Publications

26 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Yes, You Can Raise Prices in a Downturn

As economic turmoil continues, many companies are reconsidering their strategies with an eye toward going lean and slashing prices. And that might work for a few companies—but... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail; Consumer Products

January 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Afghanistan 2006: Building a Brand New State

By: Noel Maurer, Debora L. Spar and J. Gunnar Trumbull

In 2006, Afghanistan remains a country in turmoil. It has a newly elected democratic government, a rebounding economy, and considerable economic potential. But the country is still torn by rival factions and dominated by the opium trade. Explores how Afghanistan has... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Economic Growth; Policy; Government and Politics; Political Elections; Organizations; Outcome or Result; Afghanistan

December 2018 (Revised February 2020)
Case

Fishbowl: Scaling Up

By: Leslie K. John

Fishbowl is a social media app that allows professionals to connect with other relevant professionals both within their company and across industry. Unlike many other social media apps, on which users typically present idealized portraits of themselves, on Fishbowl,... View Details

12 Jul 2004
Research & Ideas

Michael Porter’s Prescription For the High Cost of Health Care

Under positive-sum competition, providers would not attempt to match competitors' every move. Instead, they would develop clear strategies around unique expertise and tailored... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter; Health

March 2020
Article

Do Managers Matter? A Natural Experiment from 42 R&D Labs in India

By: Prithwiraj Choudhury, Tarun Khanna and Christos A. Makridis

We exploit plausibly exogenous variation in the staggered entry of new managers into India’s 42 public R&D labs between 1994 and 2006 to study how alignment between the CEO and middle-level managers affect research productivity. We show that the introduction of new lab... View Details

Keywords: Incentives; Innovation; Productivity; Management; Alignment; Research and Development; Innovation and Invention; Performance Productivity; India

Find at Harvard

Read Now

October 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Bridgespan Group, The

By: Allen S. Grossman and John D. Kalafatas

Bain & Co., a consulting firm with a client list that ranges from entrepreneurial start-ups to global corporations, wanted to increase its involvement with nonprofit organizations. Rather than continuing to integrate the work into the existing organization, Bain... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Problems and Challenges; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Consulting Industry

11 Dec 2018
Research & Ideas

Free Trade Needs Nurturing—and Other Lessons from History

over the past few decades has generated more wealth than any previous period in human history. But if you look, percentage-wise, at how much of that has gone to the new middle class in Asia, India, and China, View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Auto; Aerospace; Chemical; Consumer Products; Electronics; Energy; Industrial Products; Manufacturing; Shipping; Transportation

19 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 19

PublicationsSetting Health Priorities: Strategy versus Tactics Authors:Chu, Michael, David E. Bloom, and Elizabeth Cafiero Publication:Impact: The Magazine of PSI Abstract Health decision makers throughout... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

Selling Luxury to Everyone

Luxury is the new essential. Consumers know it and retailers are reaping the bounty. At a "Growth Strategies in the Luxury Goods Industry" panel on April 3 at the HBS Retail View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette; Consumer Products

May 2025
Supplement

On (B): The Cyclon Spins On

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Karolin Frankenberger, Sascha Mader and Karen Elterman

A follow-up to the On case (723-430), this short case explores how the performance athletic shoe company On expanded its Cyclon subscription and recycling program through 2024, adding two new shoe models to the subscription and a one-time-purchase recyclable T-shirt. View Details

17 Oct 2006
First Look

First Look: October 17, 2006

businesses will flounder. The authors describe the challenges companies face when they pursue new businesses, as well as the usual problematic responses to those challenges. Such companies, they say, must perform three balancing acts: 1) View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2011 (Revised November 2015)
Case

The National Geographic Society (A)

By: David A. Garvin and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In January 2010, John Fahey, president, CEO, and chairman of the board of trustees' executive committee of the Washington, D.C.-based National Geographic Society (NGS), must decide how best to organize the 121-year old mission-driven organization for a world of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Information Publishing; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Internet; Publishing Industry

May 2010
Supplement

Tim Westergren of Pandora Radio

By: Willy C. Shih and Halle Alicia Tecco

Pandora Radio is at a crossroads. Founder Tim Westergren has just been told by a well known VC to get rid of his unprofitable customers in order to get his costs down, but Westergren is not sure that such actions are consistent with his company's business model.... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Model; Customers; Venture Capital; Internet and the Web; Cost Management; Outcome or Result; Customization and Personalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Music Industry

16 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 16, 2007

http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=807062 Eli Lilly: Developing Cymbalta Harvard Business School Case 507-044 Purchase this case: http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=507044 Haier's... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

11 Mar 2001
Research & Ideas

Group Therapy

emerging markets has been part of a larger effort to understand how local business environments influence company strategy. Thus far, strategy scholars have emphasized the importance of industry and... View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

September 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Sherritt Goes to Cuba (A): Political Risk in Unchartered Territory

By: Aldo Musacchio and Jonathan Schlefer

Ian Delaney, CEO of Sherritt, a primarily a mining company, visited Cuba in the early 1990s to negotiate a deal to export nickel for their Canadian refineries. The case describes the difficulties of doing business in Cuba and the challenges Delaney overcame to turn... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Joint Ventures; Multinational Firms and Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Mining Industry; Canada; Cuba; United States