Publications

24 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 24

and field hospitals). In 13 years it developed from a start-up garage business into a successful firm of global reach and reputation. In 2010 its founder and CEO Philippe Prévost must decide the product and market View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 2017 (Revised April 2022)
Case

Tempur Sealy International (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle

This case explores the long-term relationship between Tempur Sealy (TPX, a mattress manufacturer) and Mattress Firm (MFRM, a bedding retailer and TPX's largest customer). For almost 20 years, the firms enjoyed a mutually beneficial and commercially prosperous... View Details

April 1998 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.: Supply Management

By: Francis Aguilar, Paul Clark and Xin Xi He

This case depicts the supply-management practices--including planning, production, and distribution--at Pioneer Hi-Bred International, the world's leader in the genetically engineered hybrid crop-seed industry. Set in the context of a supply-management planning... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Production; Distribution; Marketing Strategy; Customer Focus and Relationships; Logistics; Planning; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry

January 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Yamato Transport: Valuing and Pricing Network Services (A)

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Tarun Khanna and Masako Egawa

Yamato Transport is the leading Japanese parcel delivery company and has dominated its industry for more than two decades. In response to new competitive challenges, Yamato must decide how to reposition itself in the industry and optimize the size of its network. The... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Competition; Transportation Networks; Monopoly; Shipping Industry; Japan

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Initiative Summit: Who Has the Power in the Music Industry?

the CEO and founder of BandPage, an online service that allows musicians to post information and connect with fans. Their conversation touched on power dynamics, as-yet-untapped areas for future digitization, and a question from the... View Details

Keywords: Re: Felix Oberholzer-Gee; Music

June 1983
Background Note

Note on the Paper Machinery Industry

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the major structural changes taking place in the paper industry in the 1970s: major oil and pulp price increases, pollution legislation, a shift in industry development from OECD countries to LDCs and NICs and the technological revolution in paper making.... View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Price; Global Strategy; Growth and Development; Industry Structures; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Pollutants; Competition; Pulp and Paper Industry

Find at Harvard

14 May 2013
Blog Post

Exploring new opportunities at HBS

startup approximately 10% of the size of our entire RC class. Prior to joining the startup, I had a slightly more traditional occupation working on the Loyalty Marketing team at a national luxury retailer... View Details

Keywords: Technology

28 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 28

researchers, and policy makers interested in finance, governance, and other aspects of the contemporary investment world. It also provides investment, business, financial media, and legal professionals with the tools they need to better... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 May 2019
Research & Ideas

Consumers Blame Business for Global Health Problems. Can Business Become the Solution?

Every public health crisis—whether it’s the availability of highly addictive opioids or junk food marketing to children—prompts consumers to question how far companies will... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Health

10 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: First Look: October 10

Negotiation Strategy: Pattern Recognition Game Harvard Business School Note 908-015 In negotiation, correctly identifying your counterpart's strategy is vital. Only then can you constructively influence their behavior—or adapt... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2005
Case

CarMax

By: Rajiv Lal and David Kiron

Carmax is the largest multi-market used car dealer in the U.S., and has no format-to-format competitor in the $375 billion used car market. CarMax is trying to do what some analysts believed to be impossible: sell used cars profitably on a national scale, and at the... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Brands and Branding; Digital Platforms; Segmentation; Auto Industry

November 2010 (Revised July 2011)
Case

FreshTec: Revolutionizing Fresh Produce

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Ryan Johnson

Entrepreneurial produce packaging firm, which has developed a disruptive technology that keeps fresh produce and flowers fresh for significantly longer, faces strategic growth decisions. CEO Bob Wright must decide how best to bring his company's unique packaging... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Disruptive Innovation; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Launch; Supply Chain; Value Creation; Service Industry

06 Jan 2010
What Do You Think?

Is a Stringent Climate Change Agreement a Pot of Gold?

should venture capitalists around the world get behind climate change agreements? Should governments with highly-favorable environments for entrepreneurship, such as the U.S. and China, push even more strongly for stringent rules or guidelines? Should they View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Energy; Utilities

2011
Chapter

Clusters and Competitiveness: Porter's Contribution

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

While clusters have been known to exist at least since the days of Marshall, Michael Porter's work, first in The Competitive Advantage of Nations (Porter, 1990) and then in On Competition (originally published in 1998; updated edition in Porter, 2008), has undoubtedly... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Framework; Policy; Industry Clusters; Practice; Competitive Advantage

2017
Working Paper

Carbon Tariffs: Effects in Settings with Technology Choice and Foreign Production Cost Advantage

By: David F. Drake

Emissions regulation is a policy mechanism intended to address the threat of climate change. However, the stringency of emissions regulation varies across regions, raising concerns over carbon leakage—an outcome where stringent regulation in one region shifts... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Competition; Pollutants; Taxation; Environmental Sustainability; Globalized Markets and Industries

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17 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

The Business Case for Diabetes Disease Management

a year to treat a newly diagnosed diabetic patient; obviously, the numbers go up if a diabetic suffers serious complications. Healthcare providers have attempted a number of disease management View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Health

October 2010 (Revised November 2010)
Background Note

Plavix: Drugs in the Age of Personalized Medicine

By: Richard G. Hamermesh, Mara G. Aspinall and Rachel Gordon

PIavix, one of the world's best selling drugs in 2010, appears to have a limited future. Its patent was due to expire soon, and recently new data had been discovered that indicated that a small subset of the population would be at risk for stroke, heart attack, or even... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Positioning; Business and Government Relations; Genetics; Competitive Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry

06 Feb 2006
What Do You Think?

Should CEOs of Public Companies Offer Earnings Guidance?

amounts of internal energy go to 'making the quarter return' rather than serving the customer and building the future. Why did quarter returns develop in the first place?" Bill Hubbell added, "The... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Financial Services

January 2002 (Revised March 2011)
Case

Finland and Nokia: Creating the World's Most Competitive Economy

By: Michael E. Porter and Orjan Solvell

Finland, with a special language and culture, has developed as a country in between the west (the Nordic region and Europe) and the east (especially its neighbor Russia). In the 1980s, a process started of moving out of an investment-driven economy into an... View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Economic Growth; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Telecommunications Industry; Finland