Publications

October 2002 (Revised May 2004)
Case

Starbucks and Conservation International

By: James E. Austin and Cate Reavis

Starbucks, the world's leading specialty coffee company, developed a strategic alliance with Conservation International, a major international environmental nonprofit organization. The purpose of the alliance was to promote coffee-growing practices of small farms that... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Growth and Development Strategy; Markets; Demand and Consumers; Production; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Cooperative Ownership; Performance Efficiency; Alliances; Nonprofit Organizations; Food and Beverage Industry; Mexico

24 Jul 2014
News

How Internal Entrepreneurs Can Deal with Friendly Fire

Keywords: corporate entrepreneurship; innovation; strategy

Research Summary

GLOBALIZATION AND STRATEGY

Pankaj Ghemawat is engaged in a substantial stream of work on globalization and strategy. On the research front, this has involved a particular focus on the levels and dynamics of cross-border market integration, location-specificity and persistent sources of... View Details

June 2018
Case

Forta Furniture: International Expansion

By: John A. Quelch and Karthik Easwar

The Forta Furniture case highlights the need to consider new market expansion to grow a firm. It demonstrates that simply doing what has always been done is not sustainable when other competitors enter the market with differentiated or potentially superior offerings.... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Global Range; Decision Making; Analysis; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Expansion

December 2018 (Revised May 2019)
Case

Darling Ingredients International

By: David E. Bell and Natalie Kindred

Led by CEO Randall Stuewe, Texas-based Darling Ingredients International was a rendering firm with $3.7 billion in 2017 revenues. Since 2003, Darling had transformed from U.S. focused into a global player in the processing of biological waste from meat and foodservice... View Details

November 1983 (Revised October 1988)
Case

Canon Inc.: Worldwide Copier Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter

Describes Canon's worldwide strategy in the copier business. Designed to be used to explore strategy formulation in a worldwide industry, and the principles of international competition. View Details

Keywords: Values and Beliefs; Global Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

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Research Summary

Resource Relatedness and the Location Strategy of the Multi-Business Firm

We provide new insights into firm location decisions by disentangling and comparing location strategies of multibusiness firms and standalone firms in the same industries. We find that units of multibusiness firms exhibit internal agglomeration, which is stronger than... View Details

Keywords: Multibusiness Firm; Agglomeration; Resource Redeployment; Corporate Strategy

June 2014
Teaching Note

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.: Driving Change Through Internal Communication

By: Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott and Robin Abrahams

Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), confronted in 2003 with an urgent need to change how it operated externally, adopted a highly innovative approach to communicating internally. This case, set in 2010, presents an overview of the new, more interactive model of employee... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Change Management; Communication; Change; Leadership; Management; Energy Industry; India

The comprehensive guide to managing and leading companies that compete internationally

Drawing on the course material developed at the Harvard Business School and Yale School of Management by David Collis, International Strategy... View Details

May 1997
Case

Donna Karan International Inc.

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Sarayu Srinivasan

Designer Donna Karan takes her firm public. After eager anticipation from Wall Street, the stock loses 60% of its value. This case addresses the questions: Is Karan's company ready to undertake responsibilities of being public? Is the company's strategy sustainable?... View Details

Keywords: Public Equity; Stock Shares; Financial Strategy; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Outcome or Result; Going Public; Business Strategy; Valuation; Fashion Industry

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Research Summary

Corporate transparency and information disclosure strategies

By: Michael W. Toffel

This research focuses on transparency and information disclosure strategies, a topic of growing importance in environmental sustainability, corporate strategy, stakeholder relations, and public policy. My prior research in this area explored why... View Details

Keywords: Transparency; Disclosure Strategy; Disclosure; Environment; Environmental Performance; Regulation; Supply Chain; Environmental Sustainability; United States

May 2017 (Revised November 2019)
Case

The Dubai International Film Festival

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Alpana Thapar

This case follows the conception and emergence of the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF). In an already crowded and highly competitive industry, Abdulhamid Juma was attempting to define and establish a unique brand positioning for DIFF. Committed to its vision,... View Details

Keywords: Brand Positioning; Underdog Brand Building; Business Models; Non-profit; Managing Multiple Stakeholders; Film Entertainment; Brands and Branding; Business Model; Competitive Strategy; Decision Making; Growth and Development Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

25 Jun 2014
News

An International Perspective

organization.” In establishing a named research fund, Waite is showing his support for the School’s emphasis on preparing students for careers in a global economy. “The HBS strategy of opening global research centers and dramatically... View Details

November 2001 (Revised September 2002)
Case

International Management Group (IMG)

By: Bharat N. Anand and Kate Attea

In 2001, International Management Group (IMG) is the dominant company in the sports management industry. Its founder and CEO, Mark McCormack, is credited with having created the industry of sports management in the early 1960s. Over the next 40 years, IMG's expansion... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Finance; Organizational Structure; Planning; Relationships; Conflict of Interests; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Sports Industry

November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 8: Linking Performance to Markets

By: Robert Simons

This module reading shows how to link profit plans and other performance measurement systems to both internal and external markets. Starting with the transfer of goods and services within a firm, the module discusses the different methods of designing transfer pricing... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Transfer Pricing; Activity Based Costing; Return On Investment; Residual Income; EVA; Strategy; Cost Accounting; Activity Based Costing and Management; Markets; Investment Return

October 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Citizens of the World: The International Legacy of Gloria von Thurn und Taxis

By: Lauren Cohen, Maximilian Form and Sophia Pan

When her husband passed away and inheritance taxes struck, Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis took decisive action to preserve her family’s fortune and legacy. The Thurn und Taxis family, one of Europe’s oldest aristocratic dynasties, had built their wealth through... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Real Estate; Legacy; International Business; Germany; Family Business; Economy; Macroeconomics; Financial Crisis; Financial Liquidity; Investment; Global Strategy; Reputation; Diversification; Real Estate Industry; Germany

July 1998 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Jollibee Foods Corporation (A): International Expansion

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Jamie O'Connell

Noli Tingzon, newly-appointed international division VP at Jollibee, the Philippines-based hamburger chain, is faced with the challenge of expanding fast food operations in Asia in the face of stiff competition. The case describes Jollibee's six-year international... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Motivation and Incentives; Expansion; Global Range; Global Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Philippines

10 Dec 2018
Blog Post

Interning in the Technology Sector

Shelby Colby, MBA 2019, describes her summer at Hubspot interning in the product group. Coming from previous roles in management consulting focused on strategic analysis, she was looking for a role where she could be hands-on in the... View Details

Keywords: Technology

November 1991 (Revised July 1995)
Case

Body Shop International

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the start-up and rapid growth of a company whose founder holds strong, non-traditional beliefs about the role of the corporation and its responsibility to society. After profiling Anita Roddick as a person, the case describes the anti-mainstream approach she... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Leadership Style; Management Succession; Management Teams; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Values and Beliefs; Global Strategy; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry