Publications

2017
Chapter

Platforms, Open/User Innovation, and Ecosystems: A Strategic Leadership Perspective

By: Elizabeth J. Altman and Michael Tushman

Platform, open/user innovation, and ecosystem strategies embrace and enable interactions with external entities. Firms pursuing these approaches conduct business and interact with environments differently than those pursuing traditional closed strategies. This chapter... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Open/user Innovation; Ecosystems; Crowdsourcing; Strategic Leadership; Top Management Teams; CEO Role; Business Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Digital Platforms

Find at Harvard

January 2011
Supplement

Interview with John Smith, CEO, BBC Worldwide

By: John A. Quelch

In an interview conducted by Professor John Quelch, Harvard Business School, October, 2007, BBC Worldwide CEO, John Smith, discusses formation of BBC Worldwide's Global Strategy Plans. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Global Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry

April 2014 (Revised July 2017)
Case

The Tate's Digital Transformation

By: Jill Avery

John Stack was the visionary Head of Digital Transformation at the Tate, a collection of four major art galleries in the UK, including Tate Modern, the most visited gallery devoted to modern and contemporary art in the world. Stack was the architect of the Tate's... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Marketing Communication; Non-profit Management; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Media; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Tourism Industry; United Kingdom

January 2010 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Twitter

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, David Chen, Bill Heil and Aaron Smith

Twitter is a micro-blogging company that allows users to send short text updates to others. The site is used by people, including celebrities, government officials, and businesses. It helps to raise money for non-profit organizations and provides first-responders with... View Details

Keywords: Blogs; Revenue; Information Publishing; Growth and Development Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Web

May 2006 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2006

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

Examines the industry structure and competitive strategy of Coca-Cola and Pepsi over 100 years of rivalry. New challenges in 2006 include boosting flagging carbonated soft drink (CSD) sales and finding new revenue streams. Both firms also began to modify their... View Details

Keywords: History; Competitive Strategy; Industry Structures; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

March 1991 (Revised April 1995)
Case

IBP and the U.S. Meat Industry

By: David J. Collis and Nancy Donohue

IBP, the largest U.S. beef and pork processor, is facing deteriorating earnings and undertakes a fundamental strategic review in 1990. Having grown from its founding in 1961 to its current position as a low cost, innovative producer of boxed beef, and more recently... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Product; Competition; Business Earnings; Geography; Vertical Integration; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

June 2016
Teaching Note

The Rawlinsons: Facing Life and Career Decisions as a Couple

By: Boris Groysberg and Robin Abrahams

David and Nadia Rawlinson are a dual-career power couple who both seek executive careers in large organizations. At the beginning of the case, Nadia has taken a new job in San Francisco, while David has been offered an opportunity in London. What are the risks of... View Details

Keywords: Career Management; Career Planning; Personal Development and Career; Gender

January 26, 2017
Article

Executives and Salespeople Are Misaligned—and the Effects Are Costly

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Christopher Wallace

This article discusses the results of a survey of senior executives, middle managers, and sales people from companies across a variety of industries. The survey focused on questions about how well their companies’ strategies informed six critical elements of their... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Sales; Perception

Register to Read

June 2017
Case

Magellan Boatworks

By: John A. Quelch and James T. Kindley

Magellan Boatworks is a midsize manufacturer of customized, power "cruising yachts." In the face of economic and political uncertainty in late 2016, Magellan's VP of sales and marketing, Walt Robinson, wonders whether he should request a budget increase for 2017.... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Marketing Communications; Advertising; Strategy; Salesforce Management

October 1997
Case

Planned Parenthood Federation of America (B)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Elaine V. Backman

Outlines the process of strategy reinvention adopted by Planned Parenthood. It lays out the new strategic proposals, and the reactions of the various constituencies to those proposals. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Framework; Core Relationships; Risk and Uncertainty; Adaptation; Health Industry

18 Apr 2022
HBS Case

Dick’s Sporting Goods Followed Its Conscience on Guns—and It Paid Off

difficult decision. These lessons include getting top executives on board with a change, analyzing the financial impact, and developing a communications strategy aimed at explaining the firm’s actions to customers, employees, suppliers,... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

October 1997 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Oxfam America

By: James E. Austin and James Kondo

Oxfam America, a nongovernmental organization providing grant assistance to organizations fighting hunger, poverty, and their causes, was engaged in a new strategy formulation process, led by its new president. View Details

Keywords: Change; Situation or Environment; Non-Governmental Organizations; Strategy

Web

Technology & Operations Management - Doctoral

Yang Shunyuan Zhang Networks Thomas R. Eisenmann Shane M. Greenstein Ebehi Iyoha Jacqueline Ng Lane Edward McFowland III Operations management Janice H. Hammond Michael Lingzhi Li Antonio Moreno Elisabeth C. Paulson Ananth Raman Stefan H. Thomke Michael W. Toffel... View Details

04 Aug 2020
News

Glossier Built a Cult Brand and a Digital Community, but What’s Next?

August 2015 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Riot Games: Can Culture Survive Growth?

By: Boris Groysberg and Michael Norris

In 2015, Riot Games, the maker of the top PC game League of Legends, considers its growth strategy as it moves into a new campus in Los Angeles. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Culture; Organizational Behavior; Video Games; Culture; Strategy; United States

November 1999
Case

Seminis Inc.

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Jonathan West, Carin-Isabel Knoop and David Benedict Pearcy

Seminis became the world leader in vegetable seeds through a series of acquisitions. This case describes the Seminis strategy toward capturing value, biotechnology, and international operations. View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Acquisition; Profit; Global Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Valuation; Value Creation; Biotechnology Industry

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

General research interests

Implications of information technology for strategy and operations
Organizational knowledge, learning, and information processing
Business growth and scalable organizational architectures
Japanese busines
High technology... View Details

25 Nov 2022
News

From Kodak to Nokia, why do so many big companies end up failing?

February 2000 (Revised April 2000)
Case

Microsoft, 2000

By: Michael G. Rukstad, David B. Yoffie and Carl Johnston

Surveys five threats to the sustainability of Microsoft's strategy (imitation, substitution, hold-up, slack, and saturation) and examines Microsoft's response to these threats. Teaching purpose: To evaluate the sustainability of Microsoft's competitive advantage. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Planning; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry