Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(977)
- Faculty Publications (177)
- 2012
- Chapter
Schumpeterian Competition and Diseconomies of Scope: Illustrations from the Histories of Microsoft and IBM
By: Timothy F. Bresnahan, Shane Greenstein and Rebecca M. Henderson
We address a longstanding question about the causes of creative destruction. Dominant incumbent firms, long successful in an existing technology, are often much less successful in new technological eras. This is puzzling, since a cursory analysis would suggest that... View Details
- 2012
- Other Unpublished Work
Selection, Reallocation, and Knowledge Spillover: Identifying the Sources of Productivity Gains from Multinational Activity
By: Laura Alfaro and Maggie X. Chen
The impact of multinational activity on host-country productivity has been a major topic of economic research. A positive impact can be attributed to knowledge spillovers from foreign multinational to domestic firms or a less stressed, alternative explanation—firm... View Details
- December 2011 (Revised June 2013)
- Case
Bananas (A)
As owner and CEO, Wim Van der Borght had grown Bananas in 8 years from a 4.5 million euro company into a 40 million euro group of companies with a range of field marketing activities in Belgium and the Netherlands. The core of the group consisted of two companies —... View Details
- September 2011 (Revised February 2013)
- Case
Trucost: Valuing Corporate Environmental Impacts
By: Michael W. Toffel and Stephanie van Sice
Trucost provided corporate environmental performance data and analysis to institutional investors and corporate managers, but after operating for a decade had yet to achieve profitability. Trucost was struggling to effectively differentiate its high quality products... View Details
- May 2011
- Case
Baria Planning Solutions, Inc.: Fixing the Sales Process
By: Steven C. Wheelwright and William Schmidt
Baria Planning Solutions (BPS) is a consulting firm that specializes in using spend analysis to help companies identify savings through reduced procurement costs and improved supplier performance. Management is concerned about the disappointing performance of the sales... View Details
Keywords: Quantitative Analysis; Technology; Operations Management; Product Lines; Manufacturing; Capacity Planning; Production Planning; Production; Management Practices and Processes; Service Operations; Supply Chain Management; Salesforce Management; Planning; Consulting Industry; North and Central America
- May 2011
- Case
The Morrison Company
By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Paul Meyers
The Morrison Company develops and manufactures radio frequency identification tags (RFID) known as smart labels for the retail and pharmaceutical industries. RFID technology is a fast-growing and increasingly competitive industry. Sales have risen dramatically over the... View Details
Keywords: Quantitative Analysis; Technology; Operations Management; Product Lines; Manufacturing; Capacity Planning; Production Planning; Information Technology; Strategy; Production; Organizational Structure; Infrastructure; Product Development; Information Infrastructure; Manufacturing Industry; Retail Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; Electronics Industry
- May 2011
- Article
Incentives and Problem Uncertainty in Innovation Contests: An Empirical Analysis
By: Kevin J. Boudreau, Nicola Lacetera and Karim R. Lakhani
Contests are a historically important and increasingly popular mechanism for encouraging innovation. A central concern in designing innovation contests is how many competitors to admit. Using a unique data set of 9,661 software contests, we provide evidence of two... View Details
- January 2011
- Case
Clean Edge Razor: Splitting Hairs in Product Positioning
By: John A. Quelch and Heather Beckham
After three years of development, Paramount Health and Beauty Company is preparing to launch a new technologically advanced vibrating razor called Clean Edge. The innovative new design of Clean Edge provides superior performance by stimulating the hair follicles to... View Details
- 2011
- Working Paper
The Architecture of Transaction Networks: A Comparative Analysis of Hierarchy in Two Sectors
By: Jianxi Luo, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Daniel E. Whitney and Christopher L. Magee
Many products are manufactured in networks of firms linked by transactions, but comparatively little is known about how or why such transaction networks differ. This paper investigates the transaction networks of two large sectors in Japan at a single point in time. In... View Details
- November 2010 (Revised May 2012)
- Background Note
Assessing a Company's Future Financial Health
By: Thomas R. Piper
The case provides students with (1) an understanding of the essence of long-term financial health; (2) familiarity with the calculation and meaning of various financial ratios; and (3) an understanding of the influence of a company's operating and competitive... View Details
- 2010
- Working Paper
Venture Capital Investment in the Clean Energy Sector
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Ramana Nanda
We examine the extent to which venture capital is adequately positioned for the rapid commercialization of clean energy technologies in the United States. While there are several startups in clean energy that are well-suited to the traditional venture capital... View Details
- 2010
- Book
International Differences in Entrepreneurship
By: Josh Lerner and Antoinette Schoar
Often considered one of the major forces behind economic growth and development, the entrepreneurial firm can accelerate the speed of innovation and dissemination of new technologies, thus increasing a country's competitive edge in the global market. As a result,... View Details
- 2010
- Mimeo
An Analysis of the Impact of 'Substantially Heightened' Capital Requirements on Large Financial Institutions
By: Anil Kashyap, Jeremy C. Stein and Samuel G. Hanson
We examine the impact of "substantially heightened" capital requirements on large financial institutions, and on their customers. Our analysis yields three main conclusions. First, the frictions associated with raising new external equity finance are likely to be... View Details
- 2010
- Working Paper
Multinational Strategies and Developing Countries in Historical Perspective
By: Geoffrey Jones
This working paper offers a longitudinal and descriptive analysis of the strategies of multinationals from developed countries in developing countries. The central argument is that strategies were shaped by the trade-off between opportunity and risk. Three broad... View Details
- March – April 2010
- Article
The Need for Ideological Consciousness
By: George C. Lodge
Every so often in American history a crisis comes along that requires Americans to inspect cherished assumptions and to act in a way that many find ideologically repulsive. Although our leaders insist that such actions are pragmatic-the only sensible way to deal with... View Details
- February 2010 (Revised November 2011)
- Case
International Agribusiness in China: Charoen Pokphand Group
By: William C. Kirby, Michael Shih-ta Chen, Tracy Manty and Yi Kwan Chu
The world's leading Thai agribusiness corporation and largest agribusiness investor in China, CP Group, is facing another crossroads in China as the country starts to undergo rural reform. The issues at hand for Chairman Dhanin Chearavanont is how CP can balance its... View Details
- February 2010 (Revised June 2022)
- Case
Dollarama Inc.
By: Andre F. Perold
Dollarama is the leading operator of dollar stores in Canada. The firm performed extraordinarily well after a leveraged buyout in 2004 and recently executed a highly successful IPO. The company sources its goods primarily from Asia. It has strong brand recognition and... View Details
- 2010
- Working Paper
Local R&D Strategies and Multi-location Firms: The Role of Internal Linkages
By: Juan Alcacer and Minyuan Zhao
This study looks at the role of firms' internal linkages in highly competitive technology clusters, where much of the world's R&D takes place. The leading players in these clusters are multi-location firms that organize and integrate knowledge across sites worldwide.... View Details
- Article
Are Self-service Customers Satisfied or Stuck?
This paper investigates the impact of self-service technology (SST) usage on customer satisfaction and retention. Specifically, we disentangle the distinct effects of satisfaction and switching costs as drivers of retention among self-service customers. Our empirical... View Details
- December 2009
- Case
TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Sunru Yong
Topics covered include: consumer marketing, market research, new product introduction, and quantitative analysis. TruEarth Healthy Foods, a maker of gourmet pastas, sauces, and meals, wants to build on its successful introduction of fresh whole grain pasta by... View Details