Publications

March 1999 (Revised January 2005)
Case

Newell Company: Corporate Strategy

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Elizabeth Gordon

In 1998, Newell Co., a manufacturer of low-tech, high-volume consumer goods, acquired Calphalon Corp., a high-end cookware company, and Rubbermaid, a $2 billion manufacturer of consumer and commercial plastic products. The case focuses on Newell's strategy and its... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Lemonade: Disrupting Insurance with Instant Everything, Killer Prices, and a Big Heart

By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan

Launching its first products in the fall of 2016 in New York, insurtech startup Lemonade was on a mission to disrupt the insurance market by using AI and behavioral economics principles. The company offered renters, homeowners, and condo insurance and mainly targeted... View Details

Keywords: AI; Business Startups; Insurance; Technological Innovation; Business Model; Disruption; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Decision Making; Insurance Industry; Technology Industry

2017
Working Paper

What Is a Patent Worth? Evidence from the U.S. Patent 'Lottery'

By: Joan Farre-Mensa, Deepak Hegde and Alexander Ljungqvist

We provide evidence on the value of patents to start-ups by leveraging the random assignment of applications to examiners with different propensities to grant patents. Using unique data on all first-time applications filed at the U.S. Patent Office since 2001, we find... View Details

Keywords: Patents; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention

SSRN

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February 1993 (Revised November 2001)
Background Note

Challenge of Growth, The

Presents a conceptual framework for understanding the general management task, and given this framework, explores the challenges growth presents. View Details

Keywords: Framework; Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Problems and Challenges

06 Feb 2012
Research & Ideas

Kodak: A Parable of American Competitiveness

When American companies move pieces of their operations overseas—often because manufacturing and labor costs are much cheaper—they run the risk of moving the expertise, innovation, and new growth opportunities just out of their reach as... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Manufacturing

October 2000
Case

GE's Two-Decade Transformation: Jack Welch's Leadership Multimedia Case

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Meg Wozny

General Electric is faced with Welch's impending retirement, and the question on many minds is whether anyone can sustain the blistering pace of change and growth characteristic of the Welch era. After briefly describing GE's heritage and Welch's transformation of the... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation

July 1993 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Millipore Corporate Strategy

By: Nitin Nohria and V. Kasturi Rangan

Millipore, a $750 million (sales) company with three divisions, had been growing at a rate of 20% in the 1970s, but this growth rate had slowed considerably in the 1980s. CEO John Gilmartin was looking for ways to reenergize the organization and redirect its strategy... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Corporate Strategy; Restructuring; Growth and Development Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Business Processes; Organizational Structure

10 Nov 2008
Research Event

Social Media Leads the Future of Technology

Internet-connected televisions, social media, and the power of simplicity were all cited as launch pads for future innovation in technology, according to a panel of experts that convened at Harvard Business School as part of the HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

March 2006 (Revised June 2006)
Case

The Speedway That Won't Slow Down

Dick Berggren, well-known FOXTV announcer for NASCAR races and executive editor of Speedway Illustrated magazine, considers how to grow the business he founded and balance his time, energy, and commitments to his wife. Explores the explosive growth of media businesses... View Details

Keywords: Work-Life Balance; Business Plan; Media; Sports; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

August 2009
Case

Intuit

By: Frank V. Cespedes

This case study provides an overview of Intuit's growth and, in particular, the sales and service initiatives that historically fueled the company's growth from start-up to a corporation. It also outlines certain processes and cultural values, as well as specific... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Product; Service Delivery; Business Processes; Organizational Culture; Sales; Business Strategy

20 Jul 2022
News

How Will DC's Revised Ban on Non-compete Clauses Impact Hiring and Innovation?

23 Jan 2012
News

The only way to deal with conflict is to listen to one another and empathise

December 1998
Case

Casto Travel

By: Thomas J. DeLong and Susan Harmeling

Maryles Casto had the vision to build the largest travel agency in Silicon Valley, mirroring the growth pattern of the entire area. In 1997 the travel business changed dramatically as airlines chose not to pay travel agencies the fees they once did. Simultaneously, the... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Finance; Internet and the Web; Change Management; Markets; Travel Industry

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

States in the twentieth century. After 1945 Unilever's once successful business in the United States began to decline, yet the parent company maintained an arms-length relationship with its U.S. affiliates, refusing to intervene in their... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

November 2003 (Revised September 2021)
Case

Ivar Kreuger and the Swedish Match Empire

By: Geoffrey Jones and Ingrid Vargas

Taught in Evolution of Global Business. Globalization and corporate fraud are the central themes of this case on the international growth of Swedish Match in the interwar years. Between 1913 and 1932, Ivar Kreuger, known as the "Swedish Match King," built a small,... View Details

Keywords: History; International Finance; Globalized Firms and Management; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Monopoly; Business and Government Relations; Sweden

2008
Simulation

Strategic Innovation Simulation: Back Bay Battery

By: Willy C. Shih and Clayton Christensen

This online simulation allows students to play the role of a business unit manager at Back Bay Battery Company who faces the dilemma of balancing a portfolio of investment strategies across products in the rechargeable battery space. Players have to manage R&D... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Innovation and Management; Investment; Product Development; Research and Development; Battery Industry

December 2001 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Shenzhen Stock Exchange

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Guoqing Chen, David Kiron and Iris T. Li

The second largest stock exchange in China, shows a surprising sophistication. This case describes the company's growth and underlying technology. View Details

Keywords: Networks; Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Infrastructure; Financial Services Industry; China

April 2010
Case

METRO Cash & Carry in China, 2010

By: Tarun Khanna and David Lane

International wholesaler METRO Cash & Carry in 2010 had little choice but to expand swiftly in Asia to facilitate growth beyond its increasingly mature markets in Western Europe. China was of particular note to MCC, but the company had broken even there only in 2008... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Strategic Planning; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Retail Industry; China