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January 2023 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Belden and Digital Transformation: From Product Sales to Solutions Sales

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Klopfenstein

This case concerns the industrial automation division at Belden, a hardware manufacturer. While Belden historically sold products such as cables, wires, and other networking devices, EVP of Industrial Automation Ashish Chand recognized that IT vendors were entering the... View Details

Keywords: Implementation; Sales Cycle; Digital Transformation; Sales; Product Positioning; Business Model; Market Entry and Exit; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Supply and Industry; Technology Industry; North America; United States

17 Dec 2008
Lessons from the Classroom

‘Ted Levitt Changed My Life’

"Ted Levitt changed my life," wrote Barry Koh (HBS PMD 30, 1975). "In our very first class he opened my eyes to how people are motivated to make decisions. Before, I thought as an engineer—the best attributes and the best... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education; Retail

17 Sep 2012
Research & Ideas

Blue Skies, Distractions Arise: How Weather Affects Productivity

efficiency. In "Rainmakers: Why Bad Weather Means Good Productivity," the authors show that workers are especially productive on rainy days, simply because they're not tempted by the possibilities of a sunny day—a walk in the park, for... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

November – December 1993
Response

'Is It Too Late for Pacer to Change Course?' A Response to 'When New Products and Customer Loyalty Collide'

By: D. A. Leonard-Barton

Keywords: Change; Product

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2024
Working Paper

Product Liability Litigation and Innovation: Evidence from Medical Devices

By: Alberto Galasso and Hong Luo

We examine the relationship between product liability litigation and innovation by systematically combining data on product liability lawsuits with data on new product introductions in a panel dataset of leading medical device firms. We first document a decline in... View Details

Keywords: Lawsuits and Litigation; Product Development; Technological Innovation; Safety; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

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Research Summary

The Real Exchange Rate, Innovation and Productivity

By: Laura Alfaro

We evaluate manufacturing firms' responses to changes in the real exchange rate (RER) using detailed firm-level data for a large set of countries for the period 2001-2010. We uncover the following stylized facts about regional variation of manufacturing firms'... View Details

18 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

How Disruptive Innovation Changes Education

improving public education. The book is titled Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns. According to the authors, "Our goal in writing this book was to dig beneath the sorts of surface... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

06 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

Latest Isn’t Always Greatest: Why Product Updates Capture Consumers

scenario in an experiment, most people did indeed choose the longer stick, whereas only 15 percent initially chose the shorter one. However, when the short version was labeled as “newer,” twice as many, about 31 percent, chose it—even though all of the other View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

September 2003
Case

Driving Change at Seagate

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter, Douglas A Raymond and Lyn Baranowski

A new CEO, Steve Luczo, together with COO Bill Watkins, have led a turnaround of Seagate, raising productivity dramatically and increasing innovation through teamwork, cross-functional collaboration, and other transformations in the culture of this manufacturer of disk... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Transformation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Groups and Teams; Performance Productivity; Initial Public Offering; Going Public; Information Technology Industry

February 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Supplement

Leading Change at Simmons (E)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Susan Thyne

This case updates the “Leading Change at Simmons” series by examining Simmons' increasing debt under the ownership of Thomas H. Lee, a private equity firm. Charlie Eitel, the former CEO, wonders what the company's, and his, legacy will be after declaring bankruptcy... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Private Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Leading Change; Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Ownership; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry

June 2011 (Revised June 2013)
Case

Sino-Ocean Land: Responding to Change

By: Nicolas P. Retsinas, Jeffrey Hu and Runjiao Xu

In 2010, Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Limited was a highly successful, large real estate developer based in Beijing, China. Sino-Ocean Land had three main business segments—property development, property investment/management, and other real estate related businesses. From... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategic Planning; Diversification; Property; Policy; State Ownership; Business Strategy; Business and Government Relations; Real Estate Industry; Beijing

29 May 2001
Research & Ideas

How Technological Disruption Changes Everything

market where customers are being overserved by the prevailing offerings. The concept of "overshooting" suggests that companies try to keep prices and margins high by developing products with many more features than customers can... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health

05 Jul 2004
What Do You Think?

Work-Life: Is Productivity in the Balance?

Summing Up This month's column sought to pose a trade-off between improved work-life balance and productivity. In general, many among the large number of respondents rejected the notion. As Brian O'Leary put it, " ... finding a work-life balance will not undermine... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

13 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Rescuing Products with Stealth Positioning

communications device…Gradually introduce it, and then slowly add functionality." Sony hopes its stealth-positioning strategy will change the way consumers view its PlayStation offering and slowly shift this niche View Details

Keywords: by Youngme Moon

August 2012 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Egypt: Turbulence, and Transition?

By: Diego Comin, Mohamed Heikal and Adam Said

The case goes over the evolution of politics and institutions in Egypt over the last 50 years. The case provides new insights on the reasons for violent political transitions and also explores the effects of political instability on productivity and competitiveness. View Details

Keywords: Institutional Change; Military; Competitiveness; Democracy; Revolution; Productivity; History; Transition; Economic Systems; Competition; War; Performance Productivity; Organizations; Government and Politics; Volatility; Egypt

May 2000 (Revised December 2018)
Supplement

SMA: Micro-Electronic Products Division (B)

By: Michael Beer and Michael Tushman

Focuses on the recommendations and implementation strategy suggested by the organizational development group for the division's problems. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Organizational Culture; Conflict Management; Corporate Strategy

2023
Working Paper

Cost-Efficient Decarbonization of Portland Cement Production

By: Gunther Glenk, Anton Kelnhofer, Rebecca Meier and Stefan Reichelstein

Accounting for nearly 8% of global annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the cement industry is considered difficult to decarbonize. While a sizeable number of abatement levers for Portland cement production is becoming technologically ready for deployment, many are... View Details

SSRN

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2018
Working Paper

Shipping Fees and Product Assortment in Online Retail

By: Chaoqun Chen and Donald Ngwe

Shipping fees are an important aspect of online retail for both consumers and sellers. A common fee structure is contingent free shipping, in which consumers are granted free shipping for basket sizes above a minimum value and are charged a flat fee for orders below... View Details

Keywords: Shpping Fee; E-commerce; Multi-category Demand; Search Costs; Shipping Membership; Spending; Consumer Behavior; Retail Industry

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May 1989 (Revised June 1990)
Supplement

Ford Motor Co.: The Product Warranty Program (B)

Raises some exciting issues concerning the role of product warranty as a strategic marketing tool. General Motors, in response to a sharp drop in its market share, makes a dramatic change in its warranty policy. Ford has to decide how best to respond to this change. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Auto Industry