Publications

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Disruption and transformation get a lot of hype, and for good reason. Digital technologies have disrupted entire industries and incumbents have often struggled in this new world. Typical approaches used by legacy players such as using technology to improve... View Details

11 Jan 2010
Research & Ideas

Mixing Open Source and Proprietary Software Strategies

has its die-hard supporters. Meanwhile, other firms try to maximize profits by keeping a tight, proprietary hold on all intellectual property. Increasingly, however, software companies are taking a "best of both worlds" View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Web Services

11 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Strategy Execution and the Balanced Scorecard

operations? A: We don't have a preferred position on strategy formulation methodologies. We have seen each approach lead to success in different circumstances. If, for example,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

03 Oct 2023
HBS Case

Layoffs Can Be Bad Business: 5 Strategies to Consider Before Cutting Staff

orthodoxies that can be challenged, and this is one.” Sometimes layoffs are necessary, and the costs of not acting can be catastrophic, Sucher acknowledges. But, she says, there are right and wrong ways to View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Telecommunications; Technology; Financial Services; Manufacturing

March 2001
Article

Strategy and the Internet

By: M. E. Porter

Many of the pioneers of Internet business, both dot-coms and established companies, have competed in ways that violate nearly every precept of good strategy. Rather than focus on profits, they have chased customers indiscriminately through discounting, channel... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Online Technology

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Research Summary

Rooting Marketing Strategy in Human Universals

Localization strategies can be costly to implement while globalization strategies may fail to develop or create demand by stressing readily shared product features rather than shared needs. Thus the question: Is there, somewhere between the extremes of localization... View Details

Program

Aligning Strategy and Sales

well as implement the infrastructure, processes, and cultural values critical to profitable growth. Details Develop a strategic sales approach optimized for your business Define your target customers and the... View Details

January 2009 (Revised February 2009)
Case

Pitney Bowes: Employer Health Strategy

By: Michael E. Porter and Jennifer F Baron

Pitney Bowes, a Fortune 500 mail and document management firm, offered its first health plans in the years following World War II. Over the ensuing decades, Pitney Bowes adapted its approach to employee health amid rising health care costs, shifting employer attitudes... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Insurance; Policy; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Employees; Corporate Strategy

April 2005 (Revised April 2005)
Background Note

Strategies of Related Diversification

By: Bharat N. Anand

Which businesses should a firm expand into? This question of corporate scope is central to corporate strategy. Flawed scope decisions can have severe consequences, and the trauma experienced by many companies as a result of mistaken decisions to expand scope is often... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Business Conglomerates; Corporate Strategy; Problems and Challenges

25 May 2023
Blog Post

Interview Strategies to Connect with a Wider Range of Candidates

your organization to be inclusive of varying backgrounds and perspectives in your interview process. For example, in her article for HBR, Nilofer Merchant recommends, “Instead of asking, ‘Have you done x or y or z?’ you want View Details

Keywords: All Industries

Summer 2013
Article

Strategic Management of Intellectual Property: An Integrated Approach

By: William W. Fisher III and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

In many organizations, the R&D, strategy, and legal functions are poorly integrated. As a consequence, firms miss opportunities to create and exploit the value of intellectual property. Functional silos are one reason for the lack of integration. More important,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Management; Strategic Management; Legal Aspects Of Business; Licensing; Law; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Management; Intellectual Property; Business Strategy

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Article

From TV to Web: Content Strategies for Ads That Drive Online Sales

By: Thales S. Teixeira

Consumers have become avid media multitaskers, moving seamlessly between their TVs and digital devices. Shorter TV commercials have reduced both the quantity and quality of consumer attention during prime-time viewing hours. In this new media environment, can TV... View Details

Keywords: TV Advertising; Multitasking; Infotainment; Television; Prime Time; Advertising; Online Advertising; Advertising Industry

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2015
Chapter

How Purpose-based Companies Master Change for Sustainability: A Systemic Approach to Global Social Change

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter

May 2024 (Revised February 2025)
Case

Lowe's: Improving the Total Home Strategy

By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Alicia Dadlani

In 2023, Marvin Ellison, CEO of Lowe’s, contemplated enhancements to the company’s Total Home Strategy to accelerate performance and grow market share. In the last five years since becoming CEO, Ellison had championed a turnaround of the company, completing a... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Competition; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Retail Industry; United States; North Carolina

01 Jun 2001
News

Books: Judo Strategy

develop the metaphor into a systematic way of thinking about strategy. The approach they describe minimizes the importance of brute size and strength by teaching companies how to make the most of their... View Details

Keywords: Microsoft; Netscape; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information

November 2009
Case

VF Brands: Global Supply Chain Strategy

By: Gary P. Pisano and Pamela Adams

This case examines VF Brands global supply chain strategy. Historically, VF has used a combination of in-house manufacturing and traditional arms-length sourcing arrangements. At the time of the case, the company is considering a third approach to supplier relations... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Logistics; Supply Chain Management; Partners and Partnerships; Cooperation; Vertical Integration; Apparel and Accessories Industry

01 Mar 2010
News

Lords of Strategy

strategy revolution was a way of systematically putting together all the elements that determined their corporate fate, in particular, the three Cs central to any good strategy: the company’s costs,... View Details

Keywords: Garry Emmons; Publishing Industries (except Internet); Information; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

December 2015 (Revised July 2020)
Technical Note

Some Strategy Ingredients: Scale, Learning, and Market Structure

By: Eric Van den Steen

This note introduces students to some economic concepts and ideas that are important ingredients for strategy, such as scale, learning, and the effects of market structure on competition. The note approaches these ideas really from a strategy perspective with a focus... View Details

Keywords: Scale; Market Structure; Strategy; Markets; Learning