Publications

August 1999 (Revised July 2009)
Case

Tricon Restaurants International: Globalization Re-examined

By: Pankaj Ghemawat and Tarun Khanna

Describes a leading fast food operator/franchiser trying to consolidate and standardize its operations worldwide and focus its efforts on a few key markets. Lends itself to a discussion of how global the fast food industry is, whether Tricon's new international... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Global Strategy; Markets; Operations; Competition; Consolidation; Food and Beverage Industry

2012
Working Paper

The Determinants of National Competitiveness

By: Mercedes Delgado, Christian Ketels, Michael E. Porter and Scott Stern

We define foundational competitiveness as the expected level of output per working-age individual that is supported by the overall quality of a country as a place to do business. The focus on output per potential worker, a broader measure of national productivity than... View Details

Keywords: Country; Competition; Microeconomics; Macroeconomics

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October 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Case

Global Unichip Corporation (A)

By: Willy Shih and Chen-Fu Chien

Global Unichip Corporation (GUC) is a design services company that acts as a front-end to TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor foundry. In so doing, it masked the complexity of the latest process technologies, and reduced the entry barriers for small firms to... View Details

11 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

U.S. Tops Business Competitiveness Index 2006

overall competitiveness, the report identifies national competitive strengths and weaknesses, highlights global economic trends, and signals the ingredients of successful economic development. The Index is... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

11 May 2020
Op-Ed

Immigration Policies Threaten American Competitiveness

creating innovative new programs to attract talent and threaten our competitive advantage, while our government issues executive orders and espouses rhetoric that undermine our promise to the world’s brightest. Our position at the center... View Details

Keywords: by William R. Kerr

2022
Other Unpublished Work

Industrial Policy in a New Global Reality: Towards a More Location—and Sector—Driven Approach

By: Christian H.M. Ketels and Emiliano Duch

Keywords: Competitiveness; Development Economics; World Bank

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June 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Exercise

Building a Logic of Competition

Consists of 30 multiple-choice, true-false, and fill-in-the-blank questions. The first group of questions raises ideas about global competition, demographic change, mass customization, and technological innovation. The second group of questions suggests patterns of... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Globalized Markets and Industries; Economics

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2011
Report

State of the Region Report 2011: The Top of Europe's Quest for Resilience--A Competitive Region Facing a Fragile Global Economy

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

The State of the Region Reports provide an annual discussion of competitiveness and collaboration across the Baltic Sea Region, covering the Nordic countries, the Baltic countries, Northern Germany, Northern Poland, and Northwestern Russia. The 2011 edition, the 8th in... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Globalized Economies and Regions; Policy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Cooperation; Baltic Countries

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October 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Case

Haier: Taking a Chinese Company Global

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Tarun Khanna and Ingrid Vargas

In 2005, Haier, China's leading appliance manufacturer, had over $12 billion in worldwide sales and was the third-ranked global appliance brand behind Whirlpool and GE. Describes Haier's rise from a defunct refrigerator factory in China's Qingdao province to an... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; China

2009
Report

Clusters, Cluster Policy, and Swedish Competitiveness

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

Proximity enables firms to take advantage of knowledge spill-overs and exploit supplierdemand linkages with other entities engaged in related activities. Cluster strength thus seems to be one of the important determinants of prosperity differences across geographies.... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Sweden

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August 2023
Case

BYD, China, and Global Electric Vehicle Rivalry

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Max Hancock

In 2023, BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker, surpassed Tesla to become the world's best-selling EV brand. BYD began selling mobile phone batteries in 1995, acquired a license to sell vehicles in 2002, and spent two decades building its EV brand, growing its... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Segmentation; Vertical Integration; Market Participation; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Electronics Industry; China; Europe; United States; Japan; South Korea

12 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Competition the Cure for Healthcare

Last month HBS Working Knowledge offered an excerpt from Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results, by Harvard Business School professor Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg. The U.S. healthcare... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Health

Teaching Interest

Strategy: Building and Sustaining Competitive Advantage

By: Andy Wu

In the fight for market leadership, your company must be able to build a winning strategy—and execute it seamlessly across multiple business lines. This program prepares you to identify and exploit sources of competitive advantage and implement game-changing... View Details

16 Feb 2012
Op-Ed

Nitin Nohria: Why US Competitiveness Matters

American Competitiveness site where resources, commentary, and solutions are showcased. Harvard Business School's US Competitiveness Project is another must-visit-site to better understand the complex... View Details

Keywords: by Nitin Nohria

November 2012 (Revised August 2013)
Supplement

Global Unichip Corporation (B)

By: Willy Shih and Chen-Fu Chien

Jim Lai, President of Global Unichip Corporation (GUC), mapped out the changes he saw coming to the global semiconductor industry. The big question was how many system developers would start coming directly to GUC. View Details

October 2015
Article

Global Teams That Work

By: Tsedal Neeley

Many companies today rely on employees around the world, leveraging their diversity and local expertise to gain a competitive edge. However, geographically dispersed teams face a big challenge: physical separation and cultural differences can create social distance, or... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Firms and Management; Groups and Teams; Performance; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues