Publications

23 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

It’s Back to Business-Basics for Nonprofits

estimates are often wildly divergent. Organizations also need to look at their activities, and really map out how much each of these activities is costing them. How do you take available resources View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

06 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

How Small Wins Unleash Creativity

All good managers understand the importance of making sure that every member of a team feels personally motivated and necessary throughout the workday, lest their work should stagnate and suffer. But what's... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

05 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Porsche’s Risky Roll on an SUV

shareholders' meeting in 2004 in Leipzig. While rival carmakers such as Ferrari, Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, and Lamborghini have been happy to locate where labor costs are cheaper, Porsche wanted to ensure... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Auto; Manufacturing

22 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 22

take advantage of factor cost differences. Instead, multinationals tend to own the stages of production proximate to their final production, giving rise to a class of high-skill, intra-industry vertical FDI. Measuring View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 1999 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Cisco Systems, Inc.: Acquisition Integration for Manufacturing (A)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright, Charles A. Holloway, Nicole Tempest and Christian G. Kasper

Describes the procedures and processes used by Cisco Systems in its acquisition of high-technology firms. Its goal is to retain key engineering talent and to leverage existing product development efforts, but to quickly merge acquired companies its own systems and... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Leveraged Buyouts; Acquisition; Integration; Mergers and Acquisitions; Production; Activity Based Costing and Management; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Talent and Talent Management; Human Resources; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry; England

11 Nov 2013
Research & Ideas

A Smarter Way to Reduce Customer Defections

should consider not only the churn probability of customers, but also how much they spend, the likelihood that they will respond to a retention offer, and the cost of the offer itself. Gupta's predictive... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail; Service

10 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Encouraging Entrepreneurs: Lessons for Government Policy

paper, "Cost of External Finance and Selection into Entrepreneurship," Nanda looks at how entrepreneurial activity is affected across various groups of individuals when a tax reform increases the View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

24 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Uncovering Racial Discrimination in the ‘Sharing Economy’

The "sharing economy" is a burgeoning business model in which people offer their personal belongings and personal services to others, usually through online marketplaces that facilitate the transactions. It seems absolutely egalitarian at... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Construction; Real Estate; Advertising

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Selling Luxury to Everyone

them. "The market is smaller than we had anticipated," Johnson said. So far, the brand is struggling to gain market share, and Mercedes-Benz has some high costs to recoup. Johnson estimated it... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Consumer Products

05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Are Consumers the Cure for Broken Health Insurance?

The health insurance system in the United States is broken, and business is paying the price. Employers' insurance premiums reached an estimated $450 billion in 2000, and then shot up again, at three times... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger

February 1991 (Revised October 1991)
Case

Fenchel Lampshade Co.

By: William A. Sahlman

Describes the proposed purchase of a lampshade manufacturer by Steven and Michele Rogers, recent graduates of the Harvard Business School. Focuses on their plans to raise the capital necessary to buy the company. Among the issues raised are how to structure the deal... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financing and Loans; Negotiation Deal; Business or Company Management; Cost vs Benefits; Manufacturing Industry

23 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Corporate Sustainability Reporting: It’s Effective

Editor's note: Please see related story, Leading and Lagging Countries in Contributing to a Sustainable Society. Although companies are increasingly reporting on their corporate sustainability responsibility (CSR) performance, there has... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

October 1997 (Revised April 1998)
Case

C-Car

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell

C-Car was the first automobile retailer in the United States to go public. Subsequently the owner, Mr. Gilliland, must decide how to invest the capital raised from the public ownership. This case describes in detail C-Car's highly profitable strategy of managing its... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Cost vs Benefits; Management Practices and Processes; Profit; Acquisition; Business Strategy; Public Ownership; Auto Industry; Retail Industry

20 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Markets or Communities? The Best Ways to Manage Outside Innovation

participate with you on your critical problems. Of course, the Internet and the massive reduction in communication and computation costs have made accessing external innovators... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

04 Dec 2007
First Look

First Look: December 4, 2007

real and sustainable; to decide how low a company must bid in order to win a competitive contract from a rival; to identify opportunities for internal cost reduction; to estimate, in the context of an... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

21 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The New Math of Customer Relationships

seek economic ways of making both employees and targeted customers know that you value their loyalty—this doesn't require a lot of money; and fourth, work even harder at creating "owners" by... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

05 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Understanding the Process of Innovation

product idea that gets rejected or that gets approved and then bombs will damage the middle manager's career. "As a consequence of this natural process of deciding what to carry forward, the ideas that... View Details

Keywords: by Loren Gray

27 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

New Cluster Mapping Project Helps Companies Locate Facilities

Too often corporations decide to locate facilities based solely on cost savings. And that's shortsighted, argues Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter. Instead, business leaders should look for... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

November 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Asea Brown Boveri (Condensed)

By: Robert L. Simons

The merger of Asea AB and BBC Brown Boveri required a restructuring of operations and a change in organizational cultures. Competitive success also necessitated the benefits of scale while remaining "local" for political and customer-responsiveness reasons. The case... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Competitive Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development; Performance Effectiveness; Consumer Products Industry