Publications

2015
Chapter

From Periphery to Core: A Process Model for Embracing Sustainability

By: Luciana Silvestri and Ranjay Gulati

There is a growing call for business enterprises to adopt sustainability principles and practices, yet many established organizations continue to struggle in their quest to embrace them. In this chapter, we analyze how organizations that relegate sustainability to the... View Details

15 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Algorithmic Foundations for Business Strategy

Keywords: by Mihnea Moldoveanu

April 1992 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Conoco's: "Green" Oil Strategy (A)

By: Malcolm S. Salter and Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Conoco faces challenges in formulating a proactive environmental strategy for its proposed oil development in Ecuador's pristine tropical rain forest region. The case outlines the innovative process in which Conoco collaborated with a wide range of often conflicting... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Outcome or Result; Problems and Challenges; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Conflict Management; Ecuador

10 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

Globalization: The Strategy of Differences

77 percent of its profits from outside North America. But Goizueta's strategy soon ran into trouble, due in large part to the Asian currency crisis. By the end of 1999, when Douglas Daft took the reins, earnings had slumped, and Coke's... View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat

Research Summary

Mastering Strategy Execution

By: Robert Simons

Professor Robert Simons’ research encompasses three areas of management accountability that are the foundation for successful strategy execution: organization design, performance measurement and control, and risk management. In addition, Simons is interested in the... View Details

June 2015
Article

You Need an Innovation Strategy

By: Gary P. Pisano

Why is it so hard to build and maintain the capacity to innovate? The reason is not simply a failure to execute but a failure to articulate an innovation strategy that aligns innovation efforts with the overall business strategy. Without such a strategy, companies will... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Strategy

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July–August 2021
Article

Why Do So Many Strategies Fail?

By: David J. Collis

THE PROBLEM: Seemingly successful new companies struggle to turn a healthy profit. Established firms get disrupted by upstarts. Companies that excel at serving their markets can’t adapt when customers’ tastes shift. THE ROOT CAUSE: All too often, business leaders focus... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Strategic Planning; Business Model; Value; Value Creation; Opportunities

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August 2016
Supplement

CEO Succession at Cisco (B): Announcement Strategy

By: Boris Groysberg, J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Annelena Lobb

Supplements the (A) case (417-031). This case supplement describes Cisco’s communications strategy around the CEO announcement, which focused on controlling the narrative and avoiding leaks. The strategy included both internal and external processes aimed at... View Details

Keywords: Management Succession; Communication Strategy; Technology Industry

26 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

The Office of Strategy Management

causes of this disconnect between strategy and performance. We have learned that most organizations do not have a strategy execution process. Many have strategic plans, but no coherent approach to manage the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

02 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Mapping Your Corporate Strategy

performance against the strategy. Some organizations call this person the "Chief of Staff." In large organizations, the process is run by a new organization called the Office of Strategy Management—which... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2004 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Newell Rubbermaid: Strategy in Transition

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery, Rhonda Kaufman and Carole Winkler

Describes the transformation of a company's corporate-level strategy. Begins by laying out the strategy that brought the Newell Co. stunning success for nearly three decades. The highly integrated, internally consistent strategy was tailored for manufacturing and... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Transformation; Problems and Challenges; Acquisition; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; United States

August 1990
Case

Giovanni Buton: International Marketing Strategy

Describes the situation confronting Giovanni Buton, an Italian distiller and beverage distributor, in 1989. The market for distilled spirits was declining and the spirits industry was consolidating via mergers and acquisitions on a worldwide basis. "Global brands" such... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Italy; European Union

06 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Four Strategies for Making Concessions

Most people understand that negotiation is a matter of give-and-take: You have to be willing to make concessions to get concessions in return. But the process of making concessions is easier said than done. Consider how events unfolded in... View Details

Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra

Research Summary

Rooting Marketing Strategy in Human Universals

Localization strategies can be costly to implement while globalization strategies may fail to develop or create demand by stressing readily shared product features rather than shared needs. Thus the question: Is there, somewhere between the extremes of localization... View Details

March 2010 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Cognizant 2.0: Embedding Community and Knowledge Into Work Processes

By: Robert G. Eccles and Thomas H. Davenport

Knowledge management has been a high priority for Cognizant Technology Solutions since its inception since its global delivery model requires the global sharing of knowledge. Its first major tool was called the Knowledge Management Appliance but as Web 2.0 tools came... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Product Development; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Organizational Structure; Cooperation; Information Technology Industry

March 2000
Exercise

Developing Products on Internet Time: A Process Design Exercise

By: Stefan H. Thomke

This team exercise allows students to experience some of the dynamics of developing products in the fast-paced Internet environment and was inspired by the browser war between Netscape and Microsoft. Designed to be taught in a single class session, the exercise... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Internet and the Web; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Design; Decisions; Management Practices and Processes; Integration; Organizations; Competition

January–February 2014
Article

Building a Game-Changing Talent Strategy

By: Douglas A. Ready, Linda A. Hill and Robert J. Thomas

When most of the world's financial services giants were stumbling and retrenching in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, the asset management firm BlackRock was busy charting a course for growth. Its revenues, profits, and stock price all performed consistently... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Success; Business Strategy; Financial Crisis; Financial Services Industry