Publications

13 Jul 2016
HBS Case

How Uber, Airbnb, and Etsy Attracted Their First 1,000 Customers

strategy worked. With nothing to lose, property owners doubled their chances of finding a potential renter, and Airbnb had a ready supply of homes with which it could attract customers. “Poaching customers is something all competitors do... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail; Service; Transportation

22 Aug 2011
Research & Ideas

Getting to Eureka!: How Companies Can Promote Creativity

of brilliance, raining down like manna from some deity of inspiration. Teaching people how to be creative, on the other hand, is like teaching them how to be tall—that is, impossible. These days, as global competition intensifies, it's... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

May 1999
Background Note

Broadband Race, The

By: David B. Yoffie and Mary Kwak

Surveys developments in broadband in the late 1990s, focusing on the rivalry between telecom companies deploying DSL and cable companies rolling out cable modem service. Reviews the major broadband technologies, examines the state of competition in the United States,... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Internet and the Web; Competition; Telecommunications Industry; United States; Hong Kong; Singapore

Find at Harvard

June 1981 (Revised August 1985)
Case

Shopfair Supermarkets (A)

By: John A. Quelch

The marketing vice president of the leading supermarket chain in a major metropolitan area has to plan his 1981 strategy in light of increasing warehouse store competition. Considers relationships with major manufacturers who are supplying warehouse stores with deal... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

12 Oct 2017
Blog Post

Why I Spent this Summer Coding

The summer between RC and EC year represents a great opportunity for risk-free exploration. Encouraged by our outcome at the New Venture Competition and the funding I would receive as a Rock Summer Fellow, I forwent a business internship... View Details

September 1999 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Charles Schwab Corporation (A)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Nicole Tempest

A look at the industrial restructuring in the brokerage industry made possible by e-commerce. Focuses the student's attention on the decision alternatives facing Charles Schwab, one of the industry leaders in January 1998. In a word, the challenge is "Do they slash... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Internet and the Web; Price; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

April 2007 (Revised June 2008)
Background Note

AmorePacific

By: Elie Ofek and Kerry Herman

Describes the dominant firm in the Korean cosmetics market up to the mid-2000s. Gives background on AmorePacific's historical evolution, its current brands, and the competition it faces from local and international players. Also provides information on the market... View Details

Keywords: History; Competition; Distribution Channels; Brands and Branding; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; South Korea

March 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Coursera's Foray into GenAI

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Michael Parzen and Radhika Kak

In early 2023, Maggioncalda, CEO of US EdTech firm Coursera, launched Project Genesis to develop a strategy for incorporating GenAI capabilities into the firm's offerings, asking his teams to focus on value to the firm and cost of implementation. The team identified... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; AI and Machine Learning; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Technological Innovation; Education Industry; Technology Industry; United States

May 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Case

India's Amul: Keeping Up with the Times

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Tarun Khanna, Namrata Arora and Tanya Bijlani

Amul is an Indian dairy cooperative founded in 1947—eight months before India's independence from British rule—and owned by over three million farmers in the state of Gujarat. It is India's largest food product marketing organization, selling 46 products, including... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Expansion; Dairy; India; Cooperatives; Milk; Leadership; Agriculture; Agribusiness; Competition; Marketing; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India

05 Apr 2018
Cold Call Podcast

How a Coal Polluter Became a Renewable Energy Leader

Keywords: Energy

February 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Mibanco: Meeting the Mainstreaming of Microfinance

By: Michael Chu and Gustavo A. Herrero

Mibanco, Peru's leading microfinance bank, faces intense competition as the banking industry rushes into low income segments. Companion video clips bring into the classroom the contemporary reality of a world-class microfinance institution, where the unpaved streets... View Details

Keywords: Microfinance; Profit; Business History; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Service Operations; Performance; Competition; Banking Industry; Peru

July 2007
Case

Kroger Union Negotiations 2005

By: Dennis A. Yao and Mary L. Shelman

A stylized version of the negotiations between Kroger Company and its local unions during 2005. Management faces a sequence of individual negotiations with local unions in addition to meeting the new competitive challenges presented by Wal-Mart's expansion in the... View Details

Keywords: Labor and Management Relations; Labor Unions; Reputation; Wages; Management; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Style; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry

March 2000 (Revised July 2000)
Case

Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (A) (Abridged)

By: Linda A. Hill and Jennifer Suesse

Jeanne Lewis, after six years with Staples, Inc., is promoted to senior vice president of marketing. She is to work for fifteen months alongside her predecessor, a legacy in the organization, "learning the ropes" before he moves on. This case is set nine months after... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Management Succession; Competitive Advantage; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Retail Industry; United States

09 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

What Really Drives Your Strategy?

"While companies might have an intended strategy, the strategy that actually emerges can be very different," says HBS professor Clark G. Gilbert. It is a topic that Gilbert and professor Joseph L. Bower have explored at length... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

06 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

John Kotter: Four Ways to Kill a Good Idea

stories, about which most people do not know the details, can be lethal. "What about the Teledix project [which no one has ever heard of] and the competitive strategy we have for the TX line of products... View Details

Keywords: by John Kotter & Lorne A. Whitehead

June 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Swissair's Alliances (A)

By: David B. Yoffie

Swissair established two alliance networks in 1989 in order to improve its competitiveness. In order to evaluate the benefits of the alliances, Swissair's history, products, and cost structure are described, as is the international airline industry and the major... View Details

Keywords: Alliances; Competitive Strategy; Globalization; Air Transportation Industry

August 1989 (Revised December 1997)
Case

U.S. Airline Industry--1978-88 (A), The

Describes the evolution of the airline industry in the first decade after deregulation (1978-88). Looks at the primary areas of operation in which managers can effect change (planes, people, routes, marketing). The basic teaching objective is to cover industry... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Industry Structures; Air Transportation Industry; United States

16 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Opening Platforms: How, When and Why?

Keywords: by Thomas R. Eisenmann, Geoffrey Parker & Marshall Van Alstyne

2010
Working Paper

When Open Architecture Beats Closed: The Entrepreneurial Use of Architectural Knowledge

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

This paper describes how entrepreneurial firms can use superior architectural knowledge to open up a technical system to gain strategic advantage. The strategy involves, first, identifying "bottlenecks" in the existing system, and then creating a new open architecture... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investment Return; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Design; Organizational Design; Competitive Advantage; Technology Industry