Publications

May 1996 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Bombardier TEG (A)

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Bombardier, a Canadian manufacturer of passenger railcars and market leader in the United States, faces aggressive competition from a new entrant, U.S.-owned Morrison Knudsen, that has come into the industry with closely related capabilities in engineering and... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Goals and Objectives; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Rail Transportation; Manufacturing Industry; Rail Industry; Canada; United States

07 Dec 2016
HBS Case

Why Millennials Flock to Fintech for Personal Investing

customization. The strategy Wealthfront has pursued has resulted in growth of assets under management from $100 million to over $3.7 billion by September 2016, placing it in the top 100 independent... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

01 Dec 1996
News

Entrepreneurship at HBS

however, is the strategy behind this creation of intellectual capital. In the fall of 1996 Entrepreneurial Management (EM) became an operating unit of the School with a mandate to build and grow. Like the... View Details

01 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

What it Takes to Lead Through Turmoil

When managers need help leading through turbulent times, Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter suggests taking wisdom from the sayings of that expert on confusion, Yogi Berra. "When you come to a fork in the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

February 2017
Case

GE Digital

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

Known for manufacturing industrial equipment, GE has decided to invest in software and analytics capabilities to become a digital industrial company. They have also created a software platform that they hope will power the Industrial Internet. GE executives forecasted... View Details

Keywords: GE; General Electric; Manufacturing; Industrial Internet; Wind Power; Digital Manufacturing; Renewable Energy; Energy; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Transformation; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; North America

August 2006 (Revised May 2016)
Case

Cluster Mobilization in Mitteldeutschland

By: Jeffrey Fear, Christian H.M. Ketels and Claudia Linsenmeier

As part of the privatization in Eastern Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dow Chemical made a major investment in the Halle-Leipzig region, one of the largest chemical industry sites in Europe. The executive in charge of Dow's operations in the region, Bart... View Details

Keywords: Industry Clusters; Development Economics; Privatization; Chemicals; Foreign Direct Investment; Management Teams; Private Sector; Competitive Strategy; Brands and Branding; Market Participation; Chemical Industry; Germany

August 2016
Supplement

HEINEKEN—Brewing a Better World (B)

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, José Alvarez and Tonia Junker

This is a follow-up to the “HEINEKEN—Brewing a Better World (A)” case, with updated information on sustainability at HEINEKEN and some new initiatives. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Corporate Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Food and Beverage Industry

August 2014
Case

Rent the Runway (Abridged)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Brent Goldfarb and David A. Kirsch

Two months after a successful launch In November 2009, the cofounders of Rent the Runway (RTR), a website that rented designer dresses, are debating whether to grow their startup at a measured pace and focus on improving operational effectiveness, or raise a new round... View Details

Keywords: Lean Startup; Electronic Commerce; Fashion; Expansion; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Fashion Industry

Fall 2013
Article

Spurring Innovation Through Competitions

By: Alan MacCormack, Fiona Murray and Erika Wagner

Alan MacCormack, Fiona Murray, and Erika Wagner examine the phenomenon of corporations using innovation contests. They write: "Companies are searching for better ways to identify and exploit novel solutions. Increasingly, they are discovering that many of the very best... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management

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September 1990 (Revised March 1993)
Case

General Electric Plastics: Organizing the Marketing Function

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Describes the rapid growth of General Electric Plastics for over the last decade to a $5 billion (sales) company. The accompanying organizational transitions are described. The task is to design a marketing organization for the coming decade given the anticipated... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Marketing Strategy; Organizational Design; Growth and Development Strategy

March 1996 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Wildfire Communications, Inc. (A)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport and Mary Connor

Founder and CEO Bill Warner is faced with critical decisions regarding the product lines, target markets, and technology platforms that his start-up, Wildfire Communications, Inc., will pursue. In addition to the question of strategic focus across these lines of... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Resource Allocation; Organizational Culture; Business Startups; Business Strategy; Communications Industry; Technology Industry

31 Jul 2018
News

She's 35 and Runs a $3 Billion Company

Keywords: Nonstore Retailers; Retail Trade

October 1987
Case

Philips Group--1987, The

By: Francis Aguilar and Michael Y. Yoshino

Discusses how Philips, a major Dutch-based multinational company, attempts to bring about a fundamental change in its strategy, organization, and culture in response to a rapidly changing market and competitive environment. View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Markets; Change Management; Netherlands