Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(638)
- Faculty Publications (131)
- January 2013 (Revised April 2013)
- Technical Note
Relational Contracts and the Roots of Sustained Competitive Advantage
This note focuses on organizational "competencies" or "capabilities" as a potential source of sustained competitive advantage. Research in this area hypothesizes that some firms outperform their competition because they can do things that their rivals cannot. View Details
- January 2013 (Revised September 2013)
- Case
Royal DSM: Fighting Hidden Hunger
By: Rebecca Henderson, Noah Fisher and Mary Shelman
In 2007 Royal DSM, a leading life science and materials company, entered a partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP) to combat hidden hunger around the world by providing micronutrient solutions. The case investigates the unexpectedly large impact the partnership... View Details
- January 2013 (Revised September 2013)
- Case
Xylem: Let's Solve Water
By: Rebecca M. Henderson and James Weber
- September–October 2012
- Article
Relational Contracts and Organizational Capabilities
By: Robert Gibbons and Rebecca Henderson
A large literature identifies unique organizational capabilities as a potent source of competitive advantage, yet our knowledge of why capabilities fail to diffuse more rapidly—particularly in situations in which competitors apparently have strong incentives to adopt... View Details
- 2012
- Working Paper
What Do Managers Do? Exploring Persistent Performance Differences among Seemingly Similar Enterprises
By: Robert Gibbons and Rebecca Henderson
Social networks and social groups have both been seen as important to discouraging malfeasance and supporting the global pro-social norms that underlie social order, but have typically been treated either as pure substitutes or as having completely independent effects.... View Details
- 2012
- Chapter
Schumpeterian Competition and Diseconomies of Scope: Illustrations from the Histories of Microsoft and IBM
By: Timothy F. Bresnahan, Shane Greenstein and Rebecca M. Henderson
We address a longstanding question about the causes of creative destruction. Dominant incumbent firms, long successful in an existing technology, are often much less successful in new technological eras. This is puzzling, since a cursory analysis would suggest that... View Details
- January 2012 (Revised March 2014)
- Module Note
Managers and Market Capitalism
By: Rebecca Henderson and Karthik Ramanna
The last thirty years have seen the widespread embrace of market capitalism as not only a highly efficient form of economic organization but also as one that best meets the diversity of human preferences. In large, complex societies, an increasing body of theoretical... View Details
- January 2012
- Teaching Note
Best Practice in Consumer Packaged Goods Management (TN)
By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson
Keywords: Consumer Products Industry
- 2012
- Working Paper
Relational Contracts and Organizational Capabilities
By: R. Gibbons and R. Henderson
A large literature identifies unique organizational capabilities as a potent source of competitive advantage, yet our knowledge of why capabilities fail to diffuse more rapidly-particularly in situations in which competitors apparently have strong incentives to adopt... View Details
- 2012
- Chapter
What Do Managers Do? Exploring Persistent Performance Differences among Seemingly Similar Enterprises
By: Rebecca Henderson and Robert Gibbons
- December 2011 (Revised November 2012)
- Case
Sustainable Tea at Unilever
By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Frederik Nellemann
Unilever's Lipton Tea had been successful with the first phase of its certification partnership with Rainforest Alliance. Now the company faced challenges in how to push forward with the transformation of more difficult parts of the supply chain and how to market... View Details
- June 2011 (Revised August 2011)
- Case
Colgate-Palmolive: Staying Ahead in Oral Care
By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson
In 2011, Colgate-Palmolive (Colgate) was the global leader in oral care, with a dominant market share lead in toothpaste and a growing presence in toothbrushes and mouthwash. However, the firm faced stiff competition with perennial rivals P&G increasing their focus on... View Details
- June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
- Case
Procter & Gamble: Marketing Capabilities
By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson
P&G had become known and recognized as a marketing machine. It was the largest advertiser in the world, with 2010 spending of $8.68 billion. From the company's early exploitation of broadcast media (radio and television) for its soap products to more recent experiments... View Details
- June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
- Case
L'Oréal: Global Brand, Local Knowledge
By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson
Worldwide, and in the U.S. marketplace in particular, the French cachet of L'Oréal was one of its most powerful marketing tools. However, with the opening up of emerging markets, L'Oréal had to cater to a diverse customer base: an aging population in the West, ethnic... View Details
- June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
- Case
Nestlé SA: Nutrition, Health and Wellness Strategy
By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson
In 1997 Nestlé committed to a strategic vision of becoming the leading nutrition, health and wellness (NHW) company in the world. Over the next 13 years, the NHW strategy guided strategic decisions and choices at Nestlé including merger and acquisition choices,... View Details
- 2011
- Book
Accelerating Energy Innovation: Insights from Multiple Sectors
By: Rebecca Henderson and Richard G. Newell
Accelerating energy innovation could be an important part of an effective response to the threat of climate change. Written by a stellar group of experts in the field, this book complements existing research on the subject with an exploration of the role that public... View Details
- June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
- Case
Reckitt Benckiser: Fast and Focused Innovation
By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson
Since its 1999 merger Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a global consumer goods company, led by its CEO Bart Becht, RB developed a reputation for rapid product innovation and industry leading profit margins. RB's stated strategy was to focus on its Powerbrands and high growth... View Details
- April 2011
- Case
Shell Nigeria: The WikiLeaks Cables
By: Sandra J. Sucher, Rebecca M. Henderson and Matthew Preble
In November 2010, WikiLeaks began releasing the first of hundreds of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables that it had obtained. Among the thousands of cables published by early 2011, were several that shed light on Royal Dutch Shell's operations in Nigeria and its... View Details
- January 2011
- Article
Good Intentions, Optimistic Self-Predictions, and Missed Opportunities
By: Derek Koehler, Rebecca White and Leslie K. John
Self-predictions are highly sensitive to current intentions but often largely insensitive to factors influencing the readiness with which those intentions are translated into future behavior. When such factors are under a person's control, they could be used to... View Details