Publications

09 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 9, 2018

the brand portfolio and operational model. Tsujiguchi asked himself these questions: How can I orchestrate these efforts? Can I continue to rely on the diversification model that has led me to success so far, or should I be more focused?... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

October 2010
Journal Article

The Flattening Firm and Product Market Competition: The Effect of Trade Liberalization on Corporate Hierarchies

By: Maria Guadalupe and Julie Wulf

This paper establishes a causal effect of product market competition on various characteristics of organizational design. Using a unique panel-dataset on firm hierarchies of large U.S. firms (1986-1999) and a quasi-natural experiment (trade liberalization), we find... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Product; Markets; Competition; Organizational Design; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Rank and Position; Organizational Structure; Decision Choices and Conditions; Change; Trade; United States

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February 2010
Teaching Note

Sealed Air China (TN)

By: Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby and F. Warren McFarlan

Teaching Note for [308051]. View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Experience and Expertise; Market Entry and Exit; Production; Performance Efficiency; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Service Industry; China; Shanghai

05 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 5, 2018

collusion. In particular, price collusion can be sustained by a strategy in which firms refuse to join the syndicate of any firm that deviates from the collusive price, thereby raising total production costs. Our results can thus... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

06 Nov 2012
First Look

First Look: November 6

with firm value and operating performance persisted. Read the paper: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1589731 Does Management Really Work? Authors: Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen Publication:... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2001 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Verge Software (A)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Elizabeth Kind

Scott Rozic, CEO of start-up Verge Software, has just told his board that he is taking the company in a totally new direction, moving from enterprise knowledge management software to Internet direct marketing. This case covers the start-up of the business, and Rozic's... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Investment; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Strategy; Technological Innovation; Applications and Software; Management Teams; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Product Development; Information Technology Industry; United States

14 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

How Can Start Ups Grow?

"These social resources are acquired by mimicking the structures and activities of established firms, and by affiliating with high-status customers respectively," she wrote in the abstract to her recent paper, Great Oaks from Little Acorns Grow: View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising

May 2024 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Together for Sustainability

By: Ranjay Gulati, David Shin and Emily Tedards

This case documents the origin and development of Together for Sustainability (TfS), a chemical industry initiative dedicated to raising sustainability standards throughout the industry’s supply chains. In 2011, six Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) from some of the... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Standards; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Partners and Partnerships; Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Accountability; Chemical Industry

14 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Getting Down to the Business of Creativity

professor Mary Tripsas introduces conceptual models to help students launch and creatively manage new businesses, including both stand-alone start-ups and ventures operating within an established organization. "Whenever a firm... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Retail; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Entertainment & Recreation

March 2006
Module Note

Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World: Module 3: Expanding Diversity

By: Alan D. MacCormack

Describes the third module of the 30-session Harvard Business School elective course Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome them. The course emphasizes... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Business Processes; Projects; Risk and Uncertainty; Product Development; Managerial Roles; Opportunities; Perspective; Expansion; Goals and Objectives

October 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Technical Note

Flight: Now without Humans Aboard

By: Mitchell Weiss, Karim Lakhani, HT Kung and Kerry Herman

This note provides an overview of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) industry in September 2015. UAVs offered many potential applications in industries as diverse as aerial imaging and photography, agriculture, construction, infrastructure inspection and... View Details

Keywords: Public Entrepreneurship; Drones; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Product Design; Research and Development; Technological Innovation; Rights; Ethics; Strategy; Transportation Networks; Market Entry and Exit; Innovation and Management; European Union; Asia; United States

September 1999 (Revised February 2004)
Case

WebSpective Software, Inc. (A)

By: Michael J. Roberts, Joseph B. Lassiter III, John T. Gourville and Sun Ming Wong

Describes the situation at WebSpective, a software company that develops products to help companies manage the network of servers that support their Websites. Describes the use of "concept engineering" tools to interview customers, determine their needs and the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Management Practices and Processes; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Communication Intention and Meaning; Product Development; Product Marketing; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing Strategy; Information Technology Industry

18 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 18

on Patient Length of Stay Authors:Berry Jaeker, Jillian, and Anita L. Tucker Abstract High workload, from high inventory levels, impacts unit processing times, but prior operations management studies have found conflicting results... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

March 2011
Teaching Note

TopCoder (A): Developing Software through Crowdsourcing (TN)

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Eric Lonstein

Teaching Note for 610032. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Applications and Software; Product Development; Competition; Internet and the Web; Problems and Challenges; Perspective; Information Technology Industry; Service Industry

March 1998 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Dell Online

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Dell started online commerce for its PCs in 1996, and by 1997 had achieved a sales rate of $3 million a day. The case describes the internal process that led to these dramatic results and poses the question of how the firm should leverage this activity to meet Michael... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Market Transactions; Goals and Objectives; Business Processes; Distribution Channels; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure; Competitive Advantage; Computer Industry; Retail Industry

12 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

The Broadband Explosion: Thinking About a Truly Interactive World

it's easy to start up a session, people will start to figure out many new ways to create value. This will change a lot about how businesses operate and also about what they can sell and how they sell it. A second insight: A lot of the... View Details

Keywords: by Sara Grant; Technology; Communications; Telecommunications

21 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The New Math of Customer Relationships

Further, non-U.S. companies such as Bouygues Telecom in France and Westpac, the Australian bank I mentioned earlier, have utilized them as cornerstones of their successful operating strategies. So the ideas travel quite well, with some... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

10 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

Motivation and the Cross-Sector Alliance

philanthropy, later incorporating such ideas into their organizational vision and values. Mexico's Bimbo Group provides a clear example; this world leader in the food industry, a multinational corporation with operations in 16 countries,... View Details

Keywords: by James Austin, Ezequiel Reficco & SEKN research team

September 1993
Case

Manufacturing at ALZA: The Right Prescription? (A)

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

ALZA, a company specializing in drug delivery systems such as transdermal patches, considers manufacturing its own products. Until now, the company has conducted research and development on its patented system but has then licensed the technology to client-partner... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Technological Innovation; Innovation and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Production; Research and Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pharmaceutical Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry