Publications

May 2011 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Nokia: The Burning Platform

By: Juan Alcacer, Tarun Khanna and Mary Furey

Overview on the state of Nokia since the “Emerging Nokia?” case was written. View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Marketing Strategy; Emerging Markets; Network Effects; Telecommunications Industry; Computer Industry

15 Sep 2016

Amsterdam MBA Fair

Meet HBS alumni and Admissions staff at this event brought to you by Ivy Circle Netherlands (with the support of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants). The event will feature top MBA programs in the United States and Europe. View Details

September 2020
Case

Apple Bets on Augmented Reality

By: Rory McDonald, David Lane and Mel Martin

In 2020, augmented reality (AR) was still a nascent technology with blockbuster potential, one which Apple was actively developing as its iPhone franchise waned. But the emergence of AR was uneven, including the disappointing Google Glass and the unexpected viral... View Details

Keywords: Augmented Reality; Industry Structures; Product Development; Commercialization; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Information Technology; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry

September 2013
Case

PadFone vs. FonePad

By: Willy Shih and Sen Chai

To Jonney Shih, Chairman of ASUSTek Computer, the introduction of Apple's iPad made clear the need to transition his company to a new cloud-computing era. But the company's roots in the manufacture of Windows-powered desktop and notebook PCs bounded the creativity of... View Details

20 Mar 2005
Research & Ideas

Lessons of Successful Entrepreneurs

every once in a while. He still receives royalty checks in the millions of dollars each year from a $40,000 investment he made in a pet business, which he thought had no chance of succeeding. HBS professor Thomas Eisenmann, who moderated, asked panelists about the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Jun 2009
News

Consumption Is America’s Competitive Advantage

In the saber-rattling and highly influential 2007 report Rising Above the Gathering Storm, the National Academies warned that America’s technology and scientific leadership was being surpassed by a number of Asian countries, threatening both our dominant position in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Building Competitive Advantage Through Operations

At the HBS Executive Education program Building Competitive Advantage Through Operations (BCAO), executives charged with leading and building operations and manufacturing strategies enhance their understanding of operations performance... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

2025
Working Paper

The Extent and Drivers of Internal Agglomeration of U.S. Multi-Unit Firms

By: Juan Alcácer and Jasmina Chauvin

This paper examines the extent and determinants of internal agglomeration—the spatial clustering of establishments within firms. It introduces a novel methodology that benchmarks a firm’s spatial footprint against that of comparable stand-alone firms, yielding a... View Details

Keywords: Multi-unit Firms; Agglomeration; Spatial Organization; Economies Of Scope; Organizational Design; Diversification; Corporate Strategy; Business Units

Read Now

March 2010 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Baltic Beverages Holding: Competing in a Globalizing World (A)

By: Juan Alcacer, Rasmus Karl Gustaf Molander and Rakeen Mabud

The Finnish brewer Hartwall and the Swedish brewer Pripps had to decide how to react to the rapidly changing European political, economic, and business environment in 1989–1990. View Details

Keywords: Economics; Globalized Economies and Regions; Government and Politics; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Finland; Sweden

January 2000 (Revised January 2006)
Teaching Note

Husky Injection Molding Systems (TN)

By: Jan W. Rivkin

Teaching Note for (9-799-157). View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Leadership Style; Expansion; Manufacturing Industry; Canada

October 2022
Supplement

Beam Dental (A): Pitch Deck Supplement 2

By: Rembrand Koning and Alicia Dadlani

Early pitch deck (two of two). This case is a supplement to Beam Dental (A) 723-355. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Business Strategy; Entrepreneurship; United States; Kentucky; Ohio

Summer 2016
Article

Dynamic Capabilities at Samsung: Optimizing Internal Co-opetition

By: Jaeyong Song, Kyungmook Lee and Tarun Khanna

This article presents a clinical study, based on a decade of ongoing research at Samsung Group, which describes how the Samsung Group and its mobile phone division competed successfully in smartphones. The ability to manage co-opetition—simultaneous forces of... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Business Divisions; Cooperation; Mobile Technology

Find at Harvard

November 2002 (Revised April 2003)
Case

New York Stock Exchange versus NASDAQ, The

By: Estelle S. Cantillon and Tarun Khanna

Reviews the competition between stock markets, specifically the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, as it plays out both in the United States and internationally. The competition between the two exchanges is interesting because of technological developments and the... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Globalization; Strategy; Competition; United States

June 1999 (Revised June 2000)
Case

Eckerd Corporation

By: Michael E. Porter and John E. Kelleher

Describes the history and current situation in the retail pharmacy industry, including competition from new merchants and Internet drugstores. Eckerd, one of the top four drug chains, must decide how to position itself for the future. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Alignment; Supply and Industry; Retail Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

December 1995 (Revised January 2008)
Case

Lenzing AG: Expanding in Indonesia

By: Debora L. Spar

In 1994, Lenzing AG, the world's largest rayon manufacturer, is deciding whether to expand production in South Pacific Viscose, its Indonesian subsidiary. Indonesia is a booming market for rayon, but management still has some concerns about the expansion. First, for... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Production; Expansion; Logistics; Manufacturing Industry; Indonesia