Publications

April 1998
Case

Compaq, 1998

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Matt Verlinden

In 1997, Compaq Computer Corp. had become a $25 billion powerhouse. It had accomplished its revenue growth projections, successfully made a number of strategic acquisitions, and increased its gross margins, principally by moving up market into servers, workstations,... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Transformation; Customer Relationship Management; Profit; Revenue; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Distribution Channels; Alliances; Customization and Personalization; Computer Industry

February 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Kendle International Inc.

By: Dwight B. Crane, Paul W. Marshall and Indra Reinbergs

Candace Kendle and Christopher Bergen, the CEO and COO of Kendle International, Inc., are reviewing ways to finance the growth of their privately-owned company. Kendle is a contract research organization that conducts clinical drug trials for pharmaceutical and... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Financing and Loans; Venture Capital; Stock Options; Banks and Banking; Debt Securities; International Finance; Financial Strategy; Management Skills; Private Ownership; Initial Public Offering; Biotechnology Industry; Biotechnology Industry

2018
Working Paper

Two Hundred Years of Health and Medical Care: The Importance of Medical Care for Life Expectancy Gains

By: Maryaline Catillon, David Cutler and Thomas Getzen

Using two hundred years of national and Massachusetts data on medical care and health, we examine how central medical care is to life expectancy gains. While common theories about medical care cost growth stress growing demand, our analysis highlights the importance of... View Details

Keywords: Mortality; Life Expectancy; Medical Care; Productivity; Public Health; Healthcare Spending; Spending Per Year Of Life Gained; Personal Medicine; Technophysio Evolution; Health; Economics; Health Care and Treatment; Spending; Data and Data Sets; Health Industry

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November 2008
Case

The Hong Kong & China Gas Company Ltd.: Negotiating Joint Ventures in China

By: James K. Sebenius, Michael Shih-ta Chen and Medha Samant

To deliver 5-6 major new Chinese joint ventures annually, Hong Kong China Gas executives began extracting cross-border negotiating lessons from their 80 existing Chinese JVs. Chairman Alfred Chan and CEO Peter Wong knew that HKGC's growth strategy required significant... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Negotiation Tactics; Interests; Cooperation; Expansion; Utilities Industry; Hong Kong

Web

California - Global

topics such as scaling startups, angel and venture investing, acquisition-related manufacturing integration processes, the commercialization of technology, capacity issues at biotech companies, and growth challenges for clean-tech... View Details

December 2008
Case

Merrimack Tractors and Mowers: LIFO or FIFO?

By: William J. Bruns Jr., Sharon Bruns and Susan S. Hameling

At Merrimack Tractors and Mowers in 2008, product manufacturing costs are increasing faster than competitors' costs, and as a result earnings are likely to fall below those reported in 2007. The company president and the company controller have discussed this problem,... View Details

Keywords: International; Financial; Reporting; Standards; Inventory; Business Ethics; Assets; Valuation; Ethics; Taxation; Financial Reporting; Manufacturing Industry

January 2012 (Revised January 2014)
Case

Hengdeli: The Art of Coexistence

By: Rohit Deshpandé and Nancy Hua Dai

In October 2011, Zhang Yuping, founder and chairman of Hengdeli, the largest Swiss watch retailer in the world, wondered how to work more closely with its key suppliers—Swatch Group, Richemont Group, LVMH Group, and Rolex Group—to maintain strong growth in the Greater... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; China

June 2023
Case

Dan McCrum - Unmasking Wirecard

By: Jonas Heese, Charles C.Y. Wang, Tonia Labruyere and Carlota Moniz

Dan McCrum, an investigative journalist for the Financial Times, had spent the past six years fighting to expose German payment processing firm Wirecard. The company had enjoyed years of exponential growth and was viewed by several investors as the poster child of... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Accounting; Financial Services Industry; Financial Services Industry; Europe; United Kingdom; Germany

December 2000
Background Note

Networked Utility Providers

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Alastair Brown

Defines and describes ways to categorize networked utilities, software "applets" such as RealNetwork's RealPlayer, Macromedia's Shockwave, and AOL's ICQ that are downloaded via the Internet. Networked utilities extend basic Web browser capability to allow users to... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Software; Web Services Industry

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Web

Topics - HBS Working Knowledge

Horizontal Integration (1) Housing (4) Human Capital (27) Human Needs (14) Human Resources (292) Identity (6) Immigration (37) Income (7) Independent Innovation and Invention (5) Industry Clusters (8) View Details

Web

About - Business & Environment

University seeking to learn about business management, industrial environmental management, and environmental policy. Soon after graduating Yale with an MBA and a Master’s degree from its environmental school, Toffel became the director... View Details

September 2020
Case

Walmart Health: Scaling During a Pandemic

By: Robert S. Huckman, Yoonjin Min and Marissa Thiel

Amidst the onset of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Marcus Obsborne, Vice President for Health and Wellness Transformation at Walmart was planning to scale its new health care clinic business, Walmart Health, to additional locations in Georgia and beyond.... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Health Pandemics; Health; Service Delivery; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; United States; Arkansas; Georgia (state, US); Texas

Web

Key Concepts - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

was co-authored by Elizabeth O. Teisberg and published in 2006 following 10 years of research into why the health care industry did not conform to the principles of competition seen in all other sectors of the economy. They described how... View Details

Web

Technology & Innovation - Faculty & Research

and Data Are Revolutionizing Business By: Marco Iansiti and Karim R. Lakhani When Google bought Nest, a maker of digital thermostats, for $3.2 billion just a few months ago, it was a clear indication that digital transformation and connection are spreading across even... View Details

November 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Selling on Amazon at Tower Paddle Boards

By: Thales S. Teixeira and David Lopez-Lengowski

By June 2012, Stephan Aarstol felt that he had successfully passed the first critical stage of his ecommerce business. As the founder and CEO of a standup paddleboard (SUP) business, he had built a strong relationship with Asian manufacturers, built a small warehouse... View Details

Keywords: Tower Paddle Boards; Amazon; E-commerce; Online Shopping; Distribution; Internet and the Web; Business Growth and Maturation; Marketing Channels; Distribution Channels; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

April 2011
Article

The Origins of Japanese Technological Modernization

By: Tom Nicholas

Explanations of Japanese technological modernization from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century have increasingly focused on domestic capabilities as opposed to the traditional emphasis on knowledge transfers from the West. Yet, the literature is mostly... View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Body of Literature; Innovation and Invention; Technological Innovation; Patents; Measurement and Metrics; Expansion; Growth and Development Strategy; Economic Growth; Developing Countries and Economies; Information Technology; Technology Industry; Japan; Germany; Great Britain; United States

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29 Oct 2013
First Look

First Look: October 29

Industry: A Historical Perspective By: Jones, G. Abstract—This chapter explores the impact of the global beauty industry on beauty ideals. It shows that as the industry internationalized from the late... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 1989 (Revised April 1990)
Case

Banc One Corp.--1989

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter

Banc One Corp., an innovative and financially successful super-regional bank holding company, has a track record of upgrading performance of acquisitions while retaining previous management--doing better with the same people. In June 1989 Banc One made its first... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Banks and Banking; Private Ownership; Human Resources; Mergers and Acquisitions; Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Banking Industry; United States

November 2012 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Talking Strategy at Greighton Partners

By: Boris Groysberg and Kerry Herman

Since its inception, London-based private equity firm Greighton Partners had managed over $15 billion in investor capital. The firm employed about 150 professionals around the globe and had completed over 175 company acquisitions since its founding. Started with a... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Financial Services Industry; Asia; Europe