Publications

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September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Acumen Fund: Measurement in Impact Investing (A)

By: Alnoor Ebrahim and V. Kasturi Rangan

Acumen Fund is a global venture capital firm with a dual purpose: it looks for a return on its investments, and it also seeks entrepreneurial solutions to global poverty. This case examines Acumen's new projects in Kenya. The organization's investment committee and its... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Venture Capital; Investment Return; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Risk Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Government Relations; Social Enterprise; Financial Services Industry; Kenya

30 Apr 2021
News

This Harvard Professor Reveals the Secret Sauce for Remote Work - And It Has Nothing to Do With Zoom

September 2024
Case

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners: Leading the Energy Transition

By: John Macomber and Maxwell Nii Laryea

A leading global infrastructure fund debates whether and when to become engaged in the electrolysis and distribution of hydrogen, as part of the hydrogen economy and the global transtion to a net zero energy world. The proposed billion dollar project consists of ... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Infrastructure; Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Project Finance; Energy Industry; Spain

November 2008
Case

HNA Group: Moving China's Air Transport Industry in a New Direction

By: William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Manty

HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines, was positioning itself to go global and make a mark for itself as the largest private airline in China. Positioned squarely behind the "Big Three" state-owned carriers, Hainan Airlines sought to create a world-class... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Private Ownership; Competitive Advantage; Air Transportation Industry; China

04 Jan 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Creating the Market for Organic Wine: Sulfites, Certification, and Green Values

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones and Emily Grandjean; Food & Beverage

05 May 2020
News

Why the Crisis Is Putting Companies at Risk of Losing Female Talent

26 Jun 2024
Video

A conversation with Colin Mayer: Profit from producing solutions, not problems

Web

Strategy - Faculty & Research

economics, sociology, and political science, and focuses on both domestic and global competition. The objective of the work is to generate findings and develop concepts that will help managers improve their strategic decisions while... View Details

September 2020 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Hot Wheels: Launching The Mixed Play Experience

By: Elie Ofek, Andres Terech and Nicole Tempest Keller

Chris Down, Global Brand General Manager for Hot Wheels, and his team from the Advanced Play Group within Mattel, Inc., had developed an entirely new “mixed play” product experience that blended familiar Hot Wheels play in the physical world with breakthrough play in... View Details

Keywords: Toys; Go-to-market Strategy; Product Development; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Decision Making; Marketing; Strategy; Los Angeles

10 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Long-Tail Economics? Give Me Blockbusters!

also worries that a company is at risk if sales depend too much on one or two megabrands that could run into lawsuits from generic competitors or regulatory challenges. On the other hand, the president of Warner Bros. (think Batman) aims "to take advantage of what... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Entertainment & Recreation; Pharmaceutical

December 1998 (Revised January 2001)
Case

Acer, Inc.: Taiwan's Rampaging Dragon

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Anthony St. George

Describes the strategic, organizational, and management changes that led Acer from its 1976 startup to become the world's second-largest computer manufacturer. Outlines the birth of the company, the painful "professionalization" of its management, the plunge into... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Competitive Advantage; Global Strategy; Transformation; Computer Industry; Taiwan

20 May 2022
News

The Great Onshoring: Inside the Transcontinental Chip Race

June 1991 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Barco Projection Systems (A): Worldwide Niche Marketing

Deals with the issue of niche marketing in a worldwide market. Barco Projection Systems makes video, data, and graphics projectors for the industrial market. They have traditionally been the performance leader. In August 1989, Sony Corp. introduced a higher performance... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Globalized Markets and Industries; Product Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

04 Mar 2021
News

It Would Be a Major Blunder to Raise Taxes Right Now

May 2007
Case

Demand and Supply Forecasting at Air Products - Electronics Specialty Materials

Explores the process and inputs behind financial and operational forecasting in the Electronic Specialty Materials unit at Air Products and Chemicals, a global chemical company. The protagonist, John Goldberg, grapples with how to better integrate the two forecasting... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Operations; Forecasting and Prediction; Supply and Industry; Finance; Chemical Industry