Publications

25 Mar 2022
News

Assistant Professors Natalia Rigol and Ben Roth: Empower

January 2009 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation: 'Reverse BOT'

By: Willy Shih

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is executing a strategy that leverages the desires of municipalities in China to build clusters of high technology companies. By partnering with those cities to build new semiconductor fabs that SMIC would... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Clusters; Infrastructure; State Ownership; Business and Community Relations; Semiconductor Industry; China

February 2023 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Graphic Packaging: Project Cowboy (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

In July 2019, Graphic Packaging CEO Michael Doss was proposing a $600 million investment in a new machine to produce coated recycled board (CRB), a type of paper packaging used for consumer products (cups, cereal boxes, beverage boxes, etc.) that utilized recycled... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Growth Management; Demand and Consumers; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Value Creation; Supply and Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; North America

This paper studies the impact of platform-owner entry threat on complementors in platform-based markets. We examine how app developers on the Android mobile platform adjust innovation efforts (rate and direction) and value-capture strategies in response to the threat... View Details

22 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Bringing ‘Lean’ Principles to Service Industries

this fall and will continue to monitor developments at Wipro. Says Upton, "There's a question as to where things go down the road: whether this continues to be a lean implementation or evolves into the Wipro View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Computer

09 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

The Simple Secret of Effective Mentoring Programs

companies would be better off making mentoring mandatory for all new workers since that would yield much higher productivity and performance gains, the researchers say. "You have to make the program apply to... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

October 2005 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Ripe 'n Ready

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Laura Winig

Stoned fruit has quality variations, reducing consumption. Five independent growers formed a cooperative to provide quality control and a brand name--Ripe 'N Ready--that enabled retailers to differentiate their stores and producers to differentiate the products they... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

March 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Ken Hakuta: AllHerb.com

By: Teresa M. Amabile and Nicole Tempest

Ken Hakuta had been an entrepreneur all his life. Having started a number of consumer-oriented ventures, he became well-known as "Dr. Fad," the initiator of the "Wacky Wallwalker" toy craze in the 1980s. Wishing to strike out in an exciting new direction in 1998, he... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Health; Information Publishing; Leadership Style; Problems and Challenges; Web Sites

Find at Harvard

November 1984 (Revised March 1999)
Case

Mayers Tap, Inc. (C)

Mayers Tap, Inc. has decided to redesign its cost system. In this case it uses three different cost center designs to determine how the new system should be designed. Students are asked to drop unprofitable products under the three scenarios and explain the effects on... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Management Systems

20 Jul 2020
News

Survey shows South African firms in some sectors are highly innovative

Sandra J. Sucher

Sandra Sucher, professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, is an internationally recognized trust researcher. The Power of Trust, her third book, is based on two decades of global research on how companies build stakeholder trust and how,... View Details

Keywords: apparel; banking; brokerage; clothing; fashion; financial services; furniture; hotels ＆ motels; retail financial services; retailing; service industry

October 2022 (Revised June 2025)
Case

Lyra Health: Transforming Mental Health

By: Rembrand Koning and Nicole Keller

In January 2022, Lyra Health was deciding between several different alternatives to grow the business. Founded in 2015, Lyra Health, was a digital mental health platform that combined technology with human therapists and coaches to deliver high quality mental health... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Health Care and Treatment; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Customer Value and Value Chain; Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Health Industry; Technology Industry; San Francisco

January 1998 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Reading Rehabilitation Hospital: Implementing Patient-Focused Care

Reading Rehab Hospital has experimented with a popular new concept in health care--patient-focused care--intended to increase quality and reduce costs by organizing care delivery around particular diagnoses or "service lines," rather than around the functions or... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Production; Service Operations; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

January 2018 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Medtronic: Navigating a Shifting Healthcare Landscape

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Michael E. Porter, Thomas W. Feeley and Alee Hernandez

Medtronic is adapting its strategy to changes in healthcare competition and payments. It has decided to develop new relationships with payers, hospitals, and physicians to become more accountable for patient outcomes and total costs. The case describes new forms of... View Details

Keywords: Value Based Health Care; Bundled Payments; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management; Value Creation; Supply Chain Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States; Netherlands

August 2018
Article

Growth Through Heterogeneous Innovations

By: Ufuk Akcigit and William R. Kerr

We build a tractable growth model where multi-product incumbents invest in internal innovations to improve their existing products, while new entrants and incumbents invest in external innovations to acquire new product lines. External and internal innovations generate... View Details

Keywords: Endogenous Growth; Innovation; Citations; Scientists; Entrepreneurs; External; Internal; Patents; Innovation Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Economic Growth; Research and Development; Science

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Read Now

09 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 9, 2007

standard. We also develop and test two extensions of the earlier model: the presence of provisions mandating royalty-free licensing is negatively associated with disclosure requirements, and when there are only a limited number of SSOs,... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

March 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

QuikTrip

QuikTrip, a large convenience store chain with over 500 stores, was known for its outstanding labor practices and fast, reliable, and friendly customer service. In November 2010, the CEO Chet Cadieux, had to decide how many new locations to open when QuikTrip entered a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Employees; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Service Delivery; Performance Effectiveness; Expansion; Retail Industry; United States