Publications

20 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

The 5 Strategy Rules of Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Steve Jobs

lessons: "Build Platforms and Ecosystems—Not Just Products." Early on Gates realized that no one product could provide a lasting competitive advantage, but if consumers became hooked on a particular platform, such as the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Computer

November 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Case

FleetBoston Financial: Online Banking

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

As the ninth largest bank holding company in the United States in 2000, FleetBoston Financial Corp. provided a myriad of financial services, including retail banking, loan origination, and brokerage accounts. This case explores how FleetBoston responded to the Internet... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Borrowing and Debt; Cost Management; Banks and Banking; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Competition; Online Technology; Banking Industry; United States

April 2021
Article

Homing and Platform Responses to Entry: Historical Evidence from the U.S. Newspaper Industry

By: K. Francis Park, Robert Seamans and Feng Zhu

We examine how heterogeneity in customers’ tendencies to single-home or multi-home affects a platform’s competitive responses to new entrants in the market. We first develop a formal model to generate predictions about how a platform will respond. We then empirically... View Details

Keywords: Single-homing; Multi-homing; Platform Responses; Newpaper; Television; Digital Platforms; Market Entry and Exit; Newspapers; Television Entertainment; History; Journalism and News Industry; Journalism and News Industry

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Research Summary

Resource-Based Entrepreneurship

By: Myra M. Hart

Myra M. Hart is investigating the relationship between an entrepreneur's industry-specific experience and the success of large-scale startups. Her work focuses on the links between the entrepreneur's knowledge and reputation resources-developed in the same or a... View Details

30 Sep 2019
Book

6 Steps to Building a Better Workplace for Black Employees

false illusion of a post-racial society, where many people thought we had transcended issues of race,” he says. “But that was not the case at all.” It certainly wasn’t the experience for many of the black business executives included in the book Race, Work, and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

November 2009 (Revised July 2011)
Case

International Lobbying and The Dow Chemical Company (A)

By: Arthur A. Daemmrich

This case explores company strategy, business-government relations, and collective action challenges associated with international and domestic lobbying regarding regulation of the chemical industry. In the fall of 2006, a five-year legislative process for a major new... View Details

Keywords: Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Business and Government Relations; Power and Influence; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Chemical Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Europe

May 2022
Case

Maestro Pizza: Coming in Hot!

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Fares Khrais

Maestro Pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of... View Details

November 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Asea Brown Boveri (Condensed)

By: Robert L. Simons

The merger of Asea AB and BBC Brown Boveri required a restructuring of operations and a change in organizational cultures. Competitive success also necessitated the benefits of scale while remaining "local" for political and customer-responsiveness reasons. The case... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Competitive Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development; Performance Effectiveness; Consumer Products Industry

12 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

How Scale Changes a Manager's Responsibilities

possible to set expectations on what makes a good hire at your company (even if the hiring managers are experienced) and serve as a role model to managers who will eventually do this themselves. If you are new to hiring, get help from... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

March 1999
Case

Merck & Co., Inc.: Corporate Strategy, Organization and Culture (A)

By: Michael Beer and Perry Fagan

In the early 1990s, Merck faced a series of challenges because of significant changes in its competitive and regulatory environment (e.g., growth in power of pharmaceutical buyers like managed care organizations led to price pressures and President Clinton's review of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Management Practices and Processes; Competitive Strategy; Management Teams; Health Care and Treatment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Situation or Environment; Alignment; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

2009
Chapter

Small and Medium Firm Lending in Mexico: Lessons and Current Issues

By: Rodrigo Canales and Ramana Nanda

Mexico is often cited as one of the world's most entrepreneurial countries in terms of the percentage of its population that has started or is in the process of starting a business venture. Yet Mexico does not seem to be very friendly to entrepreneurs, as confirmed by... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Policy; Competition; Mexico

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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

April 2012
Case

Novozymes: Cracking the Emerging Markets Code

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Karol Misztal

In 2011, the management of Novozymes, the industrial enzymes leader, reflected on the viability of their positioning in the fast growing, yet increasingly competitive Chinese market. Novozymes, a technological innovation pioneer, was prominent in China's premium enzyme... View Details

May 2020
Teaching Note

Edward Jones: Implementing the Solutions Approach

By: David J. Collis

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 719-411.Updates the classic Edward Jones strategy case as the firm shifts to a new "Solutions" business model from its previous "product" model in response to changes in the brokerage industry, technology and demographics, and its own... View Details

Keywords: Management; Strategy; Value; Business Model; Financial Services Industry; North and Central America

Professor David B. Yoffie is a Baker Foundation Professor and the Max and Doris Starr Professor of International Business Administration, Emeritus at Harvard Business School. A member of the HBS faculty since 1981, Professor Yoffie received his... View Details

Keywords: communications; computer; e-commerce industry; electronics; financial services; information; information technology industry; internet; retail financial services; semiconductor; soft drink; telecommunications; video games

2019
Chapter

Technology Adoption

By: Chris Forman, Avi Goldfarb and Shane Greenstein

Using examples from information technology adoption, we emphasize the role of costs, benefits, communications channels and dynamic considerations in the decision to adopt new technology. We discuss differences between adoption by consumers and adoption by firms. We... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption

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