Publications

October 2018
Case

BBVA: Corporate Governance & Corporate Strategy

By: Krishna Palepu and Jordi Canals

BBVA is a very successful Spanish bank facing a number of challenges as a result of significant industry and regulatory changes. The company takes pride in its board structure and excellent corporate governance. The Chairman of the Board was wondering how best to... View Details

Keywords: Board Of Directors; Corporate Governance; Strategy; Change Management; Governing and Advisory Boards; Banking Industry; Spain

November 2010
Case

Morgan Asset Management

By: Boris Groysberg, Paul M. Healy and Sarah Abbott

It is 2010 and Guillermo Araoz, the equity research director at Morgan Asset Management (MAM), is considering his research budget for the year. Due to recent declines in the equity markets and MAM's sale of its mutual funds business, MAM has seen a decline in its... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Asset Management; Financial Strategy; Investment; Resource Allocation; Research and Development; Financial Services Industry

27 May 2015
News

You Need an Innovation Strategy

September 2000 (Revised October 2002)
Case

National Logistics Management

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Mary Rotelli and Kristin Kohler

National Logistics Management (NLM), a third-party logistics company, is a successful, profitable business that provides a more cost-effective and efficient means to expedite premium freight. With the logistics landscape changing, NLM's market niche is threatened. Can... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management; Logistics; Industry Structures; Planning; Service Industry

February 2024
Teaching Note

Accelerating with Caution: Forecasting and Managing birddogs' Growth (A) and (B)

By: Mark Egan

Teaching Note for HBS Case Nos. 224-023 and 224-024. As 2017 was drawing to a close, birddogs’ founder and CEO, Peter Baldwin, was working with his CFO Jack Sullivan to prepare for 2018. A nascent direct-to-consumer apparel brand, birddogs had carved its niche in men’s... View Details

Keywords: Inventory Management; Forecasting Demand; Financial Constraints; Apparel; Startups; Corporate Finance; Forecasting and Prediction; Working Capital; Financing and Loans; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Demand and Consumers; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

June 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Siemens AG: A Private Equity Approach within an Industrial Corporation?

By: David J. Collis and Haisley Wert

In July 2022, Horst Kayser, Chairman of Siemens AG Portfolio Companies (POC), was reflecting on the advice he could offer Roland Busch, Chief Executive Officer of the parent company Siemens AG, about whether and how to operate a private equity-like approach inside the... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Management; Value Creation; Private Equity; Corporate Strategy

January 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Background Note

Introduction to Global Strategy

By: Jordan I. Siegel

Examines when it is profitable for a company to position part or all of its activity set across national borders and how a cross-border business is successfully designed and managed. View Details

Keywords: Cross-border Business; Globalized Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues

November 2003 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Atlas Electrica: International Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter and Arturo Condo

Atlas must decide whether to acquire La Indeca, increasing its Central American presence, or to focus on larger Latin American markets where higher growth is possible. In the year 2000, Jorge Rodriguez was in charge of Atlas Electrica, the largest home appliance firm... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Partners and Partnerships; Competition; Expansion; Latin America; Central America

October 1989
Background Note

Managing Major Accounts

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Written as an introduction to a module in the second-year MBA course, Marketing Implementation. Discusses issues encountered in the selling and management of major accounts. The topics covered include: 1) reasons for the increasing importance of major account... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Market Participation; Relationships; Salesforce Management

September 1991 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Citibank (A): European Strategy

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Multinational Firms and Management; International Finance; Corporate Strategy; Banking Industry; Europe

July–August 2018
Article

How CEOs Manage Time

By: Michael E. Porter and Nitin Nohria

In 2006 Harvard Business School’s Michael E. Porter and Nitin Nohria launched a study tracking how large companies’ CEOs spent their time, 24/7, for 13 weeks: where they were, with whom, what they did, and what they were focusing on. To date, Porter and Nohria have... View Details

Keywords: CEOs; Executives; Time Management; Attitudes; Managerial Roles; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy; Decision Making; Organizational Culture

Register to Read

February 2001
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc.: Solaris Strategy

In the late 1990s, Sun Microsystems' Solaris has emerged as the dominant UNIX-based alternative to Microsoft for server operating systems. At the same time, the open source operating system Linux has appeared unexpectedly, and it is generating significant excitement... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Competition; Open Source Distribution; Standards

14 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Humblebragging: A Distinct-and Ineffective-Self-Presentation Strategy

Keywords: by Ovul Sezer, Francesca Gino & Michael I. Norton

Sep 08 2016
Testimonial

Aligning Your Company's Strategy

09 Jan 2020
Book

Rethinking Business Strategy in the Age of AI

more akin to an Apple, a Tesla, or a Nest, or a GoPro—where it’s a consumer product that has the foundation of sexy hardware technology and sexy software technology,” he is quoted in a book published today, Competing in the Age of AI: View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

01 Dec 2008
News

Strategy is About People

mission of the School. And John had a masterful way of both keeping the interests of the individual foremost in his mind while managing a whole assemblage of individuals in a way that worked toward strategic objectives. “That was an... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

May 2003
Module Note

Managing Product Development

By: Stefan H. Thomke

Introduces students to the managerial aspects critical to conceiving, designing, and developing innovative products and services. Considers the full range of activities required: learning about customer needs, understanding and managing experimentation and problem... View Details

Keywords: Product Design; Product Development; Service Operations; Business or Company Management; Projects; Management Practices and Processes; Experience and Expertise; Customers; Research; Management Skills; Integration

February 2005 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Haier's U.S. Refrigerator Strategy

By: Pankaj Ghemawat, Thomas M. Hout and Jordan I. Siegel

Haier, the first Chinese consumer durable brand in the United States, succeeded in the compact refrigerator, freezer, and air conditioner markets and then built a U.S. factory to enter the full-size market. Issues include the value of a local entrepreneur to the Asian... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; China; United States

November 1990 (Revised June 1991)
Case

American Airlines (A): Strategy in the 1990s

By: Jay W. Lorsch and Gary W. Loveman

American Airlines is pursuing a growth strategy through international and domestic route expansion. At the same time, the airline is working hard to cut costs while trying to provide the best customer service possible. Is this strategy achievable given the recent surge... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Air Transportation; Cost Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Air Transportation Industry; United States