Publications

March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
Teaching Note

Group Functions at the Maersk Group

By: David J. Collis

In 2014, seven years after he was appointed CEO of the Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Møller Maersk (the Maersk Group), Nils Andersen was reexamining the size and role of corporate headquarters in the company he had reshaped as a "premium conglomerate."... View Details

Keywords: Maersk; Business Units; Conglomerates; Decentralization; Core Business; Value Added; Synergy; Headquarters; Shipping; Petroleum; Oil And Gas; Drilling; Corporate Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Denmark

December 2014 (Revised February 2016)
Case

Group Functions at the Maersk Group

By: David Collis and Matthew Shaffer

In 2014, seven years after he was appointed CEO of the Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Møller Maersk (the Maersk Group), Nils Andersen was reexamining the size and role of corporate headquarters in the company he had reshaped as a "premium conglomerate."... View Details

Keywords: Maersk; Business Units; Conglomerates; Decentralization; Core Business; Value Added; Synergy; Headquarters; Shipping; Petroleum; Oil And Gas; Drilling; Corporate Strategy; Business Conglomerates; Business Divisions; Transportation Industry; Shipping Industry; Denmark

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

anticipate that it will continue indefinitely unless derailed by possible but unlikely international conflicts. At the core of Asian economic development is its business leadership—managers and entrepreneurs who sustain and create Asian... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

HBS Working Knowledge: Is Company Failure Inevitable?

Book excerpt and author interview from Lead and Disrupt coauthor Michael L. Tushman, who discusses how companies must continue to invest in their core products while innovating in new areas. View Details

16 Apr 2015
News

Sustainable Strides at NIKE, Inc.

26 Sep 2016
Book

Is Company Failure Inevitable?

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

21 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Common Strategy Mistakes

"Michael Porter didn't get to be a giant in the field of competition and strategy by hunting small game." Joan Magretta begins her new book on Harvard Business School's Michael Porter's work by noting that, from the start of his career, Porter has been asking... View Details

Keywords: by Joan Magretta

05 Oct 2023
Blog Post

A Pathway to Public Service: Brandon Moore (MBA/MPP 2025)

Brandon Moore (MBA/MPP 2025) shares his experience in public service and why he decided on the joint degree program with Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School. The MBA/MPP and MBA/MPA-ID are three-year programs that combine the View Details

September 2015 (Revised February 2017)
Case

MOD Pizza: A Winning Recipe?

By: Boris Groysberg, John D. Vaughan and Matthew Preble

Scott and Ally Svenson, the founders of MOD Pizza, had to make a number of decisions in planning how to scale their small company. They wanted to grow MOD from 45 stores as of May 2015 to 200 stores by the end of 2016, and while the two believed that MOD could manage... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Employees; Employee Relationship Management; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing; Service Delivery; Organizational Culture; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Service Industry; United States

Teaching Interest

Overview

Teaching Fellow, Technology and Operations Management Core MBA course 2011, 2012 Rating: 4.6/5 n=24 (Fall, 2012) Teaching Fellow, Frances Frei's Technology and Operations Management Core MBA course 2010 Teaching Fellow, Pre-MBA Program 2009-2010 View Details

Keywords: Operations

April 1998 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Classic Pen Company, The: Developing an ABC Model

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Classic Pen has diversified from its core blue and black pen business by introducing new specialized colors. But costs have risen and margins on blue and black pens are decreasing. The controller turns to activity-based costing (ABC) for an explanation. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Manufacturing Industry

April 2020
Case

Apple Inc. in 2020

By: David B. Yoffie and Daniel Fisher

After a decade as CEO, Tim Cook is facing one of his biggest strategic transitions of his tenure. While Apple had performed spectacularly well under Cook, Apple's core business was maturing. Sales of iPhones, iPads, and Macs were flat or down. However, Apple's new... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Market Positioning; Marketing Implementation; Planning; Products; Strategic Positioning; Strategy; Information Technology; Competitive Strategy; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Product Positioning; Communication; Competition; Leadership; Strategic Planning; Computer Industry; Telecommunications Industry; Technology Industry

March 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

Campbell Soup Company: Transforming for the 21st Century

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Jamie Ladge

In July 2001, Campbell Soup's newly appointed CEO, Douglas R. Conant, addressed a group of Wall Street analysts and unveiled his plan to kick-start growth. His plan called for organizational renewal and revitalization, redesign of core customer-facing processes... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Industry Structures; Production; Supply Chain Management; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

July 2008 (Revised September 2008)
Case

Work is Good: Branding the Employ+Ability Mission

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Monica Higgins and Susan Saltrick

Employ+Ability, a small company employing developmentally disabled adults, finds itself competing with low-cost producers of its core products-therapeutic hot and cold packs. How might an innovative branding campaign, centered on the company's core value of "Work Is... View Details

Keywords: Social Entrepreneurship; Values and Beliefs; Brands and Branding; Competition

Find at Harvard

17 Dec 2010
News

Microsoft's Cracked Windows: How The World's Technology Juggernaut Lost Its Buzz And Became The 'Underdog'

27 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

Want a Happy Customer? Coordinate Sales and Marketing

together at every level—from the core central concepts of the strategy to the minute details of execution. New World, New Roles When companies generally made their money in a large number of mid-sized accounts, marketing was typically... View Details

Keywords: by Benson Shapiro

August 1998 (Revised August 2002)
Case

MicroFridge: The Concept

By: John A. Deighton

Robert Bennett, who has a Master's degree in engineering, wants to exploit his idea to combine a refrigerator, freezer, and 500-watt microwave into an 87-pound, 4-foot-high appliance to sell to college students. Bennett must decide which markets to serve, which... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership Style; Sales; Product Development; Competitive Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Demand and Consumers; Consumer Products Industry

15 Sep 2022
Blog Post

6 Things to Know About Sustainability at HBS

Sustainability is a core value at HBS, and we endeavor to build a healthier, more sustainable, and inclusive community. We know that environmental sustainability is of growing interest to our student community and teamed up with the HBS... View Details

Article

Brand Tourists: How Non-Core Users Enhance the Brand Image by Eliciting Pride

By: Silvia Bellezza and Anat Keinan

This research examines how core consumers of selective brands react when non-core users obtain access to the brand. Contrary to the view that non-core users and downward brand extensions pose a threat to the brand, this work investigates the conditions under which... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Attitudes; Brands and Branding