Publications

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

June 2002 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Pokemon: Gotta Catch 'Em All (Abridged)

By: Youngme E. Moon

Pokemon, the colloquial name given to a collection of 150 fantastic, animal-inspired creatures with organic powers and the capacity to evolve, are the stars of video games, trading card games, and TV cartoons. Conceived in Japan in 1996, Pokemon quickly became that... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Age; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Copyright; Video Game Industry; Video Game Industry; Japan; Asia; United States

Article

How Much Does Industry Matter, Really?

By: A. M. McGahan and M. E. Porter

In this paper, we examine the importance of year, industry, corporate-parent, and business-specific effects on the profitability of U.S. public corporations within specific 4-digit SIC categories. Our results indicate that year, industry, corporate-parent, and... View Details

Keywords: Supply and Industry; Strategy

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Read Now

19 Feb 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Amazoned: Is Any Industry Safe?

Today, Amazon participates in so many industries that it takes a small army of researchers at HBS to track them all: retailing, cloud computing, book stores, grocery stores, digital consumer products, commercial real estate,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

July 2023
Article

Deep Responsibility and Irresponsibility in the Beauty Industry

By: Geoffrey Jones

This article employs the concept of deep responsibility to assess the social responsibility of the beauty industry over time. It shows that many of today’s problems with the industry have deep historical roots. Products have too many ingredients that are potential... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

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30 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

All Eyes on Slovakia’s Flat Tax

that have introduced a flat tax have all been in macroeconomic situations where something had to be done to foster growth and attract investments, which indicates a major trend for linking tax reform with, for instance, privatization and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

01 Mar 2007
News

Gore All Business at HBS

how business and governments worldwide had worked together to resolve the ozone-depletion problem by tightening regulations and by eliminating the use of CFCs through improved and cost-saving industrial processes. Indeed, companies that... View Details

Keywords: Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services; Scientific Research and Development Services

November 1994
Teaching Note

The All American Pipeline (TN)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Teaching Note for (9-292-040). View Details

Keywords: Mining Industry; California; Texas

December 2006 (Revised January 2008)
Case

ViaGen: Revolutionizing the Livestock Industry

By: David E. Bell, Reed Martin and Mary L. Shelman

ViaGen has invested heavily to develop cloning technology for the livestock industry. Cloning has the potential to significantly improve the genetics of livestock, leading to higher quality meat, healthier animals, and more efficient production. Since 2003, the firm... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Business Plan; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Marketing Communications; Industry Structures; Business and Government Relations; Genetics; Commercialization; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

November 2021
Case

Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive: Fashion for All

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Sandra J. Sucher and Shalene Gupta

In Fall 2017, Tommy Hilfiger launched Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive, a line of adaptive and inclusive fashion apparel intended to make dressing easier. Now, Tommy Hilfiger is planning to launch Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive internationally in early 2020. The prospect of making... View Details

July–August 1983
Article

End-Game Strategies for Declining Industries

By: Kathryn Rudie Harrigan and M. E. Porter

Many companies are faced with declining product demand beyond their control. A study of the strategies of over 95 companies that confronted declining markets suggests that companies can often be very successful if they analyze all the characteristics that shape... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Ventures

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25 Sep 2015
Blog Post

4 Challenges All Early-Stage Startups Face

we had a shared passion for technology and building great user-focused products: four out of the six team members had cofounded their own company, three had worked in product development, and four were engineers. Everyone on the team was very analytically inclined, but... View Details

17 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

Broadband: Remaking the Advertising Industry

business, and the difficulties writing about such a moving target. Julia Hanna: What is the subject of your book in progress? Stephen P. Bradley: We are looking at industries that are being transformed by broadband such as the news and... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Advertising; Media & Broadcasting; Publishing

Fast Answer

Book publishing industry

How can I find industry and market reports & statistics on book publishing? For Industry & Market Research: IBISWorld: Market research reports on the book publishing View Details

02 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Not All M&As Are Alike—and That Matters

and don't walk away when they should. Integration's hard to pull off, but a few companies do it well, consistently. Given that we're in the midst of the biggest merger boom of all time, that collective wisdom seems inadequate, to say the... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Bower

June 2010
Article

What Causes Industry Agglomeration? Evidence from Coagglomeration Patterns

By: Glenn Ellison, Edward Glaeser and William R. Kerr

Why do firms cluster near one another? We test Marshall's theories of industrial agglomeration by examining which industries locate near one another, or coagglomerate. We construct pairwise coagglomeration indices for US manufacturing industries from the Economic... View Details

Keywords: Production; Economics; Industry Clusters; Analytics and Data Science; Labor; Theory; Goods and Commodities; United States; United Kingdom

31 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

The Dow at 20,000: What's That All About?

It took more than a century for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks thirty selected blue chip stocks, to hit 20,000, but it finally happened last Wednesday – a milestone marked by banner headlines and happy investors. In a... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner

February 2007
Case

Update: The Music Industry in 2006

By: John R. Wells and Elizabeth Raabe

The global recorded music industry was undergoing a major transition in 2006. Sales had been declining for a decade, and consumers were buying music in new formats and through different distribution channels. CD sales still accounted for the majority of revenues, but... View Details

Keywords: History; Arts; Music Entertainment; Intellectual Property; Market Timing; Performance Evaluation; Trends; Music Industry