Competitive Positioning - Publications - Faculty & Research

26 Nov 2019
News

Fintech, Small Business & the American Dream

Mills asked, “How do we keep this piece of the economy vibrant?” As Mills’s research demonstrates, small business lending hadn’t changed in 50 to 100 years. Traditional banks failed to deliver a positive customer experience and struggled... View Details

Keywords: fintech; Artificial intelligence; Small business

08 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

The Critical Computer Science Principles Every Strategic Leader Needs to Know

important part of how businesses operate, and that can only increase going forward.” “Increasingly, the tech architectures inside firms are a source of competitive advantage.” In a new industry and background note written with HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Technology; Information Technology

Web

Harvard Business School and Polaroid - Edwin H. Land & Polaroid | Harvard Business School

Clubs Faculty & Research Business & Environment Business History Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning Entrepreneurship Faculty & Research Global Healthcare HBS Working Knowledge Institute for Strategy & Competitiveness Leadership... View Details

30 Oct 2005
Research & Ideas

Tuning Jobs to Fit Your Company

Executives must adjust the span of control for each key position and unit on the basis of how the company delivers value to customers. Consider Wal-Mart, which has configured its entire organization to deliver low prices. Wal-Mart's... View Details

Keywords: by Robert Simons

20 Sep 2016
First Look

September 20, 2016

of traditional U.S. public companies by more R&D-intensive firms is key to understanding the secular trend in average cash holdings. Over the last 35 years, an increasing share of R&D-intensive firms has entered the stock market with progressively higher cash... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Jun 2009
News

Magician Turns HBS Upside Down

explained Thomke. “I invited Jason to class to help students understand how people at the top of their profession innovate in an extremely competitive environment.” It was a class that few of Thomke’s students will ever forget. Randal,... View Details

Keywords: magic; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

01 Dec 2003
News

The Next Big Thing

It's a case of competition and strategy on a global scale, and the stakes could hardly be higher. The prize? Leadership in the realm of life sciences, a field that experts say will shape and dominate 21st-century enterprise. What city or... View Details

Keywords: life sciences; Scientific Research and Development Services

19 Aug 2010
News

Classroom Hijinks: Catchphrases, Mottos, Cheers, and Mascots

together so much might also exacerbate some instant dislikes between students, but fortunately I don’t hear about those in the class notes and am happy to highlight below only the positive examples of high spirits, recently submitted by... View Details

Keywords: Keith Larson; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

17 Jun 2016
Op-Ed

Companies Need to Start Marketing Security to Customers

undercut a positive message about a product's benefits with safety warnings. That might make you feel uncomfortable and even dissuade you from buying the brand. You might instead buy a competitive product... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Entertainment & Recreation

01 Dec 2012
News

The Billion-Dollar Question

trip to all 54 African countries and set it all down in a third book, assuming a cute Masai doesn't convince me to become a herder. Travel, like HBS, is transformative. Both disrupt our lives—usually in positive ways. Yet after HBS, many... View Details

Keywords: Advice; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment

16 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Marketing Wine to the World

Australia, South Africa, Chile, etc.). Q: What do you see as the major differences between Old World and New World winemakers? A: The Old World market continues to be highly fragmented. The competitive landscape is filled with many small,... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls; Consumer Products; Entertainment & Recreation; Food & Beverage

08 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

A Manager’s Guide to International Strategy

a tradeoff here, in terms of how similar a product will be around the world and what sort of product range a company will offer," Collis says. Will a company allow for local variation and differences in taste, and what will its differences be, if any, when it comes to... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

15 Nov 2013
News

Helping Bright Ideas Shine Again

valuable IP," he says. "That IP tends to be lost, or picked up for little money by companies that don't contribute to the competitiveness of the technology industry. I like salvaging them, then selling them to big corporate buyers. The... View Details

Keywords: Robert S. Benchley

01 May 2000
What Do You Think?

Can You Hard-Wire Performance?

marketing positioning in a customer's mind, and a way to keep an organization on its collective toes. But the concept is, in the opinion of readers, one that in application raises more questions than it answers. Among these are: (1) Are... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

08 Oct 2014
Research & Ideas

Who Is the Chief Sustainability Officer?

Since the start of the 2000s, a high-level corporate position has evolved that is still something of a mystery. As companies have engaged in more efforts around sustainability, environmental and otherwise, the "chief sustainability... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Manufacturing

01 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 1

Working PapersWhat Should GAAP Look Like? A Survey and Economic Analysis Authors:S.P. Kothari, Karthik Ramanna, and Douglas J. Skinner Abstract Based on extant literature, we articulate a positive theory of GAAP under the assumption... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Gurus in the Garage

themselves or held senior positions in one of the Valley's garage-to-giant start-ups such as Netscape or Oracle. But having failed once or twice along the way does not disqualify them. In fact, the scars are proof of valor—provided one... View Details

Keywords: by Dorothy Leonard & Walter Swap

20 Mar 2025
Blog Post

IFC India 2025: Illuminating India’s Solar Future: Reflections on Tata Solar Manufacturing Plant Visit

Professor Vikram Gandhi’s Immersive Field Course (IFC) “Development while Decarbonizing: India’s Path to Net-Zero" delved into the critical aspect of decarbonization and sustainability goals amid India's rapid development. The course presented an opportunity for... View Details

04 Aug 2003
What Do You Think?

Are We Facing an Attitude Shortage?

"The best way to go about it in the corporate world is to have good leaders who can lead by example with positive and solution-oriented attitudes." Kevin Bowe added, "Attitudes can be learned, and winning behaviors... View Details