Publications

January 2001
Background Note

Country Analysis in a "Global Village"

By: Bruce R. Scott

Substantially rewritten to establish the relevance of countries in the global context. It does so in terms of their differing economic performance in recent decades, and also by contrasting those that have "converged" toward the rich country norm (as theory would... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Economies and Regions; Macroeconomics; Trade; Business Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Industry Growth; Currency; Policy; Development Economics

26 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

The Strategic Way to Go to Market

discuss the three disciplines of channel management and why they are important? A: The three disciplines are mapping; building and editing; and aligning and influencing. The first discipline, mapping, is undertaken at an industry level to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

February 2010
Case

Corporate Strategy at Berkshire Partners

By: Julie M. Wulf and Scott Waggoner

The managing directors of Berkshire Partners, a mid-sized private equity firm, address strategic and organizational challenges in response to turbulent market conditions, rapid firm growth, and the transition of leadership from its founding partners to the next... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Boston

October 1990 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Northwest Airlines Confronts Change

Describes the leadership role of Northwest Airlines' chairman and his key organizational development "lieutenant" during five years of major change and pressure--1985-89. During this time the airline was confronted with major customer service problems, the merger with... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Change Management; Crisis Management; Air Transportation Industry; United States

09 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The Matchmaker of the Modern Economy

possibilities and for spreading the risk on those selected. Does this not furnish a sound business basis for trying new methods of applying development capital? We cannot depend safely for an indefinite time on the expansion of our old... View Details

Keywords: by Spencer E. Ante

Web

The Idea of Instant Photography - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

Education Alumni Baker Library Historical Collections MORE EXHIBITS HOME RESEARCH LINKS POLAROID FILMS SITE CREDITS “Within the hour, the camera, the film, and the physical chemistry became so clear to me.” Edwin Land, "On Some Conditions for Scientific Profundity in... View Details

June 2005 (Revised August 2013)
Case

Amazon.com's European Distribution Strategy

By: Janice Hammond and Claire Chiron

Describes how Amazon's distribution system evolved from the company's inception. In 2003, Amazon Europe must decide how to reconfigure its distribution network in light of expected growth, products proliferation, and geographical expansion in Europe. Examines how... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply and Industry; Distribution; Supply Chain; Risk and Uncertainty; Expansion; Web Services Industry

October 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

eLance.com: Building a Professional Services Marketplace

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Kristin Kohler

Launched as an eBay for services, eLance promises to leverage the capabilities of the Internet to not only change the way services are bought and sold, but change the fundamental dynamics of the global economy. Building on theories posited in the HBR article by Tim... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Job Search; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Web Sites; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

01 Sep 2022
What Do You Think?

Is It Time to Consider Lifting Tariffs on Chinese Imports?

American labor unions. Others argue about the importance of maintaining national security. Could they be persuaded to support such a move if the US government invested in American industries at the same time, perhaps similarly to... View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

May 2016
Supplement

2016 Update: Argentina Turns the Page

By: David E. Bell, Forest Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred

This brief case is a supplement to “Cresud and Argentina” (515-043) and “Note on Agriculture in Argentina” (515-069). Set in early 2016, it describes developments in Argentina under newly elected President Mauricio Macri, including the country’s return to international... View Details

January 2018 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Autonomous Vehicles: The Rubber Hits the Road...but When?

By: William Kerr, Allison Ciechanover, Jeff Huizinga and James Palano

The rise of autonomous vehicles has enormous implications for business and society. Despite the many headlines and significant investment in the technology by early 2019, it was still unclear when truly autonomous vehicles would be a commercial reality. Students will... View Details

Keywords: Technology Management; Artificial Intelligence; General Management; Robotics; Technological Innovation; Transportation; Disruption; Information Technology; Decision Making; AI and Machine Learning; Auto Industry; Auto Industry

November 2016 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Radial Analytics Probes Post-Acute Care

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Olivia Hull

Thaddeus Fulford-Jones and Eric Weiss, founders of healthcare technology startup Radial Analytics, have been busy developing a software program designed to save hospitals money and improve patient outcomes by producing customized care plans for patients leaving the... View Details

Keywords: Electronic Medical Records; Electronic Health Records; Data Science; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Business Model; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Growth Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Science-Based Business; Business Strategy; Health Industry; Health Industry; Cambridge; Massachusetts

February 2013 (Revised March 2015)
Case

The LEGO Group: Publish or Protect?

By: Willy C. Shih and Sen Chai

Senior managers at the LEGO Group are faced with a quandary: Should they patent inventions coming out of their manufacturing process development work, should they keep them as trade secrets, or should they publish them so that they would go into the public domain and... View Details

March 2014
Article

Delivering High-quality Cancer Care: The Critical Role of Quality Measurement

By: Tracy Spinks, Patricia Ganz, George Sledge, Laura Levit, James Hayman, Timothy Eberlein and Thomas W. Feeley

In 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published Ensuring Quality Cancer Care, an influential report that described an ideal cancer care system and issued ten recommendations to address pervasive gaps in the understanding and delivery of quality cancer... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Quality; Health Care and Treatment; Quality; Measurement and Metrics; Health Industry; North America

Find at Harvard

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Geoffrey G. Jones

I currently teach the history of global entrepreneurship over the last 200 years. The 28-session course called Entrepreneurship and Global Capitalism has become one of the most popular second year electives in the MBA program at the Harvard Business School. The cases,... View Details

02 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Not All M&As Are Alike—and That Matters

competitors in geographically fragmented industries; to extend into new products or markets; as a substitute for R&D; and to exploit eroding industry boundaries by inventing an industry. Despite the massive number of books and... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Bower

March 1999 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Honda-Rover (A): Crafting an Alliance

By: Ashish Nanda, James K. Sebenius and Ron Fortgang

Faced with vexing financial challenges in 1993, British Aerospace (BAe) is determined to shed its loss-making automaker, Rover. It offers to sell its stake in Rover to Honda, Rover's partner since 1979, but Honda is reluctant to raise its stake in Rover. Meanwhile, BMW... View Details

Keywords: Business Exit or Shutdown; Joint Ventures; Alliances; Knowledge Sharing; Strategy; Contracts; Negotiation Process; Change Management; Negotiation Tactics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Auto Industry; United Kingdom

June 2007
Article

Efficient Kidney Exchange: Coincidence of Wants in a Structured Market

By: A. E. Roth, Tayfun Sonmez and M. Utku Unver

Patients needing kidney transplants may have donors who cannot donate to them because of blood or tissue incompatibility. Incompatible patient-donor pairs can exchange donor kidneys with other pairs only when there is a "double coincidence of wants." Developing... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Size; Emotions; Human Needs; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Infrastructure; Supply Chain Management; Fairness; Performance Improvement; Health Industry

Find at Harvard

October 1991 (Revised April 1992)
Case

Honda Today

By: Marco Iansiti

Describes a situation in which the manager in charge of a major development project at Honda needs to make a decision about the technical specification of the product. The decision has profound implications for the product concept and strategy, as well as for the... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Product Design; Organizational Design; Performance Consistency; Projects; Auto Industry