Publications

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September 1996 (Revised March 1999)
Background Note

Sustaining Superior Profits: Customer and Supplier Relationships

Explains relationships between asset specificity, holdup, and vertical integration. In particular, it emphasizes solutions to the holdup problem through vertical integration and contracting. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Vertical Integration

October 1988 (Revised May 1989)
Case

General Electric: Consumer Electronics Group

By: David J. Collis and Nancy Donohue

Highlights the General Electric takeover of RCA and the consolidation of the two companies' consumer electronic groups. Starting first with a history of the television industry in the United States, Europe, and Japan, and then a brief discussion of the main competitors... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Markets; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

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12 Jan 2015
News

Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria Visits Asia

May 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Case

The Powers That Be (Internet Edition): Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Julia Kelley and Nathaniel Schwalb

As of early 2018, five U.S. technology companies—Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft—were among the largest companies in the world. Similarly, three Chinese technology firms—Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, or BAT—had emerged as global players due in part to the... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Business Ventures; Customers; Analytics and Data Science; Safety; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry

01 Sep 2006
News

Redefining Health Care

PORTER: Health care's zero-sum competition model adds costs and results in severe quality problems. University professor Michael Porter never planned to write a book on health-care reform. In fact, he expected brickbats in response to a... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services; Health, Social Assistance

Pete Rozelle

equal-revenue-earning teams. These changes allowed the NFL to become a profitable enterprise by promoting competition among the teams for players and among the networks and merchandisers for broadcasting and advertising rights,... View Details

Keywords: Entertainment & Broadcast Media

Vincent A. Calarco

struggling companies. His track record of efficient cost containment, customer focus, and sales investment has enabled Crompton to not only survive, but also thrive as a leading player in a very competitive industry sector. View Details

Keywords: Chemicals & Industrial

August 2020
Case

24M Technologies

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2020, 24M Technologies (24M) announced that two of its strategic investors had commenced building plants to produce lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries based on 24M’s novel semi-solid electrode technology. This promised to halve the cost of conventional Li-ion... View Details

Keywords: Lithium-ion Batteries; Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy

June 2004 (Revised November 2004)
Case

Microsoft in 2004

By: Michael G. Rukstad, David B. Yoffie, Brian DeLacey and Deborah Freier

Surveys Microsoft's expansion into new businesses, such as mobile and embedded devices, home and entertainment, and business solutions, as it faces challenges due to size and maturity and outside threats from Linux and Google. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Applications and Software; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Washington (state, US)

June 2001 (Revised March 2003)
Case

Alibris (B)

Takes place more than two years after the (A) case. Alibris has weathered the storms and has built a popular, growing business. As the Christmas season of 2000 approaches, the company is confronted with two IT projects that both seem urgent and important. The first is... View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Information Technology; Service Operations; Competitive Advantage; Information Management; Service Industry

March 1992 (Revised April 2000)
Case

Adam Opel AG (A)

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Focuses on the strategic issue of how to approach the East German market after the Berlin wall came down in late 1989. Within an unusually rich economic-political and organizational-personal context, the chairman of GM's German subsidiary has to respond to Volkswagen's... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Government and Politics; Organizations; Business and Government Relations; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Germany

November 2009 (Revised September 2011)
Case

The Last DVD Format War?

By: Andrei Hagiu

Provides a brief overview of the standards battle between HD-DVD and Blu-ray, focusing on the events that precipitated the Blu-ray victory in early 2008. View Details

Keywords: Five Forces Framework; Standards; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Hardware; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Technology Industry

Web

Concrete Symbols - A Concrete Symbol: The Building of Harvard Business School 1908-1927 – Baker Library | Bloomberg Center, Historical Collections

The Competition McKim, Mead & White The Campus Emerges Concrete Symbols The Dedication Building the Campus Research Links Bibliography Archival Collections Digital Resources Site Credits Concrete Symbols “The buildings . . . were... View Details

01 Oct 1998
News

Short Takes

bathroom tissue manufacturer offers you a discount on its product. How much should you buy? If you stock up now, will the manufacturer have any incentive to give you a good deal later? Will your decision affect the competition between... View Details

Keywords: Eileen K. McCluskey

22 Oct 2018
Blog Post

HBS Marketing Club Presents: The Brand Summit

and a competitive edge in the market. Of course, this is easier said than done. In a world of rapid technology advancements and changing consumer preferences, marketers are constantly tested on how quickly they can adapt and reassess... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

01 Oct 1996
News

71 Snapshots

Trading Up — Kenneth D. Brody Creating Miracles — Charles A. Coverdale Kid at Heart — John H. Eyler No Bull — Nancy E. Havens-Hasty Working Behind the Scenes — Alan F. Horn Mastering the Competition — Michael E. Porter Starting Now —... View Details

February 1991
Case

Continuous Casting Commitments at Bethlehem Steel Corp.

By: Richard S. Rosenbloom and Clayton M. Christensen

Keywords: Competition; Competitive Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Steel Industry; Pennsylvania

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17 Jun 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Management as a Technology?

Keywords: by Nicholas Bloom, Raffaella Sadun, and John Van Reenen

2020
Book

Dealmaking: The New Strategy of Negotiauctions

By: Guhan Subramanian

Based on broad research and detailed case studies, Dealmaking provides the jargon-free, empirically sound advice you need to close the deal.
Leading dealmaking scholar Guhan Subramanian specializes in understanding how deals work. As a Harvard Business... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Auctions; Strategy; Competition; Markets; Negotiation Deal