Publications

2012
Working Paper

Relational Contracts and Organizational Capabilities

By: R. Gibbons and R. Henderson

A large literature identifies unique organizational capabilities as a potent source of competitive advantage, yet our knowledge of why capabilities fail to diffuse more rapidly-particularly in situations in which competitors apparently have strong incentives to adopt... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Motivation and Incentives; Management Practices and Processes; Contracts; Competency and Skills; Relationships; Complexity

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March 2008
Teaching Note

Brazil Under Lula: Off the Yellow BRIC Road (TN)

By: Aldo Musacchio

Teaching Note for [707031]. View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Programs; Problems and Challenges; Equality and Inequality; Poverty; Growth and Development Strategy; Brazil; India; Russia; China

February 2010
Case

Amyris Biotechnologies: Commercializing Biofuel

By: Gary P. Pisano and Alison Berkley Wagonfeld

In 2009, Amyris Biotechnologies was building a plant in Brazil that used synthetic biology to convert sugarcane into both renewable fuels and renewable chemicals. The Amyris' marketing team was investigating the commercial interest for both types of products, while the... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Chemicals; Risk Management; Product Marketing; Product Development; Production; Environmental Sustainability; Commercialization; Biotechnology Industry; Brazil

March 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Microsoft.NET

By: Alan D. MacCormack and Kerry Herman

Set in the summer of 2000, following the unveiling of Microsoft's .NET initiative to the public. Three of the key figures in .NET's development are considering the next steps they would have to take to keep the initiative moving forward. Specifically, the challenges... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Policy; Business Model; Computer Industry; Web Services Industry

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22 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 22, 2019

enterprises seem incapable of transformative innovation, it is due to how we design and manage them, rather than anything inherent in their scale. In fact, Creative Construction argues, if used properly, scale can be an asset, rather than... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

January 1998 (Revised June 1998)
Case

Li & Fung: Beyond "Filling in the Mosaic," 1995-1998

By: Michael Y. Yoshino, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Anthony St. George

In early 1998, William and Victor Fung had to review their business, the Li & Fung Group, to plan for the next three years. Examines strategic and organizational issues including company culture, international expansion, and venture capital projects. A rewritten... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Venture Capital; Organizational Culture; Global Strategy; Opportunities; Problems and Challenges; Strategic Planning; Asia

05 May 2015
First Look

First Look: May 5

questionable behaviors during the financial crisis and individual acts of unethical behavior in many spheres of society. When considered together, these actions have had large-scale impact on the economic landscape. In this paper, we discuss recent streams of research... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

March 2014
Teaching Note

Roll Back Malaria and BCG: The Change Initiative

By: Nava Ashraf and Natalie Kindred

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Practices and Processes; Performance Evaluation; Communication Strategy; Communication Intention and Meaning; Non-Governmental Organizations; Change Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Negotiation; Health Industry

December 2002 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Tesco Plc.

By: David E. Bell

Tesco, a supermarket chain, has been transformed from a third-rate retailer to a global leader in the past ten years. This case describes how that was accomplished. Interviews with Tesco employees explain the company's approach to understanding customers, motivating... View Details

Keywords: History; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership; Internet and the Web; Supply Chain Management; Global Strategy; Globalization; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Strategy; Retail Industry

16 Jul 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Obamacare

couldn't still succeed, says John Quelch, the Charles Edward Wilson Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a professor of health policy and management at Harvard School of Public Health. The sheer scope of the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

February 2024
Case

SundaySky: Changing Customer Experiences through Personalized Video

By: David C. Edelman and James Barnett

In June 2023, SundaySky CEO Jim Dicso considers growth strategies. The software-as-a-service company provided software to create advertising videos, customer service videos, and other videos, like employee training modules, and had begun to pilot a new generative... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Strategy; Technology Adoption; AI and Machine Learning; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Advertising Industry; Technology Industry; United States

September 2000 (Revised February 2007)
Case

Freeport Studio

By: Rajiv Lal and James Weber

Describes the start-up and first-year difficulties of Freeport Studio, a unit of L.L. Bean, founded in 1998 to sell women's clothing by catalog. First-year sales were far below plan, and projected profits did not materialize. Fran Philip must identify the problems and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Profit; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Strategic Planning; Problems and Challenges; Creativity

25 Apr 2005
Research & Ideas

New Learning at American Home Products

The success of American Home Products reflects a unique path of learning. The company originated with the merger of several companies in related businesses. During the seventy years following its formation in 1926, the company's senior View Details

Keywords: by Alfred D. Chandler Jr.; Chemical; Health; Manufacturing; Pharmaceutical

05 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

What Companies Should Not Do in the Next Banking Crisis

When banks failed across the globe in 2008, the resulting financial crisis sent businesses into a tailspin. As lenders cut back dramatically, companies trying to recover had to scramble for financing required to generate new business and for capital expenditures.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Banking

May 2020
Article

Tackling Climate Change Requires Organizational Purpose

By: Rebecca Henderson and George Serafeim

Unchecked climate change presents a profound threat to economic growth and political stability but despite widespread public concern about the issue, global emissions of greenhouse gases have not declined. Indeed current “business as usual” predictions imply that... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Purpose; Purpose; Sustainability; Environment; Climate Change; Organizations; Mission and Purpose; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Leadership

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June 1991 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Willow Creek Community Church (A)

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Describes the historic evolution and current positioning of a Christian church which focuses on the attraction of "unchurched" individuals. Describes the church's strategic service vision and its current growth and leadership problems. View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Strategic Planning; Social Enterprise; Marketing Strategy; Growth Management; Religion; Service Industry

June 2016
Supplement

Supply Chain Finance at Procter & Gamble Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Benjamin C. Esty, Scott Mayfield and David Lane

In April 2013, Procter & Gamble (P&G), the world’s largest consumer packaged goods (CPG) company, announced that it would extend its payment terms to suppliers by 30 days. At the same time, P&G announced a new supply chain financing (SCF) program giving suppliers the... View Details