Publications

January 2015 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Rebranding Godiva: The Yıldız Strategy

By: Rohit Deshpande and Esel Çekin

This case concerns Yıldız Holding’s acquisition of Godiva Chocolatier from its previous owner, Campbell Soup, and its salient strategy in preserving Godiva’s “made in Belgian” brand position. Provenance Paradox, a problem faced by companies in emerging countries trying... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Internationalization; Provenance Paradox; Acquisitions; Positioning; Innovation; Customer-centricity; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Emerging Markets; Product Positioning; Change Management; Innovation and Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; North America; Turkey; Japan

Program

Leading in the Digital Era

Summary New digital technologies, data analytics, and new applications of artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly changing the expectations of customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Though many of today's executives are neither technology experts nor digital... View Details

October 2007
Article

Grist: A Strategic Approach to Climate

By: Michael E. Porter and Forest Reinhardt

Climate change will affect everything businesses do, as government efforts to mitigate carbon emissions cause their prices to rise steeply. This special edition of Forethought takes a hard-nosed look at the risks and opportunities of climate change. Michael E. Porter... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Leadership; Logistics; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance Improvement; Climate Change; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy

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2013
Working Paper

Financial vs. Strategic Buyers

By: Marc Martos-Vila, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Jarrad Harford

This paper introduces the impact of debt misvaluation on merger and acquisition activity. Debt misvaluation helps explain the shifting dominance of financial acquirers (private equity firms) relative to strategic acquirers (operating companies). The effects of... View Details

Keywords: Misvaluation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity

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May 2022
Case

Maestro Pizza: Coming in Hot!

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Fares Khrais

Maestro Pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of... View Details

16 Feb 2012
News

Bank stocks rally despite Moody's gloom

November 1995
Case

Ernst & Young United Kingdom (B)

By: John J. Gabarro and Samantha Graff

Discusses progress made by mid-1995 on the three challenges identified by the change leadership at the end of 1993. First, it describes the decision-making process that resulted in a general consensus to reorganize the huge London office, and it highlights certain... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Leading Change; Management Teams; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Problems and Challenges; Decision Making; Adaptation; Perspective; United Kingdom; London

2020
Working Paper

Prioritarianism and Optimal Taxation

By: Matti Tuomala and Matthew C. Weinzierl

Prioritarianism has been at the center of the formal approach to optimal tax theory since its modern starting point in Mirrlees (1971), but most theorists’ use of it is motivated by tractability rather than explicit normative reasoning. We characterize analytically and... View Details

Keywords: Prioritarianism; Optimal Taxation; Utilitarianism; Redistribution; Inverse-optimum; Taxation; Theory

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Sandra J. Sucher

Sandra Sucher, professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, is an internationally recognized trust researcher. The Power of Trust, her third book, is based on two decades of global research on how companies build stakeholder trust and how,... View Details

Keywords: apparel; banking; brokerage; clothing; fashion; financial services; furniture; hotels ＆ motels; retail financial services; retailing; service industry

Alvin E. Roth

Al Roth is the George Gund Professor of Economics and Business Administration in the Department of Economics at Harvard University, and in the Harvard Business School. His research, teaching, and consulting interests are in game theory, experimental economics, and... View Details

Keywords: e-commerce industry; education industry; health care; information; internet; legal services

09 Jun 2009
First Look

First Look: June 9

a task that requires information on companies' emissions levels, risks, and reduction opportunities. This paper explores the conditions under which firms participate in this endeavor. Building on theories of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

September 1992 (Revised July 1994)
Case

MEM Company, Inc.: English Leather

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Laura Goode

In 1992, the president of MEM (a producer of personal care products, including men's fragrances) considered a redeployment of field sales efforts and changes in sales compensation policies. Any changes, moreover, must consider the context of strategic decisions... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry