Publications

Program

Driving Digital Strategy

Summary Technology, like a relentless force of nature, is reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace. It poses a threat to those who resist and fail to adapt. But it also presents unparalleled opportunities to those audacious enough to... View Details

Program

Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management

policies, and major programs of their organizations Participating organizations must be public-serving nonprofits, fully operational, and out of the startup phase; they typically have operating budgets in excess of $1 million Not appropriate for: View Details

July 2001 (Revised December 2001)
Case

WeServeHomes.com

ServiceMaster, a Fortune 500 supplier of home services such as Terminex, Trugreen (lawn care), and MerryMaids, has a 50% interest in an Internet start-up designed to attract new customers to its services and help service providers improve quality and lower costs.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Internet and the Web; Information Technology; Service Operations; Service Delivery; Service Industry

Program

Foundations of Private Equity and Venture Capital

industry models, from venture capital to growth equity to buyouts, as well as the key issues related to investment criteria, management strategies, and decision-making processes. For executives with significant experience in the private... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Finance

January–February 2013
Article

When the Crowd Fights Corruption

By: Paul M. Healy and Karthik Ramanna

Corruption is the greatest impediment to conducting business in Russia, according to leaders recently surveyed by the World Economic Forum. Indeed, it's a problem in many emerging markets, and businesses have a role to play in combating it, according to Healy and... View Details

Keywords: Corruption; Emerging Economies; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Globalization; Russia; Georgia (nation, Asia); India

Find at Harvard

Rohit Deshpandé is a Baker Foundation Professor and Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing, Emeritus at Harvard Business School, where he has been teaching in the Advanced Management Program,... View Details

Keywords: marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry

January 2011
Case

Clean Edge Razor: Splitting Hairs in Product Positioning

By: John A. Quelch and Heather Beckham

After three years of development, Paramount Health and Beauty Company is preparing to launch a new technologically advanced vibrating razor called Clean Edge. The innovative new design of Clean Edge provides superior performance by stimulating the hair follicles to... View Details

Keywords: Project Management; Interdepartmental Relations; Organizational Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Conflict Management; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Relationships; Product Development; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

August 1992
Case

Otis Pacific Asia Operations (A): National Challenges

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Describes the elevator market and Otis's competitive position in four markets: Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, and Japan. The student is asked to evaluate the strategic and competitive challenges in each market, especially in light of strong Japanese competition across the... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Network Effects; Problems and Challenges; Global Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Service Delivery; Competitive Advantage; Competition; Technology Industry; Technology Industry; India; Japan; Malaysia; Hong Kong

October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Maxwell Appliance Controls

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Management Teams; Quality; Performance Improvement; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Production; Manufacturing Industry

Find at Harvard

September 2010
Case

NetApp

By: Das Narayandas and Elizabeth A. Kind

NetApp had undertaken an award-winning overhaul and upgrading of its channel strategy design that accounted for 46 percent of North America sales in 2006. Nonetheless, NetApp senior management announced they expected to grow revenue another 30% in fiscal 2007 with half... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Business Model; Design; Revenue; Planning; Problems and Challenges; Sales; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Manufacturing Industry

Teaching Interest

Overview

By: Lynda M. Applegate

I currently teach a module in the HBS Owner President Management (OPM) program that is entitled Innovation @Work. The module is designed to provide a general manager perspective on how to lead innovation and transform organizations, industries, and society. The role... View Details

Program

Growing as a Purposeful Leader

executives from various backgrounds and industries Build relationships with a diverse group of peers who can provide wide-ranging insights into your business and personal challenges Who Should Attend CEOs and senior executives one or two... View Details

08 Nov 2023
Blog Post

Zone Defense: These self-driving, AI-powered drones do recon so soldiers don’t have to

deployed, couldn’t understand why the military would design a high-tech armored suit for a person when artificial intelligence could do the job with significantly less risk. “Why wouldn’t they just put in a computer to control the suit?”... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Entrepreneurship

January 2001 (Revised April 2001)
Case

Lawyers & Leases

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Michele Lutz

Profiles Rajath Chaundry, an aspiring entrepreneur, as he attempts to secure office space for his growing team, select a lawyer, and continue to build his fledgling enterprise, eLearning.com. Designed to be used in an entrepreneurial management or small business course... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Business or Company Management; Business Ventures; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Intellectual Property; Management Succession; Leasing; Negotiation; Education Industry; Education Industry

September 1971 (Revised September 1983)
Case

Gentle Electric Co.

By: W. Earl Sasser

Designed to illustrate various levels of complexity in determining optimum order sizes for a single item inventory policy. Students are asked to evaluate the impact of recent operational changes on the firm's ordering policy. Intended to follow the students' initial... View Details

Keywords: Change; Policy; Supply Chain; Complexity; Electronics Industry

April 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

Borusan CAT: Monetizing Prediction in the Age of AI (A)

By: Navid Mojir and Gamze Yucaoglu

Borusan Cat is an international distributor of Caterpillar heavy machines. Esra Durgun (Director of Strategy, Digitization, and Innovation) and Ozgur Gunaydin (CEO) seem to have bet their careers on developing Muneccim, a new predictive technology that is designed to... View Details

Keywords: Monetization Strategy; Artificial Intelligence; AI; Forecasting and Prediction; Applications and Software; Technological Innovation; Marketing; Segmentation; AI and Machine Learning; Construction Industry; Turkey

January 2009 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Gucci Group in 2009

By: David B. Yoffie and Renee Kim

The Gucci Group had transformed itself into the world's third largest luxury retailer with multiple brands. The company had performed well even after the departure of star designer Tom Ford and former CEO Domenico De Sole. However, the challenging global economic times... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Luxury; Corporate Strategy; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry

February 2020
Case

Klöckner & Co: Steeling for a Digital World

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Hoping to get ahead of potential digital disruption at Klöckner & Co.—one of the world’s largest steel and metal distributors—CEO Gisbert Rühl set up both kloeckner.i (KCI), an internal transformation arm, and XOM Materials (XOM), an independent industry platform. KCI... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Market Design; Digital Platforms; Markets; Industry Structures; Supply and Industry; Technology Adoption; Transformation; Digital Transformation; Steel Industry; Steel Industry; Europe; Germany