Publications

October 1992 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Stermon Mills Incorporated

A paper company is unable to compete on cost as a result of the installation of three very efficient paper machines by competitors. Prices for its products are falling by the day, and the company is making a loss. In the face of such competition, management feels that... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competition; Production; Pulp and Paper Industry

17 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 17, 2007

policies that promote localism. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/07-062.pdf The Speed of New Ideas: Trust, Institutions and the Diffusion of New Products Authors:Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Victor Calanog Abstract Trust in... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

The History of Beauty

the consumer products giant Unilever, published some years ago. This company had a long-established business in soap and other toiletries, but spent decades after World War II striving without great success to expand its business into... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics

02 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Indulgence vs. Regret: Investing in Future Memories

to convince consumers to buy luxury goods." The Swiss watchmaker Patek Philippe promotes the idea that its products can be handed down from one generation to the next, for example. With such a limitless time frame for enjoyment, and... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

21 Mar 2019
HBS Case

The Ferrari Way

made Ferrari a hot commodity among high-net-worth buyers. At the same time that competitors have increased production, Ferrari has intentionally limited production to create scarcity, something Thomke calls “deprivation marketing.” The... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Auto

April 2003 (Revised October 2004)
Case

Novartis: The Challenge of Success (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

Preliminary results from Phase 1 clinical trials of a newly developed compound, STI571, showed that 31 out of 31 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) had their blood counts return to normal. In the world of oncology, this was unheard of. This was the... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Health Testing and Trials; Innovation and Invention; Markets; Distribution; Product Development; Production; Problems and Challenges; Research; Research and Development; Complexity; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

Research Summary

How to Manage Customers for Increased Profits and Customer Satisfaction

By: Frances X. Frei

For many service firms, the customer plays an important role in contributing to the cost and/or quality of the service. This is very different than many manufacturing contexts, for example, where the firm has virtually complete control over product cost and quality. ... View Details

August 2024
Article

The Labor Market Effects of Loan Guarantee Programs

By: Jean-Noël Barrot, Thorsten Martin, Julien Sauvagnat and Boris Vallée

We investigate the labor market effects of a loan guarantee program targeting French SMEs during the financial crisis. Exploiting differences in regional treatment intensity in a border discontinuity design, we uncover a central trade-off for such interventions. While... View Details

Keywords: Labor; Financial Crisis; Policy; France

October 29, 2020
Article

How to Build a Digital Brand That Lasts

By: William Collis and David Collis

What makes a brand durable even as business models, technology and consumer behavior radically change? The key is that durable brands are adaptable brands—even legacy ones. To create durability, apply the MACE framework: 1) Mastery: Give your consumers... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Business Model; Adaptation; Framework

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February 2020
Case

Drift: The First Sales Hire

By: Mark Roberge

David Cancel and Elias Torres, the co-founders of Drift, scaled their business to thousands of users and hundreds of thousands in revenue. However, they were falling short of the annual revenue target they communicated to the board of directors. Having scaled the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Salesforce Management; Selection and Staffing

20 May 2016
Other Presentation

Competing to Change the World: Creating Shared Value

By: Michael E. Porter

The principle of shared value involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. Shared value is becoming an integral part of strategy and is defining a whole new set of best practices that companies... View Details

Keywords: Society; Shared Value; Value Creation; Strategy; Civil Society or Community

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18 May 2016
Other Presentation

Competing to Change the World: Creating Shared Value

By: Michael E. Porter

The principle of shared value involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. Shared value is becoming an integral part of strategy and is defining a whole new set of best practices that companies... View Details

Keywords: Society; Shared Value; Value Creation; Strategy; Civil Society or Community; United States

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November 2010
Article

The Litigation of Financial Innovations

By: Josh Lerner

This paper examines the litigation of patents relating to financial products and services. I show that these grants are being litigated at a rate 27 to 39 times greater than that of patents as a whole. The patents being litigated are disproportionately those issued to... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Lawsuits and Litigation; Finance

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January 2012 (Revised March 2012)
Case

Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA)'s Entry into the Retirement Market

By: Lauren Cohen and Christopher Malloy

This case examines Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA)'s decision to enter the retirement market with their new "Dimensional Managed DC" product, a complete retirement solution that aimed to provide investors with what they really wanted: the same standard of living in... View Details

Keywords: Retirement; Asset Management

February 2011
Case

Chegg: Textbook Rental Takes Flight

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, William A. Sahlman and Evan W. Richardson

In late 2010, Silicon Valley-based Chegg, the leading online college textbook rental company, is scaling rapidly. The case recounts Chegg's history from its origins as a distant competitor to Craigslist in college classified listings through a pivot into textbook... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Higher Education; Entrepreneurship; Books; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Service Operations; Renting or Rental; Online Technology; Education Industry; Service Industry; California

September 1986 (Revised April 1990)
Case

Mueller-Lehmkuhl GmbH

Mueller-Lehmkuhl sells apparel fasteners and rents attaching machines. It views these two products as effectively a single item and prices them accordingly, the fasteners at high profit and its attaching machines at a loss. The cost system allocates the cost of the... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Profit; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Japan; Germany

December 1998 (Revised January 2001)
Case

Acer, Inc.: Taiwan's Rampaging Dragon

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Anthony St. George

Describes the strategic, organizational, and management changes that led Acer from its 1976 startup to become the world's second-largest computer manufacturer. Outlines the birth of the company, the painful "professionalization" of its management, the plunge into... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Competitive Advantage; Global Strategy; Transformation; Computer Industry; Taiwan