Publications

March 1990 (Revised June 1991)
Case

IBM Corp.: ""Make It Your Business"" (A)

By: Robert L. Simons

In 1987, IBM changed its strategy in an attempt to become a market-driven company rather than a product-driven company. The case begins with a description of the new strategy and the reasons for the change and then describes the top-down sales planning and quota system... View Details

Keywords: Commercialization; Competitive Advantage; Business Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Strategic Planning; Motivation and Incentives; Sales; Volatility; System; Information Technology Industry

February 2001 (Revised November 2009)
Case

Amazon.com (C)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport

At the end of 1998, Amazon.com founder and CEO Jeff Bezos ponders the next moves for his company. Having secured the leadership position as the leading online book seller in the United States, Amazon.com has now moved into the product categories of CDs and videos by... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Books; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; Germany; United Kingdom; United States

Web

Blavatnik Fellowship in Life Science Entrepreneurship - Health Care

Startup Culture.” Industry Access Fellows build a network of connections across the life science industry in various ways. They are matched with Key Advisory Board members who serve as their mentors throughout the program View Details

01 Oct 2001
News

David B. Price, Jr.: Aiming High

—it's the challenge of leading a major company in the turbulent global economy. A longtime executive at Monsanto and BFGoodrich, Price believes that the turmoil caused by... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management of Companies and Enterprises

November 2006 (Revised November 2007)
Case

EFJ, Inc.

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ajay Vinze and Mara Vatz

Michael Jalbert plans to transform EFJI, a land mobile radio manufacturer, into a leading radio systems and solutions provider. Taking advantage of new industry standards and the country's increased focus on public safety agencies and homeland security, Jalbert says... View Details

Keywords: Disruptive Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competitive Strategy; Expansion

Find at Harvard

August 2007 (Revised February 2008)
Case

Gome Electronics: Evolving the Business Model

By: Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan, Gao Wang, Fei Li, Tracy Manty and Waishun Lo

After 20 years of expansion, Gome Electronics has become China's largest consumer electronics retailer. It has opened stores in almost every province in China, acquired some of its competitors, and went public in Hong Kong. However, it has begun to experience a... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Distribution Channels; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Industry Growth; Marketing Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Product; Electronics Industry; Retail Industry; China

June 2012 (Revised February 2014)
Case

Low-Carbon, Indigenous Innovation in China

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

For the past seven years or so, the Chinese government has been powering ahead with industrial policies to promote low-carbon energy technologies—wind, solar, electric batteries and vehicles, nuclear power, and even carbon capture and sequestration. In 2009, the... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Renewables; Carbon; Environment; Industrial Policy; Competitiveness; Environmental Sustainability; Policy; Renewable Energy; Competition; Globalized Markets and Industries; Energy Industry; China

April 2019 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Effects

By: Christopher Stanton, Richard Saouma and Olivia Hull

The importance of a good peer or coworker is widely discussed, but understanding the glue that makes coworkers valuable is less understood. This case sheds light on the importance of peers and the practices and environments that make a group greater than the sum of its... View Details

Career Coach

Lobna Dawoud

Having an international background, Lobna is happy to help international students navigate the job search and visa requirements/concerns. Employment Experience: JPMorgan Chase (Investment Banking Internship), McKinsey & View Details

17 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Entrepreneurs Can Find the Right Problem to Solve

discovery to validate a problem but don’t yet have a product, my follow-up question is: “How do you know people or companies will use your product?” Answers are equally discouraging. More often than not, I hear examples View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

01 Oct 2021
Research & Ideas

Dying to Lead: How Reaching the Top Can Kill You Sooner

demands. "What we’re beginning to understand is that life at the top isn’t that easy." The historical study by Harvard Business School Professor Tom Nicholas, who tracked the status and mortality rates of... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

January 2010 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Aubrey McClendon's Special Incentive Compensation at Chesapeake Energy (A)

By: Paul Healy, Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

Aubrey McClendon, founder and CEO of Chesapeake Energy, was, according to Fortune Magazine, the highest paid U.S. CEO in 2008 receiving over $100 million in total compensation. McClendon received this compensation despite a significant drop in the company's stock price... View Details

Keywords: Financial Statements; Financial Reporting; Price; Stock Options; Valuation; Joint Ventures; Business Growth and Maturation; Economic Growth; Growth and Development Strategy; Change Management; Energy Industry; United States

03 Aug 2009
Research & Ideas

Corporate Social Responsibility in a Downturn

current one? A: As I mentioned earlier, CSR should be viewed as a business discipline and practiced with the same rigor as other aspects of a firm's strategy. Remember, however, that rigor does not always... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

November 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Strategic Planning at United Parcel Service

By: David A. Garvin and Lynne Levesque

In March 2005, CEO Michael Eskew has asked the Corporate Strategy Group to recommend changes to the strategic process to ensure it allows United Parcel Service (UPS) to continue to transform itself over the next several years. Describes the evolution of UPS's strategic... View Details

Keywords: Change; Decisions; Globalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Strategic Planning; Creativity; Corporate Strategy

29 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

How Bonuses Get Employees to Choose Work Over Family

perks like bonuses, commissions, or stock options tied to hitting certain goals. But managers may not realize that these incentives could contribute to employee dissatisfaction, burnout, and personal... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Kim Raczka

March 2005
Case

Vignette: Waiting for a CEO

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Ann Leamon

A venture capitalist must decide how to respond to an e-mail from his long-time troubleshooter now installed as interim CEO at a struggling contract manufacturing exchange for the custom car business. The investors have been seeking a full-time CEO but have made little... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Business or Company Management; Investment; Business Ventures; Corporate Governance; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Financial Strategy