Business Strategy - Publications - Faculty & Research

April 1998 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Hamilton Financial Investments: A Franchise Built on Trust

Provides a vehicle for students to evaluate risk management in the fast-paced mutual funds industry. A new risk manager has been hired to install new management controls and procedures. A series of decisions will determine how much business and franchise risk the... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Forecasting and Prediction; Investment Funds; Performance Evaluation; Corporate Strategy; Change Management; Financial Services Industry; Banking Industry

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11 Jan 2021
Research & Ideas

Is A/B Testing Effective? Evidence from 35,000 Startups

inexperience in how to apply the methodologies. Another possibility? Their ideas just weren’t that good. “I think one of the coolest findings in our paper is that experimentation doesn’t necessarily drive startup growth,” says Rembrand Koning, an assistant professor in... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

25 Jul 2006
First Look

First Look: July 25, 2006

pursued flexible business strategies beyond its "core" business, even distributing condoms. It maintained a high standard of corporate ethics. It was effective at building contacts with local View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

November 2009 (Revised June 2012)
Supplement

Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (B)

By: Thierry Porte, Rawi E. Abdelal, Laura Alfaro and Jonathan Schlefer

In 1997, amidst Japan's ongoing financial problems, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto sought to restructure the financial sector to make it more transparent and globally competitive. He hoped that this effort, dubbed the "Big Bang" after the British financial... View Details

Keywords: History; Adaptation; Policy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Financial Crisis; Business and Government Relations; Macroeconomics; Restructuring; Global Strategy; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Japan

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25 Jan 2022
News

Baseball’s Next Competitive Advantage Isn’t Analytics. It’s Culture.

04 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

Scrap the Big New Year's Resolutions. Make 6 Simple Changes Instead.

the world at large. Their ideas recently appeared in the article Humanizing Strategy in the journal Long Range Planning. Here, Takeuchi explains how business leaders can use the six practices to guide their... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

19 Dec 2005
Research & Ideas

Public Education Goes to School

developed the idea that to be effective in driving student outcomes, a district-wide strategy for improvement must also start there, and then drive decisions in the various organizational elements in the PELP Coherence Framework. Q: What... View Details

Keywords: by Mallory Stark; Education

14 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Water, Electricity, and Transportation: Preparing for the Population Boom

numbers in mind, several of the planet's top city planning and environmental business experts gathered at Harvard Business School earlier this month to discuss how to support the inevitable population... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

31 Jul 2015
Research & Ideas

The Faculty Reader: Who is Reading What This Summer?

culture, leadership, and strategy of Uber in Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber. Blake J. Harris covers a classic business battle in Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation;... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Information; Publishing

2013
Dissertation

Designing Freemium: A Model of Consumer Usage, Upgrade, and Referral Dynamics

By: Clarence Lee, Vineet Kumar and Sunil Gupta

Abstract. Over the past decade "freemium" (free + premium) has become the dominant business model among internet start-ups for its ability to acquire and monetize a large install-base with limited marketing resources. Freemium is a hybrid strategy where a firm offers... View Details

Keywords: Discrete-Continuous Choice Dynamic Structural Models; Bayesian Estimation; Word-of-Mouth; Digital Services; Freemium; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Motivation and Incentives; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Reference Programs; Business Startups

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2016
Working Paper

Decision-Making by Precedent and the Founding of American Honda (1948 – 1974)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and John Heilbron

American Honda was founded in 1959 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Honda Motor Company to facilitate sales and distribution in the United States. The details of American Honda’s early history have long served as evidence in debates among scholars and practitioners... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Subsidiaries; Decision Making; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States

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Business, Government & the International Economy Curriculum - Faculty & Research

unit work with students across several doctoral programs. Detailed curriculum information for each doctoral program associated with this unit can be found on the doctoral programs website: PhD in Business Economics PhD in View Details

04 Apr 2011
HBS Case

Reinventing the National Geographic Society

TV, cable programming—but is still trying to figure out the best strategy for integrating them. Despite repeated structural changes, employees still operate in silos. In short, the National Geographic case is fertile learning ground for... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Publishing

Oct 20 2016
Interview

Taking a Holistic View of Negotiation

10 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

Has #MeToo Changed How Hollywood Hires?

Business School and Zhang is Assistant Professor of Strategy and Innovation at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. Although the study results show the #MeToo movement has prompted meaningful... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Media & Broadcasting

November 2009 (Revised June 2012)
Case

Crisis and Reform in Japan's Banking System (A)

By: Thierry Porte, Rawi E. Abdelal, Laura Alfaro and Jonathan Schlefer

In 1997, amidst Japan's ongoing financial problems, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto sought to restructure the financial sector to make it more transparent and globally competitive. He hoped that this effort, dubbed the "Big Bang" after the British financial... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Capital; Banks and Banking; Crisis Management; Business and Government Relations; Banking Industry; Japan

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02 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Careers: Cloud Kitchens Are Now Serving

kitchens can test new restaurant concepts, menu items, and seasonal brands (for example, a salad brand in the summer) more easily without costly investments. It is still an emergent business model with lots of variations. Cloud kitchen... View Details

Keywords: by Lena Ye and Geoffrey Jones; Food & Beverage

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care; Startup; Brand Equity; Brand Valuation; Brand Value; Brand Storytelling; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Japan

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16 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

The Outside-In Approach to Customer Service

According to a new book by Harvard Business School's Ranjay Gulati, it is customer-centric firms—those with a so-called outside-in perspective—that are most resilient during turbulent markets. An outside-in perspective means that... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products