Publications

Article

Managing Proprietary and Shared Platforms

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

In a platform-mediated network, users rely on a common platform, provided by one or more intermediaries, that encompasses infrastructure and rules required by users to transact with each other. A fundamental design decision for firms that aspire to develop... View Details

Keywords: Governance Controls; Digital Platforms; Infrastructure; Competition; Cooperation; Information Infrastructure

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May 2001 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Calpine Corporation: The Evolution from Project to Corporate Finance

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Michael Kane

In early 1999, Calpine Corp.'s CEO Pete Cartwright adopted an aggressive growth strategy with the goal of increasing the company's aggregate generating capacity from approximately 3,000 to 15,000 megawatts (MW) by 2004. He believed there was a fleeting opportunity to... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Cost of Capital; Project Finance; Adaptation; Profit; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Energy Industry; United States

October 1992 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Stermon Mills Incorporated

A paper company is unable to compete on cost as a result of the installation of three very efficient paper machines by competitors. Prices for its products are falling by the day, and the company is making a loss. In the face of such competition, management feels that... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Competition; Production; Pulp and Paper Industry

Program

Building a Legacy

with the tools to address these specific challenges and deepen your understanding of investment opportunities for high-net-worth families. You will emerge with the competence and confidence to design a wealth management strategy and... View Details

Research Summary

Recent Strategies in the U.S. Grocery Industry

By: Rajiv Lal

Rajiv Lal's work comparing the benefits of EDLP and Hi-Lo strategies in the grocery industry indicates that while EDLP grocery retailers may not be able to benefit from traditional costs savings associated with this strategy, these retailers still benefit from the use... View Details

February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Supplement

Uniswap: Fighting a Vampire Attack (B)

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Shweta Bagai and Liang Wu

This is the second of a three-case series that explores the challenges faced by Uniswap, a key player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. Founded by Hayden Adams, the case traces Uniswap's rapid growth from a simple idea inspired by a Reddit post to becoming... View Details

September 2006 (Revised February 2011)
Case

Empemex

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Regina Garcia-Cuellar

Studies an entrepreneurial venture in Mexico City. The protagonists, two MBAs from HBS, started a pawn shop chain funded from their private equity office after finishing business school. This is timed at a point where the protagonists have to decide how to grow the... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Mexico City; United States

April 1997
Case

Private Management and Public Schools (B)

Examines the prospects for private management in U.S. public schools. Focuses on the education and business strategies of firms seeking to expand as a result of charter school legislation that allowed for-profit entities to enter and compete for students with access to... View Details

Keywords: For-Profit Firms; Public Sector; Value; Education; Business Strategy; Government and Politics; Education Industry; United States

December 1987 (Revised August 1990)
Case

Florida Power & Light's Quality Improvement Program

Describes a major electric utility's highly successful effort to institute a comprehensive quality improvement program throughout the organization. Designed to be used in a comparative analysis of the quality improvement effort described in Paul Revere Insurance Co.... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Quality; Performance Productivity; Utilities Industry; Florida

04 Mar 2021
News

It Would Be a Major Blunder to Raise Taxes Right Now

15 Feb 2022
Book

When Working Harder Doesn’t Work, Time to Reinvent Your Career

second curve will look a little different; changing how one thinks is critical to seeing and seizing it. Brooks offers a roadmap with a few suggestions: Practice a death meditation to neutralize fear of decline. Brooks says this one regularly: I feel my View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman

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

2012
Teaching Note

UFIDA (F) (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Guo Jia

As an extension of UFIDA (A-E), UFIDA (F), using early 2012 as the time node, looks at UFIDA's major steps taken during 2010-2011, accomplishments, and major future opportunities and challenges. The case focuses on the new market development of Cloud Computing and... View Details

Keywords: China; Strategy; China

December 2015
Article

Does Planning Regulation Protect Independent Retailers?

By: Raffaella Sadun

Regulations aimed at curbing the entry of large retail stores have been introduced in many countries to protect independent retailers. Analyzing a planning reform launched in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, I show that independent retailers were actually harmed by the... View Details

Keywords: Small Business; Competition; Retail Industry; United Kingdom

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March 2014
Article

Search Diversion and Platform Competition

By: Andrei Hagiu and Bruno Jullien

Platforms use search diversion in order to trade off total consumer traffic for higher revenues derived by exposing consumers to unsolicited products (e.g., advertising). We show that competition between platforms leads to lower equilibrium levels of search diversion... View Details

Keywords: Market Intermediation; Search; Two-Sided Markets; Platform Design; Platform Competition; Competition; Two-Sided Platforms

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September 2003
Case

Executive Compensation at Reckitt Benckiser plc

By: V.G. Narayanan, Krishna G. Palepu and Lisa Brem

Investors felt betrayed by the increasingly lucrative pay packages awarded to CEOs and other top executives at multinational companies. Yet, board members charged with adequately rewarding executives were forced to compete with rising packages of salaries and stock... View Details

Keywords: Design; Stock Options; Investment Activism; Corporate Accountability; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations; Consumer Products Industry; Netherlands; United States