Publications

23 Aug 2004
Research & Ideas

Strategy for Small Fish

technologies, services, and products available through the ecosystem. In doing this, niche strategies trade off risk with productivity. Strong economies can often be found by niche players by leveraging a... View Details

Keywords: by Marco Iansiti & Roy Levien

10 Nov 2003
Research & Ideas

Globalization: The Strategy of Differences

acquisitions to build up scale because, for the leading global competitors, an R&D-to-sales ratio of at least 8 percent represented a significant source of scale economies. But he also implemented a production View Details

Keywords: by Pankaj Ghemawat

March 2022
Teaching Note

Sustainable Product Management at Solvay

By: George Serafeim

This teaching note is designed to be used in conjunction with the case “Sustainable Product Management at Solvay,” HBS No.120-081 and its related products to help faculty deepen students’ comprehension of business issues and energize classroom discussion. View Details

11 Apr 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching a ‘Lean Startup’ Strategy

spend years burning through venture capital while they figured out their strategy. These are the days of the lean startup. "Most startups fail not because they can't build the product they set out to build, but because they build the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Computer

27 Feb 2019
News

The Hidden Cost of a Product Recall

November 1998 (Revised July 2012)
Case

Explo Leisure Products

By: Richard G. Hamermesh

Tim Trowac and Dave Rahall, two former investment bankers, skillfully execute the leveraged buyout of a golf ball recycling company after working intensely on their due diligence, writing a business and financial plan, and developing the investment memorandum. Six... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Leveraged Buyouts; Business Plan; Performance; Management Teams; Business Strategy; Financial Strategy; Business and Shareholder Relations; Green Technology Industry; Sports Industry

October 2006 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Production I.G: Challenging the Status Quo

By: Andrei Hagiu, Tarun Khanna, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Masako Egawa and Chisato Toyama

In July 2006, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa wondered how he could further enhance the success and visibility of his animation production company headquartered in Tokyo, Production I.G. For the year ended May 2006, Production I.G. had sales of 5,439 million yen ($47.3 million),... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Competitive Advantage; Markets; Animation Entertainment; Going Public; Growth and Development Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Tokyo

December 2021
Case

Burning Glass Technologies: From Data to Product

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Amy Klopfenstein

In May 2021, Matt Sigelman, CEO of Burning Glass Technologies, a company that provided labor market analytics for a variety of markets, navigates his company’s transition from data company to product company. Burning Glass originated as a service that used artificial... View Details

February 2020 (Revised February 2022)
Case

Sustainable Product Management at Solvay

By: George Serafeim, Vincent Dessain and Mette Fuglsang Hjortshoej

In November 2019, Ilham Kadri, CEO of Solvay, a Belgian specialty chemicals and advanced materials group, with annual revenues of more than €10 billion in 2018, announced the group’s mid-term strategy, eight months after she took the helm as Solvay’s 11th CEO. The case... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Sustainable Business And Innovation; Sustainability Management; Sustainable Development; Management Accounting; Innovation; Carbon Emissions; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Targets; Target-setting; Product; Management; Transformation; Growth and Development Strategy; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Chemical Industry; Europe; Belgium

Web

Strategy & IT - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

HBS ISC Strategy Strategy Strategy Explained Business Strategy Creating a Successful Strategy Corporate View Details

January 1992 (Revised February 1992)
Case

Quantum Corp.: Business and Product Teams

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Clayton M. Christensen

Describes the adoption and evolution of product development teams and business teams at Quantum. Emphasizes integration of team capabilities with product development and competitive advantage in a rapidly changing environment. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Groups and Teams; Situation or Environment; Competitive Strategy; Integration; Consumer Products Industry

July–August 1983
Article

End-Game Strategies for Declining Industries

By: Kathryn Rudie Harrigan and M. E. Porter

Many companies are faced with declining product demand beyond their control. A study of the strategies of over 95 companies that confronted declining markets suggests that companies can often be very successful if they analyze all the characteristics that shape... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Business Ventures

Find at Harvard

August 1998
Case

Electronic Commerce at Air Products

By: F. Warren McFarlan and Melissa Dailey

In 1998,chief information officers (CIOs) in the highly competitive international gases and chemicals business faced the reality that electronic commerce capability was a strategic necessity. The results of annual surveys of technology officers in the chemical industry... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Information Technology; Globalized Markets and Industries; Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Business Strategy; Chemical Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

December 1986 (Revised January 1988)
Case

Hewlett-Packard: Manufacturing Productivity Division (C)

By: Benson P. Shapiro and Lawrence B. Levine

Focuses on the development of a "market driven" culture at Hewlett-Packard (HP); the conflict between autonomous, well integrated divisions making products responsive to their own markets and a greater degree of systems integration at the corporate level; and the... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Production; Organizational Culture; Research and Development; Sales; Integration; Manufacturing Industry

02 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Mapping Your Corporate Strategy

take the ideas further, starting with The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action (1996) and The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment (2000). Most recently,... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

June 1992
Article

Product Development and Competitiveness

By: K. B. Clark and T. Fujimoto

Keywords: Product; Research and Development; Competition

Find at Harvard

January 1977 (Revised April 1983)
Case

Corning Glass Works: The Electronic Products Division (B)

By: Michael Beer

Focuses on the recommendations and implementation strategy made by the organizational development group for the electronic product division's problems. View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Growth and Development Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Adaptation