Publications

26 Oct 2020
News

Great promise but potential for peril

January 2008 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Linear Air: Creating the Air Taxi Industry

Linear Air is an air taxi start-up established to take advantage of the emergence of Very Light Jets, which incorporate new technology that cuts jet operating costs by about 40%. Air taxis could make use of the 5400 smaller regional airports throughout the US,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Product Launch; Industry Structures; Competition; Air Transportation Industry

February 1997 (Revised July 2001)
Background Note

Introduction to Activity-Based Costing

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Introduces the fundamental notions of activity-based costing (ABC). Motivates ABC by means of a simple example, a single and a diversified pen factory. Proceeds to show how ABC assigns costs more accurately to products and customers by: 1) identifying the activities... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management

25 Jul 2023
Blog Post

Malcolm McClain (MBA/MPP 2023) Named First RISE Career Fellow

understanding of the challenges businesses face operating in marginalized communities, especially companies addressing the racial wealth gap. Working alongside BrightUp will enable me to gain first-hand experience with a Black founding... View Details

04 May 2020
Blog Post

Learning New Skills to Further Your Career In Any Industry: Finance

skills now can make you an even more well-rounded job candidate or business leader in the future. Here are some other blog posts about finance from the team at HBS Online: 6 Ways Understanding Finance Can Help You Excel Professionally... View Details

March 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Virgin.com

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Describes the evolution of Virgin's dot-com organization and the decision it faced in mid-2000--whether to consolidate several separate dot-com ventures into one larger venture or, instead, to allow each to run independently. Also contains a history of Virgin's... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Motivation and Incentives; Internet and the Web; Consolidation

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27 Feb 2018
News

Uber’s culture fixer, Frances Frei, is leaving the company

June 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Nissan's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Ananth Raman, William Schmidt and Ann Winslow

In January 2020, Ashwani Gupta took over as COO at Nissan Motor Corporation, and several weeks later, the COVID-19 pandemic began. Nissan’s Business Continuity Plan (BCP) had been key to the resilience of Nissan’s supply chain. It had enabled Nissan to recover from... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Supply Chain Management; Health Pandemics; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; India

October 2009 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Qualcomm Incorporated 2009

By: David B. Yoffie, Andrei Hagiu and Elizabeth A. Kind

Paul Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated, smiled as he reflected on the success of Qualcomm's code division multiple access (CDMA) technology. By the summer of 2009, CDMA was the basis for all third generation technologies available for cellular... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Diversification; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Telecommunications Industry

February 2003 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Singapore Inc.

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Emily Thompson

In early 2003, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong is assessing Singapore's development strategy--tax cutting combined with an industrial policy focused on six "clusters," including biomedical sciences. After 36 years of stupendous growth, Singapore has slowed down and faces... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economic Growth; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Competition; China; Singapore

Stephen A. Greyser is Richard P. Chapman Professor (Marketing/Communications) Emeritus, of the Harvard Business School, specializes in brand marketing, advertising, corporate communications, the business of sports, and nonprofit management. A... View Details

Keywords: sports

November 2024
Supplement

Epic Games: Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite (B)

By: Andy Wu and Ronald Wang

In a significant ruling on April 24, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld portions of the district court’s decision against Epic Games back in September 2021. However, Apple’s anti-steering provisions, which restricted app developers from... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Market Transactions; Applications and Software; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry

09 Aug 2013
Video

Dean Nitin Nohria Announces the U.S. Competitiveness Project

Research Summary

Product Policy and Pricing

By: Robert J. Dolan

Robert J. Dolan's continuing research on marketing issues focuses on pricing policy and new products. His research program encompasses the development of both cases and conceptual models. Dolan's focus is the proper utilization of customer input in the new-product... View Details

13 Jul 2011
News

Toyota Pitches Its RAV4 to a New Demographic

Program

Leading in the Digital Era

is eligible for the Digital Transformation Certificate. Learn More Key Benefits While the "why" of leadership has not changed, the business landscape is transforming "how" you prepare your organization to compete today and in the future.... View Details

11 Apr 2023
Research & Ideas

Is Amazon a Retailer, a Tech Firm, or a Media Company? How AI Can Help Investors Decide

industry lines as companies increasingly bring seemingly unrelated business lines together in unconventional ways. New research by Awada, Harvard Business School Professor Suraj Srinivasan, and doctoral... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Consumer Products; Real Estate; Financial Services; Retail

December 2006 (Revised January 2007)
Case

Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola and Nigeria's Manufacturing Sector

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony Mayo, Foluke Otudeko and Mark Benson

Chief Timothy Adeola Odutola was an important contributor to Nigeria's manufacturing sector, creating a multimillion-dollar conglomerate including three factories, a retail franchise, a cattle ranch, a 5,000-acre plantation, a sawmill, and an exporting business before... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Conglomerates; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Success; Leadership Style; Business History; Market Entry and Exit; Personal Development and Career; Business Startups; Manufacturing Industry; Nigeria

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2012
Book

Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

By: Gary P. Pisano and Willy Shih

For years—even decades—in response to intensifying global competition, American companies decided to outsource their manufacturing operations in order to reduce costs. But we are now seeing the alarming long-term effect of those choices: in many cases, once... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Production; Competitive Advantage; Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Manufacturing Industry; United States