Publications

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February 2017 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Kameda Seika: Cracking the U.S. Market

By: Elie Ofek, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

In spring 2016, Kameda’s CEO, Michiyasu Tanaka, is facing difficult questions from board members over the lackluster performance of the company’s U.S. subsidiary. Kameda was the leading player in the Japanese rice cracker market and was looking to expand overseas to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Adaptation; Performance Improvement; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Japan; United States

November 2012 (Revised August 2014)
Case

Cisco in 2012: Reorganizing for Efficiency and Flexibility

By: Ranjay Gulati, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld and Luciana Silvestri

In 2012, Cisco was under intense pressure to show results: growth in its core business was decelerating and a number of exploratory ventures and acquisitions had not proven as profitable as expected. CEO John Chambers vowed to restore the company's health in a way that... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Restructuring; Adaptation; Performance Efficiency; Emerging Markets; Information Technology Industry

2013
Article

Achievement Motivation, Strategic Orientations and Business Performance in Entrepreneurial Firms: How Different are Japanese and American Founders?

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Amir Grinstein, Elie Ofek and Sang-Hoon Kim

Purpose: There is lack of research on the link between the personal disposition of an entrepreneurial firm's founder, the firm's strategic orientation, and its performance outcomes. Also, there is lack of cross-national research on entrepreneurial firms' strategic... View Details

Keywords: Motivation; Entrepreneurs; Japan; Motivation and Incentives; Entrepreneurship; Japan; United States

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21 Feb 2007
Op-Ed

What a U.N. Partnership with Big Business Could Accomplish

Botswana, for instance—that the creation of profitable businesses is the key. They provide the jobs, income, and motivation for education and individual development that raise standards of living. Small- and medium-sized domestic... View Details

Keywords: by George C. Lodge & Craig Wilson

November 2011
Article

Social Strategies That Work

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski

Although most companies have collected lots of friends and followers on social platforms such as Facebook, few have succeeded in generating profits there. That's because they merely port their digital strategies into social environments by broadcasting their commercial... View Details

Keywords: Social Platforms; Social Strategies; Social and Collaborative Networks; Customers; Relationships; Business Strategy; Profit

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November 2021 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Farfetch: Digital Transformation for Luxury Brands

By: Sunil Gupta, Jill Avery, Elena Corsi and Federica Gabrieli

Farfetch, a global luxury technology platform and digital marketplace had been surfing the wave of digital transformation in the luxury fashion industry since 2008. While the company’s stock price and market valuation had fluctuated since its IPO in 2018, it had... View Details

25 Mar 2014
News

A fresh bite of the Apple

William R. Kerr

William Kerr is the D’Arbeloff Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Bill is Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research, co-director of Harvard’s Managing the Future of Work initiative, and faculty chair of the... View Details

Keywords: communications; computer; consulting; high technology; information technology industry; management consulting; manufacturing; telecommunications; venture capital industry

April 2021 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Social Media War 2021: Snap vs. Facebook vs. TikTok

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

This case explores the competitive war between Snap, Facebook, and TikTok in 2021. The strategic focus is on Snapchat: how should it respond to the emergence of TikTok, and how should it compete with the dominant competitor in its space—Facebook. The case examines... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Development; Competitor Analysis; Strategy; Network Effects; Competitive Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Social Media

March 1995 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Co-operative Bank, The

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Srikant M. Datar

A British bank with strong roots in the cooperative movement encounters declining profitability in an increasingly competitive and deregulated financial services industry. It attempts to grow by broadening its customer base and increasing the range of products and... View Details

Keywords: Product; Competition; Expansion; Cost Management; Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry

January 2017
Case

Danaher Corporation, 2007–2017

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

On July 2, 2016, Danaher Corporation completed the spinoff of Fortive Corporation. The previous day, Danaher’s stock price had reached an all-time high. In 2015, Danaher had decided to split off its test and measurement, fuel and fleet management, and automation... View Details

Keywords: Danaher; Fortive; Larry Culp; Beckman Coulter; Pall; Life Sciences; Diagnostics; Environmental Operations; Water Management; Dental; Testing; Measurement; Fuel; Fleet Management; Automation; Toolmaking; Tools; Disease Management; Continuous Improvement; Toyota Production System; Divestiture; Spinoffs; Spin-off; Networks; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Business Subsidiaries; Business Units; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Restructuring; Engineering; Chemicals; Construction; Machinery and Machining; Profit; Revenue; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Disorders; Medical Specialties; Business History; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Practices and Processes; Management Succession; Management Systems; Resource Allocation; Market Entry and Exit; Measurement and Metrics; Logistics; Business Processes; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Science; Genetics; Natural Environment; Wastes and Waste Processing; Science-Based Business; Opportunities; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Technology; Software; Technology Networks; Technology Platform; Value; Valuation; Aerospace Industry; Auto Industry; Biotechnology Industry; Chemical Industry; Computer Industry; Construction Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Health Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Retail Industry; Rubber Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Utilities Industry; United States; District of Columbia

October 2014 (Revised November 2016)
Technical Note

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) vs. Customer Lifetime Return on Investment (CLROI)

By: Elie Ofek

This note presents two related measures for assessing the financial value of a customer to the firm. The first is the well-known measure of Customer Lifetime Value, or CLV for short. The second, which has received much less attention, treats the acquisition of a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Lifetime Value; Return On Investment; Segmentation; Social Networks; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing Strategy; Investment Return; Social and Collaborative Networks; Social Media

May 1992 (Revised January 2000)
Case

Asea Brown Boveri: The ABACUS System

By: Robert L. Simons

Describes the computer-based information system (ABACUS) used to monitor and control business operations in a complex, global company. Describes the technical attributes of the database system, financial reporting requirements, target setting and profit calculations on... View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Profit; Business Growth and Maturation; Analytics and Data Science; Design; Accounting Audits; Growth and Development; Globalized Firms and Management; Complexity; Technology Industry

April 2009
Case

Merck: Managing Vioxx (A)

By: Robert L. Simons, Kathryn Rosenberg and Natalie Kindred

This two-class case series allows students to stand in the shoes of CEO Ray Gilmartin during the unfolding stages of a reputational crisis. Merck's mission statement claims to "put patients first," but the company is widely criticized for putting profit before patient... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Crisis Management; Reputation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Customers; Business or Company Management; Cost vs Benefits; Corporate Accountability; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Customer Focus and Relationships; Pharmaceutical Industry

11 Jan 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Brokers and Order Flow Leakage: Evidence from Fire Sales

Keywords: by Andrea Barbon, Marco Di Maggio, Francesco Franzoni, and Augustin Landier; Financial Services

November 2016 (Revised March 2017)
Case

Godrej Agrovet Ltd (GAVL)

By: Jose B. Alvarez, Anjali Raina and Rachna Chawla

Nadir Godrej, chairman, and B. Yadav, managing director of Godrej Agrovet Ltd (GAVL), grapple with the challenge of growing their cattle feed business—should they integrate vertically despite the challenges of the dairy industry and risk the profitability of the... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Vertical Integration; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; India