Publications

Find at Harvard

25 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

How Software Platforms Revolutionize Business

transformed nearly every major industry for the past quarter century." Think of software platforms as ring leaders of ecosystems in which a few or many companies can participate to reach users. These core products, like Windows, for... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Video Game; Web Services

03 Apr 2007
First Look

First Look: April 3, 2007

another EMR company offered eCW the chance to grow quickly in an industry that is estimated to take in more than $40 billion in overall revenues in 2007. But this acquisition would require outside financing of some sort. Was this the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2005 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Sapient Corporation (Abridged)

By: Rakesh Khurana and Joel Podolny

Describes the start-up, growth, organizational design, and operations over the first 10 years of a professional services firm. Focuses on the creative use of organizational purpose and values as an integral part of strategy and alignment of organizational activities. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Human Resources; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Growth and Maturation; Operations; Business Processes; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Industry

18 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

How Eliminating Non-Competes Could Reshape Tech

and execute on their own independent projects. First, they need to autonomy to work creatively in areas of their own interest, for instance by intentionally allocating them free time on their own or in teams at a hackathon. Second, they... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Technology

December 2018
Case

Kodak: The Rebirth of an Iconic Brand

By: Anat Keinan, Giana M. Eckhart and Michael B. Beverland

Following its re-emergence from bankruptcy protection in 2014, the marketing team at Kodak has been charged with tripling brand value with consumers, with little marketing budget. The case focuses on the strategies used by senior Kodak marketers Steven Overman and Dany... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Brand ＆ Product Management; Brand Heritage; Cultural Branding; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Demographics

05 Jun 2012
First Look

First Look: June 5

entrepreneurial firms in successive generations. These firms became important drivers of innovation and scale, but they also found solar to be an industry in which achieving a viable business model proved a chimera, whilst waves of View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

January 2015 (Revised October 2015)
Case

Trouble at Tessei

By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell

In 2005, Teruo Yabe is asked to revive Tessei, the 669-person JR-East subsidiary responsible for cleaning its Shinkansen ("bullet") trains. Operational mistakes, customer complaints, safety issues, and employee turnover are at or near all-time highs, even as the... View Details

Keywords: Service Management; Employee Engagement; Employee Motivation; Leadership And Managing People; Quality Improvement; Efficiency; Japan; Operational Transparency; Employee Coordination; Transparency; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Employees; Quality; Transportation Industry; Japan

September 1989 (Revised January 1990)
Case

Vinod Khosla and Sun Microsystems (A)

Describes how Vinod Khosla got Sun Microsystems started, and a critical marketing challenge the company faced at the end of the first year. Objective is to illustrate how bold creative thinking can make or break start-ups. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Information Technology Industry; Information Technology Industry

02 Oct 2008
What Do You Think?

Workout vs. Bailout: Should Government Take Advantage of the Buffett Effect?

us to the question of whether the U.S. automobile industry should qualify for help. Where should we draw the line? Is it now time for ideology to take over? What do you think? Original Article In view of world financial events, which take... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

August 1999 (Revised October 1999)
Case

RCA Records: The Digital Revolution

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Cate Reavis

In 1995, Bertelsmann-owned RCA Records was considered a "tired and old" record label. By 1999, the company represented a number of the "hottest" acts in the music industry. Nevertheless, the company's position (as well as that of the entire music industry) was under... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Business Model; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Internet and the Web; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Music Industry; Music Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

September 2004 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Sapient Corporation

By: Rakesh Khurana and Joel Podolny

Describes the start-up, growth, organizational design, and operations over the first 10 years of a professional services firm. Focuses on the creative use of organizational purpose and values as an integral part of strategy and alignment of organizational activities. View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Operations; Knowledge Management; Strategy; Service Industry

February 2003 (Revised July 2005)
Case

British Broadcasting Corporation (A): One BBC

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and Douglas A Raymond

Greg Dyke, the new director general of the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) must decide whether to extend an already ambitious change effort at the world's largest public service broadcaster. The initial results of the effort are very positive: audience numbers are up,... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Media; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Leadership Development; Competition; Creativity; Relationships; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United Kingdom

November 2004 (Revised April 2009)
Case

Launching the New MINI

By: Douglas B. Holt and John A. Quelch

Focuses on how strategy is transformed into creative branding materials. Reports on the development of a wide variety of brand communication materials produced to support the MINI launch in the United States. MINI USA executives worked with their ad agency Crispin... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Creativity; Auto Industry; United States

03 May 2011
First Look

First Look: May 3

PublicationsThe Power of Small Wins Authors:Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer Publication:Harvard Business Review 89, no. 5 (May 2011) Abstract What is the best way to motivate employees to do creative work? Help them take a step... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2021 (Revised February 2024)
Teaching Note

THE YES: Reimagining the Future of E-Commerce with Artificial Intelligence (AI)

By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery

THE YES, a multi-brand shopping app launched in May 2020 offered a new type of buying experience for women’s fashion, driven by a sophisticated algorithm that used data science and machine learning to create and deliver a personalized store for every shopper, based on... View Details

15 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 15, 2008

non IT-intensive industries after 1995, reversing the previous trend. The combination of increased turbulence and concentration, especially among IT-intensive industries, is consistent with recent theories of hypercompetition as well as... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

January 2021 (Revised August 2021)
Case

ByteDance: TikTok and the Trials of Going Viral

By: William C. Kirby and John P. McHugh

In 2020, TikTok became the most valuable start-up ever. The short-form, video-sharing social media platform emerged as the crown jewel of the Chinese technology firm ByteDance, realizing 850 million monthly users and an estimated worth of $180 billion. However, a... View Details

21 Mar 2016
Lessons from the Classroom

When Your Classmate is an NBA Superstar (or Fashion Model, or Movie Actress)

world demand The executive education program was Elberse’s idea. Elberse, who is chair of the MBA program’s Required Curriculum, has been teaching a highly sought-after MBA course called Strategic Marketing in Creative View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Entertainment & Recreation; Sports; Media & Broadcasting; Education

2011
Article

Too Big to Live: Why We Must Stamp Out State Monopoly Capitalism

The problems of excessive economic concentration, so lucidly and incisively analysed here, are not limited to the financial services industry. For the problem is now widespread: while five firms control 80% of the banking industry, a similar or greater concentration is... View Details

Keywords: Economic Systems; Monopoly