Publications

September 2020 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

Artea (A), (B), (C), and (D): Designing Targeting Strategies

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

Teaching Note for HBS No. 521-021,521-022,521-037,521-043. This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and... View Details

Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Targeting; Race; Gender; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States

01 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

Keeping Track: Performance Measurement, Control & Strategy

anywhere near as quickly as they do today. Accordingly, the range of issues managers had to think about was much narrower. But the emerging opportunities in today's market are so limitless that managers have... View Details

Keywords: Re: Robert Simons

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

A Perfect Fit: Aligning Organization & Strategy

to implement its strategy more effectively," Beer remembers. He and Eisenstat knew from previous research, however, that strategy implementation depends on how well the... View Details

Keywords: by Judith A. Ross

01 Sep 2008
News

Is Market Capitalism Headed for Trouble?

appropriate to try to understand what major problems might lie ahead for market capitalism. By market capitalism we mean a system where decisions... View Details

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

1998
Article

Kyousou no Rule wo Kaeru Shuhou to shite no Marketing (Marketing as a Tool to Change the Rules of Competition)

By: Hirotaka Takeuchi

Keywords: Marketing; Change; Competition

August 2013 (Revised November 2020)
Case

Tesla Motors

By: Eric Van den Steen

In mid-2013, Tesla Motors was riding a wave of success: It had launched its first really mass-produced car—the model S—to rave reviews; had recently raised first-year production targets; and had started taking orders for its next car, the Model X. Tesla seemed to be on... View Details

Keywords: Barriers To Entry; Economic Analysis; Learning Curve; Economies Of Scale; Innovation; Market Entry; Sustainable Competitive Advantage; Vision; Strategy And Leadership; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Competitive Advantage; Technological Innovation; Leadership; Learning; Economics; Analysis; Auto Industry

November 2021
Article

Ratings, Reviews, and the Marketing of New Products

By: Itay P. Fainmesser, Dominique Olié Lauga and Elie Ofek

We study how user-generated content (UGC) about new products impacts a firm's advertising and pricing decisions and the effect on profits and market dynamics. We construct a two-period model where consumers value quality and are heterogeneous in their taste for the new... View Details

Keywords: Online Reviews; Product Ratings; Social Networks; Word Of Mouth; Pricing; User-generated Content; Advertising; Product Marketing; Price; Consumer Behavior; Product Positioning; Social Media

Find at Harvard

September 2020
Supplement

Commonwealth Joe: January 2020 Update from CEO Robert Peck

By: Alexander J. MacKay

At the end of 2016, the leadership team of Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters—Robert Peck, Chase Damiano, and Jeremy Martin—had begun an ambitious retail expansion strategy in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for their specialty coffee business. That October, they... View Details

Keywords: Cold Brew Coffee; Specialty Coffee; On-premise Coffee Market; Retail Expansion Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Strategy; Decision Making; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

June 2018
Case

American Airlines' Value Pricing (Abridged)

By: Alvin J. Silk and Sunil Gupta

This is an abridged version of the 1992 case where American Airlines (AA) launched "Value Pricing" in an attempt to simplify the pricing structure of the airline industry. AA expected that this plan would benefit not only consumers, but also AA and the entire airline... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Marketing; Market Segmentation; Pricing; Pricing Strategy; Demand Analysis; Competition; Marketing; Segmentation; Price; Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Analysis; Air Transportation Industry

November 2018
Case

Yatooq: Longing for Arabic Coffee

By: Mark Roberge, Gamze Yucaoglu and Samer Al-Rachedy

As one of the few female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia, Lateefa Alwaalan had been trying to produce the perfect cup of Arabic coffee for over a decade. In 2007, she began testing various coffee blends, which she later branded Yatooq, the Arabic word for “craving” or... View Details

Web

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets - Faculty & Research

choose from and/or by adding pre-packaged muesli options). However, would making changes to mymuesli’s product strategy put the startup’s customization core competency at risk? 2025 Article Emotion... View Details

Web

FAQs - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Unfortunately, Michael Porter no longer advises PhD students. Please go to HBS Doctoral for more information about the program and advising. How can I schedule a meeting or interview with Michael Porter? At... View Details

January 2013 (Revised June 2016)
Case

The Basque Country: Strategy for Economic Development

By: Michael E. Porter, Christian H.M. Ketels and Jesus M. Valdaliso

The Basque country, with a population of 2.1 million and covering 7,233 square kilometers, is an autonomous region located in the north of Spain, physically separated from it by the Pyrenees Mountains. Presents the history of the region—highly prosperous at the turn of... View Details

Keywords: History; Crime and Corruption; Industry Clusters; Competitive Strategy; Microeconomics; Developing Countries and Economies; Government and Politics; Basque Provinces; Spain

10 Feb 2020
In Practice

6 Ways That Emerging Technology Is Disrupting Business Strategy

Even though the internet has been publicly available for almost three decades, executives at just about every company are wrestling with how to use digital technology to advance their business strategy. We... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

March 2011 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Poweo: David and Goliath in the French Electricity Market

By: Noel Maurer and Elisa Farri

Charles Beigbeder, the president and founder of Poweo, an alternative electricity and gas operator in France, needs to decide on the company's strategy in light of electricity deregulation and the dominant position of Électricité de France (EDF) in the French market.... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Competitive Strategy; Competition; Privatization; Monopoly; Market Entry and Exit; Energy Industry; France

August 2022
Article

Contract Duration and the Costs of Market Transactions

By: Alexander MacKay

The optimal duration of a supply contract balances the costs of reselecting a supplier against the costs of being matched to an inefficient supplier when the contract lasts too long. I develop a structural model of contract duration that captures this tradeoff and... View Details

Keywords: Supply Contracts; Intermediate Goods; Switching Costs; Vertical Relationships; Transaction Costs; Contract Duration; Identification; Supply Chain; Cost; Contracts; Auctions; Mathematical Methods

2020
Working Paper

Contract Duration and the Costs of Market Transactions

By: Alexander MacKay

The optimal duration of a supply contract balances the costs of reselecting a supplier against the costs of being matched to an inefficient supplier when the contract lasts too long. I develop a structural model of contract duration that captures this tradeoff and... View Details

Keywords: Vertical Relationships; Transaction Costs; Contract Duration; Identification; Supply Chain; Cost; Contracts; Auctions; Mathematical Methods