Publications

05 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Porsche’s Risky Roll on an SUV

A decade ago, Porsche, the luxury car company, found itself at a crossroads. Renowned for its classy (and expensive) sports cars, the firm had taken a hit in the wake of the 1987 stock market crash and suffered in great part due to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Auto; Manufacturing

May 2019
Case

Mobileye Update, 2019

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

Mobileye was an Israeli company, officially headquartered in The Netherlands, which was a Tier 2 supplier to the global automobile industry. This short case updates Mobileye's business performance and strategy, following the acquisition by Intel in 2017. View Details

Keywords: Driverless Car; Competitive Advantage; Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Technology; Auto Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Technology Industry; Israel

12 Jun 2006
Research & Ideas

The Promise of Channel Stewardship

Most company distribution systems are designed ad-hoc when needed, and serve neither value chain partners nor end users well—just look at the frustrating new-car buying process set up by American auto makers. At the same time, says Harvard Business School View Details

Keywords: by V. Kasturi Rangan & Marie Bell; Consumer Products

02 Oct 2013
What Do You Think?

Is Leadership an Increasingly Difficult Balancing Act?

one with fewer answers? Those were the questions implied by this month's column. The predominance of responses suggested that the answers to the questions are "yes, yes, and maybe." Adam Hartung commented that "As technology has increased the speed of... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

13 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Rescuing Products with Stealth Positioning

Past attempts to woo PC users have been unsuccessful, and Apple's share of the PC market has steadily eroded. Saddled with this baggage, the company stealth positioned the Mini as anything but what it fundamentally is: a View Details

Keywords: by Youngme Moon

28 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

A Dedication to Creation: India's Ad Man Ranjan Kapur

2003. He is now active mentoring young entrepreneurs, investing in companies, and painting. The interview is part of the Creating Emerging Markets series sponsored by the HBS Business History Initiative, in which business leaders in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Advertising

11 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

How Hackathons Help Decide Platform Winners and Losers

competitive challenges facing software companies. Their market success depends largely on persuading the above-mentioned developers to write for their platforms. A new research paper suggests that the two... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Technology

06 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

Where Do Workers Go When the Robots Arrive?

years that have caused deep manufacturing job losses in the United States: the appearance of robots/automation, and increasing import competition from China. “The appearance of robots caused a sizable reduction in the local population,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing

September 1994 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Guinness PLC

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Grant Kelley

Changing demographics, new types of competition, and new attitudes toward alcoholic beverages force the company to rethink priorities. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Demographics; Product Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

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17 Jun 2019
Working Paper Summaries

The Comprehensive Effects of a Digital Paywall Sales Strategy

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung, Ho Kim, and Reo Song; Media & Broadcasting

July–August 2013
Article

Complementary Goods: Creating, Capturing, and Competing for Value

By: Taylan Yalcin, Elie Ofek, Oded Koenigsberg and Eyal Biyalogorsky

This paper studies the strategic interaction between firms producing strictly complementary products. With strict complements, a consumer derives positive utility only when both products are used together. We show that value-capture and value-creation problems arise... View Details

Keywords: Complementary Goods; Product Development; Royalty Fees; Product Marketing; Competition

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November 2006
Case

Organics: Coming Center Stage?

By: James E. Austin and Reed Martin

The organics movement has certainly come a long way. From hippie farming communes and a scattering of natural food stores in the 1960s, organics outgrew its origins as a counterculture curiosity of the 1970s to become the fastest growing segment of the food industry in... View Details

Keywords: Food; Supply and Industry; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

17 Apr 2017
Research Event

The Most Pressing Issues for Platform Providers in the Sharing Economy

trying to woo the company with the most market share, Easterly advised; woo the #9 player in the industry who wants to be #1 someday. “If you can’t get new supply then focus on the most hungry supply,” Easterly said. Related Reading: When... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Service

03 Dec 2001
What Do You Think?

What Happens When the Sumo Master Learns Judo?

is happening is business as usual. Microsoft is facing a race with time and the markets to re-deploy monopoly profits from a waning desktop opportunity in order to become more competitive with sumos in other... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

27 Mar 2016
News

One Surprising Way to Get People to Save More

January 2017
Case

Bayer AG: Bidding to Win Merck's OTC Business

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Marc Baaij and Arjen Mulder

Shortly after submitting their best and final offer to acquire Merck's Consumer Care Division (a collection of "over-the-counter" (OTC) products with sales totaling $2 billion), the Bayer M&A team was given a chance to revise their bid because another potential... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Bidding Strategy; Valuing Synergies; Negotiations; Corporate Strategy; Business Unit Strategy; Bidding Process; Discounted Cash Flow; Cross-border M＆A; Tax Shields; Valuation; Competitive Strategy; Auctions; Bids and Bidding; Germany; United States; United Kingdom

March 2011 (Revised November 2013)
Case

The Dutch Flower Cluster

By: Michael E. Porter, Jorge Ramirez-Vallejo and Fred van Eenennaam

Describes the Dutch Flower cluster, or the group of interconnected growers, suppliers, service providers, and flower-related institutions located in The Netherlands. Examines the role of the FloraHolland auction in the value chain. Also describes the flower clusters in... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Auctions; Industry Clusters; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Netherlands