Publications

09 Dec 2010
News

Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School to Map Clusters in U.S. Regions

06 Dec 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Trials and Terminations: Learning from Competitors' R&D Failures

Keywords: by Joshua Lev Krieger

October 2001 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Le Petit Chef

By: Alan D. MacCormack, Sandra J. Sucher and Suraj Rangashayi

Brigitte Gagne, Le Petit Chef's director of microwave R&D, is deciding on the product development agenda for next year. She has to decide which of the available projects to fund, and evaluate the overall portfolio of projects currently under development. The recent... View Details

Keywords: Production; Product Development; Projects; Planning; Research and Development; Performance; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Resource Allocation

Research Summary

Overview

Professor Santana studies consumer judgment and decision making within the domain of behavioral pricing and the subjective value of money. With respect to behavioral pricing, her current projects are focused on how consumers think, feel, and behave in response to... View Details

Keywords: Judgment And Decision Making; Behavioral Pricing; Consumer Behavior

September 2004 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Enterprise IT at Cisco (2004)

By: Andrew P. McAfee, F. Warren McFarlan and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

Illustrates the challenges associated with centralizing IT decisions at Cisco after a decade of decentralized planning and project funding. When Brad Boston became Cisco's new CIO in 2001, he found that managers were starting to get frustrated with the results of their... View Details

Keywords: Management; Resource Allocation; Information Technology; Problems and Challenges; Business Ventures; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Projects; Planning; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry

23 Jan 2017
News

Helping Warli artists profit from their work

March 2001 (Revised April 2003)
Case

Chase's Strategy for Syndicating the Hong Kong Disneyland Loan (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

In late 1999, the Walt Disney Co. and the Hong Kong government agreed to develop Hong Kong Disneyland, a HK$28 (U.S.$3.6) billion theme park and resort complex planned to open in late 2005. As part of the total financing package, the sponsors decided to raise HK$3.3... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Project Finance; Relationships; Financing and Loans; Financial Strategy; Tourism Industry; Hong Kong

2010
Simulation

Finance Simulation: Capital Budgeting: Product No. 3357.

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

In this single-player simulation, students act as members of the Capital Committee of New Heritage Doll Company, tasked with selecting and allocating capital across the company's three divisions. Students evaluate a diverse set of competing investment proposals and... View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Investment; Projects; Capital Budgeting; Corporate Finance

November 2009 (Revised September 2010)
Case

Discovering Hidden Gems: The Story of Daryl Morey, Shane Battier, and the Houston Rockets (A)

By: Frances X. Frei and Matthew Todd Perlberg

As NBA Commissioner David Stern approached the podium, silent anticipation gripped the 4,000 Houston Rockets fans gathered at the Rockets Draft Party. "With the 8th pick in the 2006 NBA draft," Stern began, "the Houston Rockets select Rudy Gay from the University of... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Talent and Talent Management; Competitive Strategy; Operations; Groups and Teams; Sports Industry

January 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

CrossBoundary Energy

By: John Macomber

Almost 500 million people are without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa. Governments and public utilities are challenged to bring generation and distribution to most of them. Considerable promise exists in “off-grid” or “mini-grid” technologies, notably using renewable... View Details

Keywords: Energy Investing; Economic Development; Renewable Energy; Business Growth and Maturation; Developing Countries and Economies; Project Finance; Emerging Markets; Industry Structures; Infrastructure; Segmentation; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Energy Industry; Utilities Industry; Africa; Tanzania; Ghana

March 2023 (Revised March 2023)
Case

Roche: Innovation and Access to Healthcare

By: George Serafeim, Susanna Gallani and Benjamin Maletta

In May 2022, Roche Group, one of the largest healthcare companies in the world, hosted its first investor event focused exclusively on its efforts to impact access to healthcare. While Roche had recently set an ambitious goal to double the number of patients that had... View Details

March 2009
Case

Baosteel Group: Governance with Chinese Characteristics

By: Lynn S. Paine and G.A. Donovan

The new outsider-dominated board of directors of China's state-owned Baosteel Group must decide whether to modify the Group's structure. With the completion of a pending acquisition, the Group will control four publicly listed steel-producing subsidiaries, and board... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Governing and Advisory Boards; State Ownership; China

November 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Background Note

Customer Visits for Entrepreneurs

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Provides practical guidelines for conducting customer visits to explore and validate demand for an entrepreneurial offering. Reviews conditions under which visits will yield superior insights, compared to other research methods. Describes criteria for selecting visit... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Entrepreneurship

Research Summary

Wearing a Red Hat ¨C The Impact of Activist Industrial Policy on Software Development in China

The idea that the government should steer economic development by strategically hand-picking and managing certain industries is controversial but appeals to many developing countries that are eager to upgrade their industries. In this paper, I study China's recent... View Details

March 2006
Module Note

Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World

By: Alan D. MacCormack

Describes the second module of the 30-session Harvard Business School elective course Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome these challenges. The course... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Problems and Challenges; Business Processes; Perspective; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Managerial Roles; Product Design; Business Startups; Organizational Design

2021
Book

Better, Simpler Strategy: A Value-Based Guide to Exceptional Performance

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

In nearly every business segment and corner of the world economy, the most successful companies dramatically outperform their rivals. What is their secret? In Better, Simpler Strategy, Harvard Business School professor Felix Oberholzer-Gee shows how these... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Strategic Planning; Value; Analysis; Competitive Advantage; Performance Effectiveness

February 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Mistry Architects (A)

By: Amy C. Edmondson, Robert G. Eccles and Mona Sinha

Describes an architecture firm founded and run by a husband and wife team, Sharukh and Renu Mistry, that emphasizes "green" building. The firm presents an unusual mix of projects-spanning the spectrum from larger corporate projects to small private homes. The mix also... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Customer Focus and Relationships; Design; Housing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Environmental Sustainability; Nonprofit Organizations; Conflict and Resolution