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May 1992 (Revised August 1996)
Case

NIKE in Transition (A): The Ascendancy of Bob Woodell

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Explores Bob Woodell's tenure as Nike's first COO. Describes development of Woodell's management style, his attempts to develop the organization, and his responses to unforeseen business problems. Changing market forces, new competitors, a build-up of low-end... View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Crisis Management; Management Style; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Evaluation; Competition

29 Nov 2010
HBS Case

United Breaks Guitars

Marketing Strategy and multiple Executive Education programs, the case depicts a new media era in which increasing numbers of people are spending as much time online as they are in front of the television... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

17 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

Amazon, Whole Foods Deal a Big Win for Consumers

Source: 400tmax Editor's Note. Online retailing behemoth Amazon announced June 16 that it would acquire upscale grocery chain Whole Foods Market in a deal valued at more than $13 billion. Though the company has dabbled with the idea of a brick-and-mortar footprint in... View Details

Keywords: by Jose Alvarez and Len Schlesinger; Retail

2011
Teaching Note

China Merchants Bank in Transition (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Guoqing Chen and Ziqian Zhao

This case depicts China Merchants Bank's second strategic transformation. In the 90's, China Merchants Bank creatively introduced an all-in-one-card and an all-in-one-net based on IT systems and network, enabling itself to expand nationwide. By successfully entering... View Details

Keywords: Commercial Banks; Credit Cards; Strategy; Transformations; China; Banking; Information Technology; Banking Industry; China

07 Jun 2023
HBS Case

3 Ways to Gain a Competitive Advantage Now: Lessons from Amazon, Chipotle, and Facebook

perk that allowed Amazon to capture market share and eventually blow past Sony, which after years of struggling, closed its e-reader store in 2014. “Without creating a competitive advantage, it is difficult for companies to produce and... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

2005
Working Paper

Aggregate Corporate Liquidity and Stock Returns

By: Robin Greenwood

Aggregate investment in cash and liquid assets as a share of total corporate investment is negatively related to subsequent U.S. stock market returns between 1947 and 2003. The share of cash in total investment is a more stable predictor of returns than scaled price... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Financial Liquidity; Cash; Investment Return; Corporate Finance

November 1992 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Fischer Francis Trees & Watts

By: Erik R. Sirri

Fisher Francis Trees & Watts is a New York fixed-income investment management firm. A portfolio manager needs to purchase $375 million of 5-year notes at the Treasury auction. Unlike previous auctions, however, this is the first time the Treasury will auction the notes... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Auctions; Financial Markets; Financial Services Industry

January 2023
Case

EKI Energy Services: One Billion Carbon Credits

By: George Serafeim

Within nine months from the time of its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in April of 2021, EKI Energy Services (EKI) shares had increased by more than 8,000%. Equally explosive was the growth of the company’s revenues and Earnings Before Interest, Taxes and Depreciation... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Credits; Carbon Emissions; Growth; Business Analysis; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Valuation; Climate Change; Accounting; Valuation; Transition; Renewable Energy; Analysis; Product Positioning; India

08 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

How to Fix a Broken Marketplace

An economic handyman of sorts, Alvin E. Roth fixes broken markets. As a Nobel Prize-winning pioneer in the field of market design, the Harvard Business School professor cofounded a kidney donation matching system for New England,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

16 May 2023
HBS Case

How KKR Got More by Giving Ownership to the Factory Floor: ‘My Kids Are Going to College!’

KKR sold CHI in 2022 for 10 times the equity it had invested, it amounted to the company’s most successful deal in more than two decades—and a payout of $360 million to its 800 employees. It was validation that changing the mindset of... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

26 Sep 2023
Book

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

excitement and the growing enthusiasm, at times even the frenzy, about these new phenomena, on the grounds of the pressing demands on managers to deal with the new reality and on academics to understand these phenomena. “Existing strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Information Technology; Technology

August 1998 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Innovation at 3M Corporation (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how 3M Corp. introduces and learns a new and innovative methodology called Lead User research to understand future customer and market needs. A team from 3M's Medical-Surgical Markets Division applies the Lead User methodology to the field of surgical... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Managerial Roles; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Market Timing; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Business Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

May 1996 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Ecolab, Inc.

By: Ashish Nanda

By 1993, Ecolab has established a dominant market position in the institutional cleaning industry. As the company’s principal competitor, Diversify, drives sales aggressively, Ecolab president Al Schuman faces a choice about how best to market Ecolab’s offerings.... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Employees; Retention; Marketing Strategy; Risk Management; Service Industry

August 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Shapiro Global

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Michael Brookshire, Monica Haugen, Michelle Kravetz and Sarah Sommer

Su Yee Goh, a director in a Singapore office, considers a proposal by a pregnant female executive for an alternative work arrangement so that she could both continue to work and spend more time with her family. Goh wants to keep the executive at Shapiro Global, but is... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Globalized Firms and Management; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Work-Life Balance; Singapore

February 1992 (Revised December 1992)
Case

MCI Vision (A)

By: Frank V. Cespedes

This case series focuses on divisional marketing and sales efforts concerning Vision, a new telecommunication product intended for the small business marketplace. Vision represents both a significant opportunity, and different field marketing requirements, for MCI.... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development; Groups and Teams; Sales; Opportunities; Competitive Strategy

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September 2024
Supplement

Revenue Solutions, LLC (A)

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Pre-Abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.

Abstract: Ari Wasserman and Nick esayian were both dissatisfied with their future prospects in their current careers. Wasserman,... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Partners and Partnerships; Ownership

October 2007
Background Note

Price Formation

By: Joshua D. Coval and Erik Stafford

Investigates how prices are formed in competitive capital markets. Focuses on a single security called AOE. Students compete with computer traders and each other for market making and informed trading profits. Participants receive a variety of public news in the form... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Price; Profit; Corporate Disclosure; Newsletters; Industry Structures; Business Processes; Competitive Strategy