Publications

April 2005 (Revised July 2009)
Case

IBM's Decade of Transformation: Turnaround to Growth

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Robert D. Austin and Elizabeth Collins

Describes IBM's decade of transformation. Provides background on the company's history and the factors that led to its near death in the early 1990s and to its remarkable turnaround during Gerstner's reign as CEO. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: History; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy

June 2023 (Revised August 2023)
Background Note

Subscription Models: Recurring Revenues for Lasting Growth

By: Elie Ofek and Amy Konary

This note offers a comprehensive exposition to subscription revenue models and aims to explain their recent rise. It covers the advantages to firms of employing a subscription-based approach to monetization (as opposed to “one-off” upfront payment), as well as the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Revenue; Product Design

November 2018
Case

Cepuros Foods Malaysia: Finding the Secret Sauce for Growth (Brief Case)

By: John A. Quelch and Katherine B. Hartman

Shelby Diaz, country manager for Cepuros Foods International—Malaysia (CFI-M), must decide a growth strategy for the expansion of CFI-M's line of salsas, particularly regarding whom to target and how to allocate marketing investments. CFI-M could expand aggressively by... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications; Product Positioning

23 Mar 2021
Cold Call Podcast

Managing Future Growth at an Innovative Workforce Education Startup

Keywords: Re: William A. Sahlman

September 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Accelerating with Caution: Forecasting and Managing birddogs' Growth

By: Mark Egan

As 2017 was drawing to a close, birddogs’ founder and CEO, Peter Baldwin, was working with his CFO Jack Sullivan to prepare for 2018. Their task at hand? To predict the demand for their product in the coming season, determine the appropriate investments in working... View Details

Keywords: Inventory; Working Capital; Forecasting and Prediction; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Financing and Loans; Apparel and Accessories Industry

October 2018
Case

Recipe for Success: Growth and Evolution at Cafe Cupcake

By: Anthony Mayo and Heather Beckham

Café Cupcake (CC) is a fast-casual restaurant chain that offers artisan cupcakes and light fare throughout the southeastern United States and Texas. This case chronicles the growth and evolution of Café Cupcake. It also considers the specific human resource challenges... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Human Resources; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Food and Beverage Industry

2003
Book

The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Michael E. Raynor

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Success; Growth and Development

Read Now

Article

Evolution and the Growth Process: Natural Selection of Entrepreneurial Traits

By: Stelios Michalopoulos and Oded Galor

This research suggests that a Darwinian evolution of entrepreneurial spirit played a significant role in the process of economic development and the dynamics of inequality within and across societies. The study argues that entrepreneurial spirit evolved... View Details

Keywords: Equality and Inequality; Development Economics; Entrepreneurship; Transformation

Read Now

July–August 2004
Article

How CEOs Manage Growth Agendas: A Commentary

By: Ranjay Gulati

Keywords: Management; Growth and Development; Communication

2008
Case

Corning Inc.: The Growth and Strategy Council

By: Rebecca Henderson and C. Reavis

Keywords: Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Consumer Products Industry

Article

Foreword: On Financial Innovation and Economic Growth

By: Robert C. Merton

Keywords: Information; Finance; Innovation and Invention; Economic Growth

July 2002
Article

How Serial Acquirers Turn No-Growth Into Growth

By: David F. Hawkins

Keywords: Growth and Development; Mergers and Acquisitions

September 2011
Case

Driving Profitable Growth at US Auto Parts

USAP faces extraordinary opportunities to change the way that automobiles are serviced in the US by selling parts at fair prices though online channels. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Business Model; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Machinery and Machining; Cost Management; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States

13 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

How to Pick Managers for Disruptive Growth

One of the most vexing dilemmas that stable corporations face when they seek to rekindle growth by launching new businesses is that their internal schools of experience have offered precious few courses in which managers could have... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Raynor

January–February 1974
Article

Managing the Four Stages of EDP Growth

By: C. F. Gibson and R. L. Nolan

Keywords: Growth and Development

April 2018 (Revised August 2020)
Case

The Future of GE's Global Growth Organization

By: Ranjay Gulati and Rachna Tahilyani

July 2003
Teaching Note

Italy: A New Commitment to Growth (TN)

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Teaching Note for (9-703-007). View Details

Keywords: Italy; European Union

Research Summary

Customer-Centricity as a Vehicle for Organic Growth

By: Ranjay Gulati

This body of work examines the mechanics of how firms grow profitably in commoditizing markets. Underlying the "customer-centricity" that many firms embrace today is a factor that will determine their success with this effort: enabling collaboration across... View Details

October 2019
Supplement

Tapping Growth at Lord Hobo PowerPoint Supplement

By: Ethan Rouen and Susanna Gallani