Publications

September 2020
Case

Uber at a Crossroads (2017)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

This case describes the history of Uber, its business model—including the ways it differed from that of the traditional taxi industry—and its competition with Lyft. The case is set in 2017, a year in which Uber was plagued by even more scandals than usual, though its... View Details

July–August 2016
Article

The Decoupling Effect of Digital Disruptors

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Peter Jamieson

A new wave of Internet startups is disrupting established businesses by the process of “decoupling.” In this article, the authors discuss how these new digital disruptors allow consumers to benefit from one activity (e.g., watching shows) without incurring the cost of... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet and the Web; Business Startups; Product Marketing; Customization and Personalization

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December 2019
Case

CME Group in 2019

By: José B. Alvarez, Forest Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred

Chicago-based CME Group is the world’s largest futures and options marketplace, with annual trading volume of over 4.8 billion contracts in 2018. This case is set in late 2019, as heightened perceptions of risk stemming from the U.S.-China trade war are driving record... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Trade; Price; Competition; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; United States; China; Brazil

September 2024 (Revised October 2024)
Case

River Remedy: Navigating Mississippi’s Medical Marijuana Market

By: Robin Greenwood, Richard S. Ruback and Robert Ialenti

MBA student William Chism, the founder of a fully integrated medical marijuana company based in Mississippi, must respond to a significant disruption in the fledgling industry. In late 2023, Rapid Analytics, one of two active licensed testing facilities, has its... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Growth and Maturation; Forecasting and Prediction; Microeconomics; Local Range; Government Legislation; Demand and Consumers; Supply and Industry; Competitive Strategy; Governance Controls; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Mississippi

Article

Surviving Radical Technological Change through Dynamic Capability: Evidence from the Typesetter Industry

Recent work in the field of management has focused on "dynamic capability," the ability of a firm to develop new capabilities in response to shifts in its external environment, as a significant source of competitive advantage. This paper enhances our understanding of... View Details

Keywords: Management; Technology; History; Competition; Competency and Skills; Investment; Technological Innovation; Business Ventures; Geographic Location; Knowledge Acquisition; Competitive Advantage; Change

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10 Dec 2021
News

Great Leaders Embody These Four Principles, According to Best Buy's Former CEO

22 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

The Speed of New Ideas: Trust, Institutions and the Diffusion of New Products

Keywords: by Felix Oberholzer-Gee & Joel Waldfogel

2010
Working Paper

Integrity: A Positive Model That Incorporates the Normative Phenomena of Morality, Ethics, and Legality Abridged

By: Werner H. Erhard, Michael C. Jensen and Steve Zaffron

We present a positive model of integrity that, as we distinguish and define integrity, provides powerful access to increased performance for individuals, groups, organizations, and societies. Our model reveals the causal link between integrity and increased... View Details

Keywords: Trust; Performance Productivity; Information Technology; Knowledge; Moral Sensibility; Opportunities; Competitive Advantage; Legal Liability; Cost vs Benefits

SSRN

Program

Competing in the Age of Digital Platforms

artificial intelligence further propels the opportunity and need to leverage a platform model for competitive advantage. AI companies are evolving into the next generation of platforms. This program will show you how to create sustainable... View Details

11 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 11, 2006

the following century. Firms employed marketing and marketing strategies to diffuse products and brands internationally despite business, economic, and cultural obstacles to globalization. The process was difficult and complex. The... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Hewlett-Packard Imaging Systems Division: Sonos 100 C/F Introduction

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Marie Bell

The marketing manager for the Imaging Systems business unit (ISY) at Hewlett-Packard Medical Products Group is considering channel strategy and channel management issues raised by the upcoming introduction of a new cardiac imaging product. Product marketing's plans... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Distribution Channels; Sales; Competitive Strategy

May 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Marks & Spencer: The Phoenix Rises

By: Joseph L. Bower

The great U.K. retailer fell on hard times in 1998. In 2001, a new CEO was recruited who appears to have succeeded in turning around this world-renown company. This case examines the steps he took (strategic, structural, and recruiting key people) and highlights a... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Recruitment; Leadership Development; Crisis Management; Supply and Industry; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Segmentation; Retail Industry

Web

Marketing - Faculty & Research

for the 2022 John D. C. Little Award. They study the effect of Airbnb’s smart-pricing algorithm on the racial disparity in the daily revenue earned by Airbnb hosts. Their empirical strategy exploits Airbnb’s introduction of the algorithm... View Details

July 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

American Airlines, Inc.: Revenue Management

Begins with a description of the elements of post-deregulation competition in the commercial airline industry. This should facilitate a discussion of the use of quantitative methods to support a broad range of tactical and strategic airline decisions. The principal... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Revenue; Air Transportation Industry

August 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Saturn: A Different Kind of Car Company

Saturn was General Motors' (GM) response to Japanese companies' dominance of the small car market during the mid-1980s. In the three-and-a-half years since its first sedan rolled off the assembly line, the Saturn Corp. had accumulated an impressive list of... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Auto Industry; Retail Industry

June 2024 (Revised August 2024)
Case

Revlon India's Turnaround: Navigating Online-Offline Decisions Using a Balanced Scorecard

By: Tatiana Sandino and Samuel Grad

Revlon India was founded as a joint venture in 1995, pairing the industrial conglomerate UMG with the global beauty brand Revlon, Inc. to bring international color cosmetics to India. After growing rapidly and pioneering the Beauty Advisor (BA) model in India, the... View Details

July 1996
Case

Williams-Sonoma, Inc.--1990

By: Nancy F. Koehn and Michael Dearing

Howard Lester, chairman and CEO, has just completed a second offering of common stock in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. ($218.2 million 1989 sales). Having targeted $500 million in retail sales, Lester's challenge is to: 1) prioritize growth investments in five existing catalog... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Alignment; Customer Value and Value Chain; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry