Publications

November 2009
Case

VF Brands: Global Supply Chain Strategy

By: Gary P. Pisano and Pamela Adams

This case examines VF Brands global supply chain strategy. Historically, VF has used a combination of in-house manufacturing and traditional arms-length sourcing arrangements. At the time of the case, the company is considering a third approach to supplier relations... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Cooperation; Vertical Integration; Apparel and Accessories Industry

March 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Background Note

Activity-Based Costing and Capacity

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Discusses the use of budgeted rather than historical data in an activity-based costing (ABC) model and argues for calculating rates using practical capacity, not actual utilization. An ABC model need not be limited to analysis of historical data. When cost driver rates... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Accounting Industry

Teaching Interest

Strategy and Technology

Overview

This course explores the unique aspects of creating effective management and investment strategies for technology-intensive businesses. What are effective strategies for winning in markets with strong network effects? How should... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Technology

Research Summary

The Future of MBA Education

David Garvin, together with Srikant Datar and Patrick Cullen, is examining the future of MBA education and the evolving role of business schools. The research has several components: interviews with business school deans and business executives to identify the... View Details

August 2000 (Revised September 2002)
Exercise

Working with Your Shadow Partner in Analyzing IT Strategic Partnering

By: Richard L. Nolan

A team-based exercise allowing students to conduct a strategy analysis of the leading companies in the IT business. Involves searching on the web for both public information sources and company information sources. The teams work together to analyze the information and... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

September 1988 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Donner Co.

By: Roy D. Shapiro

The management of a small manufacturer of circuit boards faces a number of production and operations management problems. The first day on this case is used to analyze the production capacity of various stages in the process and to examine bottlenecks and key... View Details

Keywords: Information Management; Management; Management Practices and Processes; Production; Performance Capacity; Problems and Challenges; Semiconductor Industry

November 1986 (Revised August 1989)
Case

Paul Revere Insurance Co. (A)

The Paul Revere Insurance Co. lost its number one position in disability insurance, its main product, and formulated a strategy to regain the lead through a comprehensive quality improvement effort. The case describes the forces influencing the strategic direction of... View Details

Keywords: Quality; Performance Productivity; Competitive Advantage; Insurance Industry; United States

September 1999 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Deloitte & Touche (A): A Hole in the Pipeline

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Jane Roessner

Deloitte & Touche was losing talented women, and CEO Mike Cook wanted to stop the loss, especially as the accounting and consulting fields became more competitive. The firm commissioned an analysis of the situation; now it had to consider the results and develop a plan... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Organizational Culture; Accounting; Gender; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Loss; Change Management; Jobs and Positions; Resignation and Termination; Accounting Industry; United States

July 1972 (Revised September 1985)
Case

Saturday Evening Post (Revised)

Permits analysis of the need for adapting strategy to environmental change and for choosing among strategic alternatives in the light of new environmental opportunities. Management and board failures in these areas may be traced to some of the underlying causes,... View Details

Keywords: Journals and Magazines; Management Style; Values and Beliefs; Governing and Advisory Boards; Adaptation; Leadership Style; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

2024
Working Paper

Old Moats for New Models: Openness, Control, and Competition in Generative AI

By: Pierre Azoulay, Joshua L. Krieger and Abhishek Nagaraj

Drawing insights from the field of innovation economics, we discuss the likely competitive environment shaping generative AI advances. Central to our analysis are the concepts of appropriability—whether firms in the industry are able to control the knowledge generated... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; AI and Machine Learning; Open Source Distribution; Policy

Register to Read

July 2013
Case

Montreaux Chocolate USA: Are Americans Ready for Healthy Dark Chocolate?

By: John A. Quelch and Diane Badame

Andrea Torres, director of new product development at a high-end chocolate confectionery company, leads her team through a carefully sequenced program of market research to support the development and launch of a new product, healthy dark chocolate with fruit. This is... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Food; Consumer Behavior; Nutrition; Product Launch; Product Development; Food and Beverage Industry; Switzerland; United States

December 2020
Article

Multinational Firms and the Politics of International Trade in Multidisciplinary Perspective

By: Grace A. Ballor and Aydin B. Yildirim

From the technical analyses of wide ranges of scholars to the public discourse backlashes against globalization, there is a huge volume of work historicizing, quantifying, and problematizing the complex role of multinational corporations (MNCs) in international trade.... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Corporations; International Trade; Big Business; Economic Governance; Global Value Chains; Trade Policy; Corporate Regulation; Multinational Firms and Management; Trade; Policy; Governance; Globalization

2017
Working Paper

Structural Transformation: A Competitiveness-based View

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

Competitiveness research aims to enhance our understanding of the drivers of prosperity differences across locations and of policies that can sustainably raise a location’s prosperity level. The paper outlines key elements of the competitiveness framework and discusses... View Details

Keywords: Competitiveness; Cluster; Development; Growth; Economic Policy; Competition; Development Economics; Economic Growth; Policy

July 2010
Other Article

Clusters and Entrepreneurship

By: Mercedes Delgado, Michael E. Porter and Scott Stern

This article examines the role of regional clusters in regional entrepreneurship. We focus on the distinct influences of convergence and agglomeration on growth in the number of start-up firms as well as in employment in these new firms in a given region-industry.... View Details

Keywords: Economics

November 2010
Article

Beyond the Deal: Wage a 'Negotiation Campaign'

By: James K. Sebenius

While negotiation scholars primarily take the individual transaction as the "unit of analysis," this article characterizes the (new) concept of a "negotiation campaign" in which a number of individual deals must be put together, often on multiple "fronts," to realize a... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Deal; Management Practices and Processes; Value; Problems and Challenges; Business Startups; Sales; Partners and Partnerships; Venture Capital

October 1990 (Revised April 1999)
Case

Hewlett-Packard: Queensferry Telecommunications Division

Queensferry Telecommunications Division has recently implemented an activity-based cost system. The case explores several issues. First, the role of variance analysis in an activity-based system. Second, the way to determine cost drive rates. Third, the evaluation of... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Telecommunications Industry

March 2008 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Cadbury Schweppes: Capturing Confectionery (A)

By: David Collis, Toby Stuart and Troy Smith

In late 2002, global confectionery and beverage maker Cadbury Schweppes needed to decide whether or not to make an acquisition bid for Adams, an underperforming gum company which had been put up for sale by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Examining the decision from a... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Mergers and Acquisitions; Food and Beverage Industry

June 2008 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Cook Composites and Polymers Co.

By: Deishin Lee, Michael W. Toffel and Rachel Gordon

This case describes how a company improves resource efficiency and process quality in its manufacturing process by developing a waste by-product into a new product. The case describes how CCP cleans production equipment between batches using styrene, which becomes a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Business Processes; Performance Efficiency; Natural Environment; Wastes and Waste Processing; Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry; Manufacturing Industry

August 2001 (Revised June 2024)
Case

Operations at the Donner Company

By: H. Kent Bowen

A small manufacturer of circuit boards faces product and operations-management problems. This case analyzes the production capacity at various stages and examines bottlenecks and product flow decisions. A detailed look at the problems and a discussion of the tools and... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Production; Performance Capacity; Business Processes; Logistics; Electronics Industry; Electronics Industry