Publications

October 1988 (Revised May 1989)
Case

General Electric: Consumer Electronics Group

By: David J. Collis and Nancy Donohue

Highlights the General Electric takeover of RCA and the consolidation of the two companies' consumer electronic groups. Starting first with a history of the television industry in the United States, Europe, and Japan, and then a brief discussion of the main competitors... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Markets; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

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AASU50 - Alumni

Kimberly A. Kispert, MBA 1981 George L. Van Amson, MBA 1982 Kym M. Nelson, MBA 1983 George Ellis, MBA 1984 Gail S. Morales, MBA 1985 Robert R. Davenport III, MBA 1986 Stuart A. Taylor, II, MBA 1987 Arnold J. Lewis, MBA 1988 Belinda C.... View Details

January 1996 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream, Inc.: A Period of Transition

By: David J. Collis and Melinda B. Conrad

Bob Holland takes over as CEO of this iconoclastic ice cream company in February 1995 when it faces a major crisis. Holland must now develop a strategy that both adapts to the external environment and is consistent with the company's unique heritage. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Strategy; Adaptation; Crisis Management; Organizational Culture; Food and Beverage Industry

Web

HBS Entrepreneurship Summit - Alumni

Programs & Events HBS Entrepreneurship Summit NOV 4-5 4-5 NOVEMBER 2022 HBS ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT: LEADING HIGH-GROWTH VENTURES IN AN UNPREDICTABLE WORLD Brought to you by the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship and Alumni Relations... View Details

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Research - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

Behavior of Global Banks By: Victoria Ivashina , David S. Scharfstein & Jeremy C. Stein AUG 2015 Foreign banks play large roles in the US domestic funding market. However, unlike domestic banks, which are funded View Details

Article

How to Capture Value from Innovation: Shaping Intellectual Property and Industry Architecture

By: Gary P. Pisano and David J. Teece

Capturing value from innovation requires innovators to figure out how to blunt inroads into the profit stream by imitators, customers, suppliers, and other providers of complementary products and services. In making strategic decisions around technology... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Intellectual Property; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Industry Structures; Standards; Commercialization; Value

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19 Feb 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, February 19, 2019

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55632 forthcoming Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes Active Choice, Implicit Defaults, and the Incentive to Choose By: Beshears, John, James J. Choi, View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2006 (Revised November 2007)
Case

Strategy in the Twenty First Century Pharmaceutical Industry: Merck & Co. and Pfizer Inc.

By: David J. Collis and Troy Smith

The global pharmaceutical industry has gone through substantial changes in the last few decades and pharmaceutical firms face major challenges including headline-grabbing litigation, imminent patent expirations, new technologies, rising drug development costs, generic... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Research and Development; Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Web

Marketing Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Research for “The Perils of Proactive Churn Prevention using Plan Recommendations: Evidence from a Field Experiment” (February 2016) with Raghuram Iyengar and Martin Schleicher. Jill J. Avery : Awarded the 2016 Private Company Board of... View Details

Web

Advisory Board - Entrepreneurship

Strategic Management Journal and elsewhere. He has also authored, co-authored or supervised over 150 cases at Harvard Business School. He is the author of Do Lunch or Be Lunch: The Power of Predictability in Creating Your Future, published View Details

November 2000
Case

Hewlett-Packard's Home Products Division in Europe (1996-2000)

By: David J. Arnold and Carin-Isabel Knoop

By November 2000, Hewlett-Packard's Home Products Division (HPD) had been selling its Pavilion line of personal computers in Europe for almost five years. During that time, HPD had entered and exited Germany, struggled in France and the United Kingdom, and... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Information Infrastructure; Transformation; Performance Evaluation; Computer Industry; France; Germany; United Kingdom

January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Less Is More: Will Aldi's Expansion Plans Pay Off in a Crowded U.S. Grocery Market?

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

In 2024, the discount grocery retailer Aldi announced bold U.S. expansion plans. Within five years, the German company would increase its store count by 30% to reach 3,200+ stores across the United States and approach becoming the fifth largest grocery retailer in the... View Details

Keywords: Scope; Grocery; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

Web

Organizational Behavior Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

the Academy of Management for “Getting Serious About Diversity” (November–December 2020) with David A. Thomas. Robin J. Ely : Runner-up for the 2021 Financial Times Responsible Business Education Award.... View Details

December 2020 (Revised December 2021)
Case

Komatsu and Smart Construction

By: Rajiv Lal, David J. Collis and Akiko Saito

Komatsu, Japan's leading construction equipment manufacturer, is considering investing in a digital platform "Smart Construction" that will digitise the entire work process on a construction site, allowing for substantial reductions in cost and time while improving... View Details

Keywords: Platform; Digital Business; Construction; Business Model; Strategy; Technology Adoption; Internet and the Web; Digital Platforms; Construction Industry; Japan

18 Dec 2014
Blog Post

Turnaround & Restructuring Club Conference Recap

moderated by HBS Professor Kristin Mugford. Mr. Toy spoke in detail about his vast turnaround experiences and when asked about current trends stated, “Currently the market is doing pretty well, so there’s not as much restructuring needed.... View Details

October 1999 (Revised July 2000)
Case

MasterCard International: World Championship Soccer Sponsorship

By: David J. Arnold and David Lane

MasterCard must decide whether to renew the sponsorship of the World Cup and other soccer events in light of a 100% increase in the sponsorship fee and a strategic realignment by MasterCard. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Credit Cards; Marketing Strategy; Sports; Financial Services Industry; Sports Industry

October 29, 2020
Article

How to Build a Digital Brand That Lasts

By: William Collis and David Collis

What makes a brand durable even as business models, technology and consumer behavior radically change? The key is that durable brands are adaptable brands—even legacy ones. To create durability, apply the MACE framework: 1) Mastery: Give your consumers... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Business Model; Adaptation; Framework

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2022
Working Paper

Optimal Illiquidity

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, Christopher Clayton, Christopher Harris, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We calculate the socially optimal level of illiquidity in an economy populated by households with taste shocks and naive present bias. The government chooses mandatory contributions to accounts, each witha different pre-retirement withdrawal penalty. Collected... View Details

Keywords: Illiquidity; Commitment; Flexibility; Savings; Social Security; Retirement; Government Legislation; Taxation; Saving