Publications

February 1980 (Revised April 1981)
Case

Poland Spring Bottling Corp.

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Poland Spring is a small domestic bottler of mineral water trying to compete in a rapidly expanding market against Perrier, the dominant brand, and 20 other foreign and domestic waters. Company management must decide how to position and promote its product with limited... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Competition; Globalized Markets and Industries; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; United States

24 Jul 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, July 24, 2018

and envisioned strategy and operations. With this context, students are invited to consider how aggressively OCP Group should pursue downstream integration (and specifically its Africa strategy), as well as how OCP can best leverage its View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

02 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2011

However, the results suggest that this outperformance occurs only in the long term. Managers and investors who are hoping to gain a competitive advantage in the short term are unlikely to succeed by embedding sustainability in their... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

19 Jul 2007
Research & Ideas

Podcast: Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal

worsen. The industry is now going through full-scale consolidation and reorganization in the face of competition from Internet properties. The trend begs the question: Is Murdoch overpaying for Dow Jones? Harvard Business School professor... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Journalism & News; Publishing

November 2023
Teaching Plan

Geely SEA: New Electric Vehicle Platforms

By: Willy Shih

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 622-001. Kent Bovellan, the Chief Engineer and Head of the Vehicle Architecture Center for Geely Holding, the Hangzhou, China headquartered global automotive group, was debating the platform choice for an upcoming "D" segment midsized... View Details

Keywords: Product Innovation; Product Architecture; Product Engineering; Platform Design; Platform Strategy; Product Design; Product Development; Cost Management; Competitive Strategy; Industry Structures; Product Positioning; Auto Industry; China; Sweden

July 2011 (Revised September 2011)
Case

Game Time Decision for AppDirect

By: Andrei Hagiu, Laura Arjona and Emily Zhang

AppDirect is a start-up that offers small businesses software-as-a-service solutions through a business app marketplace and portal. Daniel Saks, co-founder and co-CEO, is faced with the key question of deciding distribution strategy: should AppDirect find channel... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Distribution; Applications and Software; Innovation Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology Industry; United States

June 2006
Teaching Note

Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2006 (TN)

By: David B. Yoffie

Teaching Note to 706447. View Details

Keywords: Industry Structures; Competitive Strategy; Revenue; Price; Brands and Branding; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development; Profit; Performance; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

August 2002 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Gillette Company (A): Pressure for Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and James Weber

After years of strong performance with market-dominating brands, Gillette's performance slips and a new CEO is selected from outside the company to lead a turnaround. This case describes the business and financial situation he inherited and asks what he should do... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Performance Consistency; Product Positioning; Selection and Staffing; Change Management; Leading Change; Competitive Strategy; Planning; Retail Industry

March 1998 (Revised December 1999)
Case

Bronner Slosberg Humphrey

By: David E. Bell and Donald M Leavitt

Bronner Slosberg Humphrey has succeeded by providing integrated direct marketing solutions for major service companies such as AT&T, American Express, and FedEx. A new CEO takes over from the company's founder and is wondering how to grow the company. Options include... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy; Leading Change; Global Strategy; Service Operations; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Salesforce Management; Marketing Communications; Service Industry

November 1998 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (B)

By: Linda A. Hill and Kristin Doughty

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Management Style; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Management Succession; Competitive Advantage; Problems and Challenges; Management Teams; Retail Industry; United States

August 2011
Teaching Note

Friend Bank: The Time for Hope (TN)

By: Clayton Rose and Sally Canter Ganzfried

Teaching Note for 310-070. View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Planning; Transformation; Business Offices; Financial Crisis; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Goals and Objectives; Competitive Strategy; Opportunities; Banking Industry; Alabama

23 Oct 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, October 23, 2018

resource constraints (potentially affecting unfairness concerns) can impact outcomes under the plan. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55144 Summer 2018 Antitrust Chronicle An Introduction to the View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

27 Aug 2013
First Look

First Look: August 27

many managers overestimate the attractiveness of using IP to exert market power. Rather, the value of the various means to protect and benefit from IP depends on firm strategy, the competitive landscape, and the rapidly changing contours... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

services will become its key competitive advantage in the decade to come. This case traces the evolution of the CRO sector from a small, secondary cluster of firms into a major player with essential capabilities for global drug... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

03 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 3, 2009

before his competition woke up to the opportunity that lay before them all. Purchase the case: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/ b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=509008 Youth Villages Harvard Business School Case 309-007... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

America Needs a Manufacturing Renaissance

international competition means we should expect industries to come and go. Even if this is sometimes painful, it is, in fact, a healthy process by which resources flow to their most productive uses. When a commons erodes, however, it... View Details

Keywords: by Gary P. Pisano & Willy C. Shih; Manufacturing

28 Oct 2024
Op-Ed

Latino Voters Have Grown More Politically Divided. That’s Not Surprising.

their policy platforms, to appeal to suburban voters. Why demographics are not destiny in politics We are economists, and we study markets. Politics is a competitive one. Just as auto manufacturers don’t sit and idly watch market... View Details

Keywords: by Richard Calvo, Vincent Pons, and Jesse M. Shapiro

July 2007 (Revised March 2008)
Case

ABRY Fund V

By: Nabil N. El-Hage, Richard S. Ruback and Leslie Pierson

In January 2006, Andrew Banks and Royce Yudkoff were considering raising a 5th fund for their media-focused private equity firm, ABRY Partners. ABRY had a strong track record that the co-founders attributed to their group's deep knowledge of the media industry and... View Details

Keywords: Cooperative Ownership; Venture Capital; Customer Relationship Management; Asset Management; Private Equity; Judgments; Competitive Strategy; Media; Corporate Finance; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Financial Services Industry