Publications

Networks as Covers: Evidence from an On-line Social Network

This paper proposes that networks can act as covers which allow actors to participate in markets while maintaining a plausible excuse that they are not. Such covers are most valuable to actors in long-term relationships, as those who are already... View Details

September 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

Whole Foods: The Path to 1,000 Stores

By: David F. Drake, Ryan W. Buell, Melissa Barton, Taylor Jones, Katrina Keverian and Jeffrey Stock

The case examines the operations strategy of Whole Foods, one of the largest natural grocery chains in the United States. In late 2013, Whole Foods was expanding rapidly, with a publicly-stated goal of growing from 351 to 1,000 domestic stores by 2022. It was also... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; Food; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Operations; Strategy; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

03 Sep 2013
First Look

First Look: September 3

Publications August 2013 The Accounting Review (forthcoming) Do Analysts Follow Managers Who Switch Companies? An Analysis of Relationships in the Capital Markets By: Brochet, Francois, Gregory S. Miller, and Suraj Srinivasan... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Michael E. Porter

Michael Porter is an economist, researcher, author, advisor, speaker and teacher. Throughout his career at Harvard Business School, he has brought economic theory and strategy concepts to bear on many of the most challenging problems facing corporations, economies... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; e-commerce industry; health care; information; information technology industry; internet; nonprofit industry; service industry; state government

June 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Mobil USM&R (A2)

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Second of a two-part case on the development and use of a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) at Mobil's US Marketing and Refining Division. This case describes the completed BSC, and how this was linked to the BSCs of the independent business units and the internal service... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Management Practices and Processes; Executive Compensation; Motivation and Incentives; Corporate Strategy; Energy Industry; Mining Industry; United States

March 2009 (Revised June 2012)
Case

Denmark: Globalization and the Welfare State

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich and Benjamin Kramarz

This case describes how Denmark has balanced the impacts of globalization, including outsourcing and movement of labor, with its social welfare offerings. Reforms implemented during the past two decades drove down unemployment, promoted new company formation, and put... View Details

Keywords: Macroeconomics; Trade; Globalized Economies and Regions; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Employment; Welfare or Wellbeing; Denmark

March 1998 (Revised July 1998)
Case

Boston Duck Tours,1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers?

By: Myra M. Hart and Stephanie Dodson

While on vacation in Memphis, former investment manager Andy Wilson discovers a unique "tour bus" that travels over land and through water. He decides to transplant the concept to Boston and to add both historical and theatrical features to the amphibious tour. As he... View Details

Keywords: Opportunities; Creativity; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Tourism Industry; Tennessee; Boston

07 Apr 2022
Blog Post

Product Management at HBS: Roll Up Your Sleeves and Learn by Doing

the ethos of the characters I played in video games, to deciding that compassionate leadership would be the way I worked to motivate my platoon. Now I’ve found that empathy once again drives me to my new mission: to become someone that... View Details

August 2006
Article

Global Integration ≠ Global Concentration

There is a widespread belief that increases in the cross-border integration of markets are associated with increases in global concentration along various dimensions. This article reviews the available evidence and presents new data, indicating that increasing global... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries

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17 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 17, 2008

charge higher interest rates when they have market power, more so to smaller firms that have fewer outside options for external finance. These findings highlight a "darker side" to decentralized banks and suggest that the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Dec 2006
What Do You Think?

How Important Is Quality of Labor? And How Is It Achieved?

Summing Up Among responses to this month's column, there was little disagreement with the premise that attitude trumps skills in the selection of new employees. C. J. Cullinane commented: "Attitude is all! I have worked with a group... View Details

Keywords: by by Jim Heskett

05 Jun 2009
What Do You Think?

What Does Slower Economic Growth Really Mean?

markets and in the case of the U.S., the dollar, and the Treasury's ability to borrow at reasonable rates of interest. But is all growth similarly useful? For example, is growth in the production of food, steel, or for that matter... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Financial Services; Construction; Real Estate

September 2011
Supplement

TopCoder (B)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Eric Lonstein and Stephanie Pokrywa

Metrology plays a key role in the manufacture of mechanical components. Traditionally it is used extensively in a pre-process stage where a manufacturer does process planning, design, and ramp-up, and in post-process off-line inspection to establish proof of quality.... View Details

Keywords: Industry Growth; Forecasting and Prediction; Change Management; Production; Machinery and Machining; Planning; Quality; Competition; Diversification; Technology Adoption; Measurement and Metrics; Product Design; Manufacturing Industry

February 1985
Case

Business Research Corp. (B)

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a set of related decisions confronting the management and directors of Business Research Corp. (BRC) in April of 1984. BRC needs more capital to finance continued development of the market for a full-text database comprised of Wall Street... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Finance; Capital Structure; Capital; Goals and Objectives; Conflict of Interests; Business Plan; Financing and Loans; Ethics

10 Sep 2014
News

“An Economy Doing Half Its Job”

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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Spring 2021
Article

Corporate Resilience and Response During COVID-19

By: Alex Cheema-Fox, Bridget LaPerla, George Serafeim and Hui (Stacie) Wang

The coronavirus pandemic caused a sharp market decline while raising heterogeneous responses across companies related to their employees, supply chain, and repurposing of operations to provide needed products and services. We study whether during the 2020 COVID-19... View Details

SSRN

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April 2012 (Revised October 2013)
Case

eBay, Inc. and Amazon.com (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Anant Thaker

This case has been designed to explore strategic interactions among organizations with different business models. The case considers how a competitor successfully challenged the incumbent in a platform market defined by strong network effects and high switching costs.... View Details