• March–April 2024
• Article

How Fast Should Your Company Really Grow?

By: Gary P. Pisano

Growth—in revenues and profits—is the yardstick by which the competitive fitness and health of organizations is measured. Consistent profitable growth is thus a near universal goal for leaders—and an elusive one.

To achieve that goal, companies need a growth... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Organizational Culture

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Pisano, Gary P. "How Fast Should Your Company Really Grow?" Harvard Business Review 102, no. 2 (March–April 2024): 38–45.

• December 2010
• Article

Acquisitions as Exaptation: The Legacy of Founding Institutions in the U.S. Commercial Banking Industry

By: Christopher Marquis and Zhi Huang

This study focuses on the imprinting of institutional environments, particularly how founding institutions impact intra-organizational capabilities and how such imprints may have different external manifestations in subsequent historical eras. We introduce the concept... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Commercial Banking; Organizations; Theory; Policy; Government and Politics; Management Practices and Processes; Strategy; Competency and Skills; United States

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Marquis, Christopher, and Zhi Huang. "Acquisitions as Exaptation: The Legacy of Founding Institutions in the U.S. Commercial Banking Industry." Academy of Management Journal 53, no. 6 (December 2010): 1441–1473.

• March–April 1979
• Article

How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy

By: M. E. Porter

Many factors determine the nature of competition, including not only rivals, but also the economics of particular industries, new entrants, the bargaining power of customers and suppliers, and the threat of substitute services or products. A strategic plan of action... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Strategy

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Porter, M. E. "How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy." Harvard Business Review 57, no. 2 (March–April 1979): 137–145.

• Article

Can They Take It with Them? The Portability of Star Knowledge Workers' Performance: Myth or Reality

By: Boris Groysberg, Linda-Eling Lee and Ashish Nanda

This paper examines the portability of star security analysts' performance. Star analysts who switched employers experienced an immediate decline in performance that persisted for at least five years. This decline was most pronounced among star analysts who moved to... View Details

Keywords: Firm Performance; Hiring; Employee Selection; Employee Retention; Knowledge; Employees; Selection and Staffing; Retention; Performance; Competitive Advantage; Financial Services Industry

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Groysberg, Boris, Linda-Eling Lee, and Ashish Nanda. "Can They Take It with Them? The Portability of Star Knowledge Workers' Performance: Myth or Reality." Management Science 54, no. 7 (July 2008): 1213–1230.

• 2015
• Working Paper

A Normative Theory of Dynamic Capabilities: Connecting Strategy, Know-How, and Competition

By: Gary P. Pisano

The field of strategy has mounted an enormous effort to understand, define, predict, and measure how organizational capabilities shape competitive advantage. While the notion that capabilities influence strategy dates back to the work of Andrews (1971), attempts to... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Organizations

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Pisano, Gary P. "A Normative Theory of Dynamic Capabilities: Connecting Strategy, Know-How, and Competition." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-036, September 2015.

• August 1998 (Revised August 2002)
• Case

MicroFridge: The Concept

By: John A. Deighton

Robert Bennett, who has a Master's degree in engineering, wants to exploit his idea to combine a refrigerator, freezer, and 500-watt microwave into an 87-pound, 4-foot-high appliance to sell to college students. Bennett must decide which markets to serve, which... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Leadership Style; Sales; Product Development; Competitive Strategy; Partners and Partnerships; Demand and Consumers; Consumer Products Industry

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Deighton, John A. "MicroFridge: The Concept." Harvard Business School Case 599-049, August 1998. (Revised August 2002.) (request a courtesy copy.)

• October 1992 (Revised December 1992)
• Case

American Connector Company (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano

American Connector Co. is forced to reexamine operations at its Sunnyvale plant when a Japanese competitor announces plans to build an "ultimate" plant in the United States. Case examines issues related to benchmarking a competitor's manufacturing capabilities and... View Details

Keywords: Production; Infrastructure; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy; Policy; Strategic Planning; Performance Productivity; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Performance Effectiveness; Sunnyvale; Japan

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Pisano, Gary P. "American Connector Company (A)." Harvard Business School Case 693-035, October 1992. (Revised December 1992.)

• September 2006 (Revised August 2008)
• Module Note

Assessing Your Organization's Capabilities: Resources, Processes and Priorities

By: Clayton M. Christensen and Stephen P. Kaufman

Summarizes a model that helps managers determine what sorts of initiatives an organization is capable and incapable of managing successfully. The factors that affect what an organizational unit can and cannot accomplish can be grouped as resources, processes, and the... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Experience and Expertise; Innovation and Management; Business Processes; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Mathematical Methods

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Christensen, Clayton M., and Stephen P. Kaufman. "Assessing Your Organization's Capabilities: Resources, Processes and Priorities." Harvard Business School Module Note 607-014, September 2006. (Revised August 2008.)

• September 2000
• Background Note

Professional Services Module Three: Internal Strategy of Organizational Design

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Ashish Nanda and Scot H. Landry

The way in which PSFs organize themselves to leverage strategic capabilities is imperative in achieving high performance. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Strategy; Performance Capacity; Competency and Skills; Business Startups

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DeLong, Thomas J., Ashish Nanda, and Scot H. Landry. "Professional Services Module Three: Internal Strategy of Organizational Design." Harvard Business School Background Note 801-009, September 2000.

• Research Summary

SUMMARY

My research examines the microfoundations of organizational capabilities.  My first area of research empirically explores how organizational capabilities become embedded in teams through the mechanism of team familiarity.  My second area of research... View Details

• 2023
• Working Paper

Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality

By: Fabrizio Dell'Acqua, Edward McFowland III, Ethan Mollick, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf, Katherine C. Kellogg, Saran Rajendran, Lisa Krayer, François Candelon and Karim R. Lakhani

The public release of Large Language Models (LLMs) has sparked tremendous interest in how humans will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to accomplish a variety of tasks. In our study conducted with Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm, we examine... View Details

Keywords: Large Language Model; AI and Machine Learning; Performance Efficiency; Performance Improvement

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Dell'Acqua, Fabrizio, Edward McFowland III, Ethan Mollick, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf, Katherine C. Kellogg, Saran Rajendran, Lisa Krayer, François Candelon, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 24-013, September 2023.

• December 2009
• Case

Philips versus Matsushita: The Competitive Battle Continues

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Describes the development of the global strategies and organizations of two major competitors in the consumer electronics industry. Over four decades, both companies adapt their strategic intent and organizational capability to match and counter the competitive... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Organizational Culture; Multinational Firms and Management; Restructuring; Consumer Products Industry; Electronics Industry

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Bartlett, Christopher A. "Philips versus Matsushita: The Competitive Battle Continues." Harvard Business School Case 910-410, December 2009.