Publications

February 2000 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Staples.com

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joanna M. Jacobson and Gillian Morris

Staples.com, the online unit of the U.S. office supplies retailing chain Staples, faces a range of strategic and organizational issues as it accelerates its growth. Should it pursue only existing Staples customers or consumers who do not shop in Staples stores? How... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain; Business Units; Business Model; Growth and Development; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Business Strategy; Service Industry; United States

April 2010
Case

METRO Cash & Carry in China, 2010

By: Tarun Khanna and David Lane

International wholesaler METRO Cash & Carry in 2010 had little choice but to expand swiftly in Asia to facilitate growth beyond its increasingly mature markets in Western Europe. China was of particular note to MCC, but the company had broken even there only in 2008... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Strategic Planning; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Retail Industry; China

Web

Leading Change and Organizational Renewal | HBS Online

you earn . Overview Syllabus Enrollment Stories FAQs Enroll Now Key Concepts Explore the roadblocks to change and how to overcome them Analyze the root cause of your organization’s performance and opportunity gaps Develop View Details

October 2022 (Revised September 2023)
Teaching Note

Kwame Owusu-Kesse at Harlem Children's Zone

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 422-020. View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Leadership; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Decisions; Nonprofit Organizations; Personal Development and Career; Growth and Development Strategy; Race; Social Issues; New York (city, NY)

05 Jan 2010
First Look

First Look: January 5

founding conditions—branching policy, modernization, and political culture—influenced banks' development of capabilities to manage dispersed branches, and these capabilities subsequently led to variation in banks' propensity to engage in... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

18 Aug 2009
First Look

First Look: August 18

Sustainability needed to develop positions on several issues. Tactically, he needed to recommend whether the company should purchase carbon offsets to help meet its aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets, and whether to continue... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

01 Sep 2013
News

Beantown as a Beacon

Facilitating private-sector progress while benefiting the taxpayers "Governments need to think more like partners, not order-givers," said Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki. "Government can play an... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

01 Sep 2018
News

Research Brief: Where Top-Down Tops Out

Raffaella Sadun (photo by Russ Campbell) Raffaella Sadun (photo by Russ Campbell) In the face of economic challenges, hospitals in the English National Health Service have turned to a strategy that has proven effective for small private... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Myers

22 Jun 2010
First Look

First Look: June 22

Authors:Marcelo de Paiva Abreu and Felipe Tâmega Fernandes Abstract This paper surveys the formation and development of the insurance business in Brazil. It describes its origins, from colonial times and the imperial era to recent events.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Past Projects | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

deliver government services. The research examines a country, Estonia, that was successful in becoming "the most wired country in the world," and draws lessons on what the US Government can do to increase sophistication and adoption of online services. View Details

May 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Marks & Spencer: The Phoenix Rises

By: Joseph L. Bower

The great U.K. retailer fell on hard times in 1998. In 2001, a new CEO was recruited who appears to have succeeded in turning around this world-renown company. This case examines the steps he took (strategic, structural, and recruiting key people) and highlights a... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Recruitment; Leadership Development; Crisis Management; Supply and Industry; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Segmentation; Retail Industry

May 1997 (Revised May 1998)
Case

Progressive Corporation

By: Michael E. Porter and Nicolaj Siggelkow

Progressive is a leader in providing nonstandard (high-risk) automobile insurance to drivers across America, with a long record of extraordinary profitability. Progressive is facing a challenge in its segment from Allstate, the industry leader, and must decide how to... View Details

Keywords: Insurance; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Planning; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Auto Industry; Insurance Industry; United States

December 2024
Case

Tencent Games

By: Rebecca Karp, Billy Chan and Nancy Hua Dai

For years, Tencent Games, a division of China’s largest internet company, had taken the lion’s share of revenue in the global gaming market with blockbuster titles such as “League of Legends” and “PUBG: Battlegrounds.” These games defined the game genres that they... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Investment; Competitive Strategy; Video Game Industry; Europe; China

February 2010 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Zotter Living by Chocolate

By: Mukti Khaire, Stefan Aichinger, Monika Maria Elisabeth Hoffmann and Maximilian Georg Manfred Schnoedl

This case is about a boutique chocolate manufacturer's decision to grow. Zotter, an Austrian company that was a pioneer in the organic and Fairtrade chocolate movement, uses the traditional confit technique to make premium hand-scooped chocolates in unusual and... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Austria

March 2018
Teaching Note

Augmedix

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS No. 817-048. Augmedix provides a service that live-streams video of patient appointments to a remote scribe, freeing up significant physician time from electronic medical record data-entry tasks. The venture is confronting decisions in areas such... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Sales; Management; Marketing Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Adoption; Customers; Segmentation; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States

May 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Supplement

Migros Turkey: Scaling Online Operations

By: Antonio Moreno and Anibha Singh

As Migros, one of Turkey’s largest grocery chains, forays into online groceries, the company faces operational challenges related to inventory management, fulfillment and last mile delivery and strategics questions related to growing in an ecosystem with rapidly... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Management; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Turkey