Publications

28 Sep 2015
Research & Ideas

Six Lessons from Mobile Money Ventures in Developing Countries

In many emerging economies, the need to give people in poverty better access to financial services seems obvious. The mobile phone is a perfect vehicle, given their widespread adoption, even among the financially less well off. Designing a profitable solution for an... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Financial Services; Telecommunications

05 Aug 2010
What Do You Think?

What Is Customer Opinion Good For?

book of five years ago, Blue Ocean Strategy, to check my recollection of what the authors had to say about the role of the customer in fashioning a strategy that would enable an enterprise to escape from red, blood-strewn, competitive... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Technology

Article

Divide and Conquer: Competing with Free Technology under Network Effects

By: Deishin Lee and Haim Mendelson

We study how a commercial firm competes with a free open source product. The market consists of two customer segments with different preferences and is characterized by positive network effects. The commercial firm makes product and pricing decisions to maximize its... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Product Launch; Network Effects; Open Source Distribution; Adoption; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage

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January 2003 (Revised July 2006)
Exercise

Travelexis.com Role for Jackie Hoff from Travelexis.com

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Nicole Nasser

Two fictional travel companies, SCOUT and TravelPlanner, engage in competitive bidding to acquire a third party, Travelexis. This exercise consists of three roles, one representative from each of the three companies. It is based on the actual negotiations between... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Bids and Bidding; Acquisition; Travel Industry

January 2003 (Revised July 2006)
Exercise

Travelexis.com Role for Pat Young from SCOUT

By: Kathleen L. McGinn and Nicole Nasser

Two fictional travel companies, SCOUT and TravelPlanner, engage in competitive bidding to acquire a third party, Travelexis. This exercise is consists of three roles, one representative from each of the three companies. It is based on the actual negotiations between... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Bids and Bidding; Acquisition; Travel Industry

14 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 14

Diversion, Rent Extraction and Competition Authors:Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien Abstract This paper studies search diversion by competing intermediaries connecting consumers with third-party stores. First, we show that endogenizing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 15, 2008

that expansions abroad reduce a firm's domestic activity, instead suggesting the opposite. The Finance Function in a Global Corporation Author:Mihir A. Desai Publication:HBS Centennial Issue. Harvard Business Review 86, nos. 7/8 (July - August 2008) Abstract As... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Article

Recent Advances in the Empirics of Organizational Economics

By: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun and John Van Reenen

We present a survey of recent contributions in empirical organizational economics, focusing on management practices and decentralization. Productivity dispersion between firms and countries has motivated the improved measurement of firm organization across industries... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Productivity; Geographic Location; Motivation and Incentives; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Competition; Human Capital; Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Multinational Firms and Management; India; Brazil; United States

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Read Now

March 1982 (Revised September 1985)
Case

Sealed Air Corporation

By: Robert J. Dolan

Market leadership and technological innovation have marked Sealed Air's participation in the U.S. protective packaging market. Several small regional producers have introduced products which are less effective than Sealed Air's but similar in appearance and cheaper.... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product; Technological Innovation; Supply and Industry; Competitive Advantage; Consumer Products Industry; United States

July 2010 (Revised December 2010)
Case

Beohemija's Duel

By: Das Narayandas and Kerry Herman

Vladimir Joksic, Director of Marketing for Serbia's Beohemija, along with his marketing team has managed to grow Duel, the firm's soap powder offering from single digits to almost 40% of the Serbian market in just a few short years. He has used innovative and... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Growth and Development; Innovation Strategy; Management Teams; Marketing; Product Launch; Competition; Consumer Products Industry

March 2011 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Fraunhofer: Innovation in Germany

By: Diego A. Comin, J. Gunnar Trumbull and Kerry Yang

Fraunhofer is one of the largest applied research organizations in the world. With 17,000 employees and a 1.6 billion euros budget, Fraunhofer has 60 institutes in Germany that cover most fields of science. The case examines the consequences that Fraunhofer has for the... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Entrepreneurship; Financial Markets; Government and Politics; Labor; Markets; Outcome or Result; Research and Development; Competitive Strategy; Germany

June–July 2013
Article

Firm Rivalry, Knowledge Accumulation, and MNE Location Choices

By: Juan Alcacer, Cristian Deszo and Minyuan Zhao

The international business (IB) literature has mostly emphasized the impact of location and firm characteristics on location choices. However, industries with a significant presence of multinational enterprises (MNEs) are oligopolistic in nature, which suggests that... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Competition; Multinational Firms and Management; Knowledge Acquisition; Game Theory; Global Strategy

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August 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point

By: Anat Keinan

The case examines an iconic institution's decision on whether or not to undertake a branding initiative. Founded in 1802, West Point has played a key role in America's history. It is one of the nation's oldest institutions of higher learning and is well known for... View Details

Keywords: Surveys; Resource Allocation; Brands and Branding; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Competitive Strategy; Education Industry; United States

June 2023
Supplement

Clash of Two Giants Simulation Exercise

By: Feng Zhu and Marco Iansiti

Many markets are organized around platforms that connect consumers with complementary applications and services. These platforms are two-sided because both sides - consumers and those providing applications or services - need access to the same platform to interact. A... View Details

Keywords: Customer Acquisition; Platform Strategy; Technology Platform; Digital Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Network Effects

December 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Synthes

By: John T. Gourville

Synthes is the recognized leader in the U.S. orthopedic implant market, with a 50% market share in the metallic plates, rods, and screws used to fix severe bone fractures. Synthes' marketplace strength lies in the strength of its sales force and in the quality and... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Risk Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Competition; Manufacturing Industry; United States

Teaching Interest

Competing in the Age of Digital Platforms—(Executive Education)

By: David B. Yoffie

Summary

Without exception, the most valuable companies in the world today are platforms. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and many other firms have built their fortunes by facilitating innovation across global ecosystems or... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Technology; Strategy; Digital Business; Social Networks; Self-driving Cars; Mobile Gaming; Esports; Financial Services; Online Retail; Ride-sharing; Search; Auctions; United States; Asia; China; Europe

April 2008 (Revised December 2008)
Case

Leveraged Loans 2007

By: Andre F. Perold and Erik Stafford

The leveraged loan market was in a crisis during the summer of 2007, following many years of low realized volatility (less than 4% per annum), an index of leveraged loans had fallen over 5% in the month of July. A sudden drop in capital market prices for an asset class... View Details

Keywords: History; Financial Liquidity; Investment; Financial Crisis; Market Transactions; Disruption; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Capital Markets; Crisis Management; Commercial Banking; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

November 1988
Case

Honeywell Residential Division: New Product Development

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Describes three different product development efforts at the Residential Controls division of Honeywell, Inc. Each of the three projects was for a different market and competitive environment. Each was tackled in a somewhat different way within the Honeywell... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Construction; Outcome or Result; Situation or Environment; Business Divisions; Product Design; Change Management; Construction Industry