Publications

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November 1990 (Revised May 1994)
Case

Microsoft Corp.: Office Business Unit

By: Marco Iansiti

Describes the development of a new word processing software package, Word for Windows. The major focus is how the development process should be improved to reduce schedule slips and cost overruns. Some of the issues raised are: the use of schedules in managing... View Details

Keywords: Communication Strategy; Cost Management; Business or Company Management; Time Management; Product Development; Programs; Projects; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Information Technology Industry

May 1986
Supplement

Gillette Co.: Dry Idea Advertising (C), Video

Designed for use in class as an epilogue to the story of the struggle to solve creative problems on Gillette's Dry Idea antiperspirant. The videotape announces the bake-off competition winner: BBDO. It also shows excerpts from interviews conducted a year and a half... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Consumer Products Industry

13 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

How to Pick Managers for Disruptive Growth

eight months, and quickly established offices in Europe and Asia. Within a year it had announced forty strategic partnerships with companies such as Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, View Details

Keywords: by Michael Raynor

April 1996 (Revised May 2000)
Case

Bed Bath & Beyond

By: Amy P. Hutton and James Weber

This case examines how accurately investors have incorporated information about the growth strategy of Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) into share price, especially given the changing competitive environment in the housewares industry and the recent Barron's article pointing... View Details

Keywords: Analysis; Valuation; Financial Statements; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

Profile

Jessey Jin

Why was earning your MBA at HBS important to you? It provided me with a precious opportunity to think really hard about who I am and what I want to be. Also, it equipped me with vision, skills, knowledge and... View Details

Keywords: Investment Banking; Technology; Manufacturing

02 Mar 2016
Blog Post

HBS FIELD - A Sneak Peek Into Retail

Every January HBS sends hundreds of first year business school students to an emerging market for 10 days of cultural and business immersion. Dauntingly, in those 10 days students must acclimate themselves to the new market View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail

2008
Case

Nike Considered: Getting Traction on Sustainability

By: Rebecca Henderson, C. Reavis, R. Locke and C. Liddy

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Design; Environmental Sustainability; Apparel and Accessories Industry

20 Mar 2017
Book

Why Companies Are Placing Users at the Core of Their Innovation Strategies

number of companies are placing users at the core of their business strategies. Take MUJI, a leading Japanese design retailer, which has created a range of products designed by customers including a car, light fixtures, View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

07 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

Big Infrastructure May Not Always Produce Big Benefits

important role of the infrastructure provision in any economy and how it shapes economic activity. Infrastructure includes everything from roads and airports to trains and... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Construction

February 2022 (Revised March 2022)
Case

National Electric Vehicles Sweden (NEVS): Materializing a Vision

By: Shane Greenstein and Elena Corsi

In 2021, the car manufacturer National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) faced the challenge of securing funding from its investor to launch an innovative mobility solution based on fleets of shared autonomous driving (AD) cars. The system was complex as it required the... View Details

Keywords: Autonomous Vehicles; Product Design; Sustainable Cities; Transportation Networks; Auto Industry; Sweden; Europe

29 Jan 2025
Blog Post

Finding Professional Purpose: Building an Impactful Career that Reflects your Values with Lisa Tanzer (MBA 1993)

undergraduate background with limited exposure to business, I began my career as an Associate Consultant at one of the Big Four accounting firms (PwC), focusing on strategic planning in financial services, business services, telecommunications, View Details

September 1990 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Procter & Gamble Japan (A)

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Ten years after entering Japan, P&G had accumulated over $250 million in operating losses on declining annual sales of $120 million by 1983. The decision facing the president of P&G International: exit, retrench or rebuild the operation? Ironically, the initial entry... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Change Management; Profit; Market Entry and Exit; Market Participation; Sales; Competition; Technology; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Japan

16 Jul 2008
Op-Ed

What Should Employers Do about Health Care?

cannot get out of health care, no matter what kind of health insurance system is put in place. They bear the cost of poor health in the form of sick days, absenteeism, reduced productivity at work, and early... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter, Elizabeth O. Teisberg & Scott Wallace; Health

17 Sep 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Fawn Weaver’s Entrepreneurial Journey as an Outsider in the Spirits Industry

Keywords: Re: Hise O. Gibson; Food & Beverage; Tourism

18 Jan 2019
Blog Post

Exploring the Tech World Through WesTrek

Anheuser Busch. During my first semester at HBS, I befriended many former west-coasters who proclaimed San Francisco a hotspot for interesting product marketing jobs. For the first time, I wondered what it would be like to move out west... View Details

August 1989 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Harper Chemical Co., Inc.

A company acquires the rights to a mineral with potential uses in the ceramic and paint industries. After many years, sales are still far below expectations and the company considers selling the whole operation to a potential customer. Rewritten version of an earlier... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

10 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

Reinventing the Industrial Giant

Xerox, IBM, and Kodak. These industrial giants are trying to combine their industrial heritage with products, services, and business practices more closely associated with the new economy. Their basic View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria, Davis Dyer & Frederick Dalzell; Manufacturing

January 1988 (Revised March 1995)
Supplement

Digital Equipment Corp.: The Endpoint Model (C2)

By: David A. Garvin

To follow Digital Equipment Corp.: The Endpoint Model (C1). Students must assess what their next steps would be as plant manager and group manufacturing manager. View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Business Model; Business or Company Management; Production; Technology; Technology Industry