Publications

June 2009 (Revised July 2010)
Case

Microfin

By: Michael Chu and Enrique Kramer

The case presents the management dilemmas of a new institution in an undeveloped microfinance market in Latin America. Supported by a globally recognized industry player, it is the result of the efforts of two fledgling local entrepreneurs with a business model they... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Developing Countries and Economies; Social Entrepreneurship; Microfinance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Industry Structures; Competitive Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Latin America

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27 Apr 2016
Research & Ideas

How the FBI Reinvented Itself After 9/11

It is hard to imagine a more difficult and tragic trial by fire for a new leader. On September 4, 2001, Robert Mueller started his new job as the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A mere week later, on September 11, al-Qaeda terrorists carried out... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

April 2002
Background Note

Local Institutions and Global Strategy

By: Tarun Khanna

Explores how location affects a firm's strategy and identifies the different ways location affects industry structure, choice of a firm's position, and the sustainability of that position. The intellectual foundations lie in an appreciation of institutional economics.... View Details

Keywords: Global Range; Global Strategy; Product Positioning; Market Transactions; Industry Structures; Negotiation Deal; Organizational Design; Outcome or Result; Strategic Planning

December 1991 (Revised October 1998)
Case

Eli Lilly and Co.: Manufacturing Process Technology Strategy--1991

By: Gary P. Pisano, Steven C. Wheelwright and Jonathan West

Outlines the evolution of Lilly's corporate manufacturing strategy over the past decade. The corporate vice president of manufacturing must decide on the next phase of Lilly's strategy for the early 1990s, as well as to what extent and what role process development... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Structures; Product Development; Production; Research and Development; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Manufacturing Industry

18 Jul 2024
Blog Post

Harvard Business School Announces Its 2024-2025 Blavatnik Fellows

alumni and Harvard-affiliated postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to advance new ventures around promising life science technologies and develop their leadership talents during a 12-month fellowship year. Fellows work closely with leading biotech View Details

07 Jul 2022
HBS Case

How a Multimillion-Dollar Ice Cream Startup Melted Down (and Bounced Back)

They planned flavors like “Oh Captain, My Captain,” a reference to a Walt Whitman poem; another Whitman poem had originally inspired the Ample Hills name. This time, however, they resolved to avoid the pitfalls of their last venture. “They undertook a very View Details

Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds

Article

Healthy Buildings in 2070

By: John D. Macomber and Joseph G. Allen

Fifty years seems a very long time in the future for most industries. Not so in buildings and real estate; built structures routinely last decades if not hundreds of years, as long as they are economically competitive. Any discussion of the 50-year future has to... View Details

Keywords: Health ＆ Wellness; Real Estate; Architectural Innovation; Public Health; Health; Buildings and Facilities; Well-being

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Web

Organize Care Around Medical Conditions - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

who focus on the care of the patient with breast cancer, would support them. Ideally, they would be co-located in a single breast cancer center with unified scheduling and coordinated after hours care. Some conditions occur infrequently... View Details

October 2016 (Revised January 2017)
Supplement

Bally Total Fitness (B): The Fall, 2005–2016

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

By many measures the largest health-club chain in the United States in the early 2000s, Bally Total Fitness sold most of its remaining fitness clubs to 24 Hour Fitness in 2014 and disappeared from the industry top 100 rankings. After Bally was bedeviled by accounting... View Details

December 2023 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Research In Motion: Launching and Scaling the World's First Smartphone Empire (A)

By: Tatiana Sandino and Samuel Grad

In 2005, Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry smartphone was a sensation. After its launch in 1999, the groundbreaking BlackBerry had captured the hearts and minds of corporate America through its secure wireless email service. The device was so addictive and... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Decision Choices and Conditions; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Innovation and Management; Technological Innovation; Business or Company Management; Management Style; Product Development; Managerial Roles; Growth and Development Strategy; Technology Industry; United States; Canada

09 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Unilever—A Case Study

lower financial returns than their domestic equivalents in the United States. 9 One explanation for this phenomenon might be transfer pricing, but this has proved hard to verify empirically. The industry mix is another possibility, but... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage; Manufacturing; Retail

January 2025
Case

Negotiating with Data: Analytics FC (A)

By: Jillian Jordan and Livia Alfonsi

Analytics FC was a UK-based sports consultancy that focused on international football (soccer), leveraging cutting-edge data-analytic techniques to support clubs, federations, and players. In 2022, Alex Greenwood, an elite female defender, approached the company for... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Negotiation Preparation; Gender; Analytics and Data Science; Sports; Reputation; Value Creation; Consulting Industry; Consulting Industry; Europe; United Kingdom

07 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Digital Transformation: A New Roadmap for Success

However, as much as possible, they recommend designing organizations to mirror the end-to-end experience of the customer so that employees solve problems "through the eyes of the customer." This structure tends to support an enterprise... View Details

Keywords: by Linda A. Hill, Ann Le Cam, Sunand Menon, and Emily Tedards

24 Oct 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Startup or Established Company? Which Is Best for You?

Here’s my perspective on the tradeoffs. Putting aside for a moment industry preferences and how you feel about the products the company is building (both of which are very important!), most of the differences between a startup and mature... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

26 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

High-Stakes Decision Making: The Lessons of Mount Everest

anticipatory regret can lead to indecision and costly delays. 71 This anxiety can be particularly problematic for executives in fast-moving industries. Successful management teams in turbulent industries develop certain practices to cope... View Details

Keywords: by Michael A. Roberto

Web

Technology & Innovation - Faculty & Research

Collaborative Innovation and Invention ; Leadership ; Leading Change ; Leadership Development ; Leadership Style ; Crisis Management ; Management Skills ; Business Processes ; Organizational Culture ; Organizational Structure ;... View Details

Article

The Implications of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act on Cancer Care Delivery

By: Heidi W. Albright, Mark Moreno, Thomas W. Feeley, Ronald Walters, Marc Samuels, Alissa Pereira and Thomas W. Burke

In March 2010, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. This legislation attempts to address cost control and improve the quality of healthcare in the United States. Cancer is a... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Policy; Health Care; Cancer Care In The U.S.; Cancer Care Services; Health; Law; Quality; Health Industry; North and Central America

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September 2002
Case

Align Technology, Inc.: Matching Manufacturing Capacity to Sales Demand

By: H. Kent Bowen and Jonathan P Groberg

Align Technology is a four-year-old medical products company that has invented a new product requiring new manufacturing processes. Demand for the new product has grown more slowly than initial forecasts predicted, and the cost structure is preventing the company from... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Problems and Challenges; Product; Forecasting and Prediction; Marketing Strategy; Sales; Demand and Consumers; Production; Health Industry

May 2002 (Revised July 2002)
Background Note

U.S. Educational System:The, Key Issues and the Role of Business Leadership

Explores the area of education and ways in which corporations have played a role in its improvement. Not intended to cover all examples of corporate involvement but, instead, to provide a sense of the range of ways that corporations have become involved, either... View Details

Keywords: Education; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Education Industry