Publications

Web

Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

economic development are changing. Export-driven industrialization remains an important growth driver. But achieving sustained and shared prosperity growth increasingly requires upgrading a much broader set of sectors. Integrated Practice... View Details

September 2019 (Revised August 2021)
Case

It's All About Family: Esas Group

By: Christina R. Wing and Alpana Thapar

This case describes how Ali Sabancı and his sister Emine Sabancı Kamışlı, shareholders of Esas Group, one of Turkey’s largest family-owned investment firms, worked to grow and professionalize the business. While their father Şevket Sabancı, played an instrumental role... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Governance; Growth and Development Strategy; Turkey

June 2017 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Becton Dickinson: Innovation and Growth (A)

By: Raffaella Sadun, Michael Beer and James Weber

In late 2015, CEO Vince Forlenza was reviewing Becton Dickinson’s transformation efforts designed to enable the company to innovate and grow in a changing environment. Becton Dickinson had been a successful medical device company for over 100 years. In recent years,... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Change Management; Innovation Leadership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Organizational Design; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Health Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States

November–December 2023
Article

Network Centralization and Collective Adaptability to a Shifting Environment

By: Ethan S. Bernstein, Jesse C. Shore and Alice J. Jang

We study the connection between communication network structure and an organization’s collective adaptability to a shifting environment. Research has shown that network centralization—the degree to which communication flows disproportionately through one or more... View Details

Keywords: Network Centralization; Collective Intelligence; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Communication; Decision Making; Networks; Adaptation

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August 2017 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Berkshire Partners: Party City

By: Victoria Ivashina and Jeffrey Boyar

In 2005, Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm specializing in growth equity, was one year into their ownership of Amscan, the market leader of designed, manufactured, and distributed decorated party goods and accessories. However, Amscan's primary... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Fundraising; Cross-fund Investment; Private Equity; Vertical Integration; Governance; Valuation; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; United States

09 Jan 2024
In Practice

Harnessing AI: What Businesses Need to Know in ChatGPT’s Second Year

limitations of generative AI solutions, discerning optimal use cases, and establishing boundary conditions will be pivotal. Responsible AI and AI ethics. As integration of AI systems deepens into society, businesses, and education, an... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Information Technology

Research Summary

Entrepreneurial Failure

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Most startups fail. Why? Are there recurring patterns that can be anticipated and avoided? If entrepreneurs fail, how can they do so in ways that leave their reputations, relationships, and integrity intact? And, how can they learn from the experience, heal, and... View Details

Keywords: Startups; Entrepreneurship; Failure

January 2017
Case

Medtronic: Making the Big Leap Forward (A)

By: William W. George and Monica Baraldi

In 2014, Medtronic was about to execute a $50 billion acquisition of Ireland-based Covidien. Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak was committed to building the largest medical technology company in the world while broadening its ability to fulfill its mission of “alleviating... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Medtronic; Covidien; Mission; Tax Inversion; Business Strategy; Leadership; Mergers and Acquisitions; Pharmaceutical Industry; Republic of Ireland; Europe; Minnesota; United States

April 2005 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Executive Compensation at General Electric (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Michele Jurgens

Faced with falling share prices and the critical eye of the media focused on Jack Welch's retirement plan, newly appointed CEO Jeff Immelt had the challenge of reassessing GE as a leader of corporate integrity and good governance. Presents the changes Immelt initiated... View Details

Keywords: Executive Compensation; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Governing and Advisory Boards; Media; Governance; Corporate Accountability

July 2004 (Revised March 2006)
Case

RosettaNet and ebXML: Betting on the Right eBusiness Standard

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Veronika Belokhvostova

A major enterprise software company must select which technologies to support, based on their long-term and short-term viability and benefits. The protagonist is involved in the release of the B2B integration component of major enterprise software whose purpose is to... View Details

Keywords: Communication Technology; Customer Focus and Relationships; Markets; Standards; Science-Based Business; Situation or Environment; Applications and Software; Technology Adoption; Information Technology Industry

May 1997
Teaching Note

Product Development Process, Organization and Improvement, Instructor's Note

By: Marco Iansiti

Explores how development projects fit (or do not fit) within a firm's development strategy and its wider competitive goals. Module materials, and this note, focus on two broad approaches to process design (sequential and flexible) that were originally introduced in the... View Details

Keywords: Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Performance Improvement; Competition

May 2007
Article

Capital Flows and Capital Goods

By: Laura Alfaro and Eliza Hammel

Studying the relation between equity market liberalization and imports of capital goods, we examine one channel through which international financial integration can promote growth. For the period 1980–1997, we find that after controlling for other policies and... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Equity; Financial Markets; Economy; Distribution Channels; Machinery and Machining; Capital

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22 Sep 2020
News

Divine Decadence or Business Turnaround? The Case of Venezuelan Chocolate

Web

Value-Based Health Care - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Measure Outcomes & Cost for Every Patient Outcomes and cost are measured for every patient. Aligning Reimbursement with Value Reimbursement models that reward both better outcomes and efficiency of care, such as bundled payments. Systems View Details

June 2024
Case

PRAN-RFL Group: A Diversified Family Business

By: Christina R. Wing, Paul Wuensche and Brittany L. Logan

The PRAN-RFL Group was founded in 1980 by Amjad Khan Chowdhury, and grew to become one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh in 2023. Throughout the years, Amjad established fast food chains, production manufacturing lines, retail stores, and his own foundation... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Family Business; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Retirement; Bangladesh

March 2024
Module Note

Module Note on the Structuring of Collaborative Work

By: Ethan Bernstein

This module note for instructors describes the organizational structure module of the Managing Human Capital course that integrates insights from research on workplace connectivity (who gets to communicate with whom) and workplace transparency (who gets to observe... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Human Capital

October 2019
Supplement

Hidrovias do Brasil: Navigating Unchartered Waters: Video Supplement

By: Boris Groysberg and Sarah L. Abbott

Since its founding eight years earlier, Hidrovias do Brasil (“Hidrovias”), an integrated logistics provider serving corporate customers exporting products from South America via the Atlantic Ocean, had grown to 900 employees and $253 million in annual revenues.... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Finance; Leadership; Operations; Problems and Challenges; Human Capital; Growth and Development; Private Equity; Shipping Industry; Brazil