Publications

16 May 2022
News

Baby Formula Is Just the Latest Supply Chain Crisis—We Should Be Asking Why

December 2010 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2010

By: David B. Yoffie and Renee Kim

Examines the industry structure and competitive strategy of Coca-Cola and Pepsi over 100 years of rivalry. The most intense battles of the cola wars were fought over the $74 billion CSD industry in the United States, where the average American consumes 46 gallons of... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Structures; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

Article

Contextual Intelligence

By: Tarun Khanna

The author has come to a conclusion that may surprise you: trying to apply management practices uniformly across geographies is a fool's errand. Best practices simply don't travel well across borders. That's because conditions not just of economic development but of... View Details

December 2016
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 10: Using the Job Design Optimization Tool to Build Effective Organizations

By: Robert Simons

This module reading provides directions for using the online Job Design Optimization Tool (JDOT) which is available free of charge from Harvard Business School Publishing at https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/resources/marketing/multimedia/JDOT/index.html. This tool can... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Span Of Control; Span Of Accountability; Performance Measurement; Job Design; Organization Design; Strategy; Entrepreneurship

Program

The Business of Entertainment, Media, and Sports

Summary Nowhere has the impact of digital technology been felt more keenly than in the entertainment world, where it has dramatically changed how products are developed and managed—and how talent connects with audiences. In this entertainment management course, you... View Details

Keywords: Media & Entertainment; Media & Entertainment

September 1983 (Revised February 1989)
Background Note

The Oil Tanker Shipping Industry in 1983

By: Michael E. Porter

Describes the international oil tanker shipping industry both historically and in 1983. Designed to provide a vehicle for practicing industry analysis in a volatile commodity business, and for formulating strategy in such an environment. Also can be used to examine... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Globalized Markets and Industries; Goods and Commodities; Volatility; Vertical Integration; Supply and Industry; Shipping Industry

November 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Bolsa de Valores de Guayaquil (BVG): Reaching Worldwide Investors Through the Internet

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ramiro Montealegre, Dusya Vera and Karen Barone

The Guayaquil Stock Exchange developed a Web site to provide information about the market in Ecuador. Though the system provided some dynamic information for potential investors and allowed for some transactions to occur via the Internet, it had not at the time of the... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Foreign Direct Investment; Emerging Markets; Internet; Technology Industry; Ecuador

06 Jan 2017
News

Women Know When Negotiating Isn't Worth It

Provenance Paradox and Country of Origin Branding

Since a product's country of origin of the product establishes its authenticity, companies from emerging markets are unable to price products comparably to similar firms from developed markets. This problem of establishing authenticity, called the "provenance paradox,"... View Details

2016
Chapter

Luxury Branding Research: New Perspectives and Future Priorities

By: Anat Keinan, Sandrine Crener and Silvia Bellezza

Several major trends have changed the landscape for luxury brands. These shifts include the increasing role of technology (digital and mobile) as well as the use by consumers of alternative signals of status, such as wearing less prominently branded apparel, being less... View Details

Keywords: Luxury; Brands and Branding

Register to Read

September 2020 (Revised November 2020)
Case

d.light

By: Michael Chu, Krishna G. Palepu and Dilyana Karadzhova Botha

Kenyan off-grid-solar pioneer d.light can power entire homes in rural Africa but must now decide how to fund the growth of its asset-heavy business model. Ned Tozun and Sam Goldman founded d.light in 2006 to transform lives through solar solutions enabling access to... View Details

Keywords: Alternative Energy; Business Model; Capital; Emerging Markets; Expansion; Financial Strategy; Renewable Energy; Strategy; Social Entrepreneurship; Energy Industry; Africa; Kenya; India

August 2021 (Revised October 2024)
Case

Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion

By: Michael W. Toffel, Kenneth P. Pucker and Eren Kuzucu

The Allbirds: Decarbonizing Fashion (A) case introduces Allbirds as a footwear startup not only focused on simple design, comfort, and sustainable natural materials but on decarbonizing the wider fashion industry. Background material highlights the growing... View Details

Keywords: Decarbonization; Climate Impact; Environmental Strategy; Innovation; Product Design; Supply Chain Management; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Product Development; Climate Change; Environmental Management; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; United States; California

2018
Working Paper

Trust and Democracy: Leader Turnover during Economic Crises

By: Nathan Nunn, Nancy Qian and Jaya Y. Wen

We study the relationship between interpersonal trust and political stability in democratic countries. Using a six-decade-long annual country-level panel dataset, we find that recessions are more likely to cause political turnover in countries with lower levels of... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Trust; Recessions; Leader Turnover; Political Instability; Culture; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Trust; Political Elections

June 2013
Article

Opting-in: Participation Bias in Economic Experiments

By: Robert Slonim, Carmen Wang, Ellen Garbarino and Danielle Merrett

Assuming individuals rationally decide whether to participate or not to participate in lab experiments, we hypothesize several non-representative biases in the characteristics of lab participants. We test the hypotheses by first collecting survey and experimental data... View Details

Keywords: Participation Bias; Laboratory Experiments; Prejudice and Bias; Research

2009
Article

The Dynamics of Silencing Conflict

By: Leslie Perlow and Nelson Repenning

In many organizations, when people perceive a difference with another they often do not fully express themselves. Despite creating innumerable problems, silencing conflict is a persistent phenomenon. While the antecedents of acts of silence are well documented, little... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Management Style; Conflict Management; Societal Protocols

Program

Preparing to Be a Corporate Director

Summary What does it take to succeed as a corporate director? For senior executives interested in joining a corporate board, preparation is key, as board service presents unique responsibilities, dynamics, risks, and opportunities. It... View Details

Forthcoming
Article

Public Perception and Autonomous Vehicle Liability

By: Julian De Freitas, Xilin Zhou, Margherita Atzei, Shoshana Boardman and Luigi Di Lillo

The deployment of autonomous vehicles (AVs) and the accompanying societal and economic benefits will greatly depend on how much liability AV firms will have to carry for accidents involving these vehicles, which in turn impacts their insurability and associated... View Details

Keywords: Moral Sensibility; Judgments; Legal Liability; Insurance; Perception

December 2001
Background Note

Reporting on Agribusiness in the 21st Century

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Anne M Fitzgerald

Agriculture is not what it used to be. Neither is coverage of the industry by news organizations. A century ago, about 40% of the U.S. population lived on the farm, and one in three U.S. jobs was tied to agriculture. It made sense for daily newspapers to cover farming... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Newspapers; Media; Perception; Change; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States