Publications

01 Mar 2010
News

Lords of Strategy

ineluctable advance . In a speech from late in the 1990s, George Stalk Jr. MBA ’78, arguably BCG’s leading thinker on strategy over the prior fifteen years — and certainly the firm’s most prolific — neatly summed up the main themes of the... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

06 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

Four Strategies for Making Concessions

Most people understand that negotiation is a matter of give-and-take: You have to be willing to make concessions to get concessions in return. But the process of making concessions is easier said than done. Consider how events unfolded in... View Details

Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra

Research Summary

Rooting Marketing Strategy in Human Universals

Localization strategies can be costly to implement while globalization strategies may fail to develop or create demand by stressing readily shared product features rather than shared needs. Thus the question: Is there, somewhere between the extremes of localization... View Details

January–February 2014
Article

Building a Game-Changing Talent Strategy

By: Douglas A. Ready, Linda A. Hill and Robert J. Thomas

When most of the world's financial services giants were stumbling and retrenching in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, the asset management firm BlackRock was busy charting a course for growth. Its revenues, profits, and stock price all performed consistently... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Success; Business Strategy; Financial Crisis; Financial Services Industry

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Program

Aligning Strategy and Sales

based on customer profitability Build and nurture the best sales talent and go-to-market approach for each product or segment Translate your corporate strategy into sales strategies, tasks, and processes... View Details

March 2000
Exercise

Developing Products on Internet Time: A Process Design Exercise

By: Stefan H. Thomke

This team exercise allows students to experience some of the dynamics of developing products in the fast-paced Internet environment and was inspired by the browser war between Netscape and Microsoft. Designed to be taught in a single class session, the exercise... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Internet and the Web; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Design; Decisions; Management Practices and Processes; Integration; Organizations; Competition

February 2001 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Henry Heinz: Making Markets for Processed Foods

By: Nancy F. Koehn

Outlines many of the supply-side innovations, such as improved transportation, communication, and technological developments, that greatly expanded the productive capacity of the United States in the late 19th century. Explores a range of demand-side shifts, including... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Supply and Industry; Innovation and Invention; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

18 Feb 2016
News

Challenge Aims to Speed Drug Trials Process

The HBS Health Care Initiative is seeking innovative ideas from the science, patient, business, and medical communities on how to transform trials for precision medicine. Through the HBS Precision Trials Challenge, it aims to bring diagnostics and therapies to market... View Details

1998
Chapter

Process Research on Strategic Decisions: A Personal Perspective

By: J. L. Bower

Keywords: Decisions; Strategy; Research

September 2008
Case

Israeli Special Forces: Selection Strategy

By: Boris Groysberg, Tal Riesenfeld and Eliot Sherman

Ron Guntz, commander of recruiting for Israel's Special Forces, had been instructed by his superiors to evaluate the process by which he selected solders for a 20-month-long training program. Was the Army conducting this process in an ideal manner? The case examines... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Training; National Security; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Public Administration Industry; Israel

July 1996 (Revised December 2001)
Case

Becton Dickinson--Designing the New Strategic, Operational, and Financial Planning Process

By: Robert L. Simons, Antonio Davila and Afroze A Mohammed

Describes management's attempts to design and install a sophisticated planning and control system in an international company as it changes its strategy. Issues of strategy implementation, accountability, and performance measurement are at the core of the analysis, as... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Business or Company Management; Corporate Accountability; Governance Controls; System; Performance Evaluation

June 2016 (Revised April 2018)
Case

Boys & Girls Clubs of America: Driving Impact

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Lisa C. Cox

With $1.8 billion in 2015 revenues, Boys & Girls Club of America had evolved over its 155-year-old history to occupy the lead position in the Youth Development space in the United States. Its new CEO Jim Clark had initiated yet another change process in 2015 to ensure... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Strategy; Planning Process; Transformative Impact; Nonprofit Organizations; Strategic Planning; Change Management; Growth Management

Research Summary

Understanding Financial Communication Strategy

Greg Miller is investigating financial communication. Financial communication is the process through which managers explain the firm to the external stakeholders. While capital providers are the primary audience for this information, effective financial communication... View Details

16 Jan 2023
News

40 Ideas to Shake Up Your Hiring Process

2016
Working Paper

Algorithmic Foundations for Business Strategy

By: Mihnea Moldoveanu

I introduce algorithmic and meta-algorithmic models for the study of strategic problem solving, aimed at illuminating the processes and procedures by which strategic managers and firms deal with complex problems. These models allow us to explore the relationship... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Business Strategy

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September 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Electronic Arts: The Blockbuster Strategy

Describes the process that the firm employs to allocate resources to new product development projects. Examines whether the firm can sustain its competitive advantage given its existing game design process. View Details

Keywords: Resource Allocation; Competitive Advantage; Decision Making; Product Development; Video Game Industry

March 1998 (Revised June 1999)
Teaching Note

Linking Strategy and Innovation TN

By: Clayton M. Christensen

An overview note to guide instructors in teaching the third module of the Managing Innovation course. Describes how managers can use aggregate project planning to manage the resource allocation process in new product development. View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Managerial Roles; Resource Allocation; Product Development; Planning; Projects; Strategy

May 2013
Article

The Performance Frontier: Innovating for a Sustainable Strategy

By: Robert G. Eccles and George Serafeim

By now most companies have sustainability programs. They're cutting carbon emissions, reducing waste, and otherwise enhancing operational efficiency. But a mishmash of sustainability tactics does not add up to a sustainable strategy. To endure, a strategy must address... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Innovation; Environment; Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility; Governance; Strategy; Value; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention