Publications

We study how platform firms use repositioning and cost-cutting in response to competition, elucidate external and internal factors that constrain or enable these responses, and examine how the firms’ responses affect their performance. Our empirical context is... View Details

05 Dec 2016
Research & Ideas

How To Deceive Others With Truthful Statements (It's Called 'Paltering,' And It's Risky)

Administration in the Negotiation, Organizations & Markets Unit at Harvard Business School. “People seem to be using this strategy because in their minds, they’re telling the truth, so they think they’re being honest. But the people... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Web

Faculty & Research - Health Care

Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship Led by Peter Barrett and provides a select group of alumni with the opportunity to work with Harvard inventors to promote the commercialization of life science technologies with significant View Details

June 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Background Note

Beating the Commodity Magnet

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and George T. Bowman

All markets follow a cycle of growth and maturity, then commoditization and decline. This note argues that while commoditization of an industry may seem inevitable, the better managed firms find a way to make money in the commodity cycle. These firms know how and when... View Details

Keywords: Goods and Commodities; Financial Markets; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry

2016
Book

Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon and David S. Duncan

The foremost authority on innovation and growth presents a path-breaking book every company needs to transform innovation from a game of chance to one in which they develop products and services that customers want to buy and are willing to purchase at a premium price.... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Consumer Behavior

January 2002
Case

Price-Fixing Vignettes

By: Guhan Subramanian and Michelle Kalka

This case escribes the antitrust prosecutions in the United States and abroad of the international bulk vitamins cartel. Both the civil and criminal fines were historically high, and it was the first time the United States prosecuted foreign nationals for U.S. criminal... View Details

Keywords: Price; Lawsuits and Litigation; Governance Compliance; Auctions; Laws and Statutes; Monopoly; Globalized Markets and Industries; Retail Industry; Health Industry; United States

September 2015
Teaching Note

Sustainability at IKEA Group

By: Michael W. Toffel

Can IKEA Group double its global sales within a decade by expending in emerging markets while implementing on its ambitious sustainability strategy that included focusing on raw material sourcing and suppliers’ production processes? The case focuses on IKEA Group’s... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Emerging Markets; Environmental Sustainability; Globalized Markets and Industries; Consumer Products Industry

06 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

Updating a Classic: Writing a Great Business Plan

lamebrained the idea. Also, we have difficult factor markets like energy, but that simply means that there are great opportunities for people with ideas for alternative energy. Were I rewriting the article today, I might emphasize the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

March 2020
Case

Voi Technology

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Olivia Hull

Voi Technology, a fast-growing start-up out of Sweden, is competing in the highly contested European e-scooter sharing market. With a presence in nearly 40 cities in Europe by February 2020, the firm is working hard to improve its unit economics to reach profitability.... View Details

2022
Article

Reversible Power-to-Gas Systems for Energy Conversion and Storage

By: Gunther Glenk and Stefan Reichelstein

In the transition to decarbonized energy systems, Power-to-Gas (PtG) processes have the potential to connect the existing markets for electricity and hydrogen. Specifically, reversible PtG systems can convert electricity to hydrogen at times of ample power supply, yet... View Details

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June 2023
Teaching Note

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited: Global Leadership in Chipmaking

By: William C. Kirby and Noah B. Truwit

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 321-126. The general purpose of this case is to explore the evolving nature of business relations across the Taiwan strait, focusing on the prominence of Taiwan's high-tech industry. After the legendary founder of Taiwan Semiconductor... View Details

Keywords: Geopolitical Units; Government and Politics; Competition; Production; Disruption; Semiconductor Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Taiwan; Taiwan Strait; China

2023
Working Paper

Crowding in Private Quality: The Equilibrium Effects of Public Spending in Education

By: Tahir Andrabi, Natalie Bau, Jishnu Das, Asim Ijaz Khwaja and Naureen Karachiwalla

We estimate the equilibrium effects of a public-school grant program administered through school councils in Pakistani villages with multiple public and private schools and clearly defined catchment boundaries. The program was randomized at the village-level, allowing... View Details

Keywords: Product Differentiation; Public Sector; Private Sector; Spending; Education; Competition

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March 2017 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Interline Brands: Don't Stop Believing

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Ricardo Andrade

Interline Brands, a leading distributor of residential housing maintenance and repair parts and equipment in the U.S., had just held its November 2014 board meeting. The meeting had been productive but not without some soul searching for both the company’s management... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity Exit; Consumer Goods; IPO; Private Equity; Initial Public Offering; Decision Choices and Conditions

19 Oct 2017
HBS Seminar

Dennis Carlton, University of Chicago Booth School of Business

25 Jun 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Build It, Buy It Or Both? Rethinking the Sourcing of Advertising Services

Keywords: by Alvin J. Silk; Advertising

June 1987 (Revised September 1997)
Case

Mebel, Doran & Co.

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

Puts the student in the position of a senior official of a major New York investment bank who discovers that information has leaked to the market on a confidential takeover plan that was being developed by a corporate client. The official has to decide how to deal with... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Decision Choices and Conditions; Investment Banking; Mergers and Acquisitions; Crisis Management; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Supplement

E-Commerce Analytics for CPG Firms (C): Free Delivery Terms

By: Ayelet Israeli and Fedor (Ted) Lisitsyn

The E-Commerce Analytics group at the traditional CPG firm was in charge of compiling various online sales reports, as well as making data-driven recommendations for sales and marketing tactics. In a series of exercises, students address different data challenges for... View Details

February 2010
Background Note

Millipore Background Note

By: Elie Ofek and Natalie Kindred

This note provides background on Millipore Corporation, a global provider of products and services used primarily in the discovery, development and production of therapeutic drugs. With a track record of quickly adapting to the evolving needs of its customers,... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

March 2006
Case

Wells Fargo Convertible Bonds

By: Malcolm P. Baker and Elizabeth Kind

Howard Atkins, the chief financial officer of Wells Fargo, is considering issuing $3 billion in convertible debt. With an investment-grade credit rating, Wells Fargo is not the typical issuer of convertible securities, but the market conditions in 2003 are unusual.... View Details

Keywords: Capital Structure; Financial Institutions; Banks and Banking; Debt Securities; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Strategy; Banking Industry