Publications

SSRN

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Gap, Inc., 2000

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

From humble beginnings as a Levi jeans store, by 2000 Gap, Inc. had grown to become the world's leading specialist clothing retailer. Its CEO, Millard S. Drexler, the "merchant prince," was credited with transforming Gap into a global empire, leading the company... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Change; Fashion; Risk and Uncertainty; Competition; Performance Consistency; Problems and Challenges; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Strategy; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

16 Jun 2017
News

Does Amazon’s Acquisition of Whole Foods Check Out?

February 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Taffi: Entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia

By: Paul A. Gompers and Fares Khrais

Taffi was a tech-enabled fashion styling startup founded by Shahad Geoffrey in Saudi Arabia in 2020. Within three years of operating, Geoffrey had pivoted the business multiple times. In 2023, Geoffrey was attempting the business’s most ambitious pivot yet, shifting... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; AI and Machine Learning; Fashion Industry; Technology Industry; Saudi Arabia; Arabian Peninsula

19 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 19, 2010

give more, that giving indeed causes increased happiness, and that these two relationships may operate in a circular fashion. Second, we consider whether advertising these benefits of charitable giving—asking people to give in order to be... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Tanner Houston

Keywords: biotechnology; digital health; health care

March 2011 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Vestas' World of Wind

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Elena Corsi

The wind turbine manufacturer Vestas launched the industry's first highly localized and customized new product launch campaigns which used also new tools such as web 2.0 platforms. Used to operate in a market where demand exceeded supply, Vestas had lost contact with... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Marketing Channels; Internet and the Web; Product Launch; Demand and Consumers; Advertising Campaigns; Global Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Finance; Product Marketing; Technology Adoption; Energy Industry

23 Feb 2011
First Look

First Look: Feb. 23

even if he could, how could he be sure that the Wran Committee's strategy was the right one and that its recommendations were workable? Would following an American model of full tuition for higher education and government-guaranteed... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Case

BIM: Finding New Ways to Grow

By: Michael Chu and Gamze Yucaoglu

BIM, Turkey’s giant retailer with a hard-discount model for the popular segments, must decide whether to launch a brand-new format challenging the modern supermarkets. Since its founding in 1995, BIM has adhered to a business model based on a relentless focus on costs... View Details

Keywords: Turkey; Decision; Emerging Markets; Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Model; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Growth and Development Strategy; Value Creation; Change Management; Decisions; Growth Management; Retail Industry; Turkey

16 Aug 2018
News

Working with a Giver’s Spirit

half that of traditional pawnshops; and Rappler, the Philippines’ last independent news outlet and where Ayala also serves as chairman of the board. “At Hatchd, it’s kind of like we’re professional cofounders,” he says. Ko, who is now Asia lead for Zipline... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman

12 Mar 2021
News

My Favorite Case

lifelong lessons about personal priorities and career ambitions, humility, and confidence—and the incomparable kinship (and long memories) of sectionmates. “Suzuki Samurai” Suzuki and advertising agency executives are debating the product positioning and copy View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

Blog

Inside the Learning: Wellness on Campus

Shad Hall by signing the Statement of Informed Consent. Your Executive Education name badge is subsequently used to access the facility and to exchange for a towel and day locker key at the equipment desk. Because Shad Hall hours of View Details

01 Feb 1999
News

Too Much of a Good Thing?

result of a "third industrial revolution" whose origins in the United States, he says, can be traced to the leaner and meaner approach to corporate operations that was spurred by the tenfold increase in energy prices during the 1970s.... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons

11 Mar 2014
First Look

First Look: March 11

policy epoch; second, conditional on the first choice, it has to decide on its local responsiveness strategy at the onset of each policy epoch. India, which experienced two policy shocks-shutting down to MNEs in 1970 and then opening up... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

The Innovator’s Battle Plan

asymmetric battles often is the seemingly sudden end of a great firm. From the incumbent's perspective, every action it takes is rational. But the outcome is devastating. Disruption is the strategy that creates and capitalizes on... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony & Erik A. Roth

Jan 23 2017
Interview

Rethinking Service Design and Delivery

10 Jul 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Envelopment

Keywords: by Thomas Eisenmann, Geoffrey Parker & Marshall Van Alstyne; Technology

November 2023 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Norse Atlantic Airways

By: Willy Shih

Bjørn Tore Larsen, Norse Atlantic Airways' founder and CEO, hadn't planned to get into the airline business. But when the COVID-19 pandemic depressed the global demand for air travel and the lease rates for jetliners, he realized if ever he was going to get into the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Market Entry and Exit; Leasing; Business Strategy; Segmentation; Interest Rates; Air Transportation Industry; Europe; North America; Norway; United Kingdom; United States

January 2012 (Revised September 2015)
Case

Tough Decisions at Marks and Spencer

By: George Serafeim

In 2007, under the leadership of CEO Stuart Rose, the iconic British retailer Marks and Spencer, with great fanfare, announced its "Plan A" initiative. Based on the five essential pillars of climate change, waste, sustainable materials, fair partnership, and health,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Strategy; Retail Industry

March 2023
Teaching Note

VideaHealth: Building the AI Factory

By: Karim R. Lakhani

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 621-021. The case “VideaHealth: Building the AI Factory” examines the creation of dental startup VideaHealth (Videa) and the development of its artificial intelligence (AI)-led business strategy through the eyes of founder and CEO Florian... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Product Development; Health Industry; Technology Industry