Publications

Find at Harvard

November 2004
Case

IBM's Diversity Strategy: Bridging the Workplace and the Marketplace

By: David A. Thomas and Ayesha Kanji

Explores how IBM incorporated diversity into its business strategy, making the case that workforce diversity is critical to marketing its products and services to its customers. In the early 1990s, Ted Childs, vice-president of Workforce Diversity, proposed to CEO Lou... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Diversification; Business Strategy; Integration; Global Strategy; Organizations; Markets; Information Technology Industry; United States

25 Aug 2014
News

Wendell P. Weeks, MBA 1987

brink of failure through a painful restructuring and commitment to both innovation and the diversification of its product lines. “We make products that change the world,” he says, noting Corning’s development of LCD glass; tools to... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

11 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 11

people and have implications for the use of technological algorithms. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=52499 Global Portfolio Diversification for Long-Horizon Investors By: Viceira, Luis M., Zixuan... View Details

March 1992 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Saatchi & Saatchi Co. PLC: Corporate Strategy

By: David J. Collis

Saatchi & Saatchi, founded in 1970, became the world's largest advertising agency in 1986. It then diversified into consulting and other managerial areas before crashing in 1989. Under a new CEO, the company restructured and refocused on its advertising agencies. View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Advertising Industry

Web

Doing Business with China 2035: Navigating Uncertainty - Course Catalog

expansion of Chinese firms. Key issues include: The nature of China’s political, economic, and of its regional markets The central role of politics in business: How well do you know your Party Secretary? The interconnectedness of global supply chains and difficulties... View Details

February 2013
Case

New Earth Mining, Inc.

By: William E. Fruhan and Wei Wang

New Earth Mining is one of the largest producers of precious metals in the U.S. While the firm operates mines primarily in the U.S. and Canada, it has also made substantial investments in gold exploration projects in Australia and Chile. New Earth has been very... View Details

Keywords: South Africa; Capital Budgeting; International Business; Return On Investment; Mining; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Valuation; Investment; Diversification; Mining Industry; Australia; South Africa; Chile; Canada; United States

February 2005 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Arcelik Home Appliances: International Expansion Strategy

The Turkish home appliances firm Arcelik is revisiting its growth strategy. Options for growth include continuing to promote currently owned brands in international markets, acquiring new brands, expanding OEM or private-label contracts, and/or diversifying into other... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry; Turkey

June 2005
Case

Growth and Profitability at Fresenius

By: Joel Podolny, Vincent Dessain, Monika Stachowiak and Anders Sjoman

In March 2005, Mark Schneider, CEO of Fresenius, is considering the group's strategic and organizational future. The highly decentralized 7 billion euro German health care group is active in three different business units, with the largest, FMC AG, listed separately... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Diversification; Organizational Structure; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Germany

Web

Kraft Accelerator

at Bain & Co. After earning his MBA at Harvard Business School, he joined the Kraft Group in 1990. Since that time, he has worked to help drive the growth and diversification of the Kraft Group. In his role as President, Jonathan is... View Details

October 2023
Case

To Fizzle Out or Heat Up? PepsiCo and Coca-Cola’s SodaStream and Costa Coffee Acquisitions

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

U.S. beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola shared many similarities by August 2018—both were founded by pharmacists in the 1890s, grew to offer hundreds of drink brands, and championed rival flagship products that drove loyalists into taste-testing wars. That month,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Acquisition; Diversification; Expansion; Brands and Branding; Food and Beverage Industry

August 2019
Supplement

Rand Fishkin at Moz (B)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Startups; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Business Startups; Diversification; Growth Management

April 1971 (Revised February 1984)
Case

Gould, Inc.: Graphics Division

Describes the decision of a battery manufacturer to diversify into the computer field through acquisition and the development of a new product. Among the issues to be discussed are the company product fit, phases in new product introduction, product positioning, and... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Market Entry and Exit; Acquisition; Product Development; Computer Industry; Battery Industry

Web

Scaling Technology Ventures - Course Catalog

is the business model? Scope and Speed : How does a venture scale by expanding into new geographies, products, and markets? What does it take to manage multiple revenue streams? How fast should your expansion or diversification take... View Details

Christoph Schiess

Keywords: Real Estate, Hotels, Diversified

Video

Dr. Laura Catena

Dr. Laura Catena, Managing Director of Bodega Catena Zapata, explains the importance of reputation in the wine industry and outlines marketing strategies that have helped her winery surpass the competition. View Details

August 2019
Supplement

Rand Fishkin at Moz (C)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Startups; Scaling; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Business Startups; Diversification; Growth Management

January 2015 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Project Titan at Northrop Grumman

By: C. Fritz Foley and Kevin Sharer

In March of 2011, Northrop Grumman divested shipbuilding assets through the spin-off of Huntington Ingalls Industries. This case reviews many of the key questions faced by Northrop's CEO, CFO, and top management team during this process, including questions concerning... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Reorganization; Spin Off; Asset Sales; Managing Portfolios Of Businesses; Managing Change; Diversification; Change Management; Restructuring; Corporate Strategy; Financial Strategy; Manufacturing Industry