Publications

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

What Roosevelt Took: The Economic Impact of the Panama Canal, 1903-29

Keywords: by Noel Maurer & Carlos Yu

September 1993 (Revised January 2007)
Case

British Satellite Broadcasting versus Sky Television

Describes the rivalry between two competitors who have attempted to become the dominant force in the emerging British satellite television industry. Can be used to examine issues of competitive positioning, technology adoption, and scenario analysis. Helps students... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Technology Adoption; Telecommunications Industry; Great Britain

04 Sep 2013
What Do You Think?

How Relevant is Long-Range Strategic Planning?

this month, the topic is strategy planning and organization. Conventional thinking and organization that has encouraged us to seek sustainable competitive advantage in the past is being questioned in today's... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

07 Oct 2024
Research & Ideas

Election 2024: Why Demographics Won't Predict the Next President

Pundits love a political horse race, parsing the latest polls to predict who might win an election. And in the final runup to the US presidential contest, these forecasts can influence markets and shape public opinion and policies. But as... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

09 Apr 2014
News

A Playbook For Small-Business Job Creation

August 1986
Supplement

OTISLINE, Video

Describes benefits of OTISLINE application. Shows how information technology can be used to achieve competitive advantage and alter the flow of information within an organization. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Competitive Advantage

November 2011 (Revised August 2012)
Background Note

Customer Discovery and Validation for Entrepreneurs

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Thomas Eisenmann and Steven G. Blank

Provides practical guidelines for conducting market research to explore and validate demand for entrepreneurial offering. Explains how the research objectives of entrepreneurs might differ from those relevant to managers evaluating product or service offerings to... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Entrepreneurship

January 1987 (Revised June 1989)
Case

Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi-Cola (A)

Focuses on the competitive interaction between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola specifically and the effect their dominance has on the other industry participants. Coke and Pepsi's competitive strategies are examined in an in-depth analysis; each firm's behavior is used to... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

03 May 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Can a Social Entrepreneur End Homelessness in the US?

Keywords: Re: Brian L. Trelstad

September 2004 (Revised December 2004)
Case

Metso Paper: Globalization of Finnish Metal Workshops

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Marikka Heikkila and Kalle Lyytinen

Metso Paper, the world's largest producer of paper machines, aims to transform itself into a knowledge- and information-based service and solution provider for the paper industry by aggressively exploiting information technologies. In the fall of 2002, Jorma Hujala, a... View Details

Keywords: Production; Customer Value and Value Chain; Information Technology; Corporate Strategy; Knowledge Management; Machinery and Machining; Expansion; Service Delivery; Manufacturing Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Finland

Find at Harvard

March 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Hippo: Weathering the Storm of the Home Insurance Crisis

By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Sophia Pan

Rick McCathron, CEO of Hippo, considered how the firm’s underwriting model could account for the effects of climate change. Along with providing smart home packages, targeting risk-friendly customers, and using data-driven pricing, the Insurtech used technologically... View Details

14 Sep 2017
News

Our Political System Is Failing. Michael Porter Has Solutions.

Research Summary

Overview

Abigail's research to date has focused on the financial accounting standard setting process. Specifically, her current projects investigate the impacts of regulator backgrounds, constituent preferences, and lobbying incentives in the determination of US GAAP. Her... View Details

Keywords: Financial Accounting; Political Economy; Capital Markets; Fair Value Accounting; Disclosure; International Accounting Standards

23 Nov 2021
Book

What It Takes to Build an Organizational Culture That Wins

makes the leadership and management of all kinds of change easier. There is a catchy, popular, oft-repeated view that “culture eats strategy for lunch.” This implies a relationship that is not helpful. Culture and strategy are not in some kind of View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

06 Mar 2021
News

How to Upgrade Judges with Machine Learning

March 2022
Case

Unilever: Remote Work in Manufacturing

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury and Susie L. Ma

In December 2021, Unilever—one of the world’s largest producers of consumer goods—was in the midst of a pilot project to digitize its manufacturing facilities and enable remote work for factory employees. This was possible because of an earlier project to retrofit a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Globalization; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Human Resources; Jobs and Positions; Operations; Education; Training; Manufacturing Industry

September 1991 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Allegheny Ludlum: Research and Engineering Resource Allocation

By: Dorothy Leonard-Barton and Geoffrey K. Gill

Allegheny Ludlum's (AL) technical vice president, Jack Shilling faces the task of determining how to allocate engineering resources among five areas of technology. AL's technology organization has great strategic importance and has therefore been untouched by the... View Details

Keywords: Engineering; Resource Allocation; Information Technology; Policy; Leadership; Decisions; Competency and Skills; Projects; Joint Ventures; Strategy; Electronics Industry; Technology Industry