Publications

16 May 2000
Research & Ideas

The Simple Economics of Open Source

outwardly the situation smells of economic anarchy. Where are the market forces, when thousands of talented programmers—and even many commercial firms—spend inordinate amounts of time writing and sharing computer source code: an activity... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Technology

September 2003 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Holt Lunsford Commercial

By: Arthur I Segel and John H. Vogel Jr.

Holt Lunsford is debating how to grow his Dallas-based commercial real estate services firm and how to advise a long-time client who is wondering whether to lease or buy an industrial warehouse. Focuses on the highly competitive and increasingly institutionalized $50... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Leasing; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Real Estate Industry; Real Estate Industry

August 2012 (Revised February 2021)
Case

Hub and Spoke, HealthCare Global and Additional Focused Factory Models for Cancer Care

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Amit Ghorawat, Meera Krishnan and Naiyya Saggi

This case compares and contrasts four different models for delivering cancer care in India and the US. Students are asked to select the best model in its alignment with the Six Forces in those two countries and Africa, to which one of the models is considering... View Details

Keywords: Cancer Care Services; Focused Factories For Cancer Care; Hub And Spoke Cancer Care; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Cancer Care In Africa; Cancer Care In India; Health Care and Treatment; Business Model; Six Sigma; Health Disorders; Health Industry; United States; India; Africa

23 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 23

Incumbents Fare in the Face of Increased Service Competition? Authors:Ryan W. Buell, Dennis Campbell, and Frances X. Frei Abstract We explore the conditions under which service competition leads to customer... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2002 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Bank of America (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how Bank of America is creating a system for product and service innovation in its retail banking business. Emphasis is placed on the role of experimentation in some two-dozen real-life "laboratories" that serve as fully operating banking branches and as... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Problems and Challenges; Innovation and Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Change; Failure; Banks and Banking; Learning; Banking Industry

September 2008
Case

Yucheng Technology

By: Li Jin, Li Liao, Chang Chen and Aldo Sesia

The founder and CEO of an IT company servicing the needs of the financial services industry in China needs to raise capital for the company to grow and survive. He has two options. He can try and obtain financing from private equity investors, or he can accept a... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Financial Services Industry; China; United States

21 Sep 2016
Blog Post

Meet the Global Business Club

The Global Business Club is a student-run organization at the Harvard Business School. We provide services to support students interested in growing their global intelligence, exchanging ideas about global issues and learning from View Details

Keywords: All Industries

February 1991
Case

Burlington Northern: The ARES Decision (A)

By: Julie H. Hertenstein and Robert S. Kaplan

Burlington Northern's decision whether to invest in ARES, an automated train control system, is a ($350 million) strategic investment in information technology. Although set in a service industry (railroad) the issues around this decision arise in many organizations... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Rail Transportation; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Performance Effectiveness; Cost vs Benefits; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Customers; Quality; Rail Industry

February 2008 (Revised September 2010)
Case

LeapFrog Enterprises

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Explores the success factors leading to the company's rise to the number three ranking in the aggressively competitive toy industry. LeapFrog has made the strategic decision to expand beyond the toy industry and enter the educational technology and services industry.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

February 2000 (Revised November 2002)
Case

QuickenInsurance: The Race to Click and Close (A)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

ES Technologies started in 1976 as a storefront in Tempe, Arizona selling personal computer kits to hobbyists. Twenty years later, revenues exceeded $3.5 billion, and the business had evolved from a computer store to a master reseller and full-line integrator of... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Structures; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry; Arizona

Find at Harvard

Juan Alcacer is the James J. Hill Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He joined HBS in 2007 and has taught the required MBA strategy course, an elective on Global Strategy and PhD courses in Strategy and International Business. Within... View Details

Keywords: consulting; management consulting; telecommunications

Kim B. Clark

Kim B. Clark joined the Harvard faculty in 1978 and served as Dean of the Faculty at Harvard Business School from 1995 to 2005. He received the B.A. (1974), M.A. (1977), and Ph.D. (1978) degrees in economics from Harvard University.

Professor Clark's research has... View Details

January 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

onefinestay: Building a Luxury Experience in the Sharing Economy

By: Jill Avery, Anat Keinan and Liz Kind

onefinestay was a two-sided marketplace that offered high-end home rentals to travelers who sought a more authentic and local experience than a typical upscale hotel might provide. After five years of rapid growth, it was time to do a comprehensive analysis of the... View Details

May 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

BEA Systems, Inc.: Constant Reinvention to Cope with Market Waves

Developed in 1995 as a specialist software vendor, BEA Systems, Inc. had already transformed itself twice from a transaction processing product company to a server application provider. By July 2002, it had become the fastest company in history to reach $1 billion in... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Business Growth and Maturation; Management Practices and Processes; Applications and Software; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Culture; Web Services Industry; Web Services Industry

Find at Harvard

September 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (A)

By: Henry McGee and Aldo Sesia

In 2018, the Hollywood film industry is facing tough headwinds. Fewer and fewer Americans are going to movie theaters, opting instead to watch movies on demand in the comfort of their own homes or on portable devices. Adam Aron, the head of the world’s largest movie... View Details

Keywords: Exhibitors; Movies; Film Entertainment; Disruptive Innovation; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Global Range; Business Model; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

17 Feb 2016
Research & Ideas

Man vs. Machine: Which Makes Better Hires?

who has studied how companies make organizational decisions in industries such as health care and education. “They are figuring out how to use the information of managers and combine it with this new technology.” Testing the testers To... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Employment

April 2020
Case

Apple Inc. in 2020

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

After a decade as CEO, Tim Cook is facing one of his biggest strategic transitions of his tenure. While Apple had performed spectacularly well under Cook, Apple's core business was maturing. Sales of iPhones, iPads, and Macs were flat or down. However, Apple's new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Market Positioning; Marketing Implementation; Planning; Products; Strategic Positioning; Strategy; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Communication; Competition; Leadership; Strategic Planning; Computer Industry; Computer Industry; Computer Industry

October 1971 (Revised September 1983)
Case

Sturdivant Electric Corp.

By: Richard L. Nolan

A unit manager on a field computer installation job is faced with recurring conflict between a programmer and his immediate supervisor. View Details

Keywords: Planning; Rank and Position; Problems and Challenges; Conflict and Resolution; Attitudes; Jobs and Positions; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Public Relations Industry; Public Relations Industry