Publications

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23 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 23

School Case 615-017 Qihoo Qihoo, one of the largest Internet companies in China today, was founded in 2005. The company started its business by offering a security software produc, and quickly dominated the market in China after its... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 1990 (Revised January 1997)
Case

ROLM: The SIGMA Introduction

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

ROLM's product development manager, Bob Lundy, has to prepare a detailed plan for launching a new product, code named SIGMA. The new product, though outstanding in features, has the potential to drastically affect ROLM's fortunes because it is incompatible with its... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development; Strategic Planning

September 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

GetConnected.com

By: Rajiv Lal, Nilanjana R. Pal and Jodi L. Prins

Describes the situation faced by GCI.com in April 2000, soon after raising $12 million for their new venture. After hiring an advertising agency, management needs to decide on the nature of the advertising campaign to target the right set of customers with the right... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Business Startups; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Strategy; Web Services Industry

May 1992
Supplement

Fabtek (B)

By: Rowland T. Moriarty Jr. and Benson P. Shapiro

Presents an urgent order for repair service from an important customer who had purchased an item from a competitor. The item, which TiFab had bid on, went out at a price that TiFab predicted was below the amount necessary to ensure quality manufacture. Now the customer... View Details

Keywords: Price; Bids and Bidding; Production; Quality; Competitive Strategy

September 1986 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Eastern Electric Apparatus Repair Company (A)

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin and Harry Gruner

As principals engaged in structuring leveraged buyouts for a well-capitalized risk arbitrage firm, Bob Meehan and George Schwartz are preparing to bid for the business and assets of a Westinghouse subsidiary. The case focuses on the value of the opportunity, methods of... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Bids and Bidding; Opportunities; Business Subsidiaries; Strategy; Valuation; Equity; Electronics Industry

24 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

Building an IT Governance Committee

because IT issues can affect economic and regulatory matters such as Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. For this reason, it's a good idea to have one audit committee member serve on the IT oversight committee. The... View Details

Keywords: by Richard Nolan & Warren McFarlan

October 2011
Article

Concentrating on Governance

By: Dalida Kadyrzhanova and Matthew Rhodes-Kropf

This paper develops a novel trade-off view of corporate governance. Using a simple model that integrates agency costs and bargaining benefits of management friendly provisions, we identify the economic determinants of the resulting trade-offs for shareholder value.... View Details

Keywords: Market Participation; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations

2009
Chapter

Entry, Exit and Labour Productivity in U.K. Retailing: Evidence from Micro Data

By: Jonathan Haskel and Raffaella Sadun

The paper investigates the U.K. retail sector using store and firm-level data between 1998 and 2003. First, we present the first exhaustive description of the U.K. retail sector using micro data sources. Second, in the spirit of Foster, Haltiwanger, and Krizan (2002),... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Market Entry and Exit; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Productivity; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

31 Dec 2012
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Stories of 2012

Product Published: April 23, 2012 Upgrades to existing product lines make up a huge part of corporate research and development activity, and with every upgrade comes the decision of how to brand it. Harvard Business School marketing... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

01 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

The Slow, Steady Battle to Fix Cancer Care

©iStock.com/GuidoVrola The bundled payment idea is part of a larger reform proposal called Value-Based Health Care Delivery, based on research by Michael E. Porter, the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor and founder of the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Health

08 Oct 2007
Research & Ideas

Management Education’s Unanswered Questions

How has management education evolved, and where is it going? This question is of crucial importance for society, says HBS professor Rakesh Khurana. Business leaders are admired yet often distrusted, and the View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Education

December 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Pacific Salmon Company, Inc.

By: Nabil N. El-Hage, Kenneth A. Froot and Christopher Edward James Payton

RRR, a $1 billion private equity fund, is trying to decide how much to bid for Pacific Salmon Inc. and how to finance the acquisition. View Details

Keywords: Food; Bids; Private Equity; Decision Making; Financing and Loans; Bids and Bidding; Acquisition; Corporate Finance; Financial Services Industry

September 2014
Case

Google Inc. in 2014 (Abridged)

By: Benjamin Edelman and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Describes Google's history, business model, governance structure, corporate culture, and processes for managing innovation. Reviews Google's recent strategic initiatives and the threats they pose to Yahoo, Microsoft, and others. Asks what Google should do next. View Details

Keywords: Search Engines; Google; Online Advertising; Internet and the Web; Network Effects; Business Model; Competition; Information Technology Industry; Advertising Industry

December 2010 (Revised April 2013)
Case

Kepak and the Future of the Irish Beef Industry

By: David E. Bell, Damien P. McLoughlin and Mary Shelman

As Ireland's third largest beef processor, Kepak faces new opportunities as well as significant challenges from the collapse of the "Celtic Tiger." The government has identified food and agriculture as one way the country could significantly grow exports. However, the... View Details

Keywords: Animal-Based Agribusiness; Economic Sectors; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Competition; Cooperation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Republic of Ireland

May 2008 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Kenny Kahn at Muzak (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Emily Stecker

Founded in 1934, Muzak pioneered the industry of background music. Equipped with propriety technology and a vast music library, over the ensuing decades the Muzak franchise organization expanded geographically. Despite a history of innovation, by the late 1990s Muzak... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Design; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Franchise Ownership; Music Industry

March 2010
Case

Target: Responding to the Recession

By: Ranjay Gulati, Rajiv Lal and Cathy Ross

Within 10 months of Gregg Steinhafel's taking over as CEO at Target, the U.S. was mired in the most significant economic downturn in 50 years. Top competitor Wal-Mart had positioned itself well for the crisis, while Target's same store sales began to slide. While... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Strategy; Operations; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Competition; Retail Industry; United States

Article

An Exploration of Optimal Stabilization Policy

By: N. Gregory Mankiw and Matthew C. Weinzierl

This paper examines the optimal response of monetary and fiscal policy to a decline in aggregate demand. The theoretical framework is a two-period general equilibrium model in which prices are sticky in the short-run and flexible in the long-run. Policy is evaluated by... View Details

Keywords: Fiscal Policy; Monetary Policy; Economic Models; Aggregate Demand; Demand and Consumers; Money; Mathematical Methods; Taxation; Spending; Policy; Welfare; Household; Economic Slowdown and Stagnation

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16 Feb 2021
Blog Post

The Rise of The Sixes: Interview with CEO and Founder Franci Girard

classmates and many of her teachers, and making it a challenge to find clothes that fit. In the years that followed, Girard grew into “the sixes” now standing proudly at 6’1’’ and the idea for the business... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Consumer Products / Retail

November–December 2013
Article

The Dynamic Effects of Bundling as a Product Strategy

By: Timothy Derdenger and Vineet Kumar

Several key questions in bundling have not been empirically examined: Is mixed bundling more effective than pure bundling or pure components? Does correlation in consumer valuations make bundling more or less effective? Does bundling serve as a complement or substitute... View Details

Keywords: Product Strategy; Bundling; Complementary Goods; Marketing; Strategy; Video Game Industry