Publications

October 2017 (Revised September 2022)
Teaching Note

Fuyao Glass America: Sourcing Decision

By: Willy Shih

This case is about globalization: a Chinese company has decided to locate a production facility close to its customers in the U.S., but a recent contract bid means it will lose money, at least initially, by supplying product from that factory. The purpose of this case... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chains; Labor Market; Labor Supply; Arbitrage; Tradable Sector; Supply Chain Management; Supply Chain; Labor; Globalization; Globalized Markets and Industries; Geographic Location; Auto Industry; United States; China

January 1998 (Revised April 1998)
Case

Lincoln Electric: Venturing Abroad

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Jamie O'Connell

Lincoln Electric, a 100-year-old manufacturer of welding equipment and consumables based in Cleveland, Ohio, motivates its U.S. employees through a culture of cooperation between management and labor and an unusual compensation system based on piecework and a large... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Restructuring; Transformation; Construction; Compensation and Benefits; Management; Market Entry and Exit; Labor and Management Relations; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Manufacturing Industry; Ohio

September 1988
Case

Frontier Airlines, Inc. (A) (Condensed)

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Describes a regional airline that is on the losing end of a strategic application of information technology. Management is focusing on internal data processing issues while its principal, and larger, competitor is using its computerized reservations system to gain... View Details

Keywords: Adoption; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry

02 Mar 2018
News

Trump’s Tariffs Will Take Their Toll

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

ASOS PLC

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Launched in 2000, ASOS was one of the world’s largest online fashion specialists in 2018. Focusing on young consumers aged 16–25 years, the company offered over 85,000 items on its websites, many times more than the largest fashion stores, and added several thousand... View Details

Keywords: ASOS; AsSeenOnScreen; Online Fashion; Online Apparel; Nick Beighton; Nick Robertson; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Social Media; Marketplaces; Shipping; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Startups; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Age; Gender; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Revenue; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom; England; London

Allen Grossman was appointed a Harvard Business School Professor of Management Practice in July 2000. He joined the Business School faculty in July 1998, with a concurrent appointment as a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). He... View Details

Keywords: education industry; nonprofit industry

Program

Agribusiness Seminar

business—and contribute to a more resilient food system. Details Understand the interconnectedness of the global food system and the implications for your business Examine the effects of local and regional events on global supply chains, trade, geopolitics, and View Details

Keywords: Agriculture; Agriculture

October 2021 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Customer-Centric Design with Artificial Intelligence: Commonwealth Bank

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Jin Hyun Paik and Steven Randazzo

As Commonwealth Bank (CommBank) CEO Matt Comyn delivered the full financial year results in August 2021 over videoconference, it took less than two minutes for him to make his first mention of the organization's Customer Engagement Engine (CEE), the AI-driven customer... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Customer-centricity; Banks and Banking; Customer Focus and Relationships; Technological Innovation; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance; AI and Machine Learning; Financial Services Industry; Australia

01 Sep 2016
Blog Post

Reflecting on the HKS/HBS Joint Degree Program

I am currently a joint degree student at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and Harvard Business School (HBS), and attending Harvard has been a fantastic experience so far. I spent my first year here studying the Master in Public Administration and View Details

August 2002
Other Article

The Determinants of National Innovative Capacity

By: Jeffrey L. Furman, Michael E. Porter and Scott Stern

Motivated by differences in innovation intensity across advanced economies, this paper presents an empirical examination of the determinants of country-level production of international patents. We introduce a novel framework based on the concept of national innovative... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Growth and Development

June 2006 (Revised August 2006)
Background Note

The Virtual Entrepreneurial Team Exercise—VETE ; Overview and Instructions for Participants

By: Daniel J. Isenberg

Describes the virtual entrepreneurial team exercise, a role-play simulation involving teams of five students from several international business schools around the world. Provides a detailed set of instructions to faculty from non-HBS business schools. The teams... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Entrepreneurship

04 Feb 2014
News

How Microsoft’s Global Search Ended at Home

Web

Value-Based Health Care - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

"THE BILL OF HEALTH" International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) ICHOM was created in 2012 by Professor Michael Porter, Dr. Stefan Larsson of the Boston Consulting Group and Dr. Martin Ingvar of the Karolinska... View Details

July 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Pfizer's Virtual CIO (Abridged)

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Brian DeLacey

Discusses the IT organization and IT strategy issues facing Pfizer, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. Managing over $1 billion of IT expense, the company has a committee approach for handling all critical IT decisions, an approach that is consistent... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Cost Management; Organizational Culture; Strategy; Information Technology; Pharmaceutical Industry

February 1997 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Mexico (C): Reform and Crisis, 1987-1995

By: Huw Pill

Describes the evolution of the Mexican economy and its relation with the international capital markets in the period leading up to the Peso crisis of December 1994. Emphasizes the role of "Washington consensus" policies in stimulating the inflows, and the inability of... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Economies and Regions; Capital Markets; Financial Crisis; Macroeconomics; Mexico

20 Nov 2015
News

Gray Air and Green Bonds in China

17 Nov 2010
Working Paper Summaries

Network Effects in Countries’ Adoption of IFRS

Keywords: by Karthik Ramanna & Ewa Sletten

Research Summary

The Role of the Internet in Enhancing Service and Reducing Cost

Is delivering service (both internal and external) facilitated by the Internet a zero sum game in which costs associated with delivering superior service must always be passed on to customers in the form of higher prices? Does the quantity and type of service... View Details

May 2024 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Hakluyt: From Corporate Intelligence to Trusted Advisors

By: Joseph B. Fuller and Lena Duchene

Established in 1995 by a group of ex-British intelligence officers, Hakluyt & Company (Hakluyt) was a corporate advisory firm that generated insights by leveraging a unique blend of internal expertise and a global network of well-connected individuals. Since 2019, the... View Details