Publications

February 1991
Case

Burlington Northern: The ARES Decision (A)

By: Julie H. Hertenstein and Robert S. Kaplan

Burlington Northern's decision whether to invest in ARES, an automated train control system, is a ($350 million) strategic investment in information technology. Although set in a service industry (railroad) the issues around this decision arise in many organizations... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Rail Transportation; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Performance Effectiveness; Cost vs Benefits; Technology Adoption; Technological Innovation; Customers; Quality; Rail Industry

October 2006
Case

Lean at Wipro Technologies

Wipro Technologies, a rapidly growing software services firm based in India, decided to use principles from the Toyota Production System (also known as lean) to fundamentally change their operating model. Looks at why Wipro chose to use lean and how they went about... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Applications and Software; Operations; Information Technology Industry; India

21 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Common Strategy Mistakes

"Michael Porter didn't get to be a giant in the field of competition and strategy by hunting small game." Joan Magretta begins her new book on Harvard Business School's Michael Porter's work by noting that, from the start of his... View Details

Keywords: by Joan Magretta

Research Summary

"Pricing Practices and Market Power in International Cellular Telephone Markets" (with Dana Nunn)

As the cellular telephone market continues to grow throughout the globe, countries must determine how to best promote market growth and innovation while protecting consumers and ensuring competitive rates. The conventional wisdom has been that introducing competition... View Details

November 2021 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Farfetch: Digital Transformation for Luxury Brands

By: Sunil Gupta, Jill Avery, Elena Corsi and Federica Gabrieli

Farfetch, a global luxury technology platform and digital marketplace had been surfing the wave of digital transformation in the luxury fashion industry since 2008. While the company’s stock price and market valuation had fluctuated since its IPO in 2018, it had... View Details

September 2019
Case

JTC: Stronger Together with Shared Ownership

By: Ethan Bernstein and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Nigel Le Quesne, CEO of Jersey-based financial services firm JTC, firmly believed that "shared ownership" was at the heart of his company’s successful track record. The firm had seen its revenues, profits, and number of clients and staff grow steadily throughout its... View Details

Keywords: Ownership; Employee Ownership; Leadership Style; Compensation and Benefits; Organizational Culture; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Going Public; Mission and Purpose; Management Practices and Processes; Human Resources; Financial Services Industry; Channel Islands; Europe; United States

April 1991 (Revised June 1993)
Case

McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc. in 1990 (A)

Describes McCaw Cellular Communications, Inc.'s competitive position in 1990. McCaw is the largest cellular phone service company in the United States. It faces challenges of technological change and formulating strategy in an industry with a highly uncertain future.... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Communication Technology; Competition; Change Management; Investment; Telecommunications Industry; United States

22 Feb 2010
Op-Ed

Tragedy at Toyota: How Not to Lead in Crisis

has always been quality, a competitive advantage that prompted many Americans to stop buying GM and Ford brands. Toyota can only regain its footing by transforming itself from top to bottom to deliver the highest View Details

Keywords: by William George; Auto

November 1999
Background Note

Recognizing Revenues and Expenses: Realized and Earned

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Describes a key concept in financial accounting: choosing an appropriate revenue recognition point. The accrual process requires revenue recognition and expense matching for reporting on the value creation process of companies. Describes the two key criteria for... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Accrual Accounting; Cost Accounting; Budgets and Budgeting; Revenue; Profit; Cost Management; Value Creation; Competitive Strategy; Financial Statements; Accounting Industry

November 2013
Case

IdentiGEN

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Matthew Preble

Ciaran Meghen and Ronan Loftus, co-founders of IdentiGEN (an Irish company that had created a unique service called DNA TraceBack to help customers identify and trace meat products), were discussing the company's future. The recent crisis over beef products being... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Agribusiness; Supply Chain Management; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Canada; United Kingdom; United States; Republic of Ireland

October 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Cost of Capital at Ameritrade

By: Mark L. Mitchell and Erik Stafford

Ameritrade Holding Corp. is planning large marketing and technology investments to improve the company's competitive position in deep-discount brokerage by taking advantage of emerging economies of scale. In order to evaluate whether the strategy would generate... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Asset Pricing; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Investment; Marketing; Mathematical Methods; Competition; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Financial Services Industry

September 2012 (Revised December 2012)
Case

Addleshaw Goddard LLP (Abridged)

By: Robert G. Eccles, Amy C. Edmondson and James Weber

Addleshaw-Goddard (AG), the 15th largest law firm in the UK, is seeking ways to serve larger clients on more important legal matters. Part of this strategy involves its "Client Development Centre (CDC)," an innovative idea and set of services launched by Dr. Jim Hever... View Details

Keywords: Price; Innovation and Invention; Service Operations; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Legal Services Industry; United Kingdom

April–June 2015
Article

It Doesn't Matter If Competitors Know Your Strategy

By: Frank V. Cespedes

It is difficult for people to implement what they don't understand. Yet, research indicates that, on average, more than 50% of employees in organizations say they do not understand their organization's strategy. Further, the percentage of people reporting ignorance of... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Sales

January 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Capital Allocation at HCA

By: W. Carl Kester and Emily R. McComb

In early 2017, HCA Holdings, an investor-owned hospital management company, faced a strategically important capital allocation decision. After the exit of its private equity sponsors in 2016, HCA had to determine how best to allocate its substantial annual free cash... View Details

Keywords: Capital Allocation; Cash Distribution Policy; Dividends; Share Repurchases; Growth Strategy And Execution; Growth Investing; Capital Expenditures; Debt Management; Debt Reduction; Debt Policy; Hospital Management; Investor-owned Hospital Chains; Capital Budgeting; Capital Structure; Cash Flow; Corporate Finance; Decision Choices and Conditions; Health Industry; United States

December 2008
Case

Taylor Fresh Foods

By: David E. Bell, Natalie Kindred and Mary Louise Shelman

In 13 years, Bruce Taylor had built Taylor Fresh Foods into a $1 billion company and the top supplier of salads to the U.S. food service industry and to supermarket deli departments. In 2008, he was convinced that the time was right to make a big push in the fresh food... View Details

Keywords: Food; Brands and Branding; Demand and Consumers; Supply Chain Management; Competition; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; United States

09 Sep 2015
HBS Seminar

Judith A. Chevalier, Yale University

September 2003 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Performance Pay for MGOA Physicians (A)

Examines the transition of an orthopedic surgical group at a premier teaching and research hospital from a system in which the surgeons are compensated with flat salaries to a system where they are compensated based on profitability. Allows for an examination of... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Motivation and Incentives; Nonprofit Organizations; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Health Industry