Publications

February 2000 (Revised July 2004)
Case

Ericsson in China: Mobile Leadership

Focuses on Ericsson in the Chinese mobile phone market--the company's largest single market, and one that is still growing at rates in excess of 50%. Permits comparison of two distinct ways of entering the Chinese market: by forming joint ventures with local... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Advantage; Mobile Technology; Telecommunications Industry; China

09 Dec 2019
Research & Ideas

Identify Great Customers from Their First Purchase

Using information collected during a customer’s first purchase, a new marketing tool that leverages machine learning technology can provide firms with valuable predictions about the customer’s future behavior, says Eva Ascarza, a View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Service; Service

Article

Operational Efficiency and Effective Management in the Catheterization Laboratory

By: Grant W. Reed, Michael L. Tushman and Samir R. Kapadia

Operational efficiency is a core business principle in which organizations strive to deliver high-quality goods or services in a cost-effective manner. This concept has become increasingly relevant to cardiac catheterization laboratories, as insurers move away from... View Details

Keywords: Cath Lab; Catheterization Laboratory; Health Care and Treatment; Performance Efficiency; Management; Performance Productivity; Cost Management; Health Industry

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July 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Dynamic Pricing at Wendy's: Where's the Beef?

By: Elie Ofek, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

In early 2024, Wendy’s new CEO announced on an earnings call that the company would install digital menus in its US locations so it could begin testing dynamic pricing—changing prices up or down in response to shifts in supply and demand – as well as allow engaging in... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Pricing; Marketing Strategy; Price; Technology Adoption; Consumer Behavior; AI and Machine Learning; Customer Focus and Relationships; Policy; Food and Beverage Industry

10 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Is Groupon Good for Retailers?

paper with Harvard graduate students Sonia Jaffe (Department of Economics) and Scott Duke Kominers (Harvard Business School). Carmen Nobel: How can a discount voucher service like Groupon benefit retailers? Ben Edelman: Our paper looks at... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising; Technology

August 2016 (Revised July 2017)
Case

Singapore Airlines: Premium Goes Multi-Brand

By: Rohit Deshpande and Dawn H. Lau

Singapore Airlines had long been considered the gold standard for its innovative customer service. However, the company was faced with new sources of competition, from the rapid growth of Southeast Asian low-cost carriers on the one hand, to the expansion of premium... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Air Transportation Industry; Air Transportation Industry; Singapore

13 Jan 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Forward Guidance in the Yield Curve: Short Rates versus Bond Supply

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson, and Dimitri Vayanos; Financial Services

June 1992 (Revised August 1992)
Case

Parker-Spencer: The Legal Form of Joint Ventures

Parker Co., a U.S. based agricultural chemical company with $4 billion in sales, has agreed to a joint venture with Spencer, Inc., a smaller U.S. based company, to develop and market a new herbicide for corn. The two companies must consider marketing, tax, and... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Joint Ventures; Taxation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

June 2017
Case

MIA: Profit at the Base of the Pyramid

By: Lynda M. Applegate, José Antonio Dávila Castilla, Sarah Mehta and Aldo Sesia

In January 2016, Guillermo Jaime had just returned home to Mexico City after attending a Harvard Business School executive education program. Jaime was the founder and CEO of Mejoramiento Integral Asistido (MIA), a company providing affordable housing to low-income... View Details

Keywords: Base Of The Pyramid; Social Capitalism; Housing; Emerging Markets; Social Enterprise; Society; Wealth and Poverty; Social Entrepreneurship; Construction Industry; Mexico

09 Jul 2020
Research & Ideas

It’s Time to Reset Decision-Making in Your Organization

how one CEO we’ve talked with builds in multiple perspectives to his decision-making. At his industrial products company, he has established bi-weekly meetings with his senior team focused on two questions: What do we know now that we... View Details

Keywords: by Boris Groysberg and Sarah Abbott

September 2024
Case

Navigating Digital Transformation at Carrefour

By: Sunil Gupta and Emilie Billaud

In 2023, Elodie Perthuisot, Carrefour’s Executive Director for e-commerce and digital transformation, met with CEO Alexandre Bompard to discuss strategies for the company’s digital initiatives. Carrefour, a global retail giant with over 14,300 stores across 40... View Details

March 2019
Case

Mahindra Finance

By: V.G. Narayanan and Tanvi Deshpande

Mahindra Finance is a non-banking lender operating mainly in the rural and semi-urban areas of India. Set up in 1991, the company had grown to become a market leader with assets of $8.5 billion and a presence in 3,30,000 villages across India. Since most of Mahindra's... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Model; Volatility; Customer Focus and Relationships; Decisions; Credit; Financing and Loans; Service Delivery; Risk and Uncertainty; Financial Services Industry; India

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Supplement

Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (B)

By: Willy Shih

This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Exploration; Dominant Design; Business Growth and Maturation; Business History; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Auto Industry; Michigan

February 2005
Case

L. Londell McMillan (A)

On the plane back to New York City, L. Londell McMillan focused on the music on his headphones, the latest offering from his friend and long-time client, Prince Rogers Nelson--the artist known as "Prince." McMillan and Prince had spent several days contemplating a... View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Music Industry

Profile

Adriann Dolphin

Why did you choose this path at this point in time?marketing along with the general business overview that I lacked in my IT work. Sitting in on an HBS case class in 2019 showed me HBS... View Details

02 Jun 2020
Research & Ideas

Coronavirus Careers: Cloud Kitchens Are Now Serving

The restaurant industry is one of those most devastated by COVID-19, and social distancing will continue to make many small restaurants unviable. Reduced revenue flows will never cover the rent. But not all is lost. In our research, one... View Details

Keywords: by Lena Ye and Geoffrey Jones; Food & Beverage

August 2022 (Revised August 2025)
Case

Fresh Food Generation

By: Brian Trelstad, Amy Klopfenstein and Mel Martin

This case highlights one of five BIPOC entrepreneurs in the Boston area as part of the HBS Impact Investment Fund. In fall 2021, a team of HBS students reviewed the financial statements of Fresh Food Generation (FFG), a Dorchester, Massachusetts-based food service... View Details

Keywords: Impact Investing; Investment; Entrepreneurial Finance; Entrepreneurship; Race; Food and Beverage Industry; Boston