Publications

Find at Harvard

October 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Supplement

BlackRock (D): Organizing for the Future

By: Ranjay Gulati, Jan W. Rivkin and Aldo Sesia

This (D) case is a supplement to HBS case no. 717-404 “BlackRock (A): Selling the Systems?” View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competition; Information Technology; Asset Management; United States

February 2017 (Revised March 2018)
Case

BIM: Finding New Ways to Grow

By: Michael Chu and Gamze Yucaoglu

BIM, Turkey’s giant retailer with a hard-discount model for the popular segments, must decide whether to launch a brand-new format challenging the modern supermarkets. Since its founding in 1995, BIM has adhered to a business model based on a relentless focus on costs... View Details

Keywords: Turkey; Decision; Emerging Markets; Private Sector; For-Profit Firms; Business Model; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Growth and Development Strategy; Value Creation; Change Management; Decisions; Growth Management; Retail Industry; Turkey

March 2007
Teaching Note

Lobbying for Love? Southwest Airlines and the Wright Amendment (TN)

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee

Teaching note to 707470. View Details

Keywords: Business Headquarters; Competition; Opportunities; Law; Business and Government Relations; Air Transportation Industry; Texas

December 1998 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Trilogy (A)

Trilogy is a rapidly growing company that is taking a highly unusual approach to capturing an enterprise software market (the "selling chain") that is also the target of much larger competitors. The case offers students an opportunity to assess the company's methods,... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Competition; Growth Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Software; Web Services Industry

September 2017 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Tempur Sealy International (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle

This case explores the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms enjoyed a mutually beneficial and commercially prosperous... View Details

14 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 14

Lady Gaga, and LeBron James? Which strategies give leaders in film, television, music, publishing, and sports an edge over their rivals? In this book, drawing on my case studies and other research on the worlds of media and sports, I... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 1998
Case

NHL 1998: "The Coolest Game in Nagano"

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Kirk A. Goldman

Explores the National Hockey League's participation in the 1998 Winter Olympics, for which a "winter break" was taken from the regular schedule. The benefits and risks associated with the NHL's Olympic participation are one specific focus. In addition, the case address... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Opportunities; Competitive Strategy; Expansion

September 2007 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Suncor in the Oil Sands Industry

By: Forest L. Reinhardt and Nazli Uludere

Describes the economics, technology, and politics of the oil sands industry, focusing on one of the industry's leading firms. Oil sands deposits in Alberta represent a potentially vast reserve of hydrocarbons, but the extraction, refining, and transportation challenges... View Details

Keywords: Economics; Non-Renewable Energy; Government and Politics; Supply and Industry; Natural Environment; Competitive Strategy; Environmental Sustainability; Energy Industry; Alberta

07 Sep 2020
Research & Ideas

How to Help Small Businesses Survive COVID's Next Phase

America small-business owners moved quickly when COVID-19 started shuttering shops in March. Fine dining restaurants shifted to takeout. Book shops introduced curbside pickup. Gyms offered classes online. Business owners, it seemed, just needed to face this... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Food & Beverage; Service

2018
Working Paper

Product Quality and Entering Through Tying: Experimental Evidence

Dominant platform businesses often develop products in adjacent markets to complement their core business. One common approach used to gain traction in these adjacent markets has been to pursue a tying strategy. For example, Microsoft pre-installed Internet Explorer... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Competitive Strategy; Product Marketing; Quality

SSRN

February 2007 (Revised April 2007)
Case

Banca Regional Andino: Facing the Globalization of Microfinance

By: Michael Chu and Jean Hazell

Three leading Latin American microfinance banks join forces to face the new challenges of globalization, competition, and politics while common shareholder ACCION investments considers its options. From an initial project to share costs in the revamping of their IT... View Details

Keywords: History; Microfinance; Competitive Strategy; Globalization; Problems and Challenges; Growth and Development; Bolivia; Ecuador; Peru

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Web

Ownership (OWN): Define Success, Create Advantage, Build to Last, Engage Effectively - Course Catalog

Within the constraints of what is legally allowed, these owners define the main parameters by which the company operates, for instance: what success means for the business, how decisions are made, and what strategic options are on/off the table. Owners can push the... View Details

Profile

Tessa Vacher-Desvernais

literature, languages, and creative arts. When Tessa completed her master’s degree at the ESSEC Graduate Business School, she began her career with another hybrid: luxury brands eager to embrace modernity. She was selected for a View Details

Keywords: Retail/Hospitality; Financial Services

Profile

Nathalie du Preez

Finding leadership she can take home Nathalie suspected that with its emphasis on leadership and the diversity of its student body, HBS would give her the multidimensional insight she sought. Her first visit confirmed her expectations. "I attended a View Details

April 2013
Teaching Plan

Marks and Spencer: Plan A (TP)

By: David Bell and Michael Norris

Teaching Note for 509029. View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Strategic Planning; Environmental Sustainability; Competitive Advantage; Retail Industry

Web

Tough Tech Ventures - Course Catalog

strategies and tactics for managing risk vs. reward. Historically, most entrepreneurship courses (at HBS, and elsewhere) disproportionately focus on consumer- and /or software-centric business model and product experimentation tools... View Details

01 Sep 2007
News

How to Take a Stand On UBS and Climate Change

financial services companies as it determines its stand on a matter of increasing public prominence. Oberholzer-Gee teaches the case in Strategies Beyond the Market, a second-year elective that focuses on the interplay between business... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Finance

November 1992 (Revised December 1994)
Case

BEA Associates: Enhanced Equity Index Funds

By: Andre F. Perold

BEA's enhanced index fund product uses derivatives and cash market securities to find the most efficient way to "track an index." The considerations involve transaction costs, custodial fees, withholding taxes on dividends, and fees from securities lending. In this... View Details

Keywords: Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Investment Portfolio; Management; Investment Banking; Competitive Advantage; Cost Management