Publications

July 1994
Background Note

Retail Expansion Strategies

By: David E. Bell

Describes issues that should be considered by a retailer who is thinking of expanding the number of stores from one or two to many. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Cognition and Thinking; Expansion; Retail Industry

June 1981 (Revised May 1988)
Case

L.L. Bean, Inc.: Corporate Strategy

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi

L.L. Bean, Inc., a Maine-based manufacturer and mail-order retailer of sporting goods and apparel, has grown from $3 million in sales (1967) to over $120 million (1980). Current projections predict an annual compounded growth of 25% through 1985. Management must decide... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Growth and Development; Growth Management; Production; Quality; Sales; Situation or Environment; Corporate Strategy; Internet and the Web; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

November 1994
Case

Citibank European Strategy & Organization

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Thomas W. Malnight

Examines strategic and organizational issues facing Citibank as it pursues a highly focused strategy in Europe in the face of increasing competition. Central in this consideration is the role of the European regional organization. View Details

Keywords: Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy; Competition; Banking Industry; Europe

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May 2017
Case

ATH Technologies: Making the Numbers

By: Robert Simons and Jennifer Packard

An exercise that takes students through five stages of growth in an entrepreneurial start-up in the medical devices industry: 1) founding, 2) growth, 3) push to profitability, 4) relocation process, and 5) takeover by new management. At each stage, students must... View Details

Keywords: Balancing Innovation And Control; Performance Evaluation; Strategy And Execution; Management Control Systems; Risk Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Profit; Geographic Location; Governance Controls; Innovation and Invention; Management Succession; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

February 2005 (Revised August 2008)
Case

Arcelik Home Appliances: International Expansion Strategy

The Turkish home appliances firm Arcelik is revisiting its growth strategy. Options for growth include continuing to promote currently owned brands in international markets, acquiring new brands, expanding OEM or private-label contracts, and/or diversifying into other... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry; Turkey

13 Feb 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: The Coal Dichotomy: Balancing Economic Growth and Decarbonization in India

across the country. The Coal Dichotomy: Balancing Economic Growth and Decarbonization in India When you hear the phrase “coal-fired power plant,” what images come to mind? Smokestacks View Details

April 1997 (Revised May 1997)
Case

Mercer Management Consulting's "Grow to Be Great" (A): The Growth Initiative

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In late 1994, James Down, member of Mercer's Executive Committee, has to decide whether or not he should push ahead with the writing and publication of a book on growth--at a time when the more successful business publications focus on reengineering and cost cutting.... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Organizational Culture; Business Growth and Maturation; Knowledge Management; Product Development; Information Publishing; Books; Consulting Industry; Publishing Industry

09 Nov 2017
News

Your Strategy Should Be a Hypothesis You Constantly Adjust

29 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Crafting Integrated Multichannel Retailing Strategies

Keywords: by Jie Zhang, Paul Farris, Tarun Kushwaha, John Irvin, Thomas J. Steenburgh & Barton Weitz; Retail

Teaching Interest

Advanced Management Program: Transforming Proven Leaders into Global Executives

By: Guhan Subramanian

As the world economy continues to evolve, so do the requirements for global leadership. The Advanced Management Program (AMP) is a powerful, transformational, and personalized learning experience that explores the best management practices... View Details

September 2011
Case

Driving Profitable Growth at US Auto Parts

USAP faces extraordinary opportunities to change the way that automobiles are serviced in the US by selling parts at fair prices though online channels. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Disruptive Innovation; Business Model; Internet and the Web; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Machinery and Machining; Cost Management; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; United States

December 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Seeding Growth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

By: Ray Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Djordjija Petkoski

By 2013, the agricultural sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) had long suffered from war, political instability, and dilapidated infrastructure. A country with 75 million inhabitants and the second lowest GDP per capita in the world in 2011, the DRC's... View Details

Keywords: National Agricultural Investment Plan (PNIA); Developing Agriculture; World Bank; Poverty Reduction; Special Economic Zones (SEZs); Small-scale Farmers; Agricultural Business Parks; Agriculture Reform; Agribusiness; Economic Growth; Infrastructure; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Congo, Democratic Republic of the

May 2018 (Revised July 2018)
Supplement

EY China (B): An Emerging Giant

By: Ashish Nanda, Das Narayandas and Lisa Rohrer

The case outlines how regional managing partner (RMP) Albert Ng steered Ernst & Young (EY) China through a period of significant growth from 2009, when it was the smallest of the Big Four firms in China, to 2017, by when it had become the second largest firm. Partners... View Details

Keywords: Professional Services; International Management; Big Four; Strategy And Execution; Emerging Market; Strategy; Growth Management; Leadership; Global Range; Emerging Markets; Competitive Strategy; Accounting Industry; China

February 2005 (Revised November 2012)
Case

Chuck's Wagon Inc.

By: Paul W. Marshall and Derek Lewis

This case describes the experiences of an HBS student as he takes on the challege of transitioning from an intern to a president at a small consumer packaged goods firm in Southern Texas. This HBS student is confronted with the opportunity to perform an operational and... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Goods; Operations Strategy; Executive Development; Strategy; Small Business; Production; Transformation; Management Skills; Financial Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Texas

1985
Book

Harvard Business Review: Essentials of Executive Development

By: L. A. Hill

Keywords: Higher Education; Management; Growth and Development

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13 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

How to Pick Managers for Disruptive Growth

hiring executives classify candidates by right-stuff attributes. They assume that successful managers can be identified using phrases such as "good communicator," "results oriented," "decisive," View Details

Keywords: by Michael Raynor

Web

Antitrust & Competition Policy - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

and new ideas—drive growth in productivity. Antitrust policy, however, remains focused on static goals. While the need for a vigorous antitrust policy is greater than ever, antitrust authorities must use new... View Details

October 2013
Article

The Strategy That Will Fix Health Care

By: Michael E. Porter and Thomas H. Lee

In health care, the days of business as usual are over. Around the world, every health care system is struggling with rising costs and uneven quality, despite the hard work of well-intentioned, well-trained clinicians. Health care leaders and policy makers have tried... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Value; Customer Focus and Relationships; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry

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February 2014
Case

Arcos Dorados: How to Lead and From Where

By: Krishna Palepu and Gustavo Herrero

Acros Dorados, an Argentina-based multinational, is facing new organizational challenges as it seeks to build on its recent turnaround, and grow in Brazil and Mexico. Woods Staton and his management team have to make some hard decisions on how to structure and lead the... View Details

Keywords: Execution; Restaurant; Consumer; Emerging Markets; Strategy; Latin America