Publications

26 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Why Japanese Businesses Are So Good at Surviving Crises

bring different people together and spur them to action.” Their reward for thinking beyond profits? These businesses tend to live a long time. In fact, on a global map, Japan stands out for corporate longevity; 40 percent of companies... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

09 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 9, 2008

resolution to the rapidly escalating customer situation that motivated his trip, he finds himself facing distributed work, global collaboration, conflict, and management issues that are threatening to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Make Restructuring Work for Your Company

Over The Allocation Of Value Corporate restructuring usually requires claimholders to make significant concessions of some kind, and therefore has important distributive consequences. Restructuring affects not only the value of the firm,... View Details

Keywords: by Stuart C. Gilson

Web

Reconceiving Products & Markets - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

William Lever in 1894 to combat cholera in Victorian England, today Lifebuoy is the world’s #1 selling germ protection soap—a win-win for Unilever and global health. The affordable soap’s unique formulation helps fight disease in the... View Details

December 2010
Case

Oral Rehydration Therapy

By: Nava Ashraf and Claire Qureshi

This case highlights the puzzlingly high rate of diarrhea-related child mortality in developing countries despite the existence of a simple, effective treatment: oral rehydration therapy (ORT). ORT treated extreme dehydration caused by diarrhea, which was a leading... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Innovation Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Developing Countries and Economies; Technological Innovation; Distribution Channels; Emerging Markets; Consumer Behavior; Performance Consistency; Performance Evaluation; Health Industry; Africa; Asia

08 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

Decision Rights: Who Gives the Green Light?

How a company decides who is authorized to make what types of decisions can have a profound effect on its business, both in terms of everyday effectiveness and the bottom line. Consider the experience of one global conglomerate that... View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

November 2024
Case

Dr. Bombay Ice Cream

By: William R. Kerr, Alexis Brownell and Michael Liu

This case examines the creation, launch, and rapid growth of Dr. Bombay Ice Cream, a joint venture between Happi Co., a consumer packaged goods incubator, and entertainment mogul Snoop Dogg, with his son, Cordell Broadus. The brand was inspired by a Bored Ape Yacht... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Distribution Channels; Disruptive Innovation; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

10 Nov 2011
Working Paper Summaries

Spatial Determinants of Entrepreneurship in India

Keywords: by Ejaz Ghani, William R. Kerr & Stephen O'Connell

Web

HBS - Financials | Supplemental Financial Information

revenues (including current use gifts and distribution from the endowment). In fiscal 2022, the School’s total revenues increased by $161 million, or 20 percent, to $966 million from $805 million in the prior year, primarily reflecting... View Details

18 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

How Eliminating Non-Competes Could Reshape Tech

a global soft drink manufacturing and distribution network; that knowledge is spread out among many people at Coca-Cola. He would need access to years of data on marketing efforts, consumption patterns, etc.... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Technology

January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Mercado Libre: The Best Is Yet to Come

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Fernando Fragueiro, Carla Larangeira and Mariana Cal

In 2024, Marcos Galperín, CEO and co-founder of Mercado Libre, reflected on its 25-year rise as Latin America’s largest marketplace, fintech leader, and most valuable public company. With operations spanning 18 countries and a robust ecosystem combining e-commerce,... View Details

13 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

As chairman and CEO of the leading vaccine producer in the world, pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Ken Frazier has one of the highest-profile positions in global business. But Frazier, who is leading one of the firms on a charge to... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Pharmaceutical

01 Jun 2024
News

Quantum Leap

“This is the first new kind of computer in 75 years,” says John Levy (MBA 1979), CEO of the quantum computing startup SEEQC. “And we’re building it on a chip!” Strolling through his company’s design and testing facility in Elmsford, New York, Levy looks less like a... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Chris Sorensen; quantum computing; innovation; leadership; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

21 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 21

globalization plans are thwarted. Already Latin America's leading candy producer and an exporter to over 100 countries, Arcor analyzes how it can become truly global with production facilities and View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 2018
Case

MISHA: Modernizing the World of Shisha

By: William R. Kerr and Gamze Yucaoglu

The case opens in 2017 with two of the five co-founders of MISHA telling the company’s CEO Michal Portz that they believe it is time for the global venture to shut down its operations and cease investments. Portz and another co-founder believe MISHA can still... View Details

Keywords: Innovation And Management; Entrepreneurship; Private Sector; For-profit Firms; Business Strategy; Decision; Business Startups; Emerging Markets; Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Market Entry and Exit; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technology Industry; Qatar; United States

09 May 2017
What Do You Think?

Should Management Be Primarily Responsible to Shareholders?

controlled for industry and stage in the business cycle.” Bob Vanourek, citing results of a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, said that long-term oriented firms in its sample “outperformed the short-termers in revenue growth,... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 2014
Case

FormPrint Ortho500

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Alisa Zalosh

The Senior Vice President of FormPrint's Medical Products business unit is considering issues raised by the upcoming introduction of a new 3D printing system, the Ortho500, which could print custom exoskeletal orthopedic splints, braces, and casts that conformed to a... View Details

Keywords: B2B Marketing; Technological Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry