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October 1989 (Revised June 1993)
Case

RKO Warner Video, Inc.: Incentive Compensation Plan

By: George P. Baker III

Details the design and implementation of an incentive bonus plan for video store managers. The problem for top management of the chain is to induce the store managers to "sweat the details," to keep the stores neat and well organized, and to deal courteously and... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Change; Strategic Planning; Performance Improvement; Sales; Management; Employee Relationship Management; Situation or Environment; Success; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

29 Sep 2020
Blog Post

New Life for Old Tech: Startup Provides Network Security Solutions for Obsolete Devices

Engineering Sciences program, jointly offered by the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Harvard Business School, in 2020. “What are the solutions available to you to secure it, and increase its functionalities beyond that View Details

September 1993
Case

Rhone-Poulenc (A)

Rhone-Poulenc, France's largest chemical firm, with revenues of more than $7 billion in 1985, seeks to dramatically expand its presence in the United States. From 1986 to 1990, Rhone-Poulenc undertakes 18 separate acquisitions, ranging from small entrepreneurial firms... View Details

Keywords: Integration; Globalized Firms and Management; Acquisition; Chemical Industry; France

09 Jun 2020
News

Accelerating Innovation Through a Network of Ecosystems

06 Mar 2020
News

‘Can everyone mute?’ Coronavirus means we must telecommute. We’re not ready

29 May 2020
Op-Ed

How Leaders Are Fighting Food Insecurity on Three Continents

COVID-19 is creating unprecedented strains on food security worldwide. The United Nations' World Food Programme warns that the pandemic could almost double the number of people facing food crises in low- and middle-income populations to 265 million by the View Details

Keywords: by Howard Stevenson and Shirley Spence; Agriculture & Agribusiness

23 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Three-Dimensional Strategy: Winning the Multisided Platform

become an online reseller of used children's clothes, buying inventory from parents and reselling it to other parents. "The problem with the MSP model is that it is sometimes too slow and not sufficiently convenient for either side," says... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

January 2004
Background Note

Beyond the IT Monolith

By: Marco Iansiti and Gregg Rotenberg

Leading companies are employing a radical new approach to IT--an approach that points the way to a new model of software architecture and deployment. These companies' successes seem to indicate that the problems IT critics have correctly identified are not, in fact,... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Business Processes; Change

November–December 2022
Article

Can AI Really Help You Sell?: It Can, Depending on When and How You Implement It

By: Jim Dickie, Boris Groysberg, Benson P. Shapiro and Barry Trailer

Many salespeople today are struggling; only 57% of them make their annual quotas, surveys show. One problem is that buying processes have evolved faster than selling processes, and buyers today can access a wide range of online resources that let them evaluate products... View Details

Keywords: Sales; AI and Machine Learning; Customers

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August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Amazon.com, 2021

By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin

In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle

13 Jan 2009
First Look

First Look: January 13, 2009

American Civil War, Maggie Lena Walker did her best to actively effect change by finding solutions to the social and economic problems facing blacks and especially black women. Taking charge of the flailing Independent Order of St. Luke... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2011 (Revised January 2013)
Case

Home Essentials: Building a Global Service Business with Local Operations

By: Lynda M. Applegate, William R. Kerr and David Lane

Chris Exline founded Home Essentials, a furniture rental business targeted toward expatriates, in Singapore but rapidly moved the base of operations to Hong Kong. The company was highly successful in Singapore and Hong Kong and then pursued rapid global expansion.... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Renting or Rental; Corporate Governance; Global Strategy; Failure; Singapore; Hong Kong