Publications

June 1989 (Revised July 1993)
Case

CIGNA Worldwide

By: John A. Quelch

A CIGNA Worldwide (CWW) task group of European country directors and key functional managers is meeting in November 1988 to discuss how CWW should respond to the European Community's plan to remove existing internal barriers and restrictions to the free flow of goods... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Insurance; Competitive Strategy; Emerging Markets; Trade; Insurance Industry; Europe

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2015
Working Paper

Build It, Buy It or Both? Rethinking the Sourcing of Advertising Services

By: Alvin J. Silk and Marta M. Stiglin

This paper provides an update on the current state of in-house agencies. Whereas traditional consideration of internalizing advertising services was framed as a binary choice of build or buy, today's advertisers frequently pursue hybrid policies of build and buy to... View Details

Keywords: Management Practices and Processes; Advertising

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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

11 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

It Pays to Hire Women in Countries That Won’t

growing trend for firms with international branch offices, says Harvard Business School professor Jordan Siegel. He discusses the issue in a new study titled "Multinational Firms, Labor Market Discrimination, and the Capture of View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

June 1999 (Revised August 2004)
Case

The American Basketball League: The Last Chapter

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Elizabeth (Lisa) Smyth

Provides information on the demise of the American Basketball League (ABL) in December 1998. Reviews the League's attendance, television activity, and competitive positioning versus the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In conjunction with earlier cases... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Failure; Finance; Sports Industry

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April 2010 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Emerging Nokia?

By: Juan Alcacer, Tarun Khanna, Mary Furey and Rakeen Mabud

By late 2009, Nokia was grappling with the decision of whether to recover its leading position in the high-profit developed markets, where they were losing market share to the likes of Apple and Samsung, or defend its market leadership in the low-margin, high-volume... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Emerging Markets; Industry Structures; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Finland

04 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Female Stars Succeed in New Jobs

If a successful analyst is hired by another organization, chances are both his work performance and the market value of his new company will not reap the expected benefits; they might even lose altitude. So discovered HBS professor Boris... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

November 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

DaChan Food (Asia) in China

By: Ray A. Goldberg and David Lane

DaChan Food in China is providing leadership in the quality, health, and environmental needs of the Chinese consumer as poultry consumption increases there. Continuing to provide that leadership as global and national competition increase becomes more and more... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Food; Leadership Development; Demand and Consumers; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China

August 2010 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Herborist

By: John Deighton, Leora Kornfeld, Yanqun He and Qingyun Jiang

Global brands such as L'Oreal and Oil of Olay dominate China's skin care market. A Chinese domestic brand, after some success in partnership with Sephora in Europe, aspires to challenge the French and U.S. brands' hold on the China market. It must decide how to segment... View Details

Keywords: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Demand and Consumers; Competitive Strategy; Segmentation; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; China

19 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 19

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53199 forthcoming Industrial and Corporate Change Toward a Prescriptive Theory of Dynamic Capabilities: Connecting Strategic Choice, Learning, and Competition By: Pisano, Gary P. Abstract—The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Oct 2023
HBS Case

From P.T. Barnum to Mary Kay: Lessons From 5 Leaders Who Changed the World

are operating in competitive markets where someone is trying to leapfrog us or steal our customers,” Simons says. “The more there’s risk of disruption in your industry, the more there’s a danger that someone... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

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

August 2008
Article

From Clusters to Cluster-Based Economic Development

By: Christian H.M. Ketels and Olga Memedovic

Over the last decades, changes in the global economy and the emergence of Global Value Chains (GVCs) have raised the interest in understanding the specific conditions and cross-company interactions within and across locations. For companies, the need to choose the... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economy; Value; Business Strategy; Competition; Performance Productivity; Cost; Natural Environment; Policy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Framework; Industry Clusters

November 1996 (Revised December 1996)
Case

SAP America

By: David A. Garvin and Artemis March

SAP America has grown at an explosive rate. This case describes the company's strategy, organization, and culture, with special attention to its approach to partnering and its sales and consulting process, which have been instrumental in allowing growth to proceed. Now... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Demand and Consumers; Organizational Culture; Alliances; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; United States

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March 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Foreign Exchange Hedging Strategies at General Motors

By: Mihir A. Desai and Mark Veblen

How should a multinational firm manage foreign exchange exposures? Examines transactional, translational, and competitive exposures. Describes General Motors' corporate hedging policies, its risk management structure, and how accounting rules impact hedging decisions.... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Currency Exchange Rate; Investment; Financial Markets; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry; Argentina; Japan; Canada; United States

30 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 30

competition with perennial rival P&G increasing its focus on the oral care and emerging markets where Colgate had traditionally been untouchable. To defend its lead Colgate attempted to cover all fronts,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 1998 (Revised August 1999)
Case

IBM's Lotus Development in 1999

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Kelley Porter

Describes Lotus' acquisition by IBM, its movement from proprietary standards to open standards, and its current market position. Microsoft is gaining ground with its Exchange Server, and Lotus has received unfavorable press. View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Product Marketing; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry

01 Jun 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Firm-Size Distribution and Cross-Country Income Differences

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro, Andrew Charlton & Fabio Kanczuk

March 2012 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm

By: Nancy F. Koehn, Nora N. Khan and Elizabeth W. Legris

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm is the story of one entrepreneur's vision and journey to create a market-leading, environmentally responsible business founded on the principles of product quality, organizational alignment, and sustainability. A former environmental... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurs; Values; Development Stage Enterprises; Innovation; Management By Objective; Experimentation; Emerging Technologies; Mission and Purpose; Management Style; Values and Beliefs; Social Issues; Organizational Culture; Environmental Sustainability; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; New Hampshire