Publications

October 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Transforming Singapore's Public Libraries (Abridged)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Roger H. Hallowell

The Singapore Public Library system was transformed from being mediocre at best to world class using information technology, progressive human-resources management, and marketing approaches unusual for government agencies. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Delivery; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Human Resources; Information Technology; Nonprofit Organizations; Public Administration Industry; Singapore

24 Apr 2014
News

Leading by example at a global company

Hiroshi Mikitani (MBA 1993), CEO of Rakuten, talks about leading a global company and the competitive advantages of speaking English. (Published April 2014) View Details

November 2006
Case

Introducing Frequent Flyer Programs

By: Dennis A. Yao

Allows students to explore the value to American Airlines of introducing a frequent flyer program in 1981. View Details

Keywords: Value; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Mathematical Methods; Game Theory; Competitive Advantage; Programs; Customers; Air Transportation Industry

March 1994 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Lotus Development Corp. in 1994

Jim Manzi, president and CEO of Lotus, must decide whether to position the firm as a provider of network applications or of the architectural programs required to support network applications. The decision will have lasting implications for Lotus's position in both... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Competitive Advantage; Applications and Software; Industry Structures; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

21 Aug 2000
Research & Ideas

Faculty Research Looks to Latin America

particular social welfare decisions. Current research: "Is Brazil on the Path of Sustainable Growth and Development?" Laura Alfaro Alfaro: "I want to look at competition for foreign direct investment through the eyes on... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

25 Apr 2012
What Do You Think?

How Will the “Age of Big Data” Affect Management?

for jobs in data analytics. In addition to less wasteful marketing efforts (we should be able to know, for example, "which half" of advertising is effective, thereby making an old marketing saw obsolete), they should produce more effective business View Details

Keywords: Re: James L. Heskett

Web

Influence of the China Trade and the Heard Legacy - A Chronicle of the China Trade

Research Business & Environment Business History Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning Entrepreneurship Faculty & Research Global Healthcare HBS Working Knowledge Institute for Strategy & View Details

2010
Working Paper

Agglomerative Forces and Cluster Shapes

By: William R. Kerr and Scott Duke Kominers

We model spatial clusters of similar firms. Our model highlights how agglomerative forces lead to localized, individual connections among firms, while interaction costs generate a defined distance over which attraction forces operate. Overlapping firm interactions... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Geographic Location; Patents; Labor; Industry Clusters; Industry Structures; Relationships; Competitive Advantage; Technology Industry; California

Read Now

01 Sep 2017
News

The Biggest Industry You’ve Never Heard Of

first thing you need to know is that competitive video gaming has been around a lot longer than you think. On November 10, 1980, five teenage boys faced off at the Warner Communications headquarters in Rockefeller Center in the middle of... View Details

Keywords: April White; illustration by Brian Stauffer; esports; Twitch; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

01 Mar 2008
News

Classroom Legend

Upon his return to HBS as a research associate in 1946, Christensen began working with Business Policy chair George Albert Smith to encourage students to examine companies’ policies and strategies in relation to the requirements of their... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Roland Christensen; George Albert Smith; Fritz J. Roethlisberger; Richard Meriam; Edmund P. Learned; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Management

November 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

CNOOC: Building a World-Class Energy Company

By: Joseph L. Bower, Nancy Hua Dai and Michael Shih-ta Chen

Fu Chengyu is the fifth CEO to lead China National Offshore Oil Company - an SOE founded in 1982 to exploit Chinese offshore deposits. In 2010 he is trying to decide how to drive further growth in a company that has grown 556 times in less than 30 years, with profits... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Leadership Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Organizational Culture; State Ownership; Competitive Strategy; Energy Industry; China

July 1996 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Atlantic Corporation-Abridged

By: Thomas R. Piper

A major paper company is considering acquiring the assets of a company that is threatened by a hostile takeover. The acquisition can be evaluated in terms of industry attractiveness, comparative advantage, and cash-flow analysis. View Details

Keywords: Projects; Cash Flow; Interest Rates; Valuation; Mathematical Methods; Horizontal Integration; Acquisition; Competitive Advantage; Aerospace Industry

May 2006 (Revised October 2007)
Case

EU Verdict Against Microsoft

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In 2004, following an investigation that began in 1998, the European Commission (EC) issued an antitrust judgment against Microsoft Corp., levying a record fine of 497 million euros ($613 million) and mandating changes of commercial behavior and bundling of Windows... View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Governance Compliance; Lawsuits and Litigation; Monopoly; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Software; European Union; United States

February 2000 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Pepcid AC: Racing to the OTC Market

By: Charles King III, Alvin J. Silk, Ernst R. Berndt and Lisa R. Klein

Pepcid management must decide whether to risk all in a race to be first in the over-the-counter market with a new heartburn remedy. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Markets; Research; Marketing Strategy; Product Development; Decision Choices and Conditions; Pharmaceutical Industry

Web

Georges F. Doriot: Educating Leaders, Building Companies

Clubs Faculty & Research Business & Environment Business History Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning Entrepreneurship Faculty & Research Global Healthcare HBS Working Knowledge Institute for Strategy & View Details

28 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

B2B Branding: Does it Work?

end consumers—with their aspirations and needs. That is a source of competitive advantage in driving their innovation agendas. Accenture sells nothing to consumers. But its "Performance Delivered" campaign, backed by the... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products

June 1991 (Revised May 2002)
Case

Barco Projection Systems (A): Worldwide Niche Marketing

Deals with the issue of niche marketing in a worldwide market. Barco Projection Systems makes video, data, and graphics projectors for the industrial market. They have traditionally been the performance leader. In August 1989, Sony Corp. introduced a higher performance... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Globalized Markets and Industries; Product Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry