Publications

February 1996 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Eli Lilly and Company: Innovation in Diabetes Care

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Summarizes Eli Lilly's history of innovation in its business, describing how the dimensions along which innovations have been made in the industry have changed. Lilly's innovation strategy has been to pursue ever higher performance products, while others in the... View Details

Keywords: Change; Product; Service Delivery; Product Development; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Health Care and Treatment; Pharmaceutical Industry

2014
Working Paper

The Rising Cost of Consumer Attention: Why You Should Care, and What You Can Do about It

By: Thales S. Teixeira

Attention is a necessary ingredient for effective advertising. The market for consumer attention (or "eyeballs") has become so competitive that attention can be regarded as a currency. The rising cost of this ingredient in the marketplace is causing marketers to waste... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Advertising

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May 2006 (Revised May 2009)
Case

De Beers: Addressing the New Competitiveness Challenges

By: Michael E. Porter, Sonia D. Marciano and Alyson Warhurst

Traces the development of De Beers and the diamond industry from its inception in the mid-1800s to the year 2000. Discusses De Beer's history and strategy as the industry leader and its role in industry development. Enables deep examination of the interdependence of... View Details

Keywords: History; Strategy; Geographic Location; Conflict Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Developing Countries and Economies; Mining Industry

February 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Open Market, Inc.: The E-Commerce Wars

By: James I. Cash Jr., Janis Lee Gogan, Michael Haselkorn and Mani Subramani

Continues the story of Open Market, Inc., a company founded in 1994 to support electronic commerce on the Internet. Despite a very successful initial public offering, the firm had reached a growth plateau, and the management team was considering several strategic... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Technological Innovation; Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Product Development; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Information Technology Industry; Web Services Industry

December 2003 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Rein Chemical Company: Specialty Division

By: Francis Aguilar

This case describes corporate management's recent discovery of widespread unethical pricing transactions in one division and key managers' different views on how to respond. Students are asked to evaluate management's position and decide who should do what to resolve... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Price; Ethics; Business Divisions; Chemicals; Crisis Management; Chemical Industry

November 2013 (Revised August 2023)
Case

'These People are Fiduciaries...'

By: Lena G. Goldberg and Amy W. Schulman

The fiduciary duties of loyalty and care, the corporate opportunity doctrine and the business judgment rule are introduced in the context of three vignettes drawn from decided cases that explore: a classic test of loyalty when one partner elects to take advantage of an... View Details

Keywords: Fiduciaries; Fiduciary Duties; Management Practices and Processes; Ethics; Business Processes

12 Sep 2023
Research & Ideas

How Can Financial Advisors Thrive in Shifting Markets? Diversify, Diversify, Diversify

broadly for other industries looking to appeal to younger clients or adapt marketing strategies to a fluid business environment. Sizing up a changing investment world Historically speaking, financial advisory firms have focused on... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Financial Services

Article

Making Small Farms More Sustainable—and Profitable

By: Lino Dias, Robert S. Kaplan and Harmanpreet Singh

Smallholder farms provide a large proportion of food supply in developing economies, but 40% of these farmers live on less than U.S.$2/day and their deforestation produces environmental degradation. With a rapidly growing global population, it is imperative to improve... View Details

Keywords: Small Farms; Sustainable Agriculture; Agribusiness; Developing Countries and Economies; Environmental Sustainability

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03 Feb 2003
What Do You Think?

Can Business Schools Teach the Craft of Getting Things Done?

practical to think so? Do the economics of education for management even permit it? What do you think? Original Article Strategy and implementation, two sides of the same coin, are often juxtaposed. How... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

May 2020 (Revised June 2020)
Case

TransDigm's Acquisition and Integration of Arkwin Industries

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel W. Fisher

In May 2013, TransDigm, a company that manufactured a wide range of highly engineered aerospace parts for both military and civilian aircraft, announced it was buying Arkwin Industries for $286 million in cash (3 times Arkwin’s sales of $91 million). Having acquired... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Value Creation; Strategy; Acquisition; Integration; Talent and Talent Management; Aerospace Industry

Web

Leadership Initiative - Leadership

security threats. Previously, he served as Corporate Vice President and Head of Strategy for PTC, where he spearheaded its digital transformation to a Software-as-as Service business. Sunand was also Global... View Details

November 1990 (Revised August 1992)
Case

American Airlines (B): Compensation and Cost Reduction

American Airlines' strategy in the 1990s calls for continued growth, improvements in customer service, and cost reduction. Central to cost reduction efforts is the need to contain labor costs. After having signed a very expensive new contract with its pilots' union in... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Labor Unions; Compensation and Benefits; Air Transportation Industry; United States

20 Mar 2008
Working Paper Summaries

Sell Side School Ties

Keywords: by Lauren H. Cohen, Andrea Frazzini & Christopher J. Malloy; Financial Services

April 1997
Case

ABB Germany

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Describes Europe's most famous postwar multinational merger between Asea of Sweden and Brown Boveri of Switzerland. Gives background on both companies and focuses particularly on BBC's geographic organization, its corporate culture, and the relationship between its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Multinational Firms and Management; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Goals and Objectives; Organizational Culture; Performance Improvement; Geographic Location; Rank and Position; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Sweden; Switzerland; Germany

19 Feb 2010
Working Paper Summaries

The Evolution of Science-Based Business: Innovating How We Innovate

Keywords: by Gary P. Pisano

February 2025
Case

Blue Owl Financing of Ping Identity

By: Victoria Ivashina and Srimayi Mylavarapu

In the fall of 2022, Blue Owl Capital's investment committee evaluated a potential investment in the technology sector. The proposed transaction centered on Ping Identity Corporation (“Ping”), a fast-growing identity access management (IAM) software company that was... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Borrowing and Debt; Cash Flow; Investment; Privatization; Financial Services Industry; Technology Industry

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May 1992 (Revised May 2002)
Case

NIKE in Transition (B): Phil Knight Returns

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

After returning to the CEO/COO job, Phil Knight makes changes to Nike's strategy, organization, and management between 1983 and 1987 aimed at making Nike more responsive to the market place. He takes cost-cutting measures, and experiments with several management and... View Details

Keywords: Change; Entrepreneurship; Cost Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy

December 2011
Article

Platform Envelopment

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Geoffrey Parker and Marshall Van Alstyne

Due to network effects and switching costs in platform markets, entrants generally must offer revolutionary functionality. We explore a second entry path that does not rely upon Schumpeterian innovation: platform envelopment. Through envelopment, a provider in one... View Details

Keywords: Digital Platforms; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Economic Systems; Development Economics; Business or Company Management; Business Strategy; Network Effects; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry