Publications

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Research Summary

The Appropriability of Reputation in Franchises Selling Brands

We develop a multi-market model in which there are two kinds of firms: brands and small firms (or agents). Firms interact with short lived clients in the market for goods (or services) and with each other in the market for franchises. The model is one of adverse... View Details

February 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Apple Inc., 2008

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In January 2007, three decades after its incorporation, Apple Computer shed the second word in its name and became Apple Inc. With that move, the company signaled a fundamental shift away from its historic status as a vendor of the Macintosh personal computer (PC)... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Leadership; Industry Growth; Corporate Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry; Technology Industry

Research Summary

The Ownership of Deep Metaphors

By: Gerald Zaltman

Deep metaphors are basic orienting structures of human thought. They guide in subtle and overt ways how customers and managers process information about any product, service, or activity and event. It is essential for a firm to understand deep metaphors as they are... View Details

2018
Working Paper

Ratcheting, Competition, and the Diffusion of Technological Change: The Case of Televisions Under an Energy Efficiency Program

By: Tomomichi Amano and Hiroshi Ohashi

In differentiated goods markets with societal implications, quality standards are commonly implemented to avoid the under-provision of innovation. Firms have clear incentives to engage in strategic behavior because policymakers use market outcomes as a benchmark in... View Details

Keywords: Product Differentiation; Energy Efficiency Standards; Ratcheting; Diffusion Of Innovation; Technological Innovation; Competition; Quality; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy

SSRN

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June 2010
Case

Legendary Pictures & ABRY Partners

This case focuses on the review by the private equity firm ABRY Partners of an opportunity to invest in a film financing vehicle, Legendary Pictures. Before 2004, private equity firms had avoided co-investing with film studios in film productions because of their... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment; Film Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

2015
Other Unpublished Work

Do Managers Have a Role to Play in Sustaining the Institutions of Capitalism?

By: Rebecca Henderson and Karthik Ramanna

In a capitalist system based on free markets, do managers have responsibilities to the system itself? If they do, should these responsibilities shape their behavior when they engage in the political processes that structure the institutions of capitalism? The... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Lobbying; Leadership; Economic Systems; Managerial Roles; Business and Government Relations

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August 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Latam Airlines and COVID-19: Seeking Bankruptcy Protection in the United States

By: Laura Alfaro, Mauricio Larrain, Carlos Vilches and Sarah Jeong

On May 26, 2020, Latam Airlines became the largest airline in the world to be driven to bankruptcy by COVID-19. With a complex debt structure and international investor composition, the company decided to file for bankruptcy protection in the United States, which... View Details

Keywords: Airlines; Pandemic; Coronavirus Pandemic; Health Pandemics; Air Transportation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Capital Markets; Strategy; Latin America; Chile; United States

November 2022
Case

Ajax Health: A New Model for Medical Technology Innovation

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and Ben Creo

This case teaches key success factors for both startup and established MedTech firms. It examines how to structure a firm to maximize innovation and financial returns with organizational structures that better align the incentives for the different skill sets... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Success; Innovation Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Market Entry and Exit; Financial Strategy; Business Model; Partners and Partnerships; Entrepreneurship; Private Equity; Technology Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

October 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Module Note

Rethinking Positioning

By: Youngme E. Moon

Outlines the structure and content of a six-session module that introduces students to a nontraditional approach to positioning strategy. View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Brands and Branding; Marketing

21 Aug 2007
First Look

First Look: August 21, 2007

innovating managers will instead segment their markets by the different jobs that customers might use their products for, their probability of success will be much higher. Understanding the job is much more important than understanding... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

November 2022
Case

GE: A New Way Forward?

By: David J. Collis and Haisley Wert

One of the most iconic American companies, General Electric (GE) was founded in 1892 in New York state. Named among the original dozen companies on the Dow Jones index in 1896, it was the list’s most tenacious holdout, maintaining its “blue chip” stock status for over... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; GE; Conglomerate; Conglomerates; Corporate Strategy; Management; History; Leadership; Problems and Challenges; Change Management; Transformation; Strategic Planning; Value Creation; New York (state, US)

Robin is the George Gund Professor of Finance and Banking at Harvard Business School. He is past Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research (2021-2025), faculty director of the Behavioral Finance and Financial Stability project, chair of the Business... View Details

Keywords: banking; financial services

December 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Case

Ebro Puleva

By: David E. Bell, Antonio Garcia de Castro, Rocio Reina Paniagua and Mary Louise Shelman

Once Spain's largest sugar company, Ebro Puleva has been transformed through a series of international acquisitions into the world's largest package rice company and second largest pasta company. In 2009, Chairman Antonio Hernandez Callejas must decide how to proceed... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Crisis; Globalized Firms and Management; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Retail Industry; Spain

August 1993 (Revised May 1994)
Case

American Airlines' Value Pricing (A)

By: Alvin J. Silk

In April 1992, American Airlines launched "Value Pricing" -- a radical simplification of the complex pricing structure that had evolved over more than a decade following deregulation of the U.S. domestic airline industry. American expected that the new pricing... View Details

Keywords: Price; Marketing Channels; Consumer Behavior; Performance Expectations; Value Creation; Aerospace Industry

24 Jun 2014
First Look

First Look: June 24

effects of deregulation on firm size are significantly non-linear. The reallocation of market shares toward a small number of large firms and a large number of small firms is characterized as the "shrinking middle" in Indian... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 May 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Mobile Money Services-Design and Development for Financial Inclusion

Keywords: by Rajiv Lal & Ishan Sachdev; Banking

December 2022
Article

Conflicting Interests and the Effect of Fiduciary Duty: Evidence from Variable Annuities

By: Mark Egan, Shan Ge and Johnny Tang

We examine the variable annuity market to study conflicts of interest and the effect of fiduciary duty in brokerage markets. Insurers typically pay brokers higher commissions for selling more expensive annuities. Our results indicate that sales are four times as... View Details

Keywords: Variable Annuity; Brokers; Fiduciary Duty; Finance; Investment; Insurance; Conflict of Interests; Financial Services Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

SSRN

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Research Summary

Quality in Service Operations

Rogelio Oliva is interested in understanding how the operational characteristics of service delivery processes interact with human resource and marketing policies to determine the long term productivity, quality, and profitability of a service operation. Specifically,... View Details

November 2004 (Revised June 2005)
Background Note

Designing Products and Processes: Aligning Hierarchical Problem Levels with Problem-Solving Team Forms

All complex systems have four distinct hierarchical design levels: system objectives, architecture, interfaces, and components. Each level has a distinct design question associated with it. Distinguishing among these levels and understanding the questions associated... View Details

Keywords: Design; Complexity