Publications

September 2019 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Facebook Fake News in the Post-Truth World

By: John R. Wells, Carole A. Winkler and Benjamin Weinstock

In August 2019, Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, was surrounded by controversy. The first major storm of protest followed the surprise election of Donald Trump as President of the United States on November 8, 2016; many put the blame at the door of fake... View Details

Keywords: Facebook; Fake News; Mark Zuckerberg; Donald Trump; Algorithms; Social Networks; Partisanship; Social Media; App Development; Instagram; WhatsApp; Smartphone; Silicon Valley; Office Space; Digital Strategy; Democracy; Entry Barriers; Online Platforms; Controversy; Tencent; Agility; Social Networking; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Computer Games; Mobile Gaming; Messaging; Monetization Strategy; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Ventures; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Headquarters; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Trends; Communication; Communication Technology; Forms of Communication; Interactive Communication; Interpersonal Communication; Talent and Talent Management; Crime and Corruption; Voting; Demographics; Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Moral Sensibility; Values and Beliefs; Initial Public Offering; Profit; Revenue; Geography; Geographic Location; Global Range; Local Range; Country; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government and Politics; International Relations; National Security; Political Elections; Business History; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Information Management; Information Publishing; News; Newspapers; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Knowledge Dissemination; Human Capital; Law; Leadership Development; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Management Style; Management Systems; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Marketing Channels; Social Marketing; Network Effects; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Marketplace Matching; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Monopoly; Media; Product Development; Service Delivery; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Groups and Teams; Networks; Rank and Position; Opportunities; Behavior; Emotions; Identity; Power and Influence; Prejudice and Bias; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Status and Position; Trust; Society; Civil Society or Community; Culture; Public Opinion; Social Issues; Societal Protocols; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Diversification; Expansion; Horizontal Integration; Segmentation; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Information Infrastructure; Valuation; Advertising Industry; Communications Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Industry; Information Technology Industry; Journalism and News Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Service Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Video Game Industry; United States; California; Sunnyvale; Russia

10 Sep 2020
News

Jane Fraser Named CEO of Citi, Breaking Wall Street’s Glass Ceiling

“I have worked with Jane for many years and am proud to have her succeed me,” Corbat said in a statement. “With her leadership, experience and values, I know she will make an outstanding CEO.” Fraser is currently in charge of View Details

28 Aug 2015
Blog Post

What is the HBS Health Care Initiative?

Health care is on everyone’s mind these days. With so many challenges around lowering the cost of health care delivery while increasing quality and people’s access to care, come opportunities for new ideas,... View Details

January 2022
Article

Pushed into a Crowd: Repositioning Costs, Resources, and Competition in the RTE Cereal Industry

By: Young Hou and Dennis Yao

This paper exploits a natural experiment involving self-regulation in the ready-to-eat (RTE) breakfast cereal industry to evaluate the performance impact of product repositioning. It then examines how a product's brand equity value declines with repositioning distance... View Details

Keywords: Positioning; Resources; Brand Equity; Competitive Dynamics; Non-market Strategy; Regulation; Repositioning; Product Positioning; Performance Evaluation; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

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Article

Competition for Scarce Resources

By: Peter Eso, Volker Nocke and Lucy White

We model a downstream industry where firms compete to buy capacity in an upstream market that allocates capacity efficiently. Although downstream firms have symmetric production technologies, we show that industry structure is symmetric only if capacity is sufficiently... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Natural Environment; Technology; Production; Business Cycles; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost; Demand and Consumers; Industry Structures; Performance Capacity

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Read Now

07 Oct 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Securing Online Advertising: Rustlers and Sheriffs in the New Wild West

Keywords: by Benjamin G. Edelman; Advertising

November 2003 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Weetman Pearson and the Mexican Oil Industry (A)

By: Geoffrey Jones and Lisa Bud-Freirman

Taught in the MBA Evolution of Global Business course, a business history course on the growth of multinationals. Explores the role of the British entrepreneur Weetman Pearson in developing the Mexican oil industry before 1914. Shows this entrepreneur's evolution from... View Details

Keywords: History; Risk and Uncertainty; Non-Renewable Energy; Growth Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Developing Countries and Economies; Energy Industry; Mexico

01 Mar 2012
News

How to Close the Health Gap

where innovation is winning the day. An increasing number of biotech start-ups are setting up shop in developing countries, and VC firms are chasing them. In Hyderabad, India,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

July 2015
Article

BYOB: How Bringing Your Own Shopping Bags Leads to Treating Yourself, and the Environment

By: Uma R. Karmarkar and Bryan Bollinger

As concerns about pollution and climate change have become more central in public discourse, shopping with reusable grocery bags has been strongly promoted as environmentally and socially conscious. In parallel, firms have joined policy makers in using a variety of... View Details

Keywords: Grocery Shopping; Reusable Bags; Licensing; Priming; Goals; Hedonic; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Environmental Sustainability; Retail Industry

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April 2002 (Revised May 2005)
Case

GE's Digital Revolution: Redefining the E in GE

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Meg Glinska

This case details the implementation of the e-business initiative--the last of Jack Welch's four company-wide strategic thrusts. First, it summarizes the 20-year change process that Welch led, detailing the initiatives he put in place. It then traces how Gerry Podesta,... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Performance Effectiveness; Corporate Strategy; Internet and the Web

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Pioneer Natural Resources: Enhancing the Capital Return Strategy with Variable Dividends

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Elisabeth Kempf and E. Scott Mayfield

In February 2021, Scott Sheffield, the CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources (an independent oil and gas company based in Texas), was considering the possibility of enhancing the firm’s capital return strategy by introducing a variable dividend tied to cash flows in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Finance; Cash Flow; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Value Creation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment Return; Profit; Policy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Energy Industry; United States; North America; Texas

28 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

Microfinance: A Way Out for the Poor

becoming a staff member. But I ended up retiring from Wall Street and being the president and CEO of ACCION International, which I then ran for seven years." In 2000 he handed View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

February 2018
Case

EmQuest: Travel Distribution in the Digital Era

By: Karim R. Lakhani and Gamze Yucaoglu

EmQuest, Emirates Group’s travel distribution company, must decide what to do with its contract with the global distribution system it uses, Sabre. Since its founding in 1988, EmQuest was servicing travel agents in the MENA region by providing a connection to over 400... View Details

Keywords: UAE; Decision; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Strategy; Value Creation; Change Management; Emerging Markets; For-Profit Firms; Competitive Advantage; Travel Industry; United Arab Emirates

November 2011 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Jaipur Literature Festival — Beyond the Festival Template

By: Tarun Khanna, Dennis A. Yao, Hillary Greene and Amrita Chowdhury

Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), dubbed "the greatest literary show on earth" was an annual event held in late January at the Diggi Palace in Jaipur. JLF provided a platform for international authors and Indian language authors from the subcontinent to engage in a... View Details

Keywords: Literature; Festival; Economic Development; Social Development; Literacy; Development Economics; Social Entrepreneurship; Organizational Structure; Social Issues; India

01 Dec 2016
News

The US Patent System’s Uncertain Fate

(Illustration by Peter Arkle) What is really at stake when we talk about patents? Lauren Cohen: Innovation is the future of the US economy. Given that View Details

Keywords: April White

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Merchants to Multinationals: British Trading Companies in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

opening up the shareholding of the parent trading company, but by floating separate 'free-standing' firms on the... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones

22 Oct 2018
Blog Post

HBS Marketing Club Presents: The Brand Summit

our Brand Summit as well! Many first-year students use the Brand Summit as an opportunity to explore summer internship opportunities and network with professionals from some of View Details

Keywords: All Industries

April 2007 (Revised June 2008)
Background Note

AmorePacific

By: Elie Ofek and Kerry Herman

Describes the dominant firm in the Korean cosmetics market up to the mid-2000s. Gives background on AmorePacific's historical evolution, its current brands, and the competition it faces from local and international players. Also provides information on the market... View Details

Keywords: History; Competition; Distribution Channels; Brands and Branding; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; South Korea