Publications

Educators

January 2006 (Revised December 2006)
Module Note

Introduction to International Strategy

By: David J. Collis and Jordan I. Siegel

Provides an overview framework for understanding international strategy. Observes that international strategy draws on much of the same theory as corporate strategy. The same tests that can be applied to justify expansion across businesses--the better off and ownership... View Details

Keywords: International Strategy; Multinational Corporations; Global Strategy

January 1996 (Revised May 1996)
Teaching Note

Berkshire Partners TN

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and David J. Collis

Teaching Note for (9-391-091). View Details

May–June 1998
Article

Creating Corporate Advantage

By: David J. Collis and Cynthia A. Montgomery

Keywords: Competitive Advantage

February 1987 (Revised July 1988)
Background Note

Machine Tool Industry and Industrial Policy--1955-82

By: George C. Lodge and David J. Collis

02 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 2

achieve actionable transparency by embedding their design in a centralized system with a shared design language and near-real-time updating, where everyone with an interest in improving the design has the right and the means to act on it.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

April 2008 (Revised July 2011)
Module Note

Strategic Renewal

By: David J. Collis and Jan W. Rivkin

While it is relatively easy to identify why strategies fail, it is much harder to explain how to fix a failing strategy or build an organization that can continuously renew its strategy. This note identifies some patterns that distinguish companies whose renewal... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Failure; Strategy

February 2003
Supplement

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream Inc.: A Period of Transition

By: David J. Collis and Jan W. Rivkin

April 2013
Case

The Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment King (Abridged)

By: Michael G. Rukstad and David J. Collis

The first ten pages of this case are comprised of the company's history, from 1923 to 2001. The Walt years are described, as is the company's decline after his death and its resurgence under Eisner. The last five pages are devoted to Eisner's strategic challenges in... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Vertical Integration; Corporate Strategy; Boundaries; Brands and Branding; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

Educators

January 1995 (Revised June 1997)
Case

Walt Disney Company, 1994: A Tumultuous Year

By: David J. Collis and Elizabeth Wynne Johnson

Focuses on a six-month period in 1994, during which the company experienced a series of dramatic upheavals. The events described include: 1) the sudden death of company president Frank Wells; 2) a health crisis facing Chairman Michael Eisner; 3) the "departure" of... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Business Exit or Shutdown; Business Startups; Resignation and Termination; Crisis Management; United States

01 Dec 2006
News

Faculty Books

Invisible Engines by David S. Evans, Andrei Hagiu, and Richard Schmalensee (MIT Press) Assistant Professor Hagiu and his coauthors offer detailed studies of the personal computer, video-game console, PDA,... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

15 Nov 2011
First Look

First Look: November 15

Purchase this case:http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/product/412045-PDF-ENG Michael Lester at Lachlan Consulting Anthony J. Mayo and Joshua D. MargolisHarvard Business School Case 412-041 Michael Lester, a consultant with Lachlan, was... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 1995 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Kraft General Foods: The Merger (B)

By: David J. Collis and Elizabeth Wynne Johnson

Discusses the recent decision to blend the previously separate Kraft and General Foods units into one operating company with a focus on the creation of a single massive sales force. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Salesforce Management; Corporate Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

Educators

2013
Working Paper

What Do We Know About Corporate Headquarters? A Review, Integration, and Research Agenda

By: Markus Menz, Sven Kunisch and David J. Collis

During the past five decades, scholars have studied the corporate headquarters (CHQ)—the multidivisional firm's central organizational unit. The purpose of this article is to review the diverse and fragmented literature on the CHQ and to identify the variables of... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Headquarters; Corporate Parent; Corporate Center; Multidivisional Firm; Multibusiness Firm; Multinational Corporation; Multinational Firms and Management; Corporate Strategy; Business Divisions; Business Headquarters

SSRN

Read Now

01 Jun 1996
News

New Releases

Engines of Innovation edited by Richard S. Rosenbloom and William J. Spencer (HBS Press) In past decades, industrial laboratories such as AT&T's Bell Labs and the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center were... View Details

July 31, 2017
Article

A Commitment Contract to Achieve Virologic Suppression in Poorly Adherent Patients with HIV/AIDS

By: Marcella Alsan, John Beshears, Wendy S. Armstrong, James J. Choi, Brigitte C. Madrian, Minh Ly T. Nguyen, Carlos Del Rio, David Laibson and Vincent C. Marconi

Objective: Assess whether a commitment contract informed by behavioral economics leads to persistent virologic suppression among HIV-positive patients with poor antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence. Design: Single-center pilot randomized clinical trial and a... View Details

Keywords: Adherence; Antiretroviral Therapy; Behavioral Economics; Commitment Contract; Financial Incentives; HIV-1 Virologic Suppression; Health Disorders; Motivation and Incentives

Read Now

01 Dec 2000
News

Faculty News

Eisenmann (Assistant Professor and MBA Class of 1961 Fellow); Allen Grossman (Bloomberg Professor of Management Practice in Philanthropy); Peter Tufano (Sylvan C. Coleman Professor of Financial Management); and David M. Upton (Albert... View Details

Keywords: H. Naylor Fitzhugh (MBA '33); Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

December 2020
Supplement

Komatsu: Video of Future Building Site

By: Rajiv Lal, David J. Collis and Akiko Saito

Short video that illustrates how an automated construction site would operate View Details

Keywords: Automation; Construction; Construction Industry; Japan

March 2009 (Revised January 2010)
Case

DreamWorks SKG Inc.: To Distribute or Not to Distribute?

By: Juan Alcacer, David J. Collis and Mary Furey

Keywords: Film Entertainment; Distribution; Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry