Publications

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September 2014
Case

Victors & Spoils: 'Born Open'

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Michael L. Tushman

Victors & Spoils (V&S), located in Boulder, Colorado, was the first advertising agency built on open innovation and crowdsourcing principles from the ground-up. V&S was co-founded in 2009 by John Winsor, Claudia Batten and Evan Fry, all former members of the... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Agency; Marketing; Crowdsourcing; Open Innovation; Growth; Acquisitions; Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Digital Marketing; Acquisition; Innovation and Invention; Advertising Industry; United States

11 May 2016
Research & Ideas

Fix This! Why is it so Painful to Buy a New Car?

(Editor’s note: Fix This! is a series of occasional stories about industries that provide bad consumer experiences and how they can be fixed.) Consumers routinely list buying a car as the worst shopping experience imaginable. So it may be... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Auto

January 2009 (Revised March 2010)
Case

LeBron James

By: Anita Elberse and Jeff McCall

In 2005, to the astonishment of many sports industry insiders, superstar basketball player LeBron James fired his agent and established his own firm, LRMR, to handle all aspects of his business ventures and marketing activities and named his childhood friend Maverick... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Compensation and Benefits; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Sports; Sports Industry

February 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Extricity Inc.

Extricity provides software that triggers and automates information flows between collaborating businesses. Its products interface with the legacy information systems already in use by customers, extract information from them, and send this information over the... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry

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November 2011 (Revised June 2012)
Case

The Big 3 Roar Back

By: William W. George

The "Big 3"—Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Chrysler—were all headquartered in Detroit, Michigan. Born between 1903 and 1928, they dominated the automobile industry in the U.S. for decades until they became complacent. In the 1970s they started losing share to... View Details

Keywords: Production; Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Industry Clusters; Competitive Strategy; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; Michigan

June 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Background Note

Beating the Commodity Magnet

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and George T. Bowman

All markets follow a cycle of growth and maturity, then commoditization and decline. This note argues that while commoditization of an industry may seem inevitable, the better managed firms find a way to make money in the commodity cycle. These firms know how and when... View Details

Keywords: Goods and Commodities; Financial Markets; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

21 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 21, 2008

door-to-door marketing of a home water purification solution. We find that higher prices screen out those who use the product less. By contrast, we find no consistent evidence of sunk-cost effects. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-034.pdf Local... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

1998
Book

Global Climate Change: A Senior Level Dialogue at the Intersection of Economics, Strategy, Technology, Science, Politics and International Negotiation

By: Andrew J. Hoffman

Based on the 1997 conference organized by the Kellog Environmental Research Center and sponsored by the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Global Climate Change presents the views of key players in the debate over global climate change... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Policy; Goals and Objectives; International Relations

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06 Jan 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Mechanisms of Technology Re-Emergence and Identity Change in a Mature Field: Swiss Watchmaking, 1970-2008

Keywords: by Ryan Raffaelli; Consumer Products; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion

03 Aug 2016
What Do You Think?

How Can We Hold the “Leadership Industry” Accountable?

Why Does the Leadership Industry Continue to Thrive? The unstated assumption underlying most of responses to this month’s column is that the leadership industry has done little or nothing to improve... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Education

October 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys: A Power Couple

By: Boris Groysberg, Annelena Lobb and Sarah Mehta

Set in 2018, this case follows married couple and music industry titans Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys as they consider how best to use their platforms to achieve their goals. Since achieving professional success in the music industry early in their lives, Swizz and Keys... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Music Entertainment; Personal Development and Career; Entrepreneurship; Goals and Objectives; Power and Influence; Music Industry; Music Industry; Music Industry

16 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 16, 2019

Management Review What to Do When Industry Disruption Threatens Your Career By: Groysberg, Boris, Eric Lin, and Whitney Johnson Abstract—This article discusses how to diagnose the risks that disruptive View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

December 2001
Background Note

Reporting on Agribusiness in the 21st Century

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Anne M Fitzgerald

Agriculture is not what it used to be. Neither is coverage of the industry by news organizations. A century ago, about 40% of the U.S. population lived on the farm, and one in three U.S. jobs was tied to agriculture. It made sense for daily newspapers to cover farming... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Newspapers; Media; Perception; Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

September 2010 (Revised September 2013)
Case

Accounting for the iPhone at Apple Inc.

By: Francois Brochet, Krishna G. Palepu and Lauren Barley

Apple initially recognized revenue associated with its iPhone product using subscription accounting. However, in 2008, the company started providing non-GAAP supplemental numbers where substantially all of the revenue was recognized upfront. Market participants'... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Disclosure; Revenue Recognition; Standards; Technology Industry; United States

December 2023
Article

Advances in Power-to-Gas Technologies: Cost and Conversion Efficiency

By: Gunther Glenk, Philip Holler and Stefan Reichelstein

Widespread adoption of hydrogen as an energy carrier is widely believed to require continued advances in Power-to-Gas (PtG) technologies. Here we provide a comprehensive assessment of the dynamics of system prices and conversion efficiency for three currently prevalent... View Details

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13 Mar 2023
Research & Ideas

The Power of Personal Connections: How Shared Experiences Boost Performance

encompasses all workers on the task. In health care, this would mean extending team-based care to providers beyond physicians, including nurses, support staff, and other health care personnel. It could also mean team training across... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Health

June 2017
Case

Veolia: Resourcing the World

By: Gautam Ahuja, Tarun Khanna, Kristina Maslauskaite and Vincent Dessain

In March 2016, Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia, a global environmental services provider, was undergoing an important transformation of the company. In 2013, Frérot presented a growth strategy that focused on increasing the share of industrial clients, enhancing growth... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Circular; Emerging Markets; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Economy