Publications

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18 May 2016
Other Presentation

Competing to Change the World: Creating Shared Value

By: Michael E. Porter

The principle of shared value involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. Shared value is becoming an integral part of strategy and is defining a whole new set of best practices that companies... View Details

Keywords: Society; Shared Value; Value Creation; Strategy; Civil Society or Community; United States

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February 2011
Case

Chegg: Textbook Rental Takes Flight

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, William A. Sahlman and Evan W. Richardson

In late 2010, Silicon Valley-based Chegg, the leading online college textbook rental company, is scaling rapidly. The case recounts Chegg's history from its origins as a distant competitor to Craigslist in college classified listings through a pivot into textbook... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Books; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Service Operations; Renting or Rental; Online Technology; Education Industry; Service Industry; California

19 May 2015
News

The Must-Have Effect: When an Upgrade is Available, People Tend to Break What They'd Like to Replace

14 Apr 2016
News

Are You Too Stressed to Be Productive? Or Not Stressed Enough?

03 Oct 2018
HBS Seminar

Chad Syverson, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

06 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Renewable Energy: Winds at Our Back?

When American energy entrepreneur Jim Gordon envisioned the first offshore wind farm lining the horizon a few miles off the coast of the eastern United States, he perhaps did not factor in blowback from almost every angle. Gordon's nearly 10-year battle to gain... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Energy; Utilities

December 2021 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Bed Bath & Beyond: The New Strategy to Drive Shareholder Value

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. Fisher

At one time, Bed Bath & Beyond was one of the most successful specialty retailers in the United States—its growth and profit margins far exceeded both peer retailers in the home goods market as well as many other discount retailers. But in 2014, its stock price peaked,... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Diversification; Corporate Governance; Leading Change; Performance Evaluation; Valuation; Investment Activism; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

04 Nov 2014
First Look

First Look: November 4

now own over 80% of banking assets in Mexico, and we show how, using a political economy model and a series of econometric tests, this has helped to stabilize the system and reduced non-performance loans, but it has also increased the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Kering Eyewear

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Dante Roscini and Elena Corsi

In June 2024, Roberto Vedovotto, CEO of Kering Eyewear, prepared to discuss the future of the recently acquired brands LINDBERG, a Danish optical eyewear brand, and Maui Jim, an American sunglasses brand. Vedovotto founded Kering Eyewear in 2014, convincing... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Luxury; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Italy; Europe; China

May 2016
Case

AbbVie

By: Kevin Schulman, Laura Little, Samyukta Mullangi and Stephen Schleicher

This case focuses on the impact of a novel regulatory pathway, the biosimilars pathway, on the strategy of a major pharmaceutical firm that finds its largest product (60% of revenue) at risk. The case reviews the rationale for the pathway, the emerging biosimilars... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Company; M＆A Valuation; AbbVie; Health Care; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry; Health Industry; United States

05 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

The Middle Manager of the Future: More Coaching, Less Commanding

empowerment. But for hardware companies also in the tech sector, it is possible that there’s going to be a lot less of that,” Zhang suggests. Climbing the career ladder The trend toward collaboration may make work more enjoyable and View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand

November 2019 (Revised April 2020)
Case

Away: Scaling a DTC Travel Brand

By: Jill Avery and Joseph B. Fuller

Away, a direct-to-consumer, digital native e-commerce seller of travel luggage, is debating how to invest its latest round of venture funding. How quickly could and should Away scale and what were the most promising growth trajectories to maximize its potential? Three... View Details

29 Mar 2019
Blog Post

My Concerns About Learning Accounting at HBS

gave me confidence in leadership, strategy, marketing, product development, and other categories – I was definitely worried about coming to HBS with no (and I mean zero!) finance or accounting experience. Here are some of the worries I... View Details

January 8, 2025
Article

Why Retailers Are Turning to Third-Party Marketplaces

By: Antonio Moreno

Some traditional retailers—including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy—are adopting third-party marketplaces, which connect customers with external sellers and thereby offer customers a much broader selection. Many other traditional retailers are considering whether to... View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Matching; Distribution Channels; Customer Focus and Relationships; Cost vs Benefits; Retail Industry

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winter 1989
Article

Split-Awards Procurement and Innovation

By: James J. Anton and Dennis A. Yao

In many procurement settings, it is possible for a buyer to split a production award between suppliers. In this article, we develop a model of split-award procurement auctions in which the split choice is endogenous. We characterize the set of equilibrium bids and... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Cost; Supply Chain; Investment; Balance and Stability

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2019
Chapter

The Art of (Creative) Thought: Graham Wallas on the Creative Process

By: Teresa M. Amabile

BOOK ABSTRACT: The Creativity Reader is a necessary companion for anyone interested in the historical roots of contemporary ideas about creativity, innovation, and imagination. It brings together a prestigious group of international experts who were tasked with... View Details

Keywords: Cognition and Thinking; Creativity

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17 Sep 2021
Research & Ideas

The Trial of Elizabeth Holmes: Visionary, Criminal, or Both?

Theranos as another inspired but failed startup. Obviously, many people looking at the failure see a different story—a founder whose rush to become the next “unicorn” ignored the real risks its products have... View Details

Keywords: by Christina Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette; Biotechnology; Technology; Medical Devices & Supplies

March 1988
Case

Goodyear Restructuring

Features a firm with a strong, successful, clearly-defined product market strategy. In 1982, this strategy was augmented by new management to include other, conflicting goals. This has an immediate negative impact on the stock market's evaluation of Goodyear's stock... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Finance; Rubber Industry

2023
Working Paper

Deep Responsibility and Irresponsibility in the Beauty Industry

By: Geoffrey Jones

This working paper employs the concept of deep responsibility to assess the social responsibility of the beauty industry over time. It shows that many of today’s problems with the industry have deep historical roots. Products have carried too many health hazards.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Accountability; Ethics; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry