Publications

28 Mar 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, March 28

value-added products like yogurt. The entry of large multi-brand retailers like Walmart and Carrefour in the Indian market threatens to squeeze Amul's margins and undermine its low-cost distribution network.... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

20 Dec 2011
First Look

First Look: December 20

technological development offered by the Royal Agricultural Society of England at annual competitions between 1839 and 1939. We find that the effects of prizes on competitive entry are large, and we also detect an impact of the prizes on... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

June 1995 (Revised June 1996)
Case

White Nights and Polar Lights: Investing in the Russian Oil Industry

By: Debora L. Spar

In the latter half of the 1980s, the collapse of the Soviet empire created an unprecedented opportunity for Western businesses. Among those most attracted were the oil firms, who rushed to investigate Russia's vast petroleum reserves. But, as they soon discovered,... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Market Entry and Exit; Foreign Direct Investment; Energy Sources; Energy Industry; Russia

28 May 2013
First Look

First Look: May 28

therapy innovations. To bolster Medtronic's near-term prospects, he has supported creative product and business model innovations aimed at overcoming adoption barriers in emerging economies. Ishrak... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Launching Telmore (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Celso Fernandez and Moritz Jobke

When the Danish mobile phone service provider Telmore entered the market in October 2000, few people took notice. Its business model was not perceived as particularly aggressive or threatening to the industry. Less than three years later, Telmore's creative adaptation... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Market Entry and Exit; Creativity; Adaptation; Competitive Advantage; Telecommunications Industry; Denmark

September 2009 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Suntech Power

By: Richard H.K. Vietor

Suntech, a Chinese manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and solar panels, is the third largest solar company in the world. About 90 percent of its sales have been in Europe—especially Germany and Spain. But with its new "pluto" technology, and with new governmental... View Details

Keywords: Solar Power; Renewable Energy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Competition; Market Entry and Exit; Business and Government Relations; Expansion; Strategy; Energy Industry; Green Technology Industry; China

12 Apr 2016
First Look

April 12, 2016

competitive imitation. Make it tough for rivals to copy your product-to-platform strategy: consider creating proprietary standards, using exclusivity contracts and erecting other barriers View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

05 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Business and the Global Poor

that can make operating at the base of the pyramid difficult, and potentially costly. For instance, a basic lack of physical connectivity is typical in many rural markets in developing countries, which is a real barrier for companies... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

07 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Immigrant Workers Cluster in Particular Industries

clusters is the idea that immigrants could be forced into them by discrimination or high barriers to enter other fields. “Many industries require certain standards be passed or degrees from accredited... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Transportation; Beauty & Cosmetics; Retail

18 Oct 2016
Op-Ed

Why Business Should Invest in Community Health

Children in the United States today are at risk to live shorter lives than their parents. This sobering assessment is one reason big box retailer Target is investing $40 million this year to improve the... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch, Howard Koh, and Pamela Yatsko; Health

30 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 30, 2007

to evaluate the link between dismissal costs and productivity. Drawing on establishment-level data from the Annual Survey of Manufacturers and the Longitudinal Business Database, our estimates suggest that wrongful-discharge protections... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 1999 (Revised August 1999)
Case

Victory Supermarkets: Expansion Strategy?

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Jay DiGeronimo, president of a 16-store supermarket chain, is trying to decide the timing and method for expanding his chain. The family-owned company could continue in a maintenance mode, with each family member running one store. It could expand slowly using a new... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Cost vs Benefits; Trade; Investment; Market Entry and Exit; Supply Chain Management; Private Ownership; Competition; Expansion; Retail Industry

Find at Harvard

September 1991 (Revised December 1991)
Case

G. Heileman Brewing Co. (A): Power Failure At PowerMaster

By: Stephen A. Greyser

In June 1991, Heileman announced plans to introduce a high-alcohol malt liquor under the name PowerMaster (PM). Although the company claimed PM would be positioned as an upscale product and marketed on the basis of its superior taste, minority advocates and alcohol... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Ethics; Lawfulness; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Demand and Consumers; Market Entry and Exit; Food and Beverage Industry

2016
Working Paper

The Reference Wars: Encyclopedia Britannica's Decline and Encarta's Emergence

By: Shane Greenstein

The experience of Encyclopædia Britannica provides the canonical example of the decline of an established firm at the outset of the digital age. Competition from Microsoft's Encarta in 1993 led to sharp declines in the sales of books, which led to the distressed sale... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Service Operations; Emerging Markets; Applications and Software; Books; Information Technology Industry; Information Industry