Publications

July–August 1983
Article

End-Game Strategies for Declining Industries

By: Kathryn Rudie Harrigan and M. E. Porter

Many companies are faced with declining product demand beyond their control. A study of the strategies of over 95 companies that confronted declining markets suggests that companies can often be very successful if they analyze all the characteristics that shape... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Ventures

11 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Strategy Execution and the Balanced Scorecard

management processes, such as those to develop the strategy, translate the strategy, and orchestrate the senior management strategy review meetings. Many of these processes are new to the organization. Since they cross existing View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

28 Nov 2023
Video

An Entrepreneurial Approach to Strategy

14 Jun 2019
News

A Simple Strategy For Happiness

September 2012 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Doing Business in China

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Michael Shih-ta Chen, Nancy Dai and G.A. Donovan

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in China. It highlights China's remarkable economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2012 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case summarizes the main obstacles faced... View Details

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

November 1990 (Revised September 1991)
Case

First Chicago Corp.: Corporate Strategy

Lays out the business challenges facing First Chicago Corp. in 1986: the banking industry has been deregulated, many corporations are bypassing banks in their search for capital, and foreign competition has increased. Their traditional market--corporate banking--has... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Investment Banking; Corporate Strategy; Emerging Markets; Commercial Banking; Banking Industry; United States

February 1994 (Revised August 1998)
Case

Newell Co.: Acquisition Strategy

By: David J. Collis

Newell is a $1.5 billion manufacturer and distributor of low-tech home and hardware products, geared to serve volume purchasers. In 1992, Newell is considering two approaches to expand its current product line with the acquisitions of Sanford Corp., a $140 million... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Marketing Channels; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Manufacturing Industry

Research Summary

Overview

Andrea is interested in understanding business strategy in today's complex institutional environment. As such, her research interests range from policy to social movement influences. Work so far has focused on the specific topics of corporate governance, private... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; International Business

Article

Organizational Innovation in the Multinational Enterprise: Internalization Theory and Business History

By: Teresa da Silva Lopes, Mark Casson and Geoffrey Jones

This article engages in a methodological experiment by using historical evidence to challenge a common misperception about internalization theory. The theory has often been criticized for maintaining that it assumes a hierarchically organized MNE based on knowledge... View Details

Keywords: Internalization; Multinational Strategy; Business History; Organization And Management Theory; Globalization; Entrepreneurship; Governance; History; Organizations; Theory; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; North and Central America

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September 2012 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Doing Business in Turkey

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Robin J. Ely, Daniela Beyersdorfer, Emilie Billaud and Cigdem Çelik

In a rather flat international business environment characterized by shrinking markets and economic turmoil, Turkey promoted itself as one of the safe havens for investments. Led by the strong domestic demand of a young population, the country had tripled its GDP... View Details

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

April 1992 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Biotechnology Strategies in 1992

Describes the strategies of biotechnology companies which face similar uncertainties and illustrates different types of strategic responses to uncertainty. Each firm faces the strategic issues of which end-use industries to choose, how broad their product line should... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Business Strategy; Biotechnology Industry

January 1991 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Cooper Industries' Corporate Strategy (A)

By: David J. Collis

Describes the development of a successful corporate strategy based on the acquisition and subsequent consolidation of low-technology manufacturing companies. Starting with a company history and discussion of current business segments, the case goes on to detail the... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Corporate Strategy; Acquisition; Manufacturing Industry

October 2022 (Revised September 2024)
Case

To SFO or Not To SFO: The Tolman Family Selects a Family Office Strategy

By: Lauren Cohen, Hao Gao, Victoria Alvarez-Arango, Grace Headinger, Mili Sanwalka and Anna Yuan

Peter Tolman, a first-generation investment professional, debated which family office strategy to adopt for managing his family’s assets. As the sole steward of his family’s wealth, he sought to conserve and grow his family’s wealth for him, his wife, and his two very... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Investment Strategy; Family Business; Financial Strategy; Investment; Strategy; Diversification; Management; Asset Management; Wealth; Financial Services Industry; United States; Canada

November 1983 (Revised October 1988)
Case

Canon Inc.: Worldwide Copier Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter

Describes Canon's worldwide strategy in the copier business. Designed to be used to explore strategy formulation in a worldwide industry, and the principles of international competition. View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Global Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

December 2010
Compilation

VCPE Strategy Vignettes I

By: Josh Lerner, G. Felda Hardymon, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf, Ann Leamon and Lisa Strope

These three vignettes present various issues around the strategy and management of venture capital and private equity firms. In one, the general partners must decide whether to invest in an intriguing opportunity that lies outside the firm's carefully developed... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Financial Strategy; Projects; Decision Choices and Conditions; Partners and Partnerships; Opportunities; Investment Portfolio; Business or Company Management; China

January–February 2014
Article

Building a Game-Changing Talent Strategy

By: Douglas A. Ready, Linda A. Hill and Robert J. Thomas

When most of the world's financial services giants were stumbling and retrenching in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, the asset management firm BlackRock was busy charting a course for growth. Its revenues, profits, and stock price all performed consistently... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Success; Business Strategy; Financial Crisis; Financial Services Industry

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01 Jun 2001
News

Books: Judo Strategy

by David B. Yoffie and Mary Kwak Harvard Business School Press By mastering the principles of movement, balance, and leverage, practitioners of judo, a centuries-old martial art, learn to overcome more powerful opponents. These principles... View Details

Keywords: Microsoft; Netscape; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

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