Publications

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Strategy and the Internet

marketing channels, they have entered into a rash of partnerships and outsourcing relationships, further eroding their own distinctiveness. While it is true that some companies have avoided these mistakes, they are exceptions to the rule.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter

December 1998
Supplement

Vermeer Technologies: Making Transitions

By: Ashish Nanda

After being acquired by Microsoft, Vermeer Technologies executives discuss the process of integrating their team into Microsoft. View Details

Keywords: Integration; Acquisition; Information Technology Industry

August 2018 (Revised April 2021)
Case

The Fuji-Xerox Merger

By: Guhan Subramanian and Annie Zhao

In January 2018, Xerox, a well-known American digital document firm, convened its board of directors to decide whether to approve a merger with Japanese imaging company Fujifilm. Activist Xerox shareholders were suing to halt the transaction, and documents unearthed... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Negotiation Deal; Negotiation Process; Corporate Governance; Law

April 1986 (Revised May 1988)
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (B)

By: Kim B. Clark

Dissects the manufacturing process and procedures of a high-end computer manufacturer. The main issue is how to introduce new products and ramp them up quickly in a competitive environment where time-to-market is crucial. Focuses on engineering change orders--how they... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Time Management; Product Launch; Production; Business Processes; Competitive Strategy; Computer Industry

Find at Harvard

06 Jun 2016
Research & Ideas

Skills and Behaviors that Make Entrepreneurs Successful

that increase confidence in a person’s entrepreneurial abilities. Like the conviction of Marla Malcolm Beck and husband Barry Beck that high-end beauty retail stores and spas, tightly coupled with online stores, was the business model of... View Details

Keywords: by HBS Working Knowledge

09 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

The Unconscious Executive

by our unconscious mind” Both decision-making methods have strengths and weaknesses, says Harvard Business School postdoctoral fellow Maarten Bos. Our conscious mind is pretty good at following rules, but our unconscious mind—our ability... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & Steven R. Anderson; Financial Services

September 2008 (Revised December 2011)
Case

Frank Addante, Serial Entrepreneur

By: Noam T. Wasserman and Antony Uy

Frank Addante is a 28-year-old serial entrepreneur who is in the process of building his fifth venture. Of his first four ventures, two were sold, one went public, and in the last he decided to close the venture and return unused capital to his investors. With the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Equity; Selection and Staffing; Groups and Teams

Nitin Nohria served as the tenth dean of Harvard Business School from 2010-2020. He previously served as co-chair of the Leadership Initiative, Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Development, and Head of the Organizational Behavior unit.

As Dean, building on... View Details

Fit to Compete

Is Silence Killing Your Strategy? In his thirty years of working in corporations, Harvard Business School professor Michael Beer has witnessed firsthand how organizational silence derails strategic objectives. When employees can't speak truth to power, senior... View Details

Research Summary

Managing Innovation

I continue to study the disruptive processes by which innovation transforms -- or fails to transform -- industries and companies. There are three elements to these transformations. The first is a technological enabler -- an innovation that makes complicated, expensive... View Details

2007
Report

The Role of Clusters in the Chemical Industry

By: Christian H.M. Ketels

The European Chemical Industry, still in the leading position globally, is under intense competitive pressure from emerging locations in Asia and the Middle East. After first reacting by efficiency upgrading within companies and then pursuing outsourcing and aggressive... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Industry Clusters; Business and Government Relations; Competitive Strategy; Chemical Industry; Asia; Europe; Middle East

Read Now

January 1986 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Horizon Group

By: William A. Sahlman

Contains a description of a situation confronting the co-founder of a company planning to produce software for microcomputers. The company has just completed raising money from some wealthy investors by forming an R&D Limited Partnership. Development of the program (an... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Venture Capital; Partners and Partnerships; Business Plan; Outcome or Result; Research and Development; Financial Strategy; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry

2015
Chapter

Innovating without Information Constraints: Organization, Communities, and Innovation when Information Costs Approach Zero

By: Elizabeth J. Altman, Frank Nagle and Michael Tushman

Innovation has traditionally taken place within an organization's boundaries and/or with selected partners. This Chandlerian approach to innovation has been rooted in transaction costs, organizational boundaries, and information processing challenges associated with... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Cost; Innovation and Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention

July 1999
Background Note

Management Development Plan In A Family Business, The

By: John A. Davis

Defines management development objectives for family members employed in their family business. Outlines a process of putting these individuals on a career path to provide them with needed developmental experiences while respecting the broader needs of the... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Organizations; Leadership Development; Experience and Expertise

28 Jul 2015
Blog Post

Recruiting in the U.S. for International Students: 101

Starting business school meant a lot of “first time” experiences to me: First time living abroad (not to mention moving out of my parents’ house), first time going to school in English, and, of course, first time trying to navigate the... View Details

Keywords: All Industries

May 1999 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Husky Injection Molding Systems

By: Jan W. Rivkin

Husky, a Canadian maker of injection molding systems, has established an enviable position in the market for plastics processing equipment. The company builds the highest performance systems in the business and charges a hefty premium for them. Husky is enjoying robust... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Rank and Position; Competition; Expansion; Industrial Products Industry; Canada