Publications

December 2016
Case

HBS in 2016

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Kerry Herman

The case explores opportunities and challenges confronting the Harvard Business School as it seeks to maintain its differentiated strategic positioning in the face of a rapidly evolving management education landscape. View Details

Keywords: Business Education; Engineering; Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Change Management; Education Industry; United States

TeachingInterests

Exec Ed: Real Estate Executive Seminar: Capital, Partnerships, and Portfolios

By: John D. Macomber

With both a quest for yield and new opportunities emerging across the real estate supply chain, business leaders must have the financial capabilities, analytical tools, and strategic skills to ensure the long-term profitability of their development projects and... View Details

August 1997 (Revised March 1999)
Case

VeriFone (1997)

By: Richard L. Nolan, Anne Donnellon and Donna B. Stoddard

VeriFone, a leading manufacturer of payment systems technology, was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in June 1997. The case describes the strategic challenges that VeriFone faces as it positions itself to compete in the Internet payment systems marketplace. View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Internet; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Business Strategy; Information Technology Industry

14 Dec 2021
Op-Ed

To Change Your Company's Culture, Don't Start by Trying to Change the Culture

different things. The causality doesn’t go the other way. So, in a company, you first need to change how the company is organized, managed, and led in light of its strategic goals. The goals themselves may need to change. A new culture... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Beer

14 Jun 2023
Research & Ideas

Four Steps to Building the Psychological Safety That High-Performing Teams Need

what the research finds is that psychological safety is one good predictor of more positive work experiences,” she says. The researchers found that psychological safety is greater when people feel authentically seen. As a result,... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin

August 2000 (Revised November 2001)
Case

Edmunds.com (A)

By: Stephen P. Bradley and Christina Akers

Edmund's began in 1966 as a publisher of new and used vehicle guides and grew into one of the leading third-party automotive web sites of today. This case explores how Edmunds.com gained a competitive edge using strategic partnerships and alliances, as well as careful... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Business Strategy; Success; Product Positioning; Partners and Partnerships; Competitive Advantage; Auto Industry; Information Technology Industry

October 1976 (Revised February 1987)
Case

Cramer Electronics, Inc.

By: Michael E. Porter

Designed to be the second day of a two-day series on the electronic component distribution industry, following a day spent discussing Note on the Electronic Component Distribution Industry and Raytheon Co.: Diversification. The important teaching themes which this case... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Innovation Strategy; Management Style; Resource Allocation; Opportunities; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry

December 2014 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Discovery Limited

By: Michael E. Porter, Mark R. Kramer and Aldo Sesia

Discovery Ltd. is a South Africa-based insurance company. Started in the early 1990s, Discovery used behavioral economics and data collection to innovate in the health care insurance industry. Its founder Adrian Gore believed that the company's products needed to not... View Details

Keywords: Shared Value; Health Care; Financial Services; Strategy; Value Creation; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; South Africa

March 2024
Article

How Foes Become Allies: The Shifting Role of Business in Climate Politics

By: Irja Vormedal and Jonas Meckling

Firms often oppose costly public policy reforms—but under what conditions may they come to support such reforms? Previous scholarship has taken a predominantly static approach to the analysis of business positions. Here, we advance a dynamic theory of change in... View Details

Keywords: Policy; Environmental Regulation; Business and Government Relations

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August 1996
Article

When Do Joint Ventures Create Value?

By: Ashish Nanda and P. Mohanram

Firms enter into joint ventures when their performance is deteriorating. Parent firms earn significant positive returns around announcements. However, at joint venture level, market value weighted return is insignificant. The stock market reacts negatively to ventures... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Financial Markets; Value

September 2009 (Revised May 2011)
Case

Sniffing Out Opportunities at PetSmart

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

The pet and pet supply industry was one of the few bright lights in an otherwise dismal retail outlook in 2009. This case gives background pet retail industry information and strategic positioning information for both PetSmart and PETCO to enable students to develop... View Details

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Competitive Strategy; Retail Industry

28 Dec 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Tech Clusters

Keywords: by William R. Kerr and Frederic Robert-Nicoud

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; Manufacturing Industry; India; Japan; Malaysia; Hong Kong

December 2003 (Revised October 2006)
Case

Maverick Capital

By: Andre F. Perold, Chris McIsaac and Marc Ricks

Maverick Capital, a $7 billion hedge fund, faced a number of long-term strategic questions, particularly the issue of growth. With all of its assets invested with one strategy, Maverick was already managing more capital in a dedicated approach than any hedge fund in... View Details

Keywords: Assets; Capital; Stocks; Financial Strategy; Investment Funds; Investment Portfolio; Growth and Development Strategy

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

2024
Working Paper

Contributing to Growth? The Role of Open Source Software for Global Startups

By: Nataliya Langburd Wright, Frank Nagle and Shane Greenstein

How does participating in open source software (OSS) communities spur entrepreneurial growth? To address this question, we analyze novel data matching accounts from GitHub—the largest OSS hosting platform—to the universe of global software venture-backed firms... View Details

Keywords: Applications and Software; Open Source Distribution; Entrepreneurship; Business Growth and Maturation; Human Capital; Valuation; Corporate Strategy

SSRN

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January 2008 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Uría Menéndez (A)

By: Robert G. Eccles

Uria Menendez, the pre-eminent law firm in Iberia, is at a critical point in its long and distinguished history. Its newly appointed second generation co-managing Partners are facing some critical strategic decisions concerning how the firm should position itself in... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Networks; Selection and Staffing; Work-Life Balance; Compensation and Benefits; Decision Making; Expansion; Legal Services Industry; Iberian Peninsula

January 2010 (Revised April 2011)
Case

Google Inc.

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. One... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Network Effects; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry

June 1990 (Revised January 1994)
Case

Desktop Printer Industry in 1990

The desktop printer industry in 1990 is characterized by significant uncertainty about new technologies and about the types of features customers may demand in the next decade. The case looks at the positions of Hewlett-Packard, Canon, Kodak, Xerox, and IBM enabling... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Change Management; Competition; Hardware; Computer Industry