iskandar (MBA 1993); Telecommunications

01 Jun 1997
News

Blockbuster Deals

business strategy jointly. And it must agree as a group on an organizational vision for the new firm, as well as on which managers will occupy key positions and what should be expected of them." In... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons and Nancy O. Perry

09 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Chance Encounters: What's at Stake in Return-to-Office Decisions

Late one day in the fall of 2021, as she was packing up to head home, Assistant Professor Maria Roche bumped into Andy Wu, a colleague in the Strategy Unit whose office is next to hers. Roche asked how his research was going, and in the... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint, HBS Alumni Bulletin

March 1983 (Revised January 1989)
Case

American Home Products Corp.

American Home Products is a company with virtually no debt. Students are asked to analyze the company's debt policy and make a recommendation to the CEO. It is likely that adding debt to the capital structure would create some value for shareholders; the CEO is firmly... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Business Strategy; Borrowing and Debt; Consumer Products Industry