Publications

April 2001 (Revised February 2002)
Case

Level (3) Communications in 2001: The 'Pivotal Year'

Level (3) is one of the most distinctive of the new "fiber backbone" start-ups in the year 2001. Unlike its competitors, Level (3) has built its fiber network--and organization--in such a way that it should be able to utilize future generations of technologically... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Risk Management; Industry Growth; Competitive Advantage; Telecommunications Industry; United States

October 1999
Case

CIBC Corporate and Investment Banking (C): 1997-1999

By: Joseph L. Bower and Michael Raynor

By 1997 the turnaround of CIBC's troubled investment bank, Wood Gundy, and its integration with corporate banking activities was complete. Marketplace results were encouraging, but scuttled mergers and tumultuous succession issues made the future uncertain. View Details

Keywords: Integration; Investment Banking; Success; Risk and Uncertainty; Management Succession; Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Services Industry

22 Jun 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Iterative Coordination and Innovation

Keywords: by Sourobh Ghosh and Andy Wu

February 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Supplement

Avaya (D): Early Results of the Demand Generation Initiative

Avaya's top management wants to improve demand generation. This requires an improvement in the relationship between Sales and Marketing. This case series (Avaya (A)-(D)) walks the student through each phase of this process. The (A) case begins with background on the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Cooperation; Sales

February 2002 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Volvo Trucks (A): Penetrating the U.S. Market

By: Michael E. Porter and Orjan Solvell

Volvo Trucks has worked on a global strategy for several decades. Beginning in the mid-1970s, the company decided to enter the largest market for trucks: the United States. Over time, the company has struggled to get a significant share of the U.S. market and at the... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Five Forces Framework; Truck Transportation; Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Europe

20 Oct 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Workshop Encourages Corporate Reporting on Environmental and Social Sustainability

their own self-interest? Supporters say integrated reporting brings benefits to companies, including better risk management, development of strategies for long-term sustainability, and positioning of the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Accounting

March 2013
Other Article

Redesigning Primary Care: A Strategic Vision to Improve Value by Organizing Around Patients' Needs

By: Michael E. Porter, Erika A. Pabo and Thomas H. Lee

Primary care in the United States currently struggles to attract new physicians and to garner investments in infrastructure required to meet patients' needs. We believe that the absence of a robust overall strategy for the entire spectrum of primary care is a... View Details

Keywords: Health

April 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

NTT DoCoMo, Inc.: Mobile FeliCa

By: Stephen P. Bradley, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Masako Egawa and Akiko Kanno

Managers of DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile phone company, are formulating a strategy for mobile FeliCa: contactless integrated circuits that will be built into DoCoMo phones, allowing them to be used for quick and convenient retail or commuter fare payments, building... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Expansion; Alliances; Wireless Technology; Information Technology Industry; Communications Industry; Japan

March 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co., Ltd.

By: Robert G. Eccles, Catherine Zhang, Cheng-hua Tzeng, Liang Cheng and Penelope Rossano

This case is about the establishment, growth, and direction of the Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park ("Zhangjiang Park"), which is located in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai. Considered to be one of the most competitive hi-tech industry clusters in China, the combined... View Details

Keywords: Industry Clusters; Information Technology; Capital Markets; Urban Development; Buildings and Facilities; Competition; Business Strategy; Governing and Advisory Boards; Technology Industry; Real Estate Industry; Shanghai

March 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Bertelsmann AG

By: Bharat N. Anand, Michael G. Rukstad and Christoph Kostring

On July 28, 2002, Bertelsmann announced the firing of its CEO, Thomas Middelhoff, in a move that surprised industry observers, analysts, and many employees. Bertelsmann, a privately held company headquartered in Germany, was one of the largest global media... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Corporate Strategy; Entertainment; Media; Change Management; Integration; Resignation and Termination; Private Ownership; Initial Public Offering; Business Units; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Publishing Industry; Music Industry; Germany

April–June 2014
Article

Firmes mondialisées et imaginaire de la beauté

By: G. Jones

This article highlights the role of business enterprises as influences on ideals of human beauty. The homogenization of such ideals has been one of the most noteworthy features of globalization over the last two centuries. This study suggests that firms were both... View Details

Keywords: American History; Economic History; Business History; Globalization; Entrepreneurship; History; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Europe; North and Central America

November 2019 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Shiseido Acquires Drunk Elephant

By: Jill Avery

On October 7, 2019, the Shiseido Group announced that it would acquire clean skincare brand Drunk Elephant for $845 million, a valuation of 8.5 times sales. Did Shiseido pay too much or too little for this brand asset? How much was the Drunk Elephant brand worth and... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care; Startup; Brand Equity; Brand Valuation; Brand Value; Brand Storytelling; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Japan

20 Oct 2010
Op-Ed

Export Competitiveness: Reversing the Logic

2000). But it is also politically harder to sustain then, for example, the Thai "dual track" strategy with growth impulses for both exporting and local activities that turned out to generate broad-based public support (Looney,... View Details

Keywords: by Christian Ketels

April 2020
Case

Promoting Land and Nature Jerky

By: John A. Quelch and Katherine B. Hartman

Kathy Ayers, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Land and Nature (L&N) Jerky Company, needs to make a recommendation about L&N's 2020 promotional spending. L&N's CEO, Tim Ryan, wants her to calculate different scenarios using historical data to determine... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Spending; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Food and Beverage Industry

August 2016 (Revised June 2018)
Teaching Note

VMD Medical Imaging Center

By: Susanna Gallani and Eva Labro

VMD Medical Imaging Center addresses a number of issues related to the role of costing systems in organizations and the challenges impacting their design and maintenance as the organization grows and develops over time. This teaching note begins by offering detailed... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Cost Management; Management Systems

August 1999 (Revised March 2000)
Case

Required Course Sucommittee: A Sentence from Hell , The

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Describes a faculty team at a leading business school that was charged with developing an integrated, cross-discipline curriculum. Shows how and why integrated projects like this are so difficult to manage. View Details

Keywords: Curriculum and Courses; Integration; Groups and Teams; Problems and Challenges

13 Jun 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Handshaking Promotes Cooperative Dealmaking

Keywords: by Juliana Schroeder, Jane Risen, Francesca Gino & Michael I. Norton

October 16, 2019
Article

Where ESG Fails

By: Michael E. Porter, George Serafeim and Mark Kramer

We are entering a new stage of understanding of the linkage between investment performance and social impact. Previous approaches, such as socially responsible investing and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) screening, have obscured the opportunities for... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Sustainability; Environment; Social Impact; Impact Investing; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; ESG Reporting; Shared Value; Environmental Sustainability; Social Issues; Investment; Value; Strategy