Publications

October 1997 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Best Buy

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Balaji Chakravarthy

Documents the evolution of Best Buy, an electronics retailer, from its founding in 1966 to its very successful "Concept 2" strategy in 1996, boosting its sales ($7.2 billion) past industry #1 Circuit City. Its CEO Richard Schulze offers a new vision (Concept 3) to... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Adaptation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customization and Personalization; Retail Industry

January 2004
Background Note

Why Developers Don't Understand Why Consumers Don't Buy

By: John T. Gourville

Looks at the psychological biases developers bring to the new product development process. Identifies three reasons why developers may do a poor job of identifying the demand for an innovative, new concept or product: (1) the self-selection bias, (2) differing initial... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Management; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Product Development; Perspective; Prejudice and Bias

November 2003 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Ottawa Devices, Inc. (A)

By: Henry B. Reiling and Harry Clegg Midgley IV

A master plan accommodating two retiring brothers, the brother who will remain as president, third-generation family members, employees, philanthropic interests, and company imperatives must be developed by second-generation brothers who are controlling shareholders... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Change Management; Transition; Management Succession; Management Teams; Retirement; Conflict of Interests

October 1987
Background Note

High-Tech vs. Low-Tech Marketing: Where's the Beef?

Intended to demystify the notion of high-tech marketing. Its first objective is to clarify the definition of high-tech marketing. Second, it provides a new framework for evaluating the question: "How is high-tech marketing different from traditional marketing... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Marketing

14 Dec 2009
Research & Ideas

Can Entrepreneurs Drive People Movers to Success?

solo travelers or small groups. You step inside, press a button for your destination, the door closes, and off you go down a narrow track. Two minutes later—presto, the door opens again and you alight at your destination. You've arrived for your meeting on time and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Transportation

11 May 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Creating an R&D Strategy

Keywords: by Gary P. Pisano

September 2016 (Revised August 2018)
Case

Pi Investments

By: Vikram S. Gandhi and Tony L. He

Pi was a large family office pioneering the concept of 100% portfolio impact investing. Tasked with preserving capital, generating moderate returns and advancing the family’s social justice goals – Pi’s Managing Directors had to identify appropriate products across... View Details

Keywords: Investment Fund; Impact Investing; Investment Portfolio; Investment Funds

June 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Case

AVA.ph: Growing a Filipino E-Commerce Company

By: William R. Kerr and Henry Motte-Munoz

AVA is a three-year old e-commerce company in the Philippines. From its early start mimicking the Gilt Groupe concept of online flash sales, the company has grown into a broader e-commerce platform for local fashion commerce. Oliver Segovia needs to evaluate where AVA... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Business Growth and Maturation; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Philippines

June 2009 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Moods of Norway

Describes a young fashion company competing in a variety of unconventional ways, many "experience economy" related. Moods fronts their brand with the "boy band" images of its three founders and designs eccentric features into their clothes as a way of gaining mindshare... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Brands and Branding; Fashion Industry; Norway

March 2007 (Revised April 2007)
Case

The University of Utah and the Computer Graphics Revolution

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

Computer science departments were new to universities in the 1960s, and the one created at the University of Utah by David Evans and Ivan Sutherland had a research mission to invent the field of computer graphics. Details the research process that led to many of the... View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Entrepreneurship; Management Practices and Processes; Mission and Purpose; Research and Development; Technology Adoption; Computer Industry; Education Industry; Utah

2008
Working Paper

Contracting for Servicizing

By: Michael W. Toffel

Servicizing, a novel business practice that sells product functionality rather than products, has been touted as an environmentally beneficial business practice. This paper describes how servicizing transactions mitigate some problems associated with sales... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Contracts; Market Transactions; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Sales

Read Now

26 May 2009
Research & Ideas

Improving Market Research in a Recession

Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge. Recession-challenged consumers are buying less, looking for deals, or... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

10 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Long-Tail Economics? Give Me Blockbusters!

Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge. The importance of blockbusters has been challenged recently by Chris... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Entertainment & Recreation; Pharmaceutical

31 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

When Not to Trust Your Gut

In past issues of this newsletter, we have highlighted a variety of psychological biases that affect negotiators, many of which spring from a reliance on intuition. Of course, negotiators are not always affected by bias; we often think systematically and clearly at the... View Details

Keywords: by Max H. Bazerman & Deepak Malhotra

Teaching Interest

Empirical Technology and Operations Management Course

By: Himabindu Lakkaraju

I taught a set of lectures on "Introduction to Machine Learning for Social Scientists" as part of this required course for first year PhD students. This module familiarizes students with all the basic concepts in machine learning, their implementations, as well as the... View Details

2 Jun 2010
Keynote Speech

Creating Shared Value

By: Michael E. Porter

Bishop William Lawrence University Professor Michael Porter of Harvard Business School spoke to an audience of senior corporate giving professionals at CECP's Corporate Philanthropy Summit on June 2, 2010 about the role of business in social and economic development.... View Details

Keywords: Creating Shared Value; Value Creation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Society; United States

July 2008 (Revised October 2012)
Case

Affinity Plus (A)

By: Dennis Campbell and Peter Tufano

The executive team at Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union has pushed the concept of members first deeply throughout the organization, empowering employees to put member-owners' interests ahead of either the organization's interests or their own interests. As a result of... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Financial Institutions; Financing and Loans; Profit; Cooperative Ownership; Conflict of Interests; Strategy

January 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Teaching Note

Competition & Strategy: Course Structure TN

By: Michael E. Porter and Jan W. Rivkin

Provides an overview of the Competition & Strategy course, a first course on business strategy, as taught at Harvard Business School during the summer of 1999. Describes the role of the course in the overall MBA curriculum, the superstructure of the course, and the... View Details

Keywords: Curriculum and Courses; Higher Education; Management; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Practices and Processes; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Education Industry