Publications

August 2012
Case

Polar Sports, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester and Wei Wang

Polar Sports, Inc. is a fashion skiwear manufacturing company in Littleton, Colorado. The company has a unique design for skiwear using a special synthetic material that improves insulation and durability. The ski apparel industry is highly competitive and the best way... View Details

Keywords: Production; Decision Choices and Conditions; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Finance; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Colorado

January–February 2012
Article

Do You Need a New Product-Development Strategy?

By: Alan MacCormack, W. Crandall, P. Toft and P. Henderson

Many firms rely on a single new-product development process for all projects. But designing new products for different business contexts requires that a firm deploy different new-product development processes. Products designed for stable and mature end-user markets... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Product Development

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December 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Background Note

Strategic Use of Music in Marketing, The: A Selective Review

By: Gerald Zaltman and Nancy Puccinelli

Summarizes selected research on music and its impact on mood and shopping behavior, and its impact on the communication of ideas. View Details

Keywords: Communication Intention and Meaning; Music Entertainment; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Behavior

December 2018 (Revised December 2020)
Module Note

What Is Strategy?

By: Ashish Nanda

This note introduces the first module of the RC Strategy course, What Is Strategy? It helps students develop their perspective on what is a strategy, what is a good strategy, and how strategy development differs across contexts. View Details

Keywords: Strategy

A Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Business School, Michael co-developed and teaches a second year MBA course, “Challenges and Opportunities in the Restaurant Industry.”

A founder and partner of Positive Strategy LLC, a management/strategy consulting... View Details

31 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

One Quarter of Entrepreneurs in the United States Are Immigrants

It’s hard to say who’s right, however. Outside of a few high-profile examples like Brin, there have been virtually no data to gauge the level at which immigrants create companies and jobs. Kerr has sought to remedy that problem with a new... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

October 2001 (Revised November 2002)
Supplement

Mark Pitts

Describes Peoplestreet, an Internet business being developed at Cambridge Incubator. Peoplestreet is attempting to hire a VP of business development and has identified a candidate, Mark Pitts. Includes an overview of the position, three different interviews with the... View Details

Keywords: Job Interviews

Professor Nolan earned his B.A. from the University of Washington in Production and Operations Research in 1962, and his M.B.A and Ph.D. in 1963 and 1966, respectively. Upon graduation in 1966, he joined Boeing Commercial Airplane Company as an Information... View Details

Keywords: aerospace; information technology industry; internet

Article

Big Names or Big Ideas: Do Peer-Review Panels Select the Best Science Proposals?

By: Danielle Li and Leila Agha

This paper examines the success of peer-review panels in predicting the future quality of proposed research. We construct new data to track publication, citation, and patenting outcomes associated with more than 130,000 research project (R01) grants funded by the U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Research; Entrepreneurship; Forecasting and Prediction; Innovation and Invention; Business and Government Relations; United States

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April 2014 (Revised July 2017)
Case

The Tate's Digital Transformation

By: Jill Avery

John Stack was the visionary Head of Digital Transformation at the Tate, a collection of four major art galleries in the UK, including Tate Modern, the most visited gallery devoted to modern and contemporary art in the world. Stack was the architect of the Tate's... View Details

Keywords: Digital; Marketing Communication; Non-profit Management; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Media; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United Kingdom

31 May 2016
HBS Seminar

Sandra Sucher, Harvard Business School

Career Coach

Troy Peterson

Troy (HBS’19, West Point ‘08) has 15+ years of experience in technical program management, organizational leadership, and product development & operations. Troy has worked in roles across the tech... View Details

January 2013 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Pittsburgh

By: Eric Werker, Meg Rithmire, Benjamin Kennedy and Andrew Knauer

The case narrates the development of Pittsburgh from the 1940s to 2012. It analyzes the collapse of the steel industry in the early 1980s, the city's subsequent decline, and the city's later re-emergence as a hub for higher education, the tech sector, and the... View Details

Allison Mnookin is a Senior Lecturer of Business Administration in the Technology and Operations Management (TOM) Unit at the Harvard Business School. She currently is the co-chair of the first-year MBA Technology and Operations Management course. In addition, she... View Details

March 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Coursera's Foray into GenAI

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Michael Parzen and Radhika Kak

In early 2023, Maggioncalda, CEO of US EdTech firm Coursera, launched Project Genesis to develop a strategy for incorporating GenAI capabilities into the firm's offerings, asking his teams to focus on value to the firm and cost of implementation. The team identified... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; AI and Machine Learning; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Technological Innovation; Education Industry; Technology Industry; United States

13 Nov 2020
HBS Seminar

Ashley Nunes, Harvard Law School

National Customer Orientation: An Empirical Test across 112 Countries

Customer orientation is a central tenet of marketing. However, less is known about how customer orientation varies across countries and time. Mintz, Currim, and Deshpandé (Eur. J. Mark., 56: 1014–1041, 2022) propose a country-level construct, national customer... View Details

June 1999 (Revised May 2001)
Case

CardioThoracic Systems

CardioThoracic Systems, a company that has developed a new system for performing heart surgery on a beating heart, is facing marketing challenges. Discusses the numerous reasons for the system's low penetration (including existing techniques, surgeon resistance, and a... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Technological Innovation; Situation or Environment; Marketing Strategy; Sales; Health Care and Treatment; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; United States