Publications

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August 1988 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Norton Group PLC: To Be or Not to Be in the Motorcycle Business (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Jon Skofic

Norton, a once famous motorcycle manufacturer, soundly beaten by Japanese competition, turns its attention to developing rotary engines. The company is acquired by Norton Group PLC, which is headed by a dashing entrepreneur. The new management must decide what... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Crisis Management; Resource Allocation; Production; Competition; Auto Industry; Motorcycle Industry; Japan; United Kingdom

July 2013 (Revised November 2021)
Module Note

Exploration vs. Exploitation

By: Willy Shih

This module note introduces James March's concept of exploration and exploitation, and the management challenge of balancing the allocation of resources to the two activities in the firm. The note also touches on the O'Reilly and Tushman paper on the ambidextrous... View Details

6:30 PM – 8:30 PM EDT, 16 Apr 2019
Career Events

Connect with HBS in Charlotte: Renew Your Work & Life

Connect with HBS and fellow alumni and explore four elements that are always active during career and life decision-making. You will experience a hands-on workshop to explore what work life issues are most in need of your attention at this moment in your life. You will... View Details

June 2008 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Cook Composites and Polymers Co.

By: Deishin Lee, Michael W. Toffel and Rachel Gordon

This case describes how a company improves resource efficiency and process quality in its manufacturing process by developing a waste by-product into a new product. The case describes how CCP cleans production equipment between batches using styrene, which becomes a... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Business Processes; Performance Efficiency; Natural Environment; Wastes and Waste Processing; Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry; Manufacturing Industry

15 Jul 2022
News

Does Elon Musk Have a Strategy?

Article

Energy Conservation Behaviour: Three Thumbs Up For Social Norms

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz

Social norm interventions are widely used to foster residential resource conservation. Now researchers have shown that the effectivenes of providing information about others' energy use alongside messages of social approval for energy savings behaviour depends on the... View Details

Keywords: Energy Conservation; Behavior; Change

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March 1991 (Revised August 1994)
Case

Berkshire Partners

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery

Berkshire Partners is a limited partnership engaged in the acquisition of companies valued between $25 million and $250 million. The purpose of the case is to examine the resources of the firm and discuss the firm's competitive advantage vis-a-vis other types of... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Advantage; Acquisition; Corporate Finance

25 Jul 2017
News

What If The South Had Won The Civil War?

September 2013
Case

Homestrings, Inc.: Diaspora-Based Financing and the Crowd Funding of Development

By: William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

Homestrings is an online investment platform for overseas diasporas to link financially with their home countries. The founder believes crowd-funding can become a pillar for development, but U.S. regulatory hurdles and resources constraints are substantial. The company... View Details

Keywords: Diasporas; Investments; Regulations; Africa; Crowd-funding; Development Finance; Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Financial Services Industry; Africa; United States

Web

The Five Forces - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

also affect the path of industry competition. Five Forces analysis is essential to anticipate and exploit industry structural change. Related Resources 01 Jan 2008 Harvard Business Review The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy by... View Details

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

Jun 2015
Report

America’s Unconventional Energy Opportunity: A Win-Win Plan for the Economy, the Environment, and a Lower-Carbon, Cleaner-Energy Future

America's unconventional gas and oil resources are perhaps the single largest opportunity to improve the trajectory of the nation’s economy, at a time when the prospects for the average American are weaker than experienced in generations.... View Details

02 Oct 2019
Working Paper Summaries

The Limitations of Dynamic Capabilities

Keywords: by David J. Collis and Bharat Anand

November 2001 (Revised December 2003)
Case

Whirlpool Europe

By: Richard S. Ruback, Sudhakar Balachandran and Aldo Sesia

This case presents a capital budgeting problem. Whirlpool Europe is evaluating an investment in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that would reorganize the information flow throughout the company. Students derive the cash flows from working capital, sales,... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Cash Flow; Investment; Capital Budgeting; Consumer Products Industry; Europe