Publications

June 2005 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Good Technology: Empowering Mobility Around the Globe (A)

By: Geoffrey G. Jones and Adam Minnick

Describes the global growth of Good Technology, a Silicon Valley start-up in wireless handheld computing software and service. Reviews the evaluation of wireless standards, the emergence of the world wireless market for voice and data, and the growth of the major firms... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Globalized Firms and Management; Partners and Partnerships; Expansion; Wireless Technology; Communications Industry; Communications Industry; California

10 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Is Groupon Good for Retailers?

accounts—a tactic that consumers have already used at many online retailers. And industry norms let consumers find ways around almost any rule intended to block multiple purchases. For example, even when consumers are limited to a single... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising; Technology

17 Feb 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Good about Quiet Rule-Breaking

surprised to learn that a student who worked in the U.S. pulp industry was asked by his co-workers to punch them out later than they actually finished work. Management apparently was aware of this practice and allowed it: a prime example,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

January 2017 (Revised October 2021)
Case

Delivering the Goods at Shippo

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Jeffrey F. Rayport and Olivia Hull

Laura Behrens Wu, CEO of software start-up Shippo, prepares her pitch for a Series A funding round following a successful seed round. Customer adoption of Shippo’s e-commerce dashboard application, which allows small and medium retailers to compare delivery rates... 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

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

July 2020
Case

Kathy Fish at Procter & Gamble: Navigating Industry Disruption by Disrupting from Within

By: Emily Truelove, Linda A. Hill and Emily Tedards

When Kathy Fish, Procter & Gamble’s Chief Research, Development & Innovation Officer, and a 40-year company veteran, stepped into her role in 2014, she was concerned that the world’s leading consumer packaged goods company had lost its capability to produce a steady... View Details

Keywords: Female Protagonist; Organizational Change; Organizational Behavior; Culture Change; Digital; Innovation; Lean Startup; Experimentation; Metrics; Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG); Leadership; Leading Change; Change Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Disruption; Innovation and Invention; Digital Transformation

November 2023
Case

From Imitation to Innovation: Zongshen Industrial Group (Abridged)

By: Willy Shih and Nancy Dai

Like other small shops based in Chongqing, China, Zongshen Industrial Group started by assembling motorcycles from "standard" parts. The quality of its early products was good enough for rural Chinese buyers, though wealthier consumers usually purchased premium... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Supply Chain; Product Positioning; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China

December 2012
Background Note

Are Daily Deals Good for Merchants?

By: Sunil Gupta, Timothy Keiningham, Ray Weaver and Luke Williams

In the relatively short time since Groupon was founded, the response to "daily deals"—services that promote businesses by marketing deeply discounted, pre-paid vouchers to an online subscriber base—has by all accounts been spectacular. Our evaluation of daily deals is... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Technology; Business Strategy; Digital; Marketing Strategy; Web Services Industry

20 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

On Good Scholarship, Goal Setting, and Scholars Gone Wild

Keywords: by Lisa D. Ordóñez, Maurice E. Schweitzer, Adam D. Galinsky & Max H. Bazerman

05 Aug 2010
What Do You Think?

What Is Customer Opinion Good For?

Jacoline Loewen pointed out that "Asking the customer's opinion is great for quality control check(s), but for creative strategy get beyond the client." Gerald Nanninga commented that "consumers are very good at explaining frustrations... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Technology

2009
Working Paper

Industry Equilibrium with Open Source and Proprietary Firms

By: Gaston Llanes and Ramiro de Elejalde

We present a model of industry equilibrium to study the coexistence of Open Source (OS) and Proprietary (P) firms. Two novel aspects of the model are: (1) participation in OS arises as the optimal decision of profit-maximizing firms, and (2) OS and P firms may (or may... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Sharing; Industry Structures; Open Source Distribution; Research and Development

Read Now

July 1993 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Edizione Holding, SpA: Sporting Goods (A)

By: Michael E. Porter

Keywords: Sports Industry

Research Summary

Career Histories and the Biotechnology Industry

Professor Higgins' other major project focuses on the consequences of individuals' career experiences for firms and industries. This second research stream centers on the careers of executives in the biotechnology industry.

Professor Higgins has written... View Details

May 11, 2017
Article

Good Riddance to Big Insurance Mergers

By: Leemore S. Dafny

Federal judges issued preliminary injunctions halting mergers of four of the five largest U.S. health insurers. These decisions provide more precedent to support challenges of mergers between competitors in health care markets—whether payers or providers. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Health Industry

September 1984 (Revised May 1985)
Teaching Note

Federated Industries (A) TN

By: Robert J. Dolan

Teaching Note for (9-585-104). View Details

Keywords: Supply and Industry; Market Entry and Exit; Price; Goods and Commodities; Competition; Consumer Products Industry; United States

2013
Article

Industry Equilibrium with Open-Source and Proprietary Firms

By: Gaston Llanes and Ramiro de Elejalde

We present a model of industry equilibrium to study the coexistence of open-source and proprietary firms. Two novel aspects of the model are (i) participation in open source arises as the optimal decision of profit-maximizing firms, and (ii) open-source and proprietary... View Details

Keywords: Open Source Distribution; Balance and Stability; Software; Knowledge Management; Supply and Industry; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; Cooperation

Fall 2024
Article

The Problem of Good Conduct Among Financial Advisers

By: Mark Egan, Gregor Matvos and Amit Seru

Households in the United States often rely on financial advisers for investment and savings decisions, yet there is a widespread perception that many advisers are dishonest. This distrust is not unwarranted: approximately one in fifteen advisers has a history of... View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Behavioral Finance; Trust; Financial Services Industry