Publications

November 2014
Case

Nestlé SA, 2014

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2014, Nestlé was the largest producer of packaged foods and beverages in the world. 2013 revenues were $103.7 billion and operating profits $16.1 billion (15.5% of sales). The company owned 29 mega brands, each generating more than Euro 1 billion ($1.25 billion).... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Acquisitions; Strategy; Goods and Commodities; Nutrition; Emerging Markets; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Henry Heinz: Making Markets for Processed Foods

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Outlines many of the supply-side innovations, such as improved transportation, communication, and technological developments, that greatly expanded the productive capacity of the United States in the late 19th century. Explores a range of demand-side shifts, including... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Supply and Industry; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Building Competitive Advantage Through Operations

At the HBS Executive Education program Building Competitive Advantage Through Operations (BCAO), executives charged with leading and building operations and manufacturing strategies enhance their understanding of operations performance... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

19 Apr 2017
News

Chicago Becomes a Hub of Startup Action

for ways to reinvest in the area. “The announcement of 1871 made me start to think about moving back to Chicago from New York,” said Lakshmi Shenoy (MBA 2010), who last year became the organization’s vice president of strategy and... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Emmanuel

August 2016 (Revised March 2018)
Case

Videojet (A)

By: Raffaella Sadun, Bharat Anand and Eric Van den Steen

In 2005 Craig Purse, the CEO of Videojet, a company recently acquired by the conglomerate Danaher, is dealing with the unexpected failure of a new high-tech printer just launched in the market. The new product exemplified the first real instance in which the Videojet... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Processes; Conglomerates; Relational Contracts; Corporate Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Diversification; Management Practices and Processes; Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; United States

Career Coach

Philippe Taieb

since 2013. Besides providing career counseling, Philippe assists his clients with what keeps them up at night and what their pain points are. He enjoys meaningful connections. Philippe has 25 years of professional experience, in the View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Consumer Products; Education; Emerging Markets; Entrepreneurship; Government; Health Care; Manufacturing; Social Enterprise; Sports; Clean Technology; Energy

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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06 Aug 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Field-Level Paradox and the Co-Evolution of an Entrepreneurial Vision

Keywords: by Ryan Raffaelli and Richard DeJordy; Manufacturing

April 2002
Article

Limited Arbitrage in Mergers and Acquisitions

By: Malcolm Baker and Serkan Savasoglu

A diversified portfolio of risk arbitrage positions produces an abnormal return of 0.6-0.9% per month over the period from 1981 to 1996. We trace these profits to practical limits on risk arbitrage. In our model of risk arbitrage, arbitrageurs' risk-bearing capacity... View Details

Keywords: Arbitrage; Market Efficiency; Mergers and Acquisitions; Profit; Risk and Uncertainty; Corporate Strategy; Capital; Banking Industry

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Spring 2012
Article

Sustainability at Dow Chemical

By: Robert G. Eccles, Kathleen M. Perkins and Mark Weick

Dow Chemical Company, which was founded in 1894, is now the second-largest chemical company in the world. From the outset, the company has been committed to high-technology research and commercial innovation in chemistry, advanced materials, and agro-sciences. But if... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Corporate Strategy; Chemicals; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention; Chemical Industry

November 1994 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Dennis Hightower: Walt Disney's Transnational Manager

By: Ashish Nanda

Describes the actions taken by Dennis Hightower as president of Disney Consumer Products in Europe and the Middle East from 1988 to 1994. Focuses on how he has established a regional office and knit local operations closer together, the benefits that the process has... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Consumer Products Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Europe

November 7, 2023
Article

How Courage Can Help Leaders Stay the Course

By: Ranjay Gulati

Keywords: Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Profit; Food and Beverage Industry

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25 Apr 2014
News

Finding sustainable solutions for humanitarian crises

over $460,000 for Haitian communities. He also encouraged companies to invest, and Marriott will open up its first Port-au-Prince hotel in 2014. In parallel, Goodwin worked with the US Chamber of Commerce and major multinationals to create the Business Corps,... View Details

01 Oct 1999
News

HBS Mourns Professors Christensen and Vernon

of the founders of the field of business strategy and was long regarded as the world's leading authority on case-method teaching. On August 26, Raymond Vernon, the Herbert F. Johnson Professor of International Business Management,... View Details

Career Coach

Ridas Rimkus

Ridas is an international student originally coming from Lithuania. He has lived in 4 countries: Lithuania, the UK, Switzerland, and the US. His educational background is in engineering and energy sciences, however his working experience is primarily in banking. Ridas... View Details

February 2014 (Revised August 2014)
Case

The Michelin Restaurant Guide: Charting a New Course

By: Mukti Khaire, Elena Corsi and Jerome Lenhardt

Created in 1900 by the tire manufacturer Michelin, the Michelin Restaurant Guide was widely considered the international benchmark of food rating, and, by 2013, boasted paper editions in 23 countries, and had recently expanded to the United States and Asia. Paper sales... View Details