Publications

March 1996
Article

Customer Power, Strategic Investment, and the Failure of Leading Firms

By: J. L. Bower and C. M. Christensen

Keywords: Customers; Strategy; Failure; Business Ventures

June 1995
Case

Strategic Countermoves: Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi

Describes strategic acquisitions by Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola in the late 1980s. The context allows students to evaluate the implications of the mergers for the competitiveness of the industry. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

November 1989 (Revised January 1991)
Case

Honda Motor Co. and Honda of America (A)

In its 43-year history, Honda grew from an also-ran in the Japanese motorcycle market to a dominant force in the worldwide motorcycle and automobile markets. To do this, Honda has developed a unique organizational style based on constructive conflict and organizational... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Organizational Culture; Business Processes; Motorcycle Industry; Auto Industry; Japan; United States

13 Jun 2017
News

Finding Common Ground

departments—with the goal of improving the health of honey bees in general and especially in production agriculture. Building trust is crucial to the relationships CollaborateUp fosters. Activists fear business executives will take... View Details

Keywords: Ralph Ranalli

01 Sep 2013
News

Beantown as a Beacon

30-year low, stagnating middle-class wages, and a political system seemingly incapable of agreement. "So what happened—and what are we going to do about it?" asked Porter. These questions were the impetus behind HBS's US Competitiveness Project, launched in March 2012... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

December 1989 (Revised October 1990)
Case

General Electric Co.: Preparing for the 1990s

By: Francis Aguilar

Describes Jack Welch's tenure as CEO from 1981 to 1989 through excerpts of speeches and presentations. Sections include summary of GE's strategy, Welch's quantum leap approach to change, the restructuring of GE, how GE operates (the "GE Growth Engine"), and managing GE... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Policy; Business or Company Management; Change Management; Business Strategy; Restructuring; Operations; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Electronics Industry

February 1996
Case

Indianopolis: Implementing Competition in City Services

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Roger Atherton

Mayor Stephen Goldsmith of Indianapolis introduces competition to provide city services and implementation of new bidding procedures and work practices in the Department of Transportation. Exhibits show how work methods changed and work control procedures control work... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Business Strategy; Welfare; Transportation; Change; Cost Management; Service Industry

April 2010
Teaching Note

The Globalization of East Asian Pop Music (TN)

By: Jordan I. Siegel

Teaching Note for 708479. View Details

Keywords: Music Entertainment; Business Strategy; Profit; Expansion; Globalization; Culture; East Asia; United States

August 2024
Case

Sky Therapeutics: Innovating in Digital Therapeutics

By: Satish Tadikonda, Olivia Reszczynski and William Marks

Shad Faraz and Alex Youssef were intrigued by the opportunities in the relatively new area of Digital Therapeutics. Despite initial successes, early entrants had struggled with reimbursement and revenue-predictability challenges. However, venture investors still... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; Health Care and Treatment; Technological Innovation; Business Strategy; Health Industry; Technology Industry

March 1979 (Revised December 1982)
Case

Allied Chemical Corp. (B)

By: George C. Lodge and Joseph L. Badaracco Jr.

Describes Allied's cooperative approach to government relations and the approach of some of the regulatory agencies Allied deals with. Based mainly on quotes from Allied and government officials. Asks the student to evaluate Allied's government relations--in general... View Details

Keywords: Business and Government Relations; Cooperation; Chemical Industry

November 2010
Article

A New Era for Raiders

By: Guhan Subramanian

The article presents information on corporate methods of preventing hostile takeovers by corporate raiders, such as the poison pill strategy. It is noted that some of these techniques have become less popular and effective. An argument is presented that Section 203 of... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Mergers and Acquisitions; United States

05 May 2003
What Do You Think?

Is This a Golden Era for Marketing Productivity?

management. That is, for example, roughly 20 percent of employees experience 80 percent of accidents on the job. And roughly 20 percent of customers provide 80 percent of sales. Focused strategies can be based on this kind of information.... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

24 Apr 2006
Research & Ideas

Managing Alignment as a Process

corporate synergies should be defined at the top and realized in the business units. Just as the CFO coordinates the budgeting process, a senior executive should coordinate the alignment process—a responsibility for the Office of View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Consumer Products; Retail

March 2020
Teaching Note

onefinestay: Building a Luxury Experience in the Sharing Economy

By: Jill Avery and Anat Keinan

onefinestay was a two-sided marketplace that offered high-end home rentals to travelers who sought a more authentic and local experience than a typical upscale hotel might provide. After five years of rapid growth, it was time to do a comprehensive analysis of the... View Details

24 Mar 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Free Riding in Loan Approvals: Evidence From SME Lending in Peru

Keywords: by Irani Arraiz, Miriam Bruhn, Benjamin N. Roth, Claudia Ruiz-Ortega, and Rodolfo Stucchi

December 2011 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Doug Rauch: Solving the American Food Paradox

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Ryan Johnson

Keywords: Food; Policy; Social Issues; Business Model; Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry; United States

February 1986 (Revised March 1990)
Supplement

Copeland Corp.: Evolution of a Manufacturing Strategy--1975-82 (D)

By: David A. Garvin

Summarizes Copeland's focused factory approach, and updates the company's efforts at the Sidney, Hartselle, Shelby, and Richville plants. Concludes with a brief discussion of future prospects for Copeland's manufacturing strategy. View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Production; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Manufacturing Industry; Ohio

June 2020
Supplement

Comcast Corporation (B)

By: Sunil Gupta, Henry McGee and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

The (B) case, set in the summer of 2020, highlights the concern of Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, as the streaming war intensifies. In a short period of time several new streaming services, such as Disney+, Apple TV+, Quibi, and HBO Max were launched and cable subscription... View Details

Keywords: Cable Television; Industry Evolution; Television Entertainment; Disruption; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry