Publications

March 2008 (Revised January 2023)
Supplement

Cadbury Schweppes: Capturing Confectionery (B)

By: David Collis, Toby Stuart and Troy Smith

In late 2002, global confectionery and beverage maker Cadbury Schweppes needed to decide whether or not to make an acquisition bid for Adams, an underperforming gum company which had been put up for sale by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Examining the decision from a... View Details

Keywords: Food; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry

April 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Case

KENETECH Corporation

By: William E. Fruhan Jr.

Involves a strategic decision about how fast to ramp up sales. Improvements in technology have driven down the cost of electric power generated from wind turbines to the point where they are competitive with fossil-fuel plants. KENETECH needs to raise equity capital to... View Details

Keywords: Renewable Energy; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Initial Public Offering; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Going Public; Sales; Competition; Energy Industry

Find at Harvard

January 1985 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Turner Construction Co.

By: Frank V. Cespedes

In June, 1984, a vice president at Turner Construction Co. must decide whether to approve a construction project being considered by one of Turner's territorial offices and how to manage that territory general manager's apparent reluctance to pursue another account... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Structure; Projects; Market Entry and Exit; Integration; Contracts; Marketing Strategy; Sales; Business or Company Management; Business Offices; Geographic Location; Construction Industry

Web

Entrepreneurship - Recruiting

Salary $160,000 Industries Consumer Products 3% Entertainment / Media 3% Financial Services 7% Health Care 17% Manufacturing 8% Nonprofit / Government 2% Retail 2% Services 3% Technology 55% Functions Business Development 32% Finance 8%... View Details

Web

Mid-US - Global

Motivated by a pivotal life experience and deep concern for racial health inequities, Martin transitions from a successful hedge fund career to champion health equity through WellWithAll. He leverages his extensive network and industry... View Details

Career Coach

Lauren Murphy

coaches. In that role, she also led the Career development program team and doubled career development programs offered to alumni and students. In her current work with HBS, Lauren skillfully coaches students and alumni across all View Details

Web

Research - Global

inequities in the U.S., disparities across race, gender, geography, and income remain stubbornly persistent. This article introduces the Strategic Fingerprint Framework for Health Equity, a practical, principle-based... July 2025 Article... View Details

Research Summary

Dissertation: "Essays in International Non-market Strategy and the Political Economy of Environmental Regulation"

My dissertation is part of a research agenda intended to advance our understanding of the interaction between companies and non-market actors (e.g. regulators) in an international context. The empirical setting of my analysis is the European Union Emissions Trading... View Details

16 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

Are You a Strategist?

academic research that started to take hold in the 1980s and '90s. The work brought much-needed economic thinking to strategy's underpinnings. It armed legions of MBAs and strategy consultants with frameworks and techniques to help managers analyze their View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

Web

U.S. Competitiveness

economic growth, the trajectory of the nation’s competitiveness remains disappointing. More Research Sep 2017 Report Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America By: Katherine M. Gehl and Michael E. Porter The lens of View Details

27 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Building Businesses in Turbulent Times

crisis as a disrupter to the status quo and look for areas of pain. In fact, cost cutting and restructuring are simply the first steps in repositioning and leading your company and industry through the crisis and in defining how business... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

May 2006 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Codon Devices

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

In December 2005, 40-year-old John Danner was about to make his first presentation to the board of directors of Codon Devices, a one-year-old biotechnology start-up based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After a month as the company's CEO, Danner was prepared to lay out... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Venture Capital; Intellectual Property; Governing and Advisory Boards; Genetics; Competitive Advantage; Science-Based Business; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Biotechnology Industry; Cambridge

Find at Harvard

06 May 2008
First Look

First Look: May 6, 2008

business model, one that positioned the company simultaneously in the PC industry and the consumer electronics industry. While Apple enjoyed a high market share in digital media players and in online music sales, it remained a niche... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

Web

Employment Data Trends

Employment Data Trends Employment Data Trends Trends Career Data Internship Data Trends by Industry 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Consulting 24% 23% 26% 25% 18% Consumer Products 3% 3% 3% 4% 3% Entertainment / Media 2% 3% 3% 1% 3% Health Care... View Details

Web

Leadership Initiative - Leadership

strategic priorities, including applied research, new executive course development, and key convenings with stakeholders in the leadership development space. Her insights from the LI inform her service on non-profit boards, allowing her... View Details

21 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Common Strategy Mistakes

define industries broadly, following the influential work of Theodore Levitt some decades ago. His famous example was railroads that failed to see that they were in the transportation business, and so they missed the threat posed by... View Details

Keywords: by Joan Magretta

Web

California - Global

Case Adobe: GenAI Opportunity or Threat? By: Sunil Gupta , Rajiv Lal and Allison Ciechanover In December 2022, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen faced a pivotal strategic decision due to the rapid rise of generative AI image models from OpenAI,... View Details

July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

The Honor Foundation: Accessing Special Operations Talent

By: Boris Groysberg and John Masko

In 2020, The Honor Foundation (THF), a nonprofit dedicated to helping U.S. military special operators to transition into civilian careers, was facing a series of strategic challenges. THF had been founded in 2013 by former Navy SEAL trainee Joe Musselman, who observed... View Details

February 2009
Case

HP: The Computer is Personal Again

By: Rajiv Lal and Cathy Ross

In September 2008, Todd Bradley, executive vice president of Hewlett-Packard Company's Personal Systems Group (PSG), gathered his thoughts before a meeting with his top executives and managers for product design and marketing. On the agenda was a discussion of... View Details

Keywords: Revenue; Product Positioning; Corporate Strategy; Computer Industry; Computer Industry