Publications

27 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

How the FBI Reinvented Itself After 9/11

both design and identity. This involved establishing a strategy management system based in part on best practices that had been successful in the corporate world: He and his... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

March 2011 (Revised March 2013)
Supplement

a-connect: In Search of Talent Partners (B)

By: Robert G. Eccles and Penelope Rossano

The a-connect: In Search of Talent Partners (B) case updates company changes since the (A) case. Key updates include leadership and management appointments and organizational changes. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Consulting Industry

January 2003 (Revised November 2003)
Case

Merloni Elettrodomestici: The New Century Begins

By: Joseph L. Bower

Merloni Elettrodomestici was founded in 1975. This case traces the evolution of the company's strategy, organization, and management as it becomes the #3 player in Europe (the #1 in Eastern Europe). Issues involve questions of geographic expansion, resource allocation,... View Details

Keywords: Management; Resource Allocation; Organizational Structure; Competitive Strategy; Expansion

29 Nov 2010
HBS Case

United Breaks Guitars

Marketing Strategy and multiple Executive Education programs, the case depicts a new media era in which increasing numbers of people are spending as much time online as they are in front of the television and where one person can get the... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

24 Apr 2017
Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Courage: The Defining Characteristic of Great Leaders

decisions to build great global companies. If businesses are managed without courageous leadership, then R&D programs, product pipelines, investments in emerging markets, and employees’ commitment to the company’s mission all wither.... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George; Auto; Food & Beverage

01 Jun 2023
HBS Case

A Nike Executive Hid His Criminal Past to Turn His Life Around. What If He Didn't Have To?

Miller vowed to hide his criminal past from the business world—a secret he managed to keep for more than 40 years. That was back in 1982, when arrest and prison records were recorded on paper, stored in filing cabinets, and were much... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Apparel & Accessories

November 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Case

Time Inc. and New Magazine Development

By: David J. Collis and Nancy Donohue

Looks at the magazine development at Time Inc. in light of the growing dominance of the video group and the modern management of the 1980s. Highlights the firm's magazine development during 1989. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Management; Product; Segmentation; Publishing Industry

October 2013
Article

Ferguson's Formula

By: Anita Elberse and Sir Alex Ferguson

When Alex Ferguson took over as manager of the English football team Manchester United, the club was in dire straits: It hadn't won a league title in nearly 20 years and faced a very real threat of being relegated to a lower division. In 26 seasons under Ferguson,... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business or Company Management; Management Style; Success; Sports; Sports Industry; England

August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

30 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 30, 2019

2019 HarperBusiness The Business of Platforms: Strategy in the Age of Digital Competition, Innovation, and Power By: Cusumano, Michael A., Annabelle Gawer, and David B. Yoffie Abstract—The Business of Platforms explores the strategic,... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

April 2017 (Revised November 2017)
Case

BlackRock (C): Integrating BGI (with video links)

By: Ranjay Gulati, Jan W. Rivkin and Aldo Sesia

On June 11, 2009, BlackRock, Inc., the world’s fourth-largest asset manager announced it was acquiring Barclays Global Investors (BGI) for $13.5 billion in stock and cash. The deal would more than double BlackRock’s assets under management (AUM), making it the world’s... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Integration; Organizational Culture; Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Information Technology; Asset Management; Financial Services Industry; United States

Web

Video Clips - Creating Emerging Markets

support from governments and corporate insitutuions. Duration: 01:57 Amina Laraki Slaoui Amina Laraki Slaoui Art & Music Amina Laraki Slaoui, President of AMH Group, emphasizes the importance of music as a way to encourage joy and... View Details

April 2003 (Revised December 2006)
Case

ZARA: Fast Fashion

By: Pankaj Ghemawat and Jose Luis Nueno

Focuses on Inditex, an apparel retailer from Spain, which has set up an extremely quick response system for its ZARA chain. Instead of predicting months before a season starts what women will want to wear, ZARA observes what's selling and what's not and continuously... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Multinational Firms and Management; Competitive Advantage; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Spain

June 1990
Supplement

Komatsu in 1986

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the impact of a rising Yen on Komatsu's pricing strategy. Komatsu management seems to be signalling the need for price increases. Asks what Cat's new CEO, George Schaefer, should do in response. View Details

Keywords: Currency Exchange Rate; Price; Leadership; Management; Strategy

January 2024 (Revised February 2024)
Technical Note

Computer Science for Strategists

By: Andy Wu and Matt Higgins

Two of the most important computer science principles in the technology industry are abstraction and platformization. Our aim with this note is to explain these concepts in an approachable way that brings managers and computer scientists a little closer together. View Details

Keywords: Strategist; Computer Science; Strategy; Management Practices and Processes

13 Feb 2020
Blog Post

Know Your Audience – Recruiting HBS Students for Manufacturing

Career & Professional Development Renee Pappastratis – Recruiting Relations Manager As the Career & Professional Development Employer Relations team managing relationships with manufacturing... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

Web

Faculty & Research - Global

Krishna This paper evaluates a low-cost, customized soil nutrient management advisory service in India. As a methodological contribution, we examine whether and in which settings satellite measurements may be effective at estimating both... View Details

November 1999 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Mexican Foundation for Rural Development

By: James E. Austin and Gerardo Lozano

The Mexican Foundation for Rural Development (MFRD) is a nonprofit network of 32 rural development centers servicing low-income farm families. Management plans to expand its operation dramatically, forming 10,000 rural cooperatives in ten years. It faces major issues... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Operations; Cooperative Ownership; Nonprofit Organizations; Society; Strategy; Mexico