Publications

Frank Nagle is an assistant professor in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School. Professor Nagle studies how competitors can collaborate on the creation of core technologies, while still competing on the products and services built on top of them - especially... View Details

September 1990 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Kao Corp.

By: John A. Quelch

As the Japanese diaper market expands, Kao management must determine its response to new product introductions by its two major competitors. Options include launching a new premium priced brand or a new low priced brand, or increasing advertising and promotion... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Marketing Strategy; Industry Growth; Product Launch; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; Japan

19 Feb 2019
News

Payless liquidation sale prices: What you need to know about store closing sales

December 2009 (Revised February 2012)
Case

Monsanto: Helping Farmers Feed the World

By: David E. Bell, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Mary Shelman

Monsanto has led the effort to bring biotechnology to bear on food production. Through some management missteps and consumer resistance the company had difficulties in its early years. But since Hugh Grant became CEO the picture has brightened with widespread adoption... View Details

Keywords: Food; Global Strategy; Leadership; Production; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Biotechnology Industry; United States

September 2020 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Hot Wheels: Launching The Mixed Play Experience

By: Elie Ofek, Andres Terech and Nicole Tempest Keller

Chris Down, Global Brand General Manager for Hot Wheels, and his team from the Advanced Play Group within Mattel, Inc., had developed an entirely new “mixed play” product experience that blended familiar Hot Wheels play in the physical world with breakthrough play in... View Details

Keywords: Toys; Go-to-market Strategy; Product Development; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Decision Making; Marketing; Strategy; Los Angeles

May 1993
Case

Kaufmann Manufacturing Company (A)

By: Julie H. Hertenstein and William J. Bruns Jr.

A management team at Kaufmann is studying the latest year's operations and sales, which seem to have led to very confusing financial results. Sales exceeded forecast and production for the first six months, however Kaufmann reported a loss. Yet, when sales were below... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Earnings Management; Cost Accounting; Financial Reporting; Cost vs Benefits; Capital Budgeting; Cost Management; Profit; Outcome or Result

November 1999
Case

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (B)

DuPont must decide whether to launch a new non-GM (genetically modified) soybean that is tolerant to chemical sprays. In the face of rapid introductions of GM products by competitors, DuPont faces the challenge of ensuring the identity preservation of its new product... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Customer Value and Value Chain; Genetics; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Jorge Tamayo is an assistant professor of business administration in the Strategy Unit. He teaches the Strategy course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Tamayo is an applied microeconomist primarily interested in industrial organization and... View Details

01 Jan 2006
News

August 2009
Supplement

The TSMC Way: Meeting Customer Needs at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (CW)

By: Willy C. Shih

When L.C. Tu receives an emergency order, he is confronted with a range of production scheduling choices, each of which has unique costs and trade-offs. The case was designed to help students understand job-shop style production and the impact of disruptions and... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Disruption; Customer Focus and Relationships; Cost; Cost Management; Business or Company Management; Time Management; Network Effects; Production; Hardware; Manufacturing Industry; Semiconductor Industry; Taiwan

February 1989 (Revised October 1994)
Case

Asahi Breweries Ltd.

By: Malcolm S. Salter

Focuses on competitive repositioning, organizational renewal, and personal leadership. Describes how Asahi Breweries was faced with a major capacity expansion decision after succeeding in increasing market share dramatically in the traditionally stable Japanese beer... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Leadership; Organizational Structure; Product Launch; Management Teams; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Supply Chain Management; Mission and Purpose; Food and Beverage Industry; Japan

John Gourville is the Albert J. Weatherhead, Jr. Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He joined the HBS Marketing Unit in 1995 after receiving his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in marketing and behavioral research. His most... View Details

Keywords: consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products

July 2007 (Revised May 2008)
Case

Central Bank: The ChexSystemsSM QualiFile® Decision

By: Dennis Campbell, Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez, Peter Tufano and Emily McClintock

The "Central Bank" series analyzes the use of information and product design for managing the counterparty risk of newly acquired customers. Central Bank, a mid-sized regional U.S. bank, was attempting to grow its customer base by increasing the number of new checking... View Details

Keywords: Central Banking; Knowledge Management; Customer Satisfaction; Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty; Decision Making; Banking Industry; United States

25 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

How Software Platforms Revolutionize Business

Software Platforms Drive Innovation and Transform Industries, available October 4 from MIT Press. Evans is Managing Director of the Global Competitive Policy Practice at LEGC LLC. Hagiu is a professor in the Strategy unit at Harvard... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Video Game; Web Services

September 2009
Case

Peter Schultz at The Scripps Research Institute

By: H. Kent Bowen, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld and Courtney Purrington

Peter Schultz, Professor of Chemistry at The Scripps Research Institute, managed an extremely productive lab. This case examines how Schultz recruited, motivated and inspired the students and scientists that worked with him. View Details

Keywords: Higher Education; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Research and Development; Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Management Style; Motivation and Incentives; Leadership Style

Find at Harvard

December 1995 (Revised October 1996)
Case

Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corporation

By: John J. Gabarro

Maureen Frye, assistant product manager at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp., is asked to implement an action plan for changing the call pattern of the salesforce. Currently the salesforce is spending too much time on small accounts. Earlier Frye attempted to change their... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Managerial Roles; Organizational Culture; Planning; Salesforce Management; Strategy; Steel Industry