Publications

06 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

How Small Wins Unleash Creativity

All good managers understand the importance of making sure that every member of a team feels personally motivated and necessary throughout the workday, lest their work should stagnate and suffer. But what's the key to igniting creativity, joy, trust, and View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

05 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

HBS Cases: Porsche’s Risky Roll on an SUV

complexity and broad implications for today. In a remarkably globalized industry, Porsche is a rare example of a company staking its brand, in this example the Cayenne, on the image of one particular country. Wiedeking, regularly ranked... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Auto; Manufacturing

May 1999 (Revised March 2008)
Case

Husky Injection Molding Systems

By: Jan W. Rivkin

Husky, a Canadian maker of injection molding systems, has established an enviable position in the market for plastics processing equipment. The company builds the highest performance systems in the business and charges a hefty premium for them. Husky is enjoying robust... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Rank and Position; Competition; Expansion; Industrial Products Industry; Canada

July 1990 (Revised April 1998)
Supplement

Nordstrom: Dissension in the Ranks? (B)

By: Robert L. Simons and Hilary Weston

Presents a follow-up to the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Rank and Position; Conflict and Resolution; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

April 1989 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Masco Corp. (A)

By: Michael E. Porter and Cynthia A. Montgomery

Describes the history and corporate position of a large and successful producer of faucets and related household products. Masco is considering entry into the $14 billion furniture industry. Designed to be used with Household Furniture Industry in 1986 in a strategy... View Details

Keywords: Diversification; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Strategy; Rank and Position; Consumer Products Industry

March 1992 (Revised April 2000)
Case

Joline Godfrey and the Polaroid Corporation (A)

By: Linda A. Hill and Nancy A Kamprath

Describes how Joline Godfrey, an intrapreneur at the Polaroid Corp., introduced and developed a project that could help Polaroid move to a more service- as opposed to product-oriented focus. Also depicts the mentor-protege relationship between Godfrey and Gerald... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Rank and Position; Leading Change; Problems and Challenges; Change; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

18 Jul 2005
Research & Ideas

Identify Emerging Market Opportunities

framework—that lets executives map the institutional contexts of any country. Economics 101 tells us that companies buy inputs in the product, labor, and capital markets and sell their outputs in the products (raw materials and finished... View Details

Keywords: by Tarun Khanna, Krishna G. Palepu & Jayant Sinha

12 Sep 2006
First Look

First Look: September 12, 2006

productivity externalities in the host country generated by foreign multinational companies. We propose a mechanism that emphasizes the role of local financial markets in enabling foreign direct investment (FDI) to promote growth through... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Dec 2016
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular 'Cold Call' Podcasts

the first or worst financial challenge the technology giant has faced. In 1997, the company suffered a near-death experience that caused it to completely reimagine itself. The result was a new line of products and an unprecedented... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

12 Sep 2011
Research & Ideas

The Untold Story of ‘Green’ Entrepreneurs

things, China looks to be positioning itself as a global leader in this field—it came out of nowhere last decade to rank as the country with the largest installed wind-generated electricity capacity. Although View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

November – December 2011
Article

Most Likely to Succeed: Leadership in the Industry

By: Robert C. Pozen and Theresa Hamacher

What is the critical factor for success in the U.S. mutual fund industry? Is it top-ranked investment performance, innovative products, or pervasive distribution? In our view, it is none of these factors, despite their obvious importance. Instead, the best predictors... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Success; Investment Funds; Rank and Position; Performance; Investment; Innovation and Invention; Product; Distribution; Forecasting and Prediction; Asset Management; Governance Controls; United States

Find at Harvard

21 May 2018
HBS Case

How Would You Price One of the World's Great Watches?

watchmakers to put the most pristine parts, screws, and oil in the perfect locations. “When you think about capturing value from innovations, pricing is quite possibly the most important decision that you’ll ever make” Prices for A. Lange & Söhne View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland; Fashion

01 Nov 2010
Research & Ideas

How IT Shapes Top-Down and Bottom-Up Decision Making

new product plans. Such decisions are either centralized near the top of the corporate ladder or decentralized and delegated to the top of a particular business unit. And the decision makers often depend on ERP software, which facilitates... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

20 Jul 2016
Research & Ideas

Airplane Design Brings Out the Class Warfare in Us All

football stadium, a cruise ship—where people are segmented by rank of some sort. Norton co-authored the study, Physical and Situational Inequality on Airplanes Predicts Air Rage, with Katherine A. DeCelles, an associate professor of... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Air Transportation; Sports; Travel

01 Jul 2019
What Do You Think?

Are Super Stretch Goals Only for the Very Young?

products. “The tech industry in general, young or old, can accommodate stretched goals, simply because digital can reach millions of people worldwide in one second, and all that they have to do is to create the product once [versus] other... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

12 Nov 2001
Research & Ideas

Facing the New World Order

Published since 1979 by the World Economic Forum, the Global Competitiveness Report ranks seventy-five countries and measures the comparative strengths and weaknesses of their economies. At a press conference announcing publication of the... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

02 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Managing the Open Source vs. Proprietary Decision

same choices in terms of open source and proprietary software. There is no simple ranking of open source and proprietary software, either in terms of the full costs of adoption or the quality of the software. The basic reason is that open... View Details

Keywords: by Josh Lerner & Mark Schankerman; Technology

01 Oct 2001
What Do You Think?

Will Information Technology Really Turn Organizations Upside Down This Time?

the new market leaders." Even if many things have to happen before fundamental organizational changes occur, it still leaves us with questions: Is this kind of change worth pursuing? If so, what changes in information technology and policies of disseminating its... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

September 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Acer Group, The: Vision for the Year 2000

By: D. Quinn Mills and Richard C. Wei

In the early 1990s, Acer, Inc. set two goals: to be a top-five PC company worldwide in 1995 and to be a global consortium of companies by the year 2000. The company identified potential obstacles concerning capital, image, number of experienced international managers,... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Goals and Objectives; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Organizational Structure; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Experience and Expertise; Marketing Strategy; Production; Rank and Position; Business Strategy; Capital; Computer Industry; Japan