Publications

February 2005 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Haier's U.S. Refrigerator Strategy

By: Pankaj Ghemawat, Thomas M. Hout and Jordan I. Siegel

Haier, the first Chinese consumer durable brand in the United States, succeeded in the compact refrigerator, freezer, and air conditioner markets and then built a U.S. factory to enter the full-size market. Issues include the value of a local entrepreneur to the Asian... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; China; United States

March 1982 (Revised June 1986)
Background Note

Note on Diversification as a Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter and Malcolm S. Salter

Presents a discussion of corporate diversification. Covers historical background, the concept of strategy for a diversified company, and concepts of value creation. View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Strategy; Value Creation

We analyze the optimal strategy of a high-quality incumbent that faces a low-quality ad-sponsored competitor. In addition to competing through adjustments of tactical variables such as price or the number of ads a product carries, we allow the incumbent to... View Details

Video

Athena Health Testimonial | Disruptive Strategy

May 1999 (Revised December 2007)
Case

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: Development Strategy

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

Despite revenues in excess of $93 million in 1998, world-renowned Dana-Farber Cancer Institute constantly faces an operating shortfall and looks to its highly successful development office to help cover the deficit. The development office raises money annually (with a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Capital; Revenue; Growth and Development Strategy; Mission and Purpose; Nonprofit Organizations

May 2004 (Revised April 2005)
Background Note

Intellectual Property and Strategy

By: David B. Yoffie and Deborah Freier

Explores the role of intellectual property in firms' strategies. Explains the legal and strategic differences between patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets and explores the multiple ways firms use these different legal protections to gain competitive... View Details

Keywords: Copyright; Patents; Trademarks; Competitive Advantage; Value

01 Dec 2008
News

Strategy is About People

Jay Light played a number of key roles in McArthur’s Deanship. (He also served as first lieutenant to Kim Clark, who directly succeeded McArthur as Dean; when Clark assumed the presidency of Brigham Young University–Idaho, Light was his logical successor.) Looking back... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

Web

Strategies for Cross-National Regions - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

HBS ISC Competitiveness & Economic Development CED Competitiveness & Economic Development Frameworks & Key Concepts Research & Applications Research & Applications Research & Applications National Competitiveness Strategies for... View Details

29 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Crafting Integrated Multichannel Retailing Strategies

Keywords: by Jie Zhang, Paul Farris, Tarun Kushwaha, John Irvin, Thomas J. Steenburgh & Barton Weitz; Retail

May 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Lowe's: Improving the Total Home Strategy

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Alicia Dadlani

In 2023, Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe’s, contemplated enhancements to the company’s Total Home Strategy to accelerate performance and grow market share. In the last five years since becoming CEO, Ellison had championed a turnaround of the company, completing a... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Competition; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; United States; North Carolina

May 2007
Article

Location Strategies and Knowledge Spillovers

By: Juan Alcacer and Wilbur Chung

Given the importance of proximity for knowledge spillovers, we examine firms' location choices expecting differences in firms' strategies. Firms will locate to maximize their net spillovers as a function of locations' knowledge activity, their own capabilities, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; For-Profit Firms; Knowledge Management; Research and Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Disruptive Innovation; Five Forces Framework; Cost Management; Technology; Competition; United States

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September 2017 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Global Health Strategy

By: Mark R. Kramer and Sarah Mehta

Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) was a medical technology firm headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, with 43,000 employees and 2016 revenues of $12.5 billion. For several years, the company had pursued developing products that created shared value, defined as... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Creating Shared Value; Odon Device; Medical Technology; Value Creation; Values and Beliefs; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Emerging Markets; Social Issues; Competitive Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Africa; Asia; Middle East

August 2017
Case

'Not so fast...' Litigation Strategy in EMC Corporation v. Donatelli (A)

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Danielle V. Holland

The sudden departure to Hewlett-Packard of a top-level EMC Corporation executive who had full knowledge of EMC’s operations, business plans, and key personnel ignited a bi-coastal battle between two fierce rivals that was played out in courts competing for jurisdiction... View Details

Keywords: Non-competition Agreements; Key Employee Agreements; Litigation Strategy; Law; Preliminary Injunctions; Jurisdictional Disputes; Conflict Of Laws; Lawsuits and Litigation; Strategy; Contracts

06 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Why Businesses Need a Language Strategy

distinct competitive advantage. While sometimes difficult to implement, Neeley and Kaplan argue that organizations that effectively marry language strategy with their global talent management process gain a leg up on the competition.... View Details

Keywords: Re: Tsedal Neeley

April 2015
Teaching Note

Yara International: Africa Strategy

By: Michael Porter and Jorge Ramirez-Vallejo

Leading fertilizer producer Yara International demonstrates the concept of creating shared value through the Southern Agricultural Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) initiative, which brought together multiple organizations to enhance agricultural development in rural... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Tanzania; Agriculture Reform; Africa; Tanzania