Publications

March 2016 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Salesforce.com vs. Siebel (Abridged)

By: David B. Yoffie

Explores the phenomenon of software becoming a service. Salesforce.com has catapulted into the lead for offering a customer relationship management (CRM) solution as a Web-based service. Siebel, the leader in CRM packaged software sales, has to devise a strategy to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Competitive Strategy; Software

July 2005 (Revised April 2008)
Case

The Rise of Kmart Corporation 1962-1987

By: John R. Wells and Travis Haglock

Tracks the development of the Kmart discount store chain from its inception in 1961 to its peak in 1990 and examines the contribution of each Kmart chief executive to the chain's success. In, parallel, compares the performance of Wal-Mart over the same period along a... View Details

Keywords: History; Strategic Planning; Leadership; Competitive Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Retail Industry; United States

01 Dec 2017
News

Diagnosing DC’s Dysfunction

Washington isn’t broken. It’s thriving. The real problem is that our political system benefits the major political parties and their industry allies—not the people it was designed to serve. That’s according to “Why Competition in the... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Government

02 Nov 2020
What Do You Think?

Is Antitrust Just a Quaint Notion in the Digital Age?

level the consumer seems to benefit What are the downsides for consumers?: no choice in platform content feed from ‘preferred’ sources, personal information, and pattern recognition issues to name a few. So governance and policy settings perhaps need to consider... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Retail; Technology; Telecommunications; Communications; Consumer Products; Service

August 1986
Article

Global High-tech Sangyou: Kawaritsutsu aru Kyousou no Gensoku (Global High-tech Industries: Changing Paradigms of Competition)

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi

Keywords: Business Ventures; Competition

Find at Harvard

April 1995 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Power Play (B): Sega in 16-bit Video Games

Home video-game systems were pioneered by the U.S. company Atari in the mid-1970s. After going through boom and bust in the early 1980s, the industry was resurrected in the mid-1980s by the Japanese company Nintendo. With its 8-bit video-game system, Nintendo... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Competition; Video Game Industry; Japan; United States

2000
Book

Can Japan Compete?

By: Michael E. Porter, Hirotaka Takeuchi and M. Sakakibara

The result of a major piece of research, this book reveals that there have long been two Japans, the familiar one that was highly competitive, and another Japan, almost invisible, that was highly uncompetitive. The authors unravel this puzzle, and provide a solution... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Economy; Japan

29 Sep 2015
News

Harvard Study Highlights Business, Education 'Game Changer'

28 Sep 2015
News

Harvard Researchers Envison Better Business, Nonprofit Cooperation in K-12

01 Jun 2011
News

Walking the TalkTalk

“super ambitious and ridiculously hard-working,” Diana (“Dido”) Harding (MBA ’92) also confessed that she “would be competitive over a game of tiddlywinks. And I have always tended to push myself to do something I wasn’t sure I could do —... View Details

Keywords: Telecommunications; Information; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

24 Apr 2014
News

Côme Laguë (MBA 1993)

companies don’t find success but still have valuable IP. That IP tends to be lost, or picked up for little money by companies that don't contribute to the competitiveness of the technology industry,” says Laguë. “I like salvaging them,... View Details

9 AM – 10 AM EST, 13 Nov 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Sustainable Business Strategy

Learn how to become a purpose-centered business leader while examining the critical role that businesses play in solving the world's big problems, including climate change, income inequality, and social injustice. Program Dates: November 13, 2019 - December 4, 2019 View Details

February 2002 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Volvo Trucks (B): Acquisition of RVI

By: Michael E. Porter and Orjan Solvell

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Strategy; Five Forces Framework; Truck Transportation; Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; United States; Europe

2009
Chapter

Self-regulatory Institutions for Solving Environmental Problems: Perspectives and Contributions from the Management Literature

By: Andrew A. King and Michael W. Toffel

Scholars of management have long considered how institutions can help resolve market imperfections and thereby improve human welfare. Most previous research has emphasized the use of for-profit firms. Such institutions cannot effectively address many environmental... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Competitive Advantage

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Read Now

September 2016 (Revised September 2017)
Case

Collage.com: Scaling a Distributed Organization

By: Christopher Stanton and Shikhar Ghosh

Kevin Borders and Joe Golden, co-founders and co-CEOs of Collage.com, must decide how to grow their custom photo-products startup in the face of fierce competition. From 2011 through 2016, the business evolved from a hobby to a startup with $22 million in revenue and... View Details

Keywords: Remote Work; Internet and the Web; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Employees; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Service Industry