Publications

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2005
Working Paper

Wintel: Cooperation or Conflict

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and David B. Yoffie

We study the incentives of complementors (producers of complementary products) to cooperate vs. compete and how these interact. In a system of complements, like the PC, the value of the final product depends on how well the different components work together. This, in... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Price; Time Management; Product; Product Development; Research and Development; Conflict and Resolution; Motivation and Incentives; Value

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06 Apr 2018
News

3 Tips for Presenting in English When You’re Not a Native Speaker

02 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

10 Trends to Watch in 2024

The lightning-fast ascent of generative AI isn’t the only sea change on the horizon for businesses in the new year. The global economy is in flux as war, climate change, trade issues, and infrastructure problems demand attention. Many companies continue to struggle to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

November–December 2024
Article

Why Employees Quit

By: Ethan Bernstein, Michael B. Horn and Bob Moesta

The so-called war for talent is still raging. But in that fight, employers continue to rely on the same hiring and retention strategies they’ve been using for decades. Why? Because they’ve been so focused on challenges such as poaching by industry rivals, competing in... View Details

Keywords: Retention; Recruitment; Talent and Talent Management; Employee Relationship Management; Motivation and Incentives

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Program

Strategy: Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage

Summary In the fight for market leadership and the continuous drive toward improved returns, your company needs to devise an effective strategy—and execute it flawlessly. This program prepares you to tackle or lead that challenge in all its aspects, from deciding in... View Details

April 2021
Case

The Incentive for Legacy: Tsinghua University Education Foundation

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao and Spencer C.N. Hagist

Vivian Yuan seeks to bolster the Tsinghua University Education Foundation's fundraising efforts and investment goals in a new era of Chinese higher education. Competing with elite members of China's C9 League of top universities, she must develop a set of incentives... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Marketing; Strategy; Negotiation; Organizations; Markets; Higher Education; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Motivation and Incentives; China

March 2020
Case

Voi Technology

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Olivia Hull

Voi Technology, a fast-growing start-up out of Sweden, is competing in the highly contested European e-scooter sharing market. With a presence in nearly 40 cities in Europe by February 2020, the firm is working hard to improve its unit economics to reach profitability.... View Details

January 2011 (Revised February 2011)
Case

GLOBIS

By: Mukti Khaire, Akiko Kanno and Nobuo Sato

Yoshito Hori, dean of the Graduate School of Management, GLOBIS University, was planning to launch a full-time English MBA program in September 2012. GLOBIS University was already offering successful part-time MBA programs in English and Japanese. The full-time English... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Education; Entrepreneurship; Leadership; Adaptation; Expansion; Education Industry; Japan

August 2008 (Revised December 2009)
Case

Nantero

By: William A. Sahlman, Dan Heath and Caroline Perkins

This case describes a decision confronting the founder of Nantero, a company developing a new semiconductor technology. The company needs to raise additional venture capital. Potential investors have competing visions for the company, and its business model. Some... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Investment; Product Development; Production; Technology; Semiconductor Industry

September 2007 (Revised October 2010)
Case

DermaCare: Zapping Zits Directly

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Lauren Barley

DermaCare has developed an innovative new product for the treatment of acne that they hope to sell to consumers via direct-response television. The unconventional nature of the product and its distribution has led the company to seek angel financing. The Silicon Valley... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Product; California

March 2007 (Revised December 2008)
Case

Green Dot Public Schools: To Collaborate or Compete?

In order to execute a strategy to transform the entire 768-school Los Angeles public school district, Green Dot Public Schools, a nonprofit charter school management organization with 10 high-performing high schools around Los Angeles, is faced with a crucial choice... View Details

Keywords: Secondary Education; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Nonprofit Organizations; Competition; Cooperation; Los Angeles

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

middle manager in the literal middle, Zhang says. “Managers are facing competing pressures from both ends,” he explains. “They may not have absolute authority from workers from the bottom up, yet they’re still facing the performance... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

January 2019 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Ribbon Home: iBacking for Real Estate

By: Marco Di Maggio and Sarah Gulick

In November 2018, Shaival Shah, the founder and CEO of Ribbon Home had to decide on the next steps for the company. Ribbon had introduced a program that backs consumers with cash offers without creating a loan structure in order to help them compete with iBuyers, such... View Details

Keywords: Consumers; Real Estate; Property; Finance; Digital Platforms; Business Model; Decision Making; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry

November 2010 (Revised June 2011)
Case

La Fageda

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Joan Enric Ricart and Jordan Mitchell

La Fageda is a manufacturer of high-quality, naturally-made yogurts in northern Catalonia, Spain. La Fageda is substantially different from its main competitors such as multinational Danone in that it is a 270-person workers' cooperative with 60 percent of its... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Business Model; Production; Cooperative Ownership; Quality; Competition; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Spain

April 1995 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Silicon Graphics, Inc. (A)

By: Marco Iansiti and Ellen Stein

Based on a Silicon Valley company that has developed the capability to compete in a rapidly growing, highly turbulent environment. This capability hinges on its flexible and rapid development process, which the case characterizes in detail. Focuses on the development... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Information Infrastructure; Product Launch; Managerial Roles; Expansion; Design; Applications and Software; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry; California

20 Feb 2014
News

Buying Gold in the Olympics and in the Global War for Talent

September 2017 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Hulu: Redefining the Way People Experience TV

By: Henry W. McGee and Christine Snively

In May 2017, Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins announced the launch of Hulu Live TV, a new offering that would "change the way people experience TV." The new service would allow consumers to bypass traditional cable and satellite delivery and use the Internet to access live... View Details

Keywords: Television Industry; Internet; Television Entertainment; Internet and the Web; Disruptive Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Price; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

31 Jul 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Investment Incentives in Proprietary and Open-Source Two-Sided Platforms

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell & Gastón Llanes

June 2011
Article

The BP Oil Spill as a Cultural Anomaly?: Institutional Context, Conflict, and Change

By: Andrew J. Hoffman and P. Devereaux Jennings

This article argues that the BP Oil Spill is, potentially, a “cultural anomaly” for institutional changes in environmental management and fossil fuel production. The problem as defined by the spill’s context, the potential solutions provided by the competing logics in... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Environmental Management; Pollutants; Energy Industry