Publications

February 2021
Article

Rethinking the Role of the EU in European Competitiveness

By: Christian H.M. Ketels and Michael E. Porter

The aim of this conceptual paper is to delineate the scope and give directives towards higher levels of competitiveness and prosperity for EU members. The EU integration history and challenges are retraced and the EU’s current competitiveness context is presented. In a... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; Public Policy; Competitive Advantage; Government Administration; European Union

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16 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million

achieve more success in the future. Failure to do so at the right moment may result in a strong reduction in the momentum of the company. By contrast, having the courage to change in favor of new View Details

Keywords: by Thales S. Teixeira and Michael Blanding; Retail; Transportation; Accommodations

July 2016 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Tolaram: Innovating in Africa

By: Derek van Bever and Efosa Ojomo

Tolaram is a Singaporean company that began operations selling textiles in Nigeria in the 1970s. Executives and brothers, Haresh and Sajesh Aswani, however, saw an opportunity to create an instant noodle market in the country. In 1988, they began importing Indomie... View Details

Keywords: Fast Moving Consumer Goods; Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Vertical Integration; Emerging Markets; Consumer Products Industry; Nigeria; Africa

2012
Article

Specialization and Variety in Repetitive Tasks: Evidence from a Japanese Bank

By: B. Staats and F. Gino

Sustaining operational productivity in the completion of repetitive tasks is critical to many organizations' success. Yet research points to two different work-design-related strategies for accomplishing this goal: specialization to capture the benefits of repetition... View Details

Keywords: Motivation; Productivity; Specialization; Variety; Work Fragmentation; Boundaries; Performance Productivity; Organizations; Research; Strategy; Motivation and Incentives; Opportunities; Market Transactions; Resource Allocation; Performance; Goals and Objectives; Learning

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26 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 26, 2010

many "multicultural marketing" efforts are both limited and limiting, and how firms can go beyond demographic data to craft effective strategies for selling View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2009 (Revised March 2015)
Case

eBay Partner Network (A)

By: Benjamin Edelman and Ian Larkin

eBay considers adjustments to the structure and rules of its affiliate marketing program, eBay Partner Network (ePN). In particular, eBay reevaluates affiliate compensation structure, the role of bonuses for especially productive affiliates, and the overall rationale... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Marketing Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Motivation and Incentives; Online Technology; Service Industry

14 Aug 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 14, 2018

Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54823 June 2018 Strategy Science Integrated Strategy: Residual Market and Exchange Imperfections as the Foundation of Sustainable Competitive... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

July 2013
Case

Montreaux Chocolate USA: Are Americans Ready for Healthy Dark Chocolate?

By: John A. Quelch and Diane Badame

Andrea Torres, director of new product development at a high-end chocolate confectionery company, leads her team through a carefully sequenced program of market research to support the development and launch of a new product, healthy dark chocolate with fruit. This is... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Food; Consumer Behavior; Nutrition; Product Launch; Product Development; Food and Beverage Industry; Switzerland; United States

April 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Seagate Technology Buyout

By: Gregor M. Andrade, Stuart C. Gilson and Todd C. Pulvino

In March 2000, a group of private investors and senior managers were negotiating a deal to acquire the disk drive operations of Seagate Technology. The motivating factor for the buyout was the apparently anomalous market value of Seagate's equity: Seagate's equity... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Leveraged Buyouts; Financial Strategy; Computer Industry

26 Jan 2004
Research & Ideas

What Developing-World Companies Teach Us About Innovation

but also to clean vegetables. By making a few minor modifications to the washers they manufactured, Haier was able to market the machines as... View Details

Keywords: by Donald N. Sull, Alejandro Ruelas-Gossi & Martin Escobari

September 2015 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Macy's: Evolution in the Sunshine State

By: Boris Groysberg, Das Narayandas, Benson P. Shapiro and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2009, Lee O'Rourke was promoted to district vice president in charge of Macy's newly created North Florida district. This district consisted of 11 stores located in the greater Orlando area and in the east coast towns of Daytona, Melbourne, Merritt Island, and Vero... View Details

Keywords: Human Capital; Managing Performance; Retail; Organization; Change Management; Leadership; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Retail Industry; United States

March 2013
Case

Currency Wars

By: Laura Alfaro and Hilary White

In February 2013, the G-20 finance ministers met in Moscow, Russia to discuss the rising anxieties over a potential international currency war. It was speculated that certain countries were purposely devaluing their currencies in order to improve their competitiveness... View Details

Keywords: Currency; Competitiveness; Trade Policy; Devaluation; Exchange Rate; Monetary Policy; Quantitative Easing; Inflation Targeting; Capital Flows; Central Banking; Currency Exchange Rate; Competitive Strategy; Emerging Markets; Policy; Trade; Conflict and Resolution; Banking Industry; Public Administration Industry; Moscow

2012
Book

Producing Prosperity: Why America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

By: Gary P. Pisano and Willy Shih

For years—even decades—in response to intensifying global competition, American companies decided to outsource their manufacturing operations in order to reduce costs. But we are now seeing the alarming long-term effect of those choices: in many cases, once... View Details

Keywords: Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Production; Competitive Advantage; Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Manufacturing Industry; United States

Dorothy Leonard*, the William J. Abernathy Professor of Business Administration Emerita, joined the Harvard faculty in 1983 after teaching for three years at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has taught MBA courses in... View Details

Keywords: computer; consulting; education industry; electronics; federal government; high technology; information technology industry; software; venture capital industry

March 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Campbell Soup Company: Transforming for the 21st Century

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Jamie Ladge

In July 2001, Campbell Soup's newly appointed CEO, Douglas R. Conant, addressed a group of Wall Street analysts and unveiled his plan to kick-start growth. His plan called for organizational renewal and revitalization, redesign of core customer-facing processes... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Industry Structures; Production; Supply Chain Management; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

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Strategy consultant, former CTO & CPO, public & private company board member, retail & climatetech entrepreneur, early stage investor. Father of two, husband, sailor, hiker, and aspirational road biker.

John is a senior lecturer in the... View Details

17 May 2017
Research & Ideas

Minorities Who 'Whiten' Job Resumes Get More Interviews

Minority job applicants are “whitening” their resumes by deleting references to their race with the hope of boosting their shot at jobs, and research shows the strategy is paying off. In fact, companies are... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

September 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

WuXi PharmaTech

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Simin Zhou

WuXi Pharmatech has gone from zero to $21 million in sales in three years. The company must decide its growth strategy and how best to finance and organize for rapid growth. View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Capital Markets; Problems and Challenges; Pharmaceutical Industry; China