Publications

November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 14: Managing Strategic Risk

By: Robert Simons

This module reading provides an overview of the business conduct boundaries, strategic boundaries, and internal control systems used to manage risk. Boundary systems—linked to clear, enforceable sanctions—are essential whenever demanding performance goals are set and... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Strategy Execution; Boundary Systems; Innovation; Internal Controls; Fraud; Human Behavior; Staff Experts; Strategy; Risk Management; Behavior; Governance Controls; Management Practices and Processes; Boundaries; Employees; Business Strategy; Innovation and Invention

24 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

Managing Alignment as a Process

corporate synergies should be defined at the top and realized in the business units. Just as the CFO coordinates the budgeting process, a senior executive should coordinate the alignment process—a responsibility for the Office of Strategy... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Retail

2007
Case

Continuous Process Improvement at Deere & Company

By: Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble

After decades of tense relationships with the United Auto Workers, Deere & Company broke through with a landmark agreement that built an expectation of continuous improvement into the compensation plan. The company then built a set of management forums and processes to... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Machinery and Machining; Agreements and Arrangements; Management Practices and Processes; Labor Unions; Compensation and Benefits; Auto Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Read Now

Article

Aligning Strategy and Sales

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Much current opinion asserts that strategy is less important (and may, in fact, be an impediment) in an era of constant change. This publication discusses why claims about business change are often overstated and misunderstood, why strategy is even more important as... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Sales

February 1988
Case

IBM Marketing Organization (B): Process

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Information Technology Industry

September–October 1995
Article

Leveraging Processes for Strategic Advantage

By: David A. Garvin

Keywords: Competitive Advantage

1995
Book

Business Policy: Managing Strategic Processes

By: Joseph L. Bower, Christopher A. Bartlett, Hugo Uyterhoeven and Richard E. Walton

Keywords: Policy; Management; Strategy

11 May 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Creating an R&D Strategy

Keywords: by Gary P. Pisano

05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Understanding the Process of Innovation

Michael Collins is looking to diversify. His company, Big Idea Group, currently produces only children's toys, but he thinks his process for discovering, refining, and bringing ideas to market can work in other niches. As the Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gray

2015
Other Teaching and Training Material

Competitive Strategies Marketing Reading

By: Jill Avery and Sunil Gupta

Core Curriculum Readings in Marketing cover the fundamental concepts, theories, and frameworks that business students must study.
This Reading illuminates the dynamics of companies in competition and offers a process for planning and executing marketing... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy

1995
Book

Business Policy: Managing Strategic Processes

By: Joseph L. Bower, Hugo E.R. Uyterhoeven and Richard E. Walton

Keywords: Policy; Management; Strategy

11 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Strategy Execution and the Balanced Scorecard

organization with no sense of priorities or impact from process improvements. Consequently, much effort does not show up in tangible results. Companies need a formal process for using strategic objectives to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 1996
Case

Biogen, Inc.: rBeta Interferon Manufacturing Process Development

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Biogen, Inc., a Cambridge, MA-based biotechnology company, is wrapping up a project to develop a new manufacturing process for a new drug product that will reposition the company from a purely research-oriented company to a fully integrated pharmaceutical manufacturing... View Details

Keywords: Learning; Technological Innovation; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Product Development; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Projects; Research and Development; Corporate Strategy; Biotechnology Industry

Educators

Research Summary

Technology and Operations Strategy

By: Marco Iansiti

Marco Iansiti studies the evolving nature of strategy, innovation and operations in the modern enterprise. Over the past 20 years, he has researched the processes for technology adoption, development, and integration in hundreds of firms across a wide... View Details

September 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 4: Organizing for Performance

By: Robert Simons

This module reading explores the implications of different business models on organization design. After discussing the distinction between units focused on work processes and those devoted to markets, the analysis provides insight as to when to organize businesses by... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Customer Focused Organization; Specialization; Span Of Control; Span Of Accountability; Span Of Attention; Strategy; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure

Program

Driving Digital Strategy

advantage of the opportunities presented by digital transformation Learn how new technologies are impacting business Make digital transformation a key part of your organization's strategy Create and manage the capabilities that drive... View Details

December 2021
Article

The Evolutionary Nature of Breakthrough Innovation: An Empirical Investigation of Firm Search Strategies

By: Dominika Kinga Randle and Gary P. Pisano

Breakthrough innovation has been an important topic of study for generations of scholars. Previous research in this domain has focused on exploring the way breakthroughs emerge from cumulative combination and recombination of prior technologies and knowledge components... View Details

Keywords: Breakthrough Innovation; Exploration And Exploitation; Search Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Strategy

July 1993 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Millipore Corporate Strategy

By: Nitin Nohria and V. Kasturi Rangan

Millipore, a $750 million (sales) company with three divisions, had been growing at a rate of 20% in the 1970s, but this growth rate had slowed considerably in the 1980s. CEO John Gilmartin was looking for ways to reenergize the organization and redirect its strategy... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Corporate Strategy; Restructuring; Growth and Development Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Business Processes; Organizational Structure

March 2007 (Revised February 2009)
Background Note

How to Crack a Strategy Case

By: Stephen P. Bradley, David J. Collis, Kevin P. Coyne, Andrei Hagiu, Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Jan W. Rivkin and John R. Wells

Addresses a common concern among strategy students: "How should I tackle this case?" Describes a process for diagnosing a strategic situation, then generating, evaluating, and choosing among strategic options. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Management Practices and Processes; Situation or Environment; Strategy; Valuation