Publications

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Ashish Nanda is Senior Lecturer and C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator at Harvard Business School. From 2018 to 2021, he was course head for the MBA Required Curriculum course in Strategy. Beginning in 2022, he is teaching an MBA Elective... View Details

October 1996 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Sony Corporation: Car Navigation Systems

By: John A. Quelch

In the summer of 1996, Masao Morita, president of Sony Personal Mobile Communication Co., contemplated how to formulate its multinational marketing strategy for the fast-changing car navigation systems market. Morita needed to resolve the conflicting views within his... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Standards; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Conflict and Resolution; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; Japan

May 2011
Case

Oriental Fortune Capital: Building a Better Stock Exchange

By: Josh Lerner and Keith Chi-ho Wong

When ChiNext opened in October 2009 as the second tier market of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), it aimed to provide Chinese entrepreneurs with equity capital and to facilitate the exits of venture capital firms and other investors which had previously relied on... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Stocks; Financial Markets; Venture Capital; Private Equity; International Finance; Financial Services Industry; China

August 2019
Case

The Allstate Corporation, 2019

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In July 2019, Allstate, the United States’ number-three property and casualty (P/C) insurer, released its second-quarter earnings, which reported first-half revenues of $22.1 billion, up 11.4% year-over-year. Shareholders cheered the top-line growth, but P/C premiums... View Details

Keywords: Insurance Companies; Strategic Analysis; Strategic Change; Insurance; Strategy; Strategic Planning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Insurance Industry; North America

December 2012 (Revised April 2025)
Case

AmTran Technology Ltd.

By: Willy Shih, Jyun-Cheng Wang and Karen E. Robinson

As an original design manufacturer (ODM) of television sets and leading supplier to Vizio, a market leader in the U.S. for LCD flat panel TVs, AmTran Technology Ltd. uses what founder Alpha Wu describes as a "WE" model in which western companies perform sales,... View Details

August 2017 (Revised July 2019)
Case

GROW: Using Artificial Intelligence to Screen Human Intelligence

By: Ethan Bernstein, Paul McKinnon and Paul Yarabe

Over 10% of all 2017 university graduates in Japan used GROW, an artificial intelligence platform and mobile app developed by Tokyo-based people analytics startup IGS, to recruit for a job. This case puts participants in the shoes of IGS founder and CEO Masahiro... View Details

Keywords: Big Data; Artificial Intelligence; Talent and Talent Management; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Resources; Information Technology; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Japan

November 1991 (Revised April 1994)
Case

Nucleon, Inc.

By: Gary P. Pisano

Nucleon is a small biotechnology company whose first potential product is about to enter clinical testing. Before Nucleon can begin clinical trials, however, its management must decide how and where to manufacture the product. Three options are being contemplated: 1)... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Entrepreneurship; Health Testing and Trials; Rights; Product Development; Production; Partners and Partnerships; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry

December 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Amgen Inc.'s Epogen--Commercializing the First Biotech Blockbuster Drug

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Dennis A. Yao

Amgen Inc.'s Epogen was the first biotech blockbuster drug. Epogen helped prevent anemia, a condition that leads to severe fatigue, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and even death. At the time, the market for Epogen, which included dialysis patients and... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Strategic Planning; Competition; Patents; Innovation and Invention; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

21 Nov 2023
Op-Ed

The Beauty Industry: Products for a Healthy Glow or a Compact for Harm?

In my recently published book Deeply Responsible Business, I write about business leaders since the 19th century who have acted responsibly, often by putting the welfare of their communities above the idea of maximizing profits. I make a sharp distinction between... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Beauty & Cosmetics

March 1995 (Revised July 1996)
Case

Mattson Foods, Inc. (Revised): The Bardolini Division

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

The Bardolini Division of Mattson Foods, with plants in the northeast and midwest, wants to open up the western market for its pizza. Management must decide whether to build a new plant on the West Coast, and what type of technology to put in the plant if they decide... View Details

Keywords: Logistics; Emerging Markets; Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Business Plan; Capital Budgeting; Expansion; Buildings and Facilities; Strategic Planning; Marketing Strategy; Technology; Economic Systems; Food and Beverage Industry

September 2020 (Revised May 2021)
Case

The Indian Premier League, 2020

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

Since its founding in 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL), India’s eight-week Twenty20 (T20) cricket competition, had become one of the most popular and lucrative sporting leagues in the world. In 2019, the IPL attracted 462 million TV viewers and 300 million digital... View Details

Keywords: Sports; Organizational Structure; Marketing; Health Pandemics; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development Strategy; Sports Industry; India

October 1994 (Revised November 1994)
Case

British Airways: Using Information Systems to Better Serve the Customer

By: W. Earl Sasser and Norman Klein

Explores the uses of scanning technology, interactive software, and powerful data bases to assist customer relations representatives in resolving customer complaints. Competitive alliances in international markets are noted, but the focus is on the evolving commitment... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Customer Focus and Relationships; Globalized Markets and Industries; Service Delivery; Alliances; Information Technology; Aerospace Industry

January 1991
Case

Volkswagen of America: Audi 5000 (A)

By: Stephen A. Greyser

Audi marketing executives and their advertising agency colleagues must decide which of several advertising executions should be employed for the introductory campaign for the Audi 5000, their new car entry scheduled to replace the Audi 100LS in the United States in the... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Auto Industry; United States

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March 1996 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Vistakon: 1 Day Acuvue Disposable Contact Lenses

By: Alvin J. Silk, Bruce Issacson and Marie Bell

Vistakon, an independent and entrepreneurial subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, pioneered the production and marketing of disposable contact lenses with the 1987 launch of Acuvue, the first disposable extended-wear lens--a soft contact lens that patients wear for a... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Business Subsidiaries; Business Startups; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Price; Risk Management; Marketing; Product Positioning; Production; Performance Effectiveness; Consumer Products Industry; United States

July 1994 (Revised August 1998)
Case

The King-Size Company

By: David E. Bell and Dinny Starr Gordon

King-Size is a mail-order company specializing in apparel for big and tall men. The case describes their operations in some detail. Issues include appropriate marketing decisions and expansion strategy. View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Marketing Strategy; Operations; Perception; Expansion; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

10 Feb 2015
First Look

First Look: February 10

entry) as a means of reconciling non-monotonic incentive responses to competition, effectively manipulating the number and skills distribution of contestants facing one another. February 2015 GfK Marketing... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2022
Supplement

Maestro Pizza (C): Taking the Fight Outside

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Fares Khrais

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of... View Details

April 1992 (Revised April 1996)
Case

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

The board and management of General Cinema has to determine whether the acquisition of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (HBJ), thereby entering the publishing business, makes strategic sense. The case describes HBJ's involvement in several segments of the publishing industry:... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Boundaries; Supply and Industry; Segmentation; Publishing Industry

October 2004
Case

DNA Traceability at Maple Leaf Foods

By: Ray A. Goldberg, Joan McRobbie and Matthew L. Reisman

Maple Leaf Foods is concerned about the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (Mad Cow Disease) issue in Canada and the reputation of Canadian meat products in the domestic and global markets. DNA can now trace products from sow and piglets to consumer pork products.... View Details

Keywords: Food; Globalization; Nutrition; Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement; Safety; Technology Adoption; Food and Beverage Industry; Canada