Publications

Program

Leadership for Senior Executives

improve your competitive position in the marketplace. Details Build your contextual intelligence Analyze how the environmental context influences how your organization operates and competes Sharpen your contextual intelligence on a micro... View Details

March 1982 (Revised April 1982)
Case

Hertz Corp.: Guaranteed Pricing

The Hertz Corp., a $1.3 billion subsidiary of RCA, has instituted a "no mileage charge, ever" price program in response to competitive pressures. Pro forma revenue and profit projections, however, show the firm to be even further away from its corporate plan than... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Corporate Strategy; Product Marketing; Transportation Industry; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

2001
Other Unpublished Work

Clusters of Innovation Initiative: Wichita

By: Michael E. Porter

This study contains a conceptual framework for assessing the competitiveness of regional economies, an analysis of the Wichita region overall, as well as detailed assessments of two representative clusters—aerospace vehicles and defense and plastics. The report... View Details

Keywords: Clusters; Economics; Industry Clusters; Economy; Growth and Development; Industrial Products Industry; Aerospace Industry; Kansas

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28 Nov 2023
Video

Making An Impact through Collaboration

27 May 2014
First Look

First Look: May 27

Jill Avery, and Anat Keinan Abstract—We explore the effect of having a large dominant competitor and show the conditions under which focusing on a competitive threat, rather than hiding it, can actually help a brand. We demonstrate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

June 2014
Case

Going Social: Durex in China

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Aaron Smith

When Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a leading consumer goods company, first entered China, it encountered significant challenges. RB's strategy relied on selling high margin products supported by cost-effective advertising and distribution, but the highly competitive Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Multinational Firms and Management; Internet and the Web; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; China

December 2016 (Revised December 2018)
Case

From Start-Up to Grown-Up Nation: The Future of the Israeli Innovation Ecosystem

By: Elie Ofek and Margot Eiran

In June 2016, Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, wrestled with how to sustain Israel’s strong innovation track record and the country’s reputation as the “startup nation.” Despite the economic miracle the country had wrought since its founding, he... View Details

16 May 2016
HBS Seminar

Jared Curhan, MIT Sloan School of Management

February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Dialpad Communications (A)

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Describes the evolution of Dialpad, a voice-over-Internet-protocol telephony company. Set in September 2000, CEO Brad Garlinghouse faces a dilemma: what to do about the large number of international users who use Dialpad to call the United States for free. He must also... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy; Investment; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Internet and the Web; Venture Capital; Telecommunications Industry; California

September 1988
Case

Skil Corp.

By: Michael E. Porter

The portable electric power tool market in the United States was approximately $1.1 billion in 1979. There were about a dozen manufacturers competing in the U.S. market, of which five were U.S. companies. Skil was the third largest U.S. competitor. Skil was acquired by... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Competitive Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Emerging Markets; United States

Keywords: Diversified

January 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Curriculum Associates: Turning the Page from Tradition to Innovation

By: John J-H Kim and Christine S. An

Set in Fall 2014, the traditional textbook publishing industry is being transformed by technological innovations and new student achievement standards. This case chronicles how Rob Waldron, CEO, and his team bring Curriculum Associates (CA), a traditional supplemental... View Details

Keywords: Education Technology; SaaS; Turnaround; Textbook Publishing; Innovation; Sales Cycle; HR Strategy; Privately-funded Businesses; Sustainable Growth; Product Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Publishing Industry

Research Summary

Competing business models

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell

Building on the literatures on competitive positioning and the theory of industrial organization, my work seeks to tackle previously unaddressed questions by studying situations where firms compete in dissimilar ways. Some examples of these questions include:View Details

October 2024
Article

Strategic Decision Making at Platform Transitions: The Case of Nokia (2010-2011).

By: Timo O. Vuori and Michael Tushman

We studied Nokia’s decision to adopt the Windows platform in 2011 to induce new theory on the emotional dynamics of incumbent firms’ strategic decision making at platform transitions. We find that platform companies’ entry into an established industry activates a... View Details

Keywords: Emotions; Technology Adoption; Corporate Strategy; Transition

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31 Jan 2019
News

The Backlash to Larry Fink’s Letter Shows How Far Business Has to Go on Social Responsibility

September 2002 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Cardinal Health (A): The Medicine Shoppe Acquisition

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Miguel Abecasis and Brenda Cheng

Robert Walter, the founder and CEO of Cardinal Health, a pharmaceutical distributor, is contemplating the purchase of Medicine Shoppe, a chain of apothecaries. The purchase might be construed as competition against his own drugstore customers. But one of its many... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Distribution Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Retail Industry

January 2017 (Revised February 2022)
Background Note

Assessing and Enhancing Market Attractiveness

By: Eric Van den Steen

This note gives students a systematic and comprehensive framework for analyzing and influencing market attractiveness. It pays explicit attention to value creation, complements, and the dynamics of market attractiveness. It also includes careful sub-frameworks for... View Details

Keywords: Market Attractiveness; Markets; Industry Structures; Strategy

2001
Other Unpublished Work

Clusters of Innovation Initiative: San Diego

By: Michael E. Porter

The study contains a conceptual framework for assessing the competitiveness of regional economies, an analysis of the San Diego region overall, as well as detailed assessments of two representative clusters—biotechnology/pharmaceuticals and communications. The report... View Details

Keywords: Clusters; Economics; Industry Clusters; Economy; Growth and Development; Biotechnology Industry; Communications Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; San Diego