Publications

July 2016
Article

Do Prices Determine Vertical Integration?

By: Laura Alfaro, Paola Conconi, Harald Fadinger and Andrew F. Newman

What is the relationship between product prices and vertical integration? While the literature has focused on how integration affects prices, this paper provides evidence that prices can affect integration. Many theories in organizational economics and industrial... View Details

Keywords: Price; Vertical Integration; Product

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06 Oct 2009
First Look

First Look: October 6

Harvard Business School Case 308-022 CEMEX grew through acquisitions from a Latin American to a global company under the leadership of a CEO who believed in the importance of a "one enterprise" culture and benchmarking against... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

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

October 2019
Case

Engaging the Nationwide Workforce

By: Ethan S. Bernstein, Jessica Gover and Sarah Mehta

Nationwide is “on your side,” but did employees feel that way? CAO Gale King and CEO Steve Rasmussen, starting in 2008, invested heavily in a human capital strategy centered around “engagement” at the Ohio-based Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. Set in 2014, this... View Details

29 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 29, 2019

in others and show that all these definitions are equivalent. We then introduce a new class of substitutable preferences that allows us to model intermediaries with production capacity. We also prove that substitutability is preserved... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

December 2016 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Beingmate

By: David E. Bell, Juan Ma and Natalie Kindred

Founded in 2002, Hangzhou, China–based Beingmate was a major producer of infant formula and related products in the high-demand Chinese market. After an infamous 2008 food safety episode in China, in which toxic infant formula sickened thousands of babies and led to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Food and Beverage Industry; China

2013
Book

Wall Street Research: Past, Present, and Future

By: Boris Groysberg and Paul M. Healy

Wall Street equity analysts provide research products and services on publicly-traded companies to institutional and retail investors to help them make more profitable investment decisions. During the last ten years Wall Street research has been battered by a series of... View Details

Keywords: Financial Analysts; Investment Banks; Conflicts Of Interest; Accounting; Financial Institutions; Financial Services Industry; United States

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2015
Other Teaching and Training Material

Entrepreneurship Reading: Launching Global Ventures

By: William R. Kerr

Core Curriculum in Entrepreneurship is a series of Readings that cover fundamental course material in Entrepreneurship. Readings include Interactive Illustrations which help students master complex concepts quickly.
Global ventures are those that weave... View Details

March 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

The Market and the Mountain Kingdom: Change in Lesotho's Textile Industry

By: Rawi E. Abdelal, Regina M. Abrami, Noel Maurer and Aldo Musacchio

In Maseru, the capital of the Kingdom of Lesotho, the stirrings of industrialization and modernization were promising, and more than 50,000 workers, mostly women, were employed in the textile sector; the figure reflected more than a threefold increase in just a few... View Details

Keywords: History; Labor Unions; Trade; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Financial Crisis; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business and Government Relations; Decision Choices and Conditions; Foreign Direct Investment; Developing Countries and Economies; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Lesotho

18 Oct 2013
HBS Seminar

George Borjas, Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, Harvard Kennedy School

2016
Book

The Three Box Solution: A Strategy for Leading Innovation

By: Vijay Govindarajan

How to Innovate and Execute. Leaders already know that innovation calls for a different set of activities, skills, methods, metrics, mind-sets, and leadership approaches. And it is well understood that creating a new business and optimizing an already existing one are... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Innovation Leadership

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May 2024
Background Note

Pricing Strategy and Channels of Distribution: Where Value Delivery and Value Capture Intersect

By: Elie Ofek

Channels of distribution are a critical component of a firm’s go-to-market strategy. A company may elect to sell its products directly to customers (DTC) without the assistance of any intermediaries or, alternatively, it may seek several channel partners to help it... View Details

Keywords: Price; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Markets

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Rapid Response: Inside the Retailing Revolution

sector of our economy is more advanced and productive than ever," concludes Hammond. "As Mark Twain might have put it, any reports of its impending death are greatly exaggerated." View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

September 2013
Teaching Note

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm

By: Nancy F. Koehn and Nora N. Khan

Gary Hirshberg and Stonyfield Farm is the story of one entrepreneur's vision and journey to create a market-leading, environmentally responsible business founded on the principles of product quality, organizational alignment and sustainability. A former... View Details

Keywords: Development Stage Enterprises; Entrepreneurs; Experimentation; Management By Objective; Technology; Values; Leadership; Entrepreneurship; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

August 2004 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Allianz (D1): The Turnaround

By: Joseph L. Bower, Anders Sjoman and Sonja Ellingson Hout

Examines the acquisition of Dresdner Bank by Allianz--the deal of the year in 2002. Examines some of the challenges posed by the turnaround of Dresdner as seen by Michael Diekmann, the new CEO of Allianz. In working with Dresdner, Allianz needed to figure out what it... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Financial Institutions; Investment Banking; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Organizational Structure; Problems and Challenges

June 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Case

fortu PowerCell GmbH

By: Michael J. Roberts, William A. Sahlman, Vincent Dessain, Monika Stachowiak and Anders Sjoman

Describes the financing, strategy, and growth decisions facing fortu, a young German battery company. The company is contemplating a facility in East Germany, where state subsidies make the finances appealing. A sudden offer to license fortu technology for application... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Financing and Loans; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Battery Industry; Germany

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March 1995 (Revised March 2001)
Case

The Black & Decker Corporation (A): Power Tools Division

By: Robert J. Dolan

Presents Black & Decker's performance against a Japanese competitor and others in the power tools market. Black & Decker is anxious to regain its market share leadership in particular segments of the market. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Competition; Globalization; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

March 2016
Teaching Note

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Laurent Adamowicz and Bon'App

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Tessa Natanay Hamilton and Ai-Ling Jamila Malone

After a successful career as Chairman and CEO of Paris-based luxury food company, Fauchon, Laurent Adamowicz sought to provide a solution to a large scale complex problem. Ultimately, Adamowicz created a mobile application to provide consumers with more accessible and... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Change Management; Social Entrepreneurship; Nutrition; Business and Community Relations