Publications

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October 1994
Background Note

Note on the Confrontation Strategy

Because of the emergence of the lean enterprise (a Japanese innovation), the nature of competition has changed. Competitive advantages are virtually impossible to sustain; instead of avoiding competition through creating sustainable competitive advantage, companies... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy

April 1999
Teaching Note

Issues in Technology Strategy TN

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Provides instructors with an overview for the module in the Managing Innovation course, Issues in Technology Strategy. Provides an overview of the frameworks introduced in the module that can help managers in their efforts to formulate strategies relating to several... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Investment; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Research; Technology Adoption; Technology Industry

June 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

BBC Worldwide: Global Strategy

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In January 2007, John Smith, chief executive officer of BBC Worldwide (BBC WW), the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), was preparing to meet with his senior managers to discuss BBC WW's global strategy options. BBC WW exploited and exported... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Expansion; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Great Britain

2015
Working Paper

Match Your Own Price? Self-Matching as a Retailer's Multichannel Pricing Strategy

By: Pavel Kireyev, Vineet Kumar and Elie Ofek

Multichannel retailing has created several new strategic choices for firms. With respect to pricing, an important decision is whether to offer a "self-matching policy." Self-matching allows a multichannel retailer to offer the lowest of its online and in-store prices... View Details

Keywords: Price Self-matching; Multichannel Retailing; Pricing Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Price; Distribution Channels; Supply and Industry; Retail Industry

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April 1988 (Revised January 1989)
Case

Korea's Technology Strategy

Describes Korea's efforts to improve its technological capability and learn to produce and export high technology goods. The roles of government policy, domestic firms, and foreign firms are explored. Special attention is paid to how technology flows across borders,... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Strategy; North Korea

Research Summary

Performance Management Systems

By: Robert S. Kaplan

Kaplan's research on performance management systems includes further applications of strategy maps and The Balanced Scorecard for effective strategy execution. His recent research... View Details

02 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

Mapping Your Corporate Strategy

structure for meetings where managers can quickly see which aspects of their strategy are succeeding and where they are falling short. The causal relationships enable managers... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

September 2014 (Revised June 2016)
Case

edX: Strategies for Higher Education

By: David Collis, Matthew Shaffer and Ashley Hartman

In May 2012, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) founded edX, a new non-profit joint venture that would provide a platform for massive open online courses (MOOCs). edX did not produce original courses or instructional content—it made... View Details

Keywords: MOOCS; edX; Online Platforms; Online Education; Harvard University; MIT; Execution; Monetization; Brand Management; Higher Education; Information Technology; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Digital Platforms; Education Industry

January 2015 (Revised July 2019)
Case

Rebranding Godiva: The Yıldız Strategy

By: Rohit Deshpande and Esel Çekin

This case concerns Yıldız Holding’s acquisition of Godiva Chocolatier from its previous owner, Campbell Soup, and its salient strategy in preserving Godiva’s “made in Belgian” brand position. Provenance Paradox, a problem faced by companies in emerging countries trying... View Details

Keywords: Branding; Internationalization; Provenance Paradox; Acquisitions; Positioning; Innovation; Customer-centricity; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Emerging Markets; Product Positioning; Change Management; Innovation and Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Food and Beverage Industry; North America; Turkey; Japan

summer 2000
Article

The Balanced Scorecard: A Strategic Management System for Multi-Sector Collaboration and Strategy Implementation

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Noorein Inamdar, Mary Lou Helfrich Jones and Rita Menitoff

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard; Strategy; Management; Cooperation

October 1992 (Revised September 1993)
Case

Nopane Advertising Strategy

By: David E. Bell

Nopane is a proprietary drug that sells in much of the United States. It faces substantial competition. The brand manager is undertaking an experiment to determine whether ad copy should be emotional-based or rational-based. The data and associated regression results... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Intellectual Property; Advertising; Health Care and Treatment; Brands and Branding; Product Marketing; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

Summer 2013
Article

Strategic Management of Intellectual Property: An Integrated Approach

By: William W. Fisher III and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

In many organizations, the R&D, strategy, and legal functions are poorly integrated. As a consequence, firms miss opportunities to create and exploit the value of intellectual property. Functional silos are one reason for the lack of integration. More important,... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Management; Strategic Management; Legal Aspects Of Business; Licensing; Law; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Management; Intellectual Property; Business Strategy

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21 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

The Most Common Strategy Mistakes

somehow you can achieve better results. This is a hard race to win. So many managers confuse operational effectiveness with strategy. Another common mistake is confusing marketing with strategy. It's natural for View Details

Keywords: by Joan Magretta

April 1991
Article

America's Green Strategy

By: M. E. Porter

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Strategy

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 12 Jun 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Disruptive Strategy

Make innovation a reality with strategies from two-time World's Most Innovative Business Thinker, Clayton Christensen. June 12, 2019 - July 10, 2019 View Details

March 2013 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Barnes & Noble: Managing the E-Book Revolution

By: Alan MacCormack, Brian Kimball Dunn and Chris F. Kemerer

The case describes competition in the market for E-Books, and Barnes & Noble's Strategy in this industry. As a traditional retailer, B&N was challenged by the introduction of digital technologies that allow books to be published, distributed and sold to consumers... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Technology Strategy; Platform Competition; Innovation Strategy; Information Technology; Product Development; Digital Platforms; Standards; Disruptive Innovation; Retail Industry; Publishing Industry; North America

9 AM – 10 AM EDT, 03 Apr 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Disruptive Strategy

Make innovation a reality with strategies from two-time World's Most Innovative Business Thinker, Clayton Christensen. Program Dates: April 3, 2019 - May 15, 2019 View Details

9 AM – 10 AM EST, 23 Jan 2019
HBS Online

HBS Online Disruptive Strategy

Make innovation a reality with strategies from two-time World's Most Innovative Business Thinker, Clayton Christensen. Program Dates: January 23, 2019 - March 6, 2019 View Details

January 2008
Article

Mastering the Management System

By: Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton

Companies have always found it hard to balance pressing operational concerns with long-term strategic priorities. The tension is critical: World-class processes won't lead to success without the right strategic direction, and the best strategy in the world will get... View Details

Keywords: Framework; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Management Systems; Operations; Performance Improvement; Strategy