Publications

2003
Case

Capston-White's Document Management and Production Services

By: Vijay Govindarajan, Chris Trimble and Julie Lang

The development of multi-function devices that could copy, print, fax, and scan created a convergence in the markets for these devices. Copiers and printers had previously been purchased and managed in very different manners by large organizations. Facing an uncertain... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Service Delivery; Service Industry

June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Nestlé SA: Nutrition, Health and Wellness Strategy

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson

In 1997 Nestlé committed to a strategic vision of becoming the leading nutrition, health and wellness (NHW) company in the world. Over the next 13 years, the NHW strategy guided strategic decisions and choices at Nestlé including merger and acquisition choices,... View Details

Keywords: Nutrition; Health; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Goals and Objectives; Value Creation; Food and Beverage Industry

April 2010 (Revised April 2010)
Case

Mercadona

This case presents the predicament of a company trying to do right by its customers and its employees as the economic crisis of 2008 hits home. Fifteen years earlier, this Spanish supermarket chain had adopted its own version of total quality management, called the... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Relationship Management; Service Operations; Business Processes; Retail Industry; Spain

December 2018 (Revised May 2021)
Background Note

Making UK Energy Smarter

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

This case describes the history of the United Kingdom's domestic energy industry and the country's efforts to create a more competitive, greener, and distributed power sector. On July 24, 2017, the United Kingdom government and the industry regulator, the Office of Gas... View Details

09 Oct 2012
First Look

First Look: October 9

International ICST on Auctions, Market Mechanisms, and Their Applications (AMMA 2011) held in New York, August 22-23, 2011. The 22 revised full papers presented were carefully selected from numerous submissions covering topics such as school choice, markets View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Managing the Future of Work

The nature of work is changing. As companies grapple with forces—such as rapid technological change, shifting global product and labor markets, evolving regulatory regimes, outsourcing, and the fast emergence of the gig economy—they must overcome challenges and... View Details

2013
Chapter

Market Imperfections and Sustainable Competitive Advantage

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Dennis Yao

This chapter reviews the main theories in strategic management that seek to explain persistent differences in profitability across companies. We argue that these differences are ultimately explained by market imperfections. Studying differences in financial performance... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Management; Market Imperfections; Five Forces Framework; Competitive Advantage; Profit

Find at Harvard

September 2004 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Harley-Davidson, Inc.: Motorcycle Manufacturer or Financing Company?

Harley-Davidson manufactures and sells motorcycles. It also provides financing for retail purchases and dealer stock. Although Harley's performance has been very strong, analysts and the press have questioned its use of a special-purpose entity to sell securities... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business or Company Management; Corporate Disclosure; Financial Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Financial Services Industry; Motorcycle Industry; Retail Industry

03 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

The Power of Rituals in Life, Death, and Business

employing this technique for time immemorial—ritualistically pretending that a spoonful of pureed peas is, say, "a plane coming in for a landing" in order to make it more appealing to babies.)... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

30 Sep 2011
News

The Most Successful CEOs Come from Within

13 Feb 2006
Research & Ideas

When Gender Changes the Negotiation

negotiated for herself and others? Business people often ask us whether men or women are better negotiators. According to our research, gender is not a reliable predictor of negotiation performance; neither... View Details

Keywords: by Dina W. Pradel, Hannah Riley Bowles & Kathleen L. McGinn

15 Jul 2021
News

Hubert Joly Turned Around Best Buy. Now He’s Trying to Fix Capitalism.

Tatiana Sandino

Tatiana Sandino is the Arthur Lowes Dickinson Professor of Business Administration in the Accounting and Management Unit, most recently teaching and undertaking the role of course head for the required first-year MBA course Financial Reporting and Control. She has... View Details

Keywords: retailing; service industry

May 2017 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Hilti Fleet Management (A): Turning a Successful Business Model on Its Head

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Oliver Gassmann and Roman Sauer

This case explores the introduction of fleet management in the construction industry by the premium power tools manufacturer Hilti in 2000. Following its customers’ needs, Hilti moved from selling power tools to leasing them as a service. The introduction of the new... View Details

27 Mar 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Novel Risks

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan, Dutch Leonard, and Anette Mikes

January 1985
Case

Turning Around Alcan Europe (B): Patrick Rich's Two Years as CEO-Europe

Traces the efforts of Patrick Rich, CEO of Alcan Europe, to bring the company into a stable, profitable situation after having lost $120 million in 1982. Focuses on a wide variety of issues, including setting objectives and strategies for the region, creating... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Organizational Structure

August 2023
Case

Reimagining Hindustan Unilever (A)

By: Sunil Gupta and Rachna Tahilyani

In the fall of 2019, the CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm, is wondering what to do about their experiments to digitize distribution. Despite three years of intense efforts, their apps to empower retailers... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Leading Change; Distribution; Decisions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Consumer Behavior; E-commerce; Competition; Performance; Business Strategy; Marketing; Transformation; Consumer Products Industry; Asia; India

September 2011
Article

What Drives Innovation?

By: Tom Nicholas

The idea that innovation drives economic growth is incontrovertible, but the factors that, in turn, drive innovation are not fully understood. This paper surveys the recent literature, focusing on three main drivers: intellectual property rights institutions, the... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Economic Growth