Publications

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Article

Competing through Development Capability in a Manufacturing-based Organization

By: S. C. Wheelwright and K. B. Clark

Keywords: Competition; Growth and Development; Organizations; Manufacturing Industry

Find at Harvard

July 1986 (Revised May 1993)
Case

Mason Instrument, Inc.--1986 (A): Electronics Guidance System for the Cherokee Missile

Mason Instruments has become a second source for the electronics guidance system for a Navy missile. The case decision involves bidding in the third-round competition. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Bids and Bidding; Electronics Industry; United States

27 Jul 2016
News

The world's glass ceilings

September 2009 (Revised November 2010)
Case

Marquee: The Business of Nightlife

By: Anita Elberse, Ryan Barlow and Sheldon Wong

In December 2008, nightlife impresario Noah Tepperberg celebrated the fifth anniversary of his New York City nightclub Marquee. While most clubs are over within their first one-and-a-half years, Tepperberg has succeeded in keeping Marquee one of NYC's hottest clubs for... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Cost Management; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Strategy

November 2005
Case

Inventec Corporation

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Ingrid Vargas

Inventec Corp., with $4.5 billion in annual revenues, was one of Taiwan's leading original design manufacturers (ODMs). Inventec designed and manufactured electronic products such as computers, servers, MP3 players, PDAs, and cellular telephones for client companies... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Strategy; Emerging Markets; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; China; India

February 2001 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Amazon.com (D)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dickson Louie and William A. Sahlman

At the end of 1999, Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos--just named Time Magazine's Man of the Year--ponders the next moves for his company. Having expanded into numerous categories in 1999, ranging from Z-shops to Auctions to E-cards as well as increasing the number... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Online Technology; Retail Industry

March 1998 (Revised November 1998)
Case

Empresas CAP, 1994

By: Tarun Khanna and Danielle Melito Wu

Empresas CAP began as a private-sector steel company in 1946. Over the next 40 years, CAP's ownership structure moved from nationalization to reprivatization. Unrestricted by state ownership, CAP began to diversify its holdings. The case considers the viability of... View Details

Keywords: Ownership; Privatization; Diversification; Competitive Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Management; Planning; Steel Industry

Known for his autocratic and direct management style, Revson built Revlon into the second largest cosmetics company in the U.S. Revson's unique talent of grasping the female psyche, bolstered by his fiercely competitive nature, allowed... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care & Home Products

Charles W. Nash

Not wanting to compete with the "Big Three" auto makers in the 1920s, Nash carved out a unique niche for well-designed luxury automobiles at medium prices. This strategy was very successful for Nash Motors as it became one of the few, profitable independent... View Details

Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace

Web

Blog | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Initiative 25th anniversary blog series, which highlig... SEI25 Series: Adem Bunkeddeko (MBA 2017) Adem Bunkeddeko 18 Apr 2019 This post is part of our Social Enterprise Initiative 25th anniversary blog series, which highlig... Congratulations to the 2019 HBS New... View Details

Robert E. Rich

With his invention of a frozen whipped topping in 1945, Rich created a whole new industry: frozen nondairy products. While this new industry generated only $30,000 in 1945, it soon blossomed into a multi-million industry and ignited fierce View Details

Keywords: Food & Tobacco

October 2019
Supplement

Impax Laboratories: Executing Accretive Transactions (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

Impax Laboratories was a technology-based pharmaceutical company that used a “dual platform” strategy to sell both generic and branded treatments. While Impax had grown organically for most of its history, it was beginning to use major acquisitions for growth. In the... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Structure; Financial Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

01 Sep 2012
News

Path Forward

Nearly 500 alumni and other business and policy leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., in June for the latest in the School’s series of regional US Competitiveness Project events. A panel discussion led by Professor Michael Porter featured... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

April 8, 2024
Article

Loyalty Programs May Limit Competition, and They Could Be Pushing Prices up for Everyone

By: Alexandru Nichifor and Scott Duke Kominers

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Brands and Branding

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February 2024
Teaching Note

Compass Pathways: Pioneering Psychedelic Treatment

By: Tiona Zuzul

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 724-412. View Details

Keywords: Commercialization; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Product Launch; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry; Europe; United States; United Kingdom

November 2014
Case

Nestlé SA, 2014

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2014, Nestlé was the largest producer of packaged foods and beverages in the world. 2013 revenues were $103.7 billion and operating profits $16.1 billion (15.5% of sales). The company owned 29 mega brands, each generating more than Euro 1 billion ($1.25 billion).... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Acquisitions; Strategy; Goods and Commodities; Nutrition; Emerging Markets; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

May 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Benetton Group S.p.A., 2000

By: John R. Wells and Galen Danskin

In 2000, Benetton was one of the leading mass fashion competitors in the world with approximately $1.9 billion in sales across 5,500 stores in 120 countries. But the company's fortunes seemed to be on the wane. Operating profits had fallen 9% from the prior year to... View Details

Keywords: Fashion; Strategic Change; Strategic Management; Globalized Firms and Management; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Performance Consistency; Management Teams; Strategy; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Italy

March 2012
Article

How Early Adoption Has Increased Wealth--Until Now

By: Diego Comin and Bart Hobijn

Societies that are better at utilizing tools are likely to be more productive. The authors have studied when 161 countries adopted 104 technologies over the past 200 years, and they conclude that profound economic advantages-as measured by per capita income-accrue to... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Wealth; Development Economics; Performance Productivity; Competitive Advantage

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February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Henry Heinz: Making Markets for Processed Foods

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Outlines many of the supply-side innovations, such as improved transportation, communication, and technological developments, that greatly expanded the productive capacity of the United States in the late 19th century. Explores a range of demand-side shifts, including... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Supply and Industry; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; United States