Publications

November 2001
Supplement

Staples

By: Myra M. Hart

Provides information on the development of the office superstore concept, including building partnerships, creating the business plan, and recruiting a management team. View Details

Keywords: Business Plan; Recruitment; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Teams; Operations; Planning; Partners and Partnerships; Complexity; Retail Industry

21 Jun 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Multi-Sided Platforms: From Microfoundations to Design and Expansion Strategies

Keywords: by Andrei Hagiu; Technology

May 2004 (Revised April 2006)
Case

Ultra: The Quest for Leadership (A)

By: Dwight B. Crane and Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

Ultra is one of a small group of competing Brazilian petrochemical companies, each of which buys raw material and is a minority owner of Copene, a "cracking" company that provides ethylene and other materials. Because of an industry restructuring, an auction of shares... View Details

Keywords: Capital; Capital Budgeting; Investment; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Industry Structures; Cash Flow; Cost of Capital; Valuation; Bids and Bidding; Economy; Ownership Stake; Chemical Industry; Brazil

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Marco Iansiti, David Sarnoff Professor of Business Administration, is a codirector of the Laboratory for Information Science at Harvard and of the Digital Initiative at HBS.

Prof. Iansiti's research examines the digital transformation of companies and... View Details

Keywords: e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry; e-commerce industry

October 2012
Case

Riding the Wave of Technological Change at RE/MAX, LLC.

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ramiro Montealegre and Jeffrey Sweeney

David Liniger, cofounder of RE/MAX, LLC., wondered if his business was prepared to exploit the next wave of business opportunities in the real estate market. This industry had moved from one in which broker/owners controlled all of the consumers' access to information,... View Details

Keywords: General Management; Business Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Information Technology; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation

February 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Apple Inc., 2008

By: David B. Yoffie and Michael Slind

In January 2007, three decades after its incorporation, Apple Computer shed the second word in its name and became Apple Inc. With that move, the company signaled a fundamental shift away from its historic status as a vendor of the Macintosh personal computer (PC)... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Leadership; Industry Growth; Corporate Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

04 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Attention Medical Shoppers: What Health Care Can Learn from Walmart and Amazon

panel discussion held at Harvard Business School, where several experts talked about how to treat the troubled industry at a time when the year-old Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 is still in its relative infancy.... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

July 1996 (Revised July 2009)
Background Note

Antitrust and Competitive Strategy from the 1990s to 2008 (Condensed)

Describes U.S. antitrust policy, including major judicial decisions and their impact on competitive strategy. Omits information on the history of antitrust policy and on the specific prohibitions of the various acts. View Details

Keywords: Judgments; Policy; Laws and Statutes; Monopoly; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; United States

March 1997
Background Note

Copper and Zinc Markets 1996

By: Peter Tufano

Provides background information on copper and zinc markets as of mid-1996. Discusses supply and demand conditions, forecasts of the spot prices of the metals, and contracts for future delivery (forwards, futures, and options). View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Metals and Minerals; Supply and Industry; Mining Industry

Today’s global enterprises increasingly involve collaborative work by teams of experts operating across different professions, organizations, and industries. Extreme Teaming provides new insights into the world of complex, cross industry... View Details

30 Aug 2010
Research & Ideas

Turning Employees Into Problem Solvers

context of the health-care industry drew instant attention. Preventable medical errors resulting in injury cost the industry somewhere between $9 billion and $15 billion a year, the report stated. Even more... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Health

October 2003 (Revised December 2015)
Supplement

The BCPC Internet Strategy Team: Jan Trow

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Laura Feldman

Accompanies The BCPC Internet Strategy Team: An Exercise and provides unique background information on one of the team members. View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Knowledge Sharing; Groups and Teams; Behavior; Perspective; Strategy; Cooperation; Telecommunications Industry

March 2014
Teaching Note

Andrew Sullivan and Faraway Ltd.

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Andrew Sullivan is an entrepreneur with an innovative product and impending sales calls on two important retail buyers. The (A) case provides information about Sullivan, his business, and the economics of his business model. The (B) and (C) cases provide information... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Retail Industry; Retail Industry; England

July 2001 (Revised May 2002)
Case

WWWW - Who Will Win Wireless?

This case discusses different players in the wireless Internet industry and asks readers to evaluate the likelihood that they will create and capture value. View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Success; Mobile and Wireless Technology

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October 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Transforming Singapore's Public Libraries (Abridged)

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Roger H. Hallowell

The Singapore Public Library system was transformed from being mediocre at best to world class using information technology, progressive human-resources management, and marketing approaches unusual for government agencies. View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Service Delivery; Marketing Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Human Resources; Information Technology; Nonprofit Organizations; Public Administration Industry; Singapore

August 2016
Supplement

HEINEKEN—Brewing a Better World (B)

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, José Alvarez and Tonia Junker

This is a follow-up to the “HEINEKEN—Brewing a Better World (A)” case, with updated information on sustainability at HEINEKEN and some new initiatives. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Corporate Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Food and Beverage Industry

November 2013 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Freemium Pricing at Dropbox

By: Thales Teixeira and Elizabeth Anne Watkins

Online storage company Dropbox provided remote-storage over the internet of any type of computer file, along with file sharing, synchronization and backup. Using a freemium pricing strategy whereby a basic service was free-of-charge and a premium service was paid,... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Price; Internet; Information Technology Industry

2016
Working Paper

Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com

By: Michael Luca

Do online consumer reviews affect restaurant demand? I investigate this question using a novel dataset combining reviews from the website Yelp.com and restaurant data from the Washington State Department of Revenue. Because Yelp prominently displays a restaurant's... View Details

Keywords: Revenue; Network Effects; Reputation; Social and Collaborative Networks; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Washington (state, US)

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October 1996 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Upjohn Company, The: The Upjohn-Pharmacia Merger

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Amy P. Hutton

In August 1995, the Upjohn Co. and Pharmacia AB announced a "merger of equals." This case provides background information on the industry, the position of Upjohn, and Upjohn's rationale for the proposed merger. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Financial Statements; Business Strategy; Annual Reports; Pharmaceutical Industry