Publications

March 2017 (Revised April 2017)
Case

OXXO's Turf War Against Extra (A)

By: Tatiana Sandino, Gerardo Pérez Cavazos and Annelena Lobb

In 2006, Mexican convenience store chain OXXO faced a threat from a formidable competitor, the rival convenience chain Extra. OXXO had embarked on an initiative to fortify its corporate culture and operating system, but the threat of Extra raised the question of... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Mexico

May 2011
Article

Challenge the Boss or Stand Down

By: W. Earl Sasser

This HBR Case Study includes both the case and the commentary. For teaching purposes, this reprint is also available in two other versions: case study-only, reprint R1105X, and commentary-only, R1105Z. Tom Green, an aggressive young sales executive at self-service... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Personal Development and Career; Jobs and Positions; Conferences; Service Industry

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December 2002 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Commerce Bank

By: Frances X. Frei and Corey B. Hajim

Commerce Bank has become one of the fastest growing banks in the country, despite having defied conventional wisdom about how to grow deposits. Banks historically have grown either by competing on deposit rates or through acquisitions that expand their deposit base.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Design; Growth and Development Strategy; Service Operations; Competition; Banking Industry

June 2000
Case

Intel Capital: The Berkeley Networks Investment

By: Henry W. Chesbrough and David Lane

Discusses how Intel Corp. uses corporate venture capital to explore new technologies in new markets. Intel combines external investments with internal research and development. View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Venture Capital; Investment; Research and Development; Semiconductor Industry

August 1992 (Revised July 2013)
Case

ChemBright, Inc.

By: Janice H. Hammond

ChemBright is a small start-up company that manufactures private-label household chemicals. The company sells its products to grocery chains in the New England area. Its strategy is based on a significant logistics-based cost advantage. The primary case decisions are... View Details

Keywords: Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Logistics; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Chemical Industry; New England

March 1992
Case

Amgen, Inc.: Planning the Unplannable

By: Nitin Nohria

By the early 1990s, Amgen--a pharmaceutical company started little over a decade ago as Applied Molecular Genetics--was within range of becoming a billion-dollar company. With two extremely successful biotechnology drugs on the market, Amgen stood as the largest and... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Strategic Planning; Success; Risk and Uncertainty; Pharmaceutical Industry

04 Oct 2007
What Do You Think?

Has Managerial Capitalism Peaked?

his concerns by saying, "Our capitalism has evolved into a financial pyramid scheme and not industry building." One piece of evidence that something is wrong with managerial capitalism was presented by B. V. Krishnamurthy, who... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

September 2006 (Revised November 2006)
Case

Cathy Benko: WINning at Deloitte (A)

By: Kathleen L. McGinn, Deborah M. Kolb and Cailin B. Hammer

Jim Quigley, CEO of Deloitte and Touche's consulting practice, asks senior partner Cathy Benko to lead Deloitte & Touche's much publicized Initiative for the Retention and Advancement of Women (WIN). Benko, already the Lead Client Service Partner on one of Deloitte's... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Leadership Development; Talent and Talent Management; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Consulting Industry; United States

19 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

Business Research that Makes for Smarter Public Policy

the job, having access to independent, high-quality research from outside sources can make a real difference both in developing good policies and in getting broad-based support for their implementation.” Researchers and Regulators The... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

2022
Working Paper

Innovation on Wings: Nonstop Flights and Firm Innovation in the Global Context

By: Dany Bahar, Prithwiraj Choudhury, Do Yoon Kim and Wesley W. Koo

We study whether, when, and how better connectivity through nonstop flights leads to positive innovation outcomes for firms in the global context. Using unique data of all flights emanating from 5,015 airports around the globe from 2005 to 2015 and exploiting a... View Details

Keywords: Nonstop Flights; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Patents; Research and Development; Air Transportation Industry

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November 2024
Teaching Note

Martine Rothblatt and United Therapeutics: A Series of Implausible Dreams

By: Debora L. Spar and Julia M. Comeau

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 323-039. In 1990, satellite expert and Sirius XM founder Martine Rothblatt was determined to save the life of her seven-year-old daughter, Jenesis, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness called Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). At... View Details

Keywords: Pharmaceutical Companies; Technological And Scientific Innovation; Organ Donation; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States; District of Columbia

12 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

What Brands Can Do to Monitor Factory Conditions of Suppliers

View Video Video by Amelia Kundhardt They keep on coming—corporate scandals involving revelations of deplorable working conditions at overseas factories. If it’s not the Foxconn factories that Apple employs in China, then it’s Gap’s garment workers in Bangladesh. When... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

March 1997 (Revised October 1999)
Case

Stone Container in Honduras (A)

By: James K. Sebenius and Hannah Bowles

Chicago-based Stone Container Corp., a leading producer of cardboard containers and paper bags, proposes a large-scale pine forest management and utilization program in the La Mosquitia region of Honduras. A framework agreement with the government is strongly endorsed... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation Preparation; Negotiation Types; Environmental Sustainability; Conflict of Interests; Globalized Firms and Management; Developing Countries and Economies; Government and Politics; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Honduras; Chicago

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September 2020
Case

Wladimir Klitschko: F.A.C.E. Your Challenges

By: Boris Groysberg, Michael Norris and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In 2020, Olympic goal medal winning boxer and former heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko had built himself a “second ring” to continue his career after retiring from professional boxing. He was a hotelier, boxing promoter, author, teacher, speaker, and had... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Business Education; Training; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Sports; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Sports Industry; Ukraine; Germany

February 2021
Case

A Cultural Transformation at Southeastern Grocers

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Jonah S. Goldberg and Joseph A. Paul

When Anthony Hucker, the CEO of Southeastern Grocers (SEG), took over in that role in July 2017, the company was in dire financial and operational condition and was headed towards bankruptcy. SEG, the fifth largest grocery chain in the U.S. in early 2021, operated... View Details

Keywords: Business Transformation; Strategy Execution; Retail; Organizational Culture; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Performance; Success; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Florida

September 2005
Case

IBM Network Technology (A) (Abridged)

By: Michael L. Tushman

An unconventional manager within IBM leads the creation of a business unit with multibillion-dollar potential, winning over customers and nudging the organization to make the changes needed to achieve dramatic growth. Exemplifies how organizational design and... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Management Teams; Leadership Style; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Employees; Information Technology Industry

February 2013
Case

YouTube Channels

By: Sunil Gupta and Dharmishta Rood

In December 2011 YouTube launched a website redesign that made Channels the central focus of the site. This redesign was the company's first foray into a strategy designed to foster long-form user engagement. YouTube invested $100 million in 100 Channels, often created... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet and the Web; Entertainment; Growth and Development Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

April 2003 (Revised October 2004)
Case

Novartis: The Challenge of Success (B)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

When Dr. Daniel Vasella learned of the early Phase 1 trial results, he immediately decided what course of action Novartis would take. Students will be able to examine and assess the concrete steps, and the rationale behind them, that Novartis took in response to this... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Moral Sensibility; Innovation and Invention; Distribution; Product Development; Production; Problems and Challenges; Research and Development; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry

September 2011 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Khosla Ventures: Biofuels Gain Liquidity

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, William A. Sahlman, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld and Evan Richardson

Samir Kaul, a Partner at Khosla Ventures, looked out his office window. It was late June, 2011, and like almost every day in Menlo Park, the sun was shining. Kaul was reflecting on what had been a very positive 10 months in the venture capital business. Over that span,... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Business or Company Management; Partners and Partnerships; Product Development; Investment Portfolio; Financial Services Industry