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January 1990 (Revised August 1992)
Case

R&D Race

Two firms are engaged in a race to develop a new process. Various strategic aspects of the race are analyzed. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Product Development

Find at Harvard

01 Jun 2008
News

Faculty Books

incomes either among countries or within them. Inequalities of income and power emerge as a major societal issue alongside poverty, and the book develops alternative societal models based upon the degree of inequality in wealth and power. The Execution Premium: Linking... View Details

Keywords: Educational Services; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Management

March 2011 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Cree, Inc.: Which Bright Future?

By: David J. Collis, Mary Furey and Matthew Shaffer

After its founding in the late 1980s, Cree Inc. quickly grew into a major player in the emerging LED market. By 2007, technological improvements in LEDs had made them suitable for TV, computer, and mobile "backlighting"; and concerns over global warning led to calls to... View Details

2022
Working Paper

Coordination and Incumbency Advantage in Multi-Party Systems: Evidence from French Elections

By: Kevin Dano, Francesco Ferlenga, Vincenzo Galasso, Caroline Le Pennec and Vincent Pons

In theory, free and fair elections can improve the selection of politicians and incentivize them to exert effort. In practice, incumbency advantage and coordination issues may lead to the (re)election of bad politicians. We ask whether these two forces compound each... View Details

Keywords: Political Parties; Incumbent Politicians; Democracy; Political Elections; Competitive Advantage

Read Now

December 2011 (Revised April 2013)
Supplement

Akamai's Edge (B)

By: Eric Van den Steen

In 2009, Paul Sagan, CEO of Akamai, the leading online content delivery network with a 60% market share, needs to decide how to respond to aggressive market entry, whether and how to pursue the explosive growth in online video, and whether to stay with Akamai's... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Advantage

April 2025
Case

Netflix in 2024

By: Jan Rivkin and David Allen

In 2024, Netflix appeared to emerge victorious from the “streaming wars” that it had waged in recent years with the likes of Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Apple, and Amazon. What had allowed Netflix not only to succeed in the streaming wars but also to thrive for... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Internet and the Web; Organizational Culture; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Success; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States

Fast Answer

Sustainability in the Transportation Industry

technologies/services, documented impacts on California’s transportation ecosystem, and future growth projections (as appropriate). Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area – Towards a Competitive and Resource Efficient... View Details

26 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Yes, You Can Raise Prices in a Downturn

As economic turmoil continues, many companies are reconsidering their strategies with an eye toward going lean and slashing prices. And that might work for a few companies—but very few. Instead, companies should compete "on the basis... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Consumer Products

25 Jun 2019
Cold Call Podcast

In the Platform Economy, Upwork Searches for Better Matches in the Cloud

Keywords: Re: David B. Yoffie; Web Services

November 2022
Case

The Battle Among Channels for Marketing Pharmaceuticals: UpScript, Pharmacy Benefit Managers, and Direct-to-Consumer Sales

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Tiffany Farrell

Can an online, direct-to-consumer pharmacy both improve the quality and speed of care for patients who need branded drugs and stabilize profits for pharmaceutical manufacturers? UpScript, after years spent achieving legal and regulatory compliance and simultaneous... View Details

Keywords: DTC; Internet and the Web; Marketing Channels; Customer Value and Value Chain; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Competitive Strategy; Service Delivery; Growth and Development Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; Health Industry; Retail Industry

Blog

Tech Power at HBS: Faculty Boost Technology Ecosystem

range of companies inside and outside technology sectors, including many startups. She also serves on several boards, including Unilever and Warby Parker. To explore some of her work, check out: Book: Different: Escaping the Competitive... View Details

16 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 16, 2018

explores whether the strategy will save the Chinese economy or generate social and political problems that imperil the country's growth and stability. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=53716 Lone Wolves in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

14 Oct 2014
First Look

First Look: October 14

Harvard Business Review Putting Sales at the Center of Strategy By: Cespedes, Frank Abstract—Research indicates that relatively few firms execute their strategies effectively, and, on average, companies... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2024
Case

The Voice Wars Continues 2024: Hey Google vs. Alexa vs. Siri vs. ChatGPT

By: David B. Yoffie and Sarah von Bargen

In 2024, the Voice War was transforming from a relatively simple index-based technology system, which relied on a list of commands and answers, to a generative AI system, which offered the promise to enable free flowing conversations between people and machines. The... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Competition; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry

1995
Chapter

Regression to the Mean, Expectation Inflation, and the Winner's Curse in Organizational Contexts

By: J. R. Harrison and M. H. Bazerman

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Conflict and Resolution; Competition; Organizational Structure

2016
Working Paper

Experimental Evidence on Policies Aimed at Closing the Gender Gap in Willingness to Guess on Multiple-Choice Tests

By: Katherine Baldiga Coffman

Research has shown that women skip more questions than men on multiple-choice tests with penalties for wrong answers. We propose and test five policy changes aimed at eliminating this source of gender bias in test scores. Our data show that simply removing the penalty... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Behavior; Decision Choices and Conditions; Gender

Article

How Much Is a Reduction of Your Customers' Wait Worth? An Empirical Study of the Fast-Food Drive-Thru Industry Based on Structural Estimation Methods

In many service industries, companies compete with each other on the basis of the waiting time their customers experience, along with other strategic instruments such as the price they charge for their service. The objective of this paper is to conduct an empirical... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Price; Service Delivery; Mathematical Methods; Competition; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry