Publications

May 2018
Case

Inditex: 2018

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2018, Inditex, based in Spain, was the largest specialist fashion retailer in the world, generating sales of $31.5 billion in 2017 from a portfolio of eight retail brands selling through a total of 7,475 stores located in 96 countries and from websites in 49... View Details

Keywords: Fashion; Succession; IPO; Competition; Initial Public Offering; Multinational Firms and Management; Management Succession; Growth and Development Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry

28 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 28

take it from a traditional supplemental publishing company to a competitive player in the educational technology space. Waldron and the CA team-through innovations in curricular design, investments in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Germany’s Pioneering Corporate Managers

When you think about which countries have produced the greatest management innovations, the United States and Japan are likely to top your list. But it was Germany in the late 1800s and early 1900s that was a cauldron of innovative and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

February 2003 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Precise Software Solutions

When and how should a firm introduce an innovative new product? Introduce too early and functionality may not be there, too late and strong competition might appear. Precise Software Solutions, headquartered in Westwood, MA, is a small, growing company with a... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Product Launch; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Sales; Information Technology Industry; Massachusetts

Teaching Interest

Competing in the Age of Digital Platforms—(Executive Education)

By: David B. Yoffie

Summary

Without exception, the most valuable companies in the world today are platforms. Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook, and many other firms have built their fortunes by facilitating innovation across global ecosystems or... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Technology; Strategy; Digital Business; Social Networks; Self-driving Cars; Mobile Gaming; Esports; Financial Services; Online Retail; Ride-sharing; Search; Auctions; United States; Asia; China; Europe

2015
Chapter

Firms and the Economics of Skilled Immigration

By: Sari Pekkala Kerr, William R. Kerr and William F. Lincoln

Firms play a central role in the selection, sponsorship, and employment of skilled immigrants entering the United States for work through programs like the H-1B visa. This role has not been widely recognized in the literature, and the data to better understand it have... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Human Capital; Immigration; Innovation and Invention; United States

Read Now

02 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 2, 2019

an additional factor: the degree of the top management team's (TMT) frame flexibility, i.e., their capability to cognitively expand an innovation's categorical boundaries and to cast the innovation as emotionally resonant with the... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

May 1996 (Revised March 2005)
Case

Bombardier TEG (A)

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Takia Mahmood

Bombardier, a Canadian manufacturer of passenger railcars and market leader in the United States, faces aggressive competition from a new entrant, U.S.-owned Morrison Knudsen, that has come into the industry with closely related capabilities in engineering and... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Goals and Objectives; Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Rail Transportation; Manufacturing Industry; Rail Industry; Canada; United States

29 May 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Crafting Integrated Multichannel Retailing Strategies

Keywords: by Jie Zhang, Paul Farris, Tarun Kushwaha, John Irvin, Thomas J. Steenburgh & Barton Weitz; Retail

11 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 11

Publications 2006 Journal of International Business Studies Firm Rivalry, Knowledge Accumulation, and MNE Location Choices By: Alcácer, Juan, Cristian Deszo, and Minyuan Zhao Abstract—The international business (IB) literature has mostly emphasized the impact of... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Research Summary

Managing Networked Businesses

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Platform-based businesses that leverage network effects face a distinctive set of management challenges. A platform encompasses components and rules that facilitate interactions between the platform's users. A platform-based product or service exhibits a network... View Details

November 5, 2024
Article

The International Empirics of Management

By: Daniela Scur, Scott Ohlmacher, John Van Reenen, Morten Bennedsen, Nick Bloom, Ali Choudhary, Lucia Foster, Jesse Groenewegen, Arti Grover, Sjoerd Hardeman, Leonardo Iacovone, Ryo Kambayashi, Marie-Christine Laible, Renata Lemos, Hongbin Li, Andrea Linarello, Mika Maliranta, Denis Medvedev, Charlotte Meng, John Miles Touya, Natalia Mandirola, Roope Ohlsbom, Atsushi Ohyama, Megha Patnaik, Mariana Pereira-López, Raffaella Sadun, Tatsuro Senga, Franklin Qian and Florian Zimmermann

A country’s national income broadly depends on the quantity and quality of workers and capital. But how well these factors are managed within and between firms may be a key determinant of a country’s productivity and its GDP. Although social scientists have long... View Details

Keywords: Performance Productivity; Economy; Management Practices and Processes

Find at Harvard

Register to Read

March 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Proximie: Using XR Technology to Create Borderless Operating Rooms

By: Ariel D. Stern and Alpana Thapar

In mid-January 2022, Nadine Hachach-Haram, founder and CEO of Proximie, was thinking about the company’s growth plans. Launched in 2016, Proximie was a platform that enabled clinicians, proctors, and medical device company personnel to be virtually present in operating... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Technological Innovation; Partners and Partnerships; Strategic Planning; Health Care and Treatment; Analytics and Data Science; Digital Platforms; Health Industry; Lebanon; United Kingdom; United States

October 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Worldwide Blood Collection Team

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Kathleen Scharf

Describes Becton Dickinson's evolving attempt to develop products and strategies to meet worldwide competitive and market needs. Traces the evolution of a classic parent company-led product-market strategy to truly transnational product and strategy development.... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Product Development; Innovation and Management; Competitive Advantage; Multinational Firms and Management

May 2007 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Biocon Limited

By: Krishna G. Palepu and Ananth Chepuri

Biocon Limited was facing significant pricing pressure in their cash cow business, that primarily consisted of manufacturing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). To combat this commoditization, Biocon's leadership had chosen an innovation-led strategy. This new... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Innovation and Management; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Biotechnology Industry; India