Publications

January 2014 (Revised November 2021)
Case

Filene's Basement: Inside a Fired Customer's Relationship

By: Jill Avery and Susan Fournier

How, in a business climate in which building relationships with customers has dominated both managerial thought and marketing budgets, could Filene's Basement have fired a loyal customer, one who was formally and informally recognized as a best customer? This case... View Details

Keywords: CRM; Retailing; Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; United States

January 2009
Case

Microsoft's Search

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Eric J. Van den Steen

In 2008, executives at Microsoft must decide how to compete against Google in the market for Internet search and advertising. The case describes how Microsoft has responded to a set of competitive threats in the past, how Google has gained a dominant position in... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; United States

March 2001 (Revised February 2009)
Case

HDFC (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Suma Raju

The top management team at India's leading home finance company must decide how to deal with the emergence of intense competition at the end of the 1990s. Having founded the industry and dominated it for nearly 20 years, the well-respected company faces a bevy of new... View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Management Style; Management Teams; Competition; Financial Services Industry; India

2000-2005 Selected

Chiu, C-y, Morris, M.W., Hong, Y-y, & Menon, T. (2000). Motivated cultural cognition: The impact of implicit cultural theories on dispositional attribution varies as a function of Need for Closure.... View Details

08 Apr 2014
News

Can China Lead?

01 Jan 2004
News

June 2011 (Revised August 2011)
Case

Colgate-Palmolive: Staying Ahead in Oral Care

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson

In 2011, Colgate-Palmolive (Colgate) was the global leader in oral care, with a dominant market share lead in toothpaste and a growing presence in toothbrushes and mouthwash. However, the firm faced stiff competition with perennial rivals P&G increasing their focus on... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution Channels; Relationships; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Customization and Personalization; Health Industry

February 2001 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Competitive Dynamics in Home Video Games (B): Nintendo Power

Tells the story of Nintendo's revival of the home video game industry in the mid-1980s and its dominance of the market in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Strategic issues addressed include the creation of value by sparking dormant demand and the capture of value... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Video Game Industry

March 1995
Background Note

Gender Differences in Managerial Behavior: The Ongoing Debate

Do men and women have distinct leadership styles? Do they approach management differently? This note summarizes the two perspectives that have dominated the ongoing debate on gender differences in organizational leadership and management behavior. Psychological... View Details

Keywords: Leadership Style; Gender

February 1985 (Revised September 1988)
Case

Caterpillar Tractor Co.

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the structure and evolution of the earth moving equipment industry worldwide in the post war era, particularly focusing on developments in the 1960s and 1970s. Describes Caterpillar's strategy in becoming the dominant worldwide competitor (industry market... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

17 Apr 2013
News

How the Crowd Is Solving an 800-Year-Old Mystery

07 Nov 2017
News

Best Business Books 2017: Innovation

August 2020 (Revised August 2023)
Case

Nubank: Democratizing Financial Services

By: Michael Chu, Carla Larangeira and Pedro Levindo

Nubank, a wholly-digital solution created to disrupt Brazilian banking, with 6 million clients and a $4 billion valuation after five years, must decide whether to expand to Mexico. The company was founded in São Paulo in 2013 by Colombian-born David Vélez to seize what... View Details

Keywords: Fintech; Financial Inclusion; Digital Banking; Credit Cards; Banks and Banking; Disruption; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; South America; Brazil; North America; Mexico

03 Jun 2009
News

GM and the world we have lost

2019
Chapter

Origins and Development of Global Business

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores how business enterprises have been powerful actors in the spread of global capitalism between 1840 and the present day. Emerging out of the industrialized Western economies, global firms created and co-created markets and ecosystems through their... View Details

Keywords: Global Business; Multinational; Globalization; Business History; Strategy; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America; Oceania

Find at Harvard

May 2014
Article

Mobile Computing: The Next Platform Rivalry

By: Timothy Bresnahan and Shane Greenstein

Competition to become one of several dominant mobile platforms is intense. Platforms compete for developers, who create applications which make the platform valuable for users. Why doesn't one form of platform governance emerge as superior? This essay will stress the... View Details