Publications

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May 2014 (Revised June 2014)
Case

Intellectual Property Strategy at North Technology Group—Sailing Downwind

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and William W. Fisher III

North Sails is the world's leading sailmaker. The company commands a global market share of more than 50% and is largely responsible for the rapid technological progress in the sailmaking industry over the past 30 years. CEO Tom Whidden needs to consider how to best... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Information Technology; Competitive Advantage; Intellectual Property

January 2013 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Creating a Luxury Experience at Value Retail

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Matthew Preble

Value Retail PLC owned and managed a number of premium shopping destinations (Villages) across Europe. Soon the company would be moving into an entirely new market: China. The company's Villages had proven popular with both shoppers (many of whom were international... View Details

Keywords: Retailing; Tourism; Luxury; Brand Building; Brand Positioning; Real Estate; Brands and Branding; Human Resources; Retail Industry; Tourism Industry; Real Estate Industry; Europe; China

August 2007
Case

Codelco Copper Mines

Codelco was a Chilean copper-mining company, widely considered to be one of the most professionally managed firms in South America in spite of the fact that it was 100% government-owned. A $10.5 billion company in 2005, Codelco faced the challenge of incorporating... View Details

Keywords: Mining; Geographic Location; Leading Change; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Information Technology; Mining Industry; Chile

February 2005 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Phase Zero: Introducing New Services at IDEO (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Laura Feldman

Focuses on whether world-renowned product design firm IDEO's new customer service fits with the firm's strategic position and organization capabilities. Over the course of IDEO's 13-year history, an increasing share of revenues are a result of "Phase 0"... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Service Operations; Product Design; Infrastructure; Customer Focus and Relationships; Innovation and Invention; Service Industry; Boston; United States

Program

Managing Innovation

countries across the globe Build relationships with a diverse group of peers who can provide wide-ranging insights into your business challenges and career decisions Who Should Attend Vice presidents, directors, and other senior managers... View Details

Christopher A. Bartlett

Professor Christopher A. Bartlett received an economics degree from the University of Queensland, Australia (1964), and both the masters and doctorate degrees in business administration from Harvard University (1971 and 1979).

As a practicing manager prior... View Details

Keywords: consulting; health care; management consulting; manufacturing; medical supplies; wine

October 2017 (Revised October 2022)
Case

Jumia Nigeria: from Retail to Marketplace (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Namrata Arora

Founded in 2012, Jumia Nigeria, a startup effort by Germany-based Rocket Internet, aimed to become an African Amazon. The company entered the nascent market and immediately enjoyed an uptick in consumer spending fueled by the strength of Nigeria’s oil-based economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Retail; Marketplace; Inventory; Ecommerce; Funding; Business Ecosystem; Business Ecosystems; Competition; Business Model; Globalization; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Logistics; Competitive Strategy; E-commerce; Retail Industry; India; Nigeria; Africa

December 2019
Case

Steemit: A New Social Media?

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Alexander White and Karen Elterman

This case discusses the alternative social media site Steemit, including the principles it was founded on in 2016 and the challenges it faced in 2019. Steemit was a blockchain-based platform that aimed to differentiate itself from other social media companies by... View Details

April 1981 (Revised March 1993)
Case

General Electric: Strategic Position--1981

By: Francis Aguilar and Richard G. Hamermesh

Describes the introduction and evolution of General Electric's strategic planning system from the 1960s to Jack Welch's tenure. Allows discussion of the interplay of problems and circumstances to the evolution of the strategic planning system, and how Welch might use... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Growth Management

September 2007 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Commercializing an MRI Breakthrough

The challenges and best strategies for the commercialization of university technologies are illustrated in this case which documents an MRI breakthrough that arose from the Charles Marcus laboratory at Harvard. Students discuss the interdependencies of intellectual... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Higher Education; Patents; Research and Development; Science-Based Business; Commercialization

02 Oct 2015
News

The Harvard Contest That’s Trying to Improve Health Care Delivery

17 Nov 2016
News

Fidelity invests in worker delight

Web

Degrees, Certifications & Alumni Status | About

requirements), and three Senior Executive Leadership Programs. Doctoral Program Grants : Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Alumni Status : Yes Some of the greatest intellectual challenges of our time are emerging from the broad fields of... View Details

February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Uniswap: Fighting a Vampire Attack (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Shweta Bagai and Liang Wu

This is the first of a three-case series that explores the challenges faced by Uniswap, a key player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. Founded by Hayden Adams, the case traces Uniswap's rapid growth from a simple idea inspired by a Reddit post to becoming one... View Details

2019
Chapter

Daring to Understand and Change Thinking

By: G. Zaltman

Jagdish Sheth's many outstanding qualities and contributions to management and society in general share a common theme. He dares to think deeply and challenges his own and others' thoughts. The larger lesson he provides, and the focus of this essay, is the need for... View Details

Keywords: Cognition and Thinking; Change; Management Practices and Processes

Find at Harvard

September 2012 (Revised September 2014)
Case

Doing Business in Brazil

By: Aldo Musacchio, Gustavo A. Herrero, Ricardo Reisen de Pinho, Cintra Scott and Jill Avery

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Brazil. It highlights Brazil's ongoing economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2014 in the context of its historical, political, and cultural background. The case summarizes some of... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Market Finance; Emergent Countries; Business History; Economic History; Emerging Markets; Business Ventures; Strategy; Brazil

August 2002 (Revised May 2003)
Case

New Wachovia (B), The

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Jeremy Swinson

On August 3, 2001, after a hotly contested proxy fight, Wachovia Corp.'s shareholders voted to merge with First Union Corp. The managers of the two banks then turned to face the challenges of integrating the two organizations. Their task was to implement a "merger of... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Mergers and Acquisitions; Problems and Challenges; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; North Carolina