Publications

Read Now

07 Nov 2005
What Do You Think?

Is Less Becoming More?

Summing Up Less is increasingly more, at least in the minds of customers, according to nearly every respondent to this month's column. However, some cite product complexity as the cause of rising real and psychological consumer... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Consumer Products

26 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way to Go to Market

repository of lost opportunities" that serve neither end users nor channel partners very well. Why is this? A: That is because most channels are constructed from the supplier out, rather than from the customer in. In other words, the View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

18 Sep 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Modularity, Transactions, and the Boundaries of Firms: A Synthesis

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin

August 2021
Supplement

Andreessen Horowitz’s Cultural Leadership Fund (B): Kevin Hart and Clubhouse

By: Anita Elberse, Briana Richardson and Cydni Williams

In May 2020, Andreessen Horowitz secures an agreement with Clubhouse, one of Silicon Valley’s hottest startups, to lead its ‘Series A’ funding round. One of the factors that insiders saw as pivotal in the race to be Clubhouse’s VC firm of choice was Andreessen... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment; Talent Management; General Management; Inclusion; Talent and Talent Management; Diversity; Venture Capital; Entrepreneurship; Networks; Nonprofit Organizations

2023
Working Paper

Design-Based Inference for Multi-arm Bandits

By: Dae Woong Ham, Iavor I. Bojinov, Michael Lindon and Martin Tingley

Multi-arm bandits are gaining popularity as they enable real-world sequential decision-making across application areas, including clinical trials, recommender systems, and online decision-making. Consequently, there is an increased desire to use the available... View Details

Keywords: Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods

Read Now

February 2023
Case

Grupo Sancor Seguros: Facing the Digital Transformation of Insurance in Argentina (A)

By: Jorge Tamayo and Jenyfeer Martínez Buitrago

In 2020, Alejandro Simón, CEO of Sancor Seguros Group, a nearly 75-year-old cooperative that had become Argentina’s insurance leader, had to decide about the Group’s digital transformation strategy. The Group’s values and history needed to be considered during the... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Transformation; Organizational Culture; Cooperative Ownership; Strategy; Business Strategy; Adaptation; Technology Adoption; Insurance Industry; Latin America; South America; Argentina

2013
Case

Innovation and Development of China Machine Press in the New Century

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Ning Jia and Guo Jia

China Machine Press (CMP), founded in 1952, is a leading multi-field, multi-discipline and multimedia publishing group in China with large scale, comprehensive and specialized business that integrates paper media, audiovisual media and online media, and combines... View Details

Keywords: General Management; Organizational Structure; Strategy; China; China

October 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Integrated Reporting at Aegon

By: Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim, Sydney Ribot and Michael Krzus

In 2011, Aegon adopted integrated reporting—a corporate reporting approach that sought to present company performance in a holistic light by considering medium- to long-term issues, stakeholder opinions, and the relationship between material financial and nonfinancial... View Details

December 2005
Case

IBM and Eclipse (A)

IBM faces a collective action problem: It open sourced its $40 million application platform and has to convince other companies to contribute. Explores the events leading up to IBM's decision to make the Eclipse platform available as an Open Source project. In 1998,... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Open Source Distribution; Cooperation; Adoption; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry

2013
Teaching Note

Innovation and Development of China Machine Press in the New Century (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Ning Jia and Guo Jia

China Machine Press (CMP), founded in 1952, is a leading multi-field, multi-discipline and multimedia publishing group in China with large scale, comprehensive and specialized business that integrates paper media, audiovisual media and online media, and combines... View Details

Keywords: General Management; Organizational Structure; Strategy; China; China

June 2020
Article

Waiting to Inhale: Reducing Stigma in the Medical Cannabis Industry

By: Kisha Lashley and Timothy G. Pollock

When a new industry category is predicated on a product or activity subject to ‘‘core’’ stigma—meaning its very nature is stigmatized—the actors trying to establish it may struggle to gain the resources they need to survive and grow. To explain the process of reducing... View Details

Keywords: Stigma; Cannabis Industry; Deviance; Public Opinion; Moral Sensibility; Health Care and Treatment

Register to Read

2009
Working Paper

Anger and Regulation

By: Rafael Di Tella and Juan Dubra

We propose a model where voters experience an emotional cost when they observe a firm that has displayed insufficient concern for other people's welfare (altruism) in the process of making high profits. Even with few truly altruistic firms, an equilibrium may emerge... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Consumer Behavior; Monopoly; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Emotions; Welfare

September 2020
Case

Uber at a Crossroads (2017)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the history of Uber, its business model—including the ways it differed from that of the traditional taxi industry—and its competition with Lyft. The case is set in 2017, a year in which Uber was plagued by even more scandals than usual, though its... View Details

October 1998 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Always Russia

P&G has rapidly gained market leadership in Russia with the Always feminine protection brand. The distinctive emerging market strategies employed by P&G are discussed. In planning further market development, the management team faces three decisions: 1) whether to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Emerging Markets; Planning; Consumer Products Industry; Russia

24 Jan 2024
Op-Ed

Why Boeing’s Problems with the 737 MAX Began More Than 25 Years Ago

in design and production with its newest jumbo jet, the 787 Dreamliner. Such frequent, repeated crises point to a deeper issue than isolated engineering mishaps. The underlying cause of these issues is a leadership failure that has... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Air Transportation; Transportation; Aerospace

May 2016
Case

The Inexorable Rise of Walmart? 1988—2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In October 2015, Walmart surprised investors by announcing that it expected flat sales growth for 2015 and growth of only 3% to 4% over the coming three years. Profits would also fall due to significant investments in people and technology. The company’s stock price... View Details

Keywords: Asda; Costco; David Glass; Convenience Stores; Discount Retailing; Dollar Stores; Doug McMillon; E-commerce; Online Retail; General Merchandise; Grocery; Lee Scott; Mike Duke; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Neighborhood Market; Sam Walton; Sam's Club; Store Formats; Supercenter; Supermarket; Warehouse Clubs; Merchandising; Walmart; Wal-Mart; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Units; Business Divisions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Banks and Banking; Price; Profit; Revenue; Food; Global Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Business History; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Human Capital; Labor Unions; Wages; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Expansion; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Web; Web Sites; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; Banking Industry; United States; Arkansas; Bentonville

12 Aug 2014
First Look

First Look: August 12

2009, the company embarked on a journey to build "One-Firm" with a unifying culture and governance system across business groups. IDFC aimed to provide seamless access to products and expertise across business groups, increase... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

26 May 2003
Research & Ideas

What Your Competition is Telling You

competitors can help grow the market for your products and services, thereby boosting your sales at a time when, with the U.S. slowdown entering its third year, new revenue is exceedingly hard to find. Moreover, the presence of a... View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

2017
Book

Entering StartUpLand: An Essential Guide to Finding the Right Job

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang

Many professionals aspire to work for startups. Executives from large companies view them as models to help them adapt to today's dynamic innovation economy, while freshly minted MBAs see magic in founding something new. Yes, startups look magical, but they can also be... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Managerial Roles; Job Search