Publications

January 2021 (Revised October 2021)
Case

iOpenEye: Theater and #MeToo in Nigeria

By: Caroline Elkins, Tarun Khanna and Joyce J. Kim

In 2014, Ifeoma Fafunwa, an award-winning playwright and director, founded iOpenEye, a commercial production company dedicated to driving social change through performance art. iOpenEye’s flagship theatrical production was called “Hear Word! Naija Woman Talk True,”... View Details

Keywords: Theatre; Social Change; Entrepreneurship; Social Enterprise; Arts; Entertainment; Social Issues; Health Pandemics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Model; Nigeria

01 Feb 2022
Book

Innovation Isn’t Just for Startups: How Big Companies Can Succeed

runs), and scaling (the development of a full-fledged new product or service). "Becoming a corporate explorer is not a route to a safe or easy career." The authors share the stories of influential explorers,... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

October 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Bizongo and e-B2B in India

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Radhika Kak

Bizongo, an Indian e-B2B platform was co-founded by three college graduates in 2015 with the goal of creating the "Alibaba of India" when the B2B e-commerce landscape was practically non-existent. The founders saw a significant opportunity in connecting mid-sized... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; E-commerce; Business Strategy; India

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

The Presentation of Self in the Information Age

Keywords: by John A. Deighton; Advertising

October 2023
Case

To Fizzle Out or Heat Up? PepsiCo and Coca-Cola’s SodaStream and Costa Coffee Acquisitions

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

U.S. beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola shared many similarities by August 2018—both were founded by pharmacists in the 1890s, grew to offer hundreds of drink brands, and championed rival flagship products that drove loyalists into taste-testing wars. That month,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Acquisition; Diversification; Expansion; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry

30 Jun 2021
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2021

What’s on HBS faculty members’ reading list for summer 2021? Which books are most meaningful to them and why? Below, faculty share their top picks, ranging from biographies and memoirs to their colleagues’ latest works. Julia Austin:... View Details

Keywords: by Kathryn Haviland

21 Aug 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

Companies Love Big Data But Lack the Strategy To Use It Effectively

brands goes to digital media. What happens when products with sensors generate such volumes of customer experience data that advertising may be a less significant factor?” Jeff Polzer, of the Organizational Behavior faculty, introduced... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

02 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Not All M&As Are Alike—and That Matters

competitors in geographically fragmented industries; to extend into new products or markets; as a substitute for R&D; and to exploit eroding industry boundaries by inventing an industry. Despite the massive number of books and... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Bower

16 May 2023
In Practice

After Silicon Valley Bank's Flameout, What's Next for Entrepreneurs?

the ecosystem, which means investments in R&D and new product development will be curtailed. The financial system is far stronger today than it was in the Great Financial Crisis, but the economy was already somewhat wobbly. On the... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Technology; Financial Services

April 1999 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Compaq Computer: Intel Inside?

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Presents the results of quantitative and qualitative market research on the possible acceptance of a non-Intel processor in Compaq Computer's consumer notebook line. If the low-priced, non-Intel notebook is a success, the company will maintain or increase its 45% share... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Production; Success; Performance Evaluation; Mathematical Methods; Competition; Computer Industry

November – December 2011
Article

Competitive Strategy for Open Source Software

By: Vineet Kumar, Brett Gordon and Kannan Srinivasan

Commercial open source software (COSS) products-privately developed software based on publicly available source code-represent a rapidly growing, multibillion-dollar market. A unique aspect of competition in the COSS market is that many open source licenses require... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Competitive Strategy; Product Development; Growth and Development; Markets; Motivation and Incentives; Quality; Policy; Perspective; Profit; Open Source Distribution; Emerging Markets

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17 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

‘Chick Beer’ for Women? Why Gender Marketing Repels More Than Sells

your order.” Gender-tailored marketing messages from these brands and others—including Mangria and Pink Power tools—are common, yet new research shows they can turn off consumers, particularly women. In fact, they often backfire to the point of dissuading women from... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products

2010
Working Paper

The Influence of Prior Industry Affiliation on Framing in Nascent Industries: The Evolution of Digital Cameras

New industries sparked by technological change are characterized by high uncertainty. In this paper we explore how a firm's conceptualization of products in this context, as reflected by product feature choices, is influenced by prior industry affiliation. We study... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Industry Growth; Product Development; Behavior; Competitive Strategy; Electronics Industry

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18 Dec 2019
Book

6 Skills That Wise Companies Harness for World-Changing Innovation

passed down through the generations,” he says. In the early days of the company, founder Honda, with only a grade-school education, would determine whether a test motorcycle was ready for production by listening to it run in 30 circles... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

10 Jul 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Communicating Frames in Negotiations

Keywords: by Kathleen L. McGinn & Markus Nöth

February 1989 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Asahi Breweries Ltd.

By: Malcolm S. Salter

Focuses on competitive repositioning, organizational renewal, and personal leadership. Describes how Asahi Breweries was faced with a major capacity expansion decision after succeeding in increasing market share dramatically in the traditionally stable Japanese beer... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Leadership; Organizational Structure; Product Launch; Management Teams; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Mission and Purpose; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Supplement

Toyota and Its Labor Union in Argentina (B)

By: Jorge Tamayo, Erik Snowberg and Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago

Toyota Argentina (TASA) and the union representing automotive industry workers in the country had been working together since 2011 to address the challenges faced by Toyota’s manufacturing plant in Zárate (Argentina). The strategy for moving forward was built on an... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing Performance; Production; Performance Improvement; Strategy; Labor Unions; Labor and Management Relations; Agreements and Arrangements; Strategic Planning; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Auto Industry; Argentina

January 2018
Case

Trian Partners' Proxy Contest at Procter & Gamble

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher

In July 2017, activist hedge fund Trian Partners announced that it was launching a proxy fight at U.S. consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble. P&G would be the largest company ever subjected to a proxy fight, as Trian sought to have its CEO, Nelson Peltz, elected to the... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Corporate Governance; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

February 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Open Market, Inc.: The E-Commerce Wars

By: James I. Cash Jr., Janis Lee Gogan, Michael Haselkorn and Mani Subramani

Continues the story of Open Market, Inc., a company founded in 1994 to support electronic commerce on the Internet. Despite a very successful initial public offering, the firm had reached a growth plateau, and the management team was considering several strategic... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Product Development; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry