Publications

February 2002 (Revised May 2002)
Background Note

That's a Wrap: The Dynamics of the Video Rental Industry

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

The history, current dynamics, and future trends of the $10 billion home video rental industry provides a platform to discuss revenue-sharing contracts between suppliers of home videocassettes and retailers. View Details

Keywords: Contracts; Motivation and Incentives; Supply Chain Management; Revenue; Financial Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

01 Oct 2000
News

Raymond A. Baxter: Sweet Smell of Success

radically different company today," he says. "It's small enough that my fingerprints are everywhere -- you can get your arms around this place." Interbake's smaller size allows it to turn on a dime when it comes to supplying products to... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

01 Dec 2007
News

Rediscovering America

for more companies to practice “values-based capitalism.” Could you cite any examples? There is a growing number of well-run, profitable companies that have values at the center of their management strategy. One outstanding example is... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

April 3, 2023
Article

Getting a Clearer View of Your Company’s Carbon Footprint

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Karthik Ramanna and Stefan Reichelstein

E-liability accounting is a new technique that will help customers factor in a product’s environmental footprint into their purchasing decisions and will help create a competition dynamic that leads to reduced carbon outputs. This article describes two pilot studies—by... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Environmental Accounting; Supply Chain; Consumer Behavior

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November 1993 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Molding the Impossible: the NYPRO/Vistakon Disposable Contact Lens Project

By: Clayton M. Christensen

NYPRO, Inc., one of the world's leading manufacturers of plastic injection-molded products, is asked by the Vistakon Division of Johnson & Johnson to manufacture molds that Vistakon will use to produce disposable contact lenses. The required dimensional tolerances for... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Engineering; Management Practices and Processes; Product Development; Production; Groups and Teams; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

01 Sep 2006
News

Light Years Ahead

team, an experience that convinced him that he needed more management skills. By his own recollection, he was virtually “clueless” about the very special place to which he was heading. His application to the MBA Program caught the... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training

September 1998
Case

Anheuser-Busch and the U.S. Brewing Industry

Presents an analytical report on the company's competitive position and on the industry structure in 1991. Used to show how a company can generate value through steady, incremental investment over a long period in a business model tailored to the industry context. Also... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Industry Structures; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

24 Apr 2020
News

Spreading the Love

2015), a bioengineer and entrepreneur, and Emilio LaTorre, Lovepop’s head of supply chain. The team also collaborated with working groups at Partners Healthcare (which operates Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital,... View Details

October 1996 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Northco (A)

By: Ananth Raman and Bowon Kim

A small school-uniform manufacturer wrestles with seasonal demand. The company is saddled with excess inventory when it is bought by a leveraged buyout firm. Students are required to identify ways to analyze and solve the problem. View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Leveraged Buyouts; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Finance; Manufacturing Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States

March 1993
Case

Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries, Ltd. (Abridged)

By: Roy D. Shapiro and Marie-Therese M. Flaherty

Details the evolution of a value-creating supplier-buyer partnership. Describes the buyer's (Liz Claiborne) manufacturing and marketing strategy, and details the workings of the firm's relationship with an important Taiwanese supplier of piece goods (Ruentex Industries... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Production; Supply Chain Management; Alliances; Value Creation; Manufacturing Industry

October 1996 (Revised April 1997)
Case

Tweeter etc.

By: John T. Gourville and George Wu

In the early 1990s, Tweeter etc., a small regional retailer of higher-end audio and video equipment, faced increasing competitive pricing pressures from several large regional and national consumer electronics chains. In response, in 1993, they introduced "Automatic... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Customer Focus and Relationships; Price; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain Management; Competition; Electronics Industry; Retail Industry

December 2001 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Nestle S.A.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and Hal Hogan

Peter Brabeck wants to focus Nestle as a wellness company in the global food system and do so in a way that provides both growth in sales and margins in both developed and developing countries. View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product Development; Supply Chain Management; Food; Multinational Firms and Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Sales; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Switzerland

July 2000
Background Note

Industry Transformation

By: Michael E. Porter and Jan W. Rivkin

One of the steepest challenges a strategist faces is to navigate his or her company through a period of industry transformation--an era of rapid and wholesale changes in industry structure. This note considers how periods of transformation typically unfold. It then... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Consulting Industry; Service Industry

03 Apr 2012
First Look

First Look: April 3

supply chain system. When commodity prices became more volatile in 2007 and 2008, executives at Domino's changed the way they worked with suppliers and franchisees to manage costs and risks and better... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Charles B. Wang

and business managers to achieve sound products and a culture of management that fosters brutal honesty and integrity. CA earned revenues of over $5 billion and net income of $570 million in 1998, and had... View Details

Keywords: Services

01 Mar 2011
News

Faculty Books

human judgment, the authors show how to secure a place for ethics in our workplaces, institutions, and daily lives. Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader by Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback (Harvard Business Review Press) Becoming an effective... View Details

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

February 2002 (Revised August 2002)
Case

Inhale Therapeutics: Executing and Growing the Business Model

Inhale is about to bring a novel technology to market that uses inhalation to administer drugs that formerly required injection. Inhale must now decide which way to evolve its business model. This will determine the future direction of growth for the company. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Technological Innovation; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry