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SSRN

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October 2013 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Southwire and 12 For Life: Scaling Up? (A)

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Ryan Lee

Southwire, a leading maker of cable based in rural Georgia, has partnered with the local school system to staff a factory with at-risk high school students. The positive impact on student outcomes has been remarkable, and the factory makes a profit for the company. Now... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Production; Education; Business and Community Relations; Manufacturing Industry; Education Industry

February 1993 (Revised March 1993)
Case

Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition (A) (Updated)

By: Lynda M. Applegate

The setting is a food manufacturing company that has stumbled in terms of its historic growth and profit achievements. In trying to recapture momentum, the president has used information technology as one element in his program of transition. The case focuses on the... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Information Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Transition; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Food and Beverage Industry; Manufacturing Industry

November 1989 (Revised November 1999)
Case

Automatic Data Processing: The EFS Decision

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

Illustrates how ADP's top management uses formal planning and control systems to establish strategic boundaries for its business units. Top management has developed a detailed list of strategic criteria that ADP managers use to evaluate products and business units, as... View Details

Keywords: Business Units; Strategic Planning; Management Systems; Accounting; Acquisition

01 Jan 2002
News

December 2019
Article

Invest in Information or Wing It? A Model of Dynamic Pricing with Seller Learning

By: Guofang Huang, Hong Luo and Jing Xia

Pricing idiosyncratic products is often challenging because the seller, ex ante, lacks information about the demand for individual items. This paper develops a model of dynamic pricing for idiosyncratic products that features the optimal stopping structure and a seller... View Details

Keywords: Dynamic Pricing; Idiosyncratic Products; Item-specific Demand; Demand Uncertainty; Active Seller Learning; The Value Of Information; Price; Information; Value; Learning

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January 2017 (Revised March 2017)
Case

IBM Transforming, 2012–2016: Ginni Rometty Steers Watson

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

To transform IBM for the next technology wave, Ginni Rometty, who became CEO in 2012, led divestment of declining businesses, made acquisitions in digital innovation and cloud computing, formed partnerships with former competitors such as Apple and tech startups, and... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Technological Change; Artificial Intelligence; Data; IBM; Watson; Internet Of Things; Innovation and Invention; Management; Sales; Information Technology; Technological Innovation; Transformation; AI and Machine Learning

August 2005 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Rambus Inc., 2005

By: David B. Yoffie

Rambus is grappling with the ever-changing dynamics of the DRAM/semiconductor industry. The company is actively defending its patent portfolio through litigation and exploring both partnerships and industry standards for keys to future profitability and growth. How can... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Partners and Partnerships; Lawsuits and Litigation; Growth and Development Strategy; Semiconductor Industry; United States

18 Feb 2014
News

A Better Path to Corporate Tax Reform

13 Jan 2011
News

Untangling Code

09 Nov 2017
Working Paper Summaries

Intermediation in the Supply of Agricultural Products in Developing Economies

Keywords: by Kris Johnson Ferreira, Joel Goh, and Ehsan Valavi

March 2014
Article

Choosing the Right Customer

By: Robert Simons

Companies that win in competitive markets identify a primary customer and dedicate maximum resources to meeting that customer's needs. This article will show you how to identify the best primary customer for your business by analyzing perspective, capabilities, and... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Execution; Customer Focus; Organization Design; Accountability; Management Control Systems; Customer Relationship Management; Organizational Design

October 1996
Case

Jim Bender and Alert, Inc. (A)

Jim Bender has just been hired as CEO of Alert, Inc. Alert, founded in 1986 by a charismatic technologist, has accumulated an impressive portfolio of patents and leading edge technology projects in a variety of fields. The company has never, however, shown a profit and... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Entrepreneurship; Management Skills; Business Startups; Technology Industry

30 Aug 2014
News

A new green wave

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

September 2022
Case

Proactive for Her

By: Rembrand Koning and Kairavi Dey

Proactive for Her began amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in August 2020 as a digital platform to provide accessible, evidence-based, primary, preventive non-judgmental healthcare services for Indian women, who were often dissuaded from seeking help as premarital sex and... View Details

Keywords: Women's Health; Healthcare; India; Start-up; Telehealth; Digital Platforms; Health Care and Treatment; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Startups; Health Industry; Asia; South Asia; India

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

August 2012 (Revised March 2014)
Technical Note

4M: Four-Markets Analysis for Emerging Economies

By: Eric Werker

This technical note describes a methodology for evaluating the political economy of business-government relations in an emerging or frontier economy. The note argues that there are not one but four markets in an emerging economy: the market of "rentiers" such as mining... View Details

Keywords: Frontier Markets; Emerging Markets

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