Publications

2009
Working Paper

Does Competition Favor Delegation?

By: Christian Alejandro Ruzzier

This paper studies the consequences of product-market competition on firms' decisions to delegate more or fewer decision-making responsibilities to managers. By simultaneously addressing the choice of both competitive actions and organizational design, the paper makes... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Competition; Decision Making

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Program

Private Equity and Venture Capital

and Venture Capital raises your level of investment expertise. As you examine the full range of industry models—from venture capital to growth equity to buyouts—you will learn how to build more effective investment strategies for your... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Finance

April 1999 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Compaq Computer: Focus Groups

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Gives the final report, both results and methodology, of the focus group on Compaq Computer's new consumer notebook. Describes the groups, selection method, and methodology in detail. Should Compaq base its product design on the opinions of 64 people? Must be used with... View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Product Design; Outcome or Result; Corporate Strategy; Computer Industry

27 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

New Cluster Mapping Project Helps Companies Locate Facilities

Silicon Valley or the Napa wine country) that can lead to competitive advantage. Porter's Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness has just introduced a new database tool to help corporations and policy makers pinpoint these clusters,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

December 2004 (Revised May 2005)
Case

Levenger Company

By: Myra M. Hart, Kristin Lieb and Victoria Winston

The Leveens started a high-end catalog business as a small home-based venture in 1987. It grew into a nationally recognized, $60 million company, offering products that ranged from unique pens and pencils to leather briefcases and fully furnished offices. In 1999, it... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Financial Liquidity; Business Exit or Shutdown; Expansion; Business Growth and Maturation; Value; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Globalization; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Retail Industry; United States

October 2019
Supplement

Impax Laboratories: Executing Accretive Acquisitions (B)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

Explores events after Impax announced the acquisition of a portfolio of generic pharmaceutical products from Teva in June 2016. View Details

Keywords: Financial Reporting; Financial Statements; Mergers and Acquisitions; Capital Structure; Financial Strategy; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

August 2001 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Sony PlayStation2 (A)

By: Rohit Deshpande and Seth Schulman

In early 1999, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc., had to determine the appropriate U.S. launch strategy for the next-generation video game player, Sony PlayStation2. Despite the success of the original PlayStation1, new competitors and an uncertain... View Details

Keywords: Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Globalization; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Computer Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

October 2003
Case

ABS Global

By: David E. Bell, Hal Hogan and Jose M. M. Porraz

ABS Global is considering an acquisition in Australia. Efficient production and distribution is becoming more difficult as it becomes global. Yet trade restrictions and local preferences for its product, bull semen, dictate that ABS come up with a new way to... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Production; Global Strategy; Distribution; Adaptation; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Australia

Find at Harvard

29 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 29, 2007

resource for executives and managers at all levels seeking to brush up on their knowledge of macroeconomic dynamics. Information or Opinion? Media Bias as Product Differentiation Authors:Bharat Anand, Rafael Di Tella, and Alexander... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

30 Jun 2022
HBS Case

Peloton Changed the Exercise Game. Can the Company Push Through the Pain?

product line. Everybody can understand it,” says Harvard Business School Professor Robert J. Dolan. “Then it got incredibly complicated.” In May, Peloton reported its biggest quarterly loss since its 2019 initial public offering and said... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Media & Broadcasting; Health; Bicycle

August 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Showpad

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Showpad is a growing startup whose founders are considering changes to spur growth. The options include changes to the product line, to pricing, and to sales management practices. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy

Michael Tushman holds degrees from Northeastern University (B.S.E.E.), Cornell University (M.S.), and the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T. (Ph.D.). Tushman was on the faculty of the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University, from 1976 to 1998 where he was... View Details

31 May 2007
Working Paper Summaries

Extremeness Seeking: When and Why Consumers Prefer the Extremes

Keywords: by John T. Gourville & Dilip Soman

May 1997 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Teradyne: The Aurora Project

By: Joseph L. Bower

Three cases deal with the introduction of a new product to Teradyne's line of semiconductor test equipment. Teradyne: Managing Strategic Change provides historic and administrative background for the other two cases. This case deals with the problems facing the head of... View Details

Keywords: Business Divisions; Business Startups; Customer Satisfaction; Product Launch; Product Development; Corporate Strategy; Semiconductor Industry

November 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

By: Rory McDonald, Samir Junnarkar and David Lane

Five years on from the 2008 financial crisis, Goldman Sachs remained wounded. Revenues at the global investment bank had stagnated below pre-crisis levels, and the firm had yet to rebound from a substantial decline in securities-trading revenues. Marcus by Goldman... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Banks and Banking; Innovation Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

December 2017
Case

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Sarah Mehta

It is July 2017, and Dr. Nteranya Sanginga, the director general of the Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), is making progress toward two of his primary strategic objectives for the nonprofit research Institute: 1) to scale the impact... View Details

Keywords: Scaling Technologies; Youth Unemployment; Innovation In Nonprofits; Agribusiness; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Cash Flow; Labor; Employment; Commercialization; Problems and Challenges; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Nigeria

06 Oct 2023
Book

Yes, You Can Radically Change Your Organization in One Week

as ’the five whys’ in the Toyota production system, usually gets you there. We’ve found that when you dig into the problem, the learning plateaus when you’ve reached the root. That sounds unscientific, but it’s awfully pragmatic.”... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

October 2019 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Souqalmal: The Choice Is Yours (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Alpana Thapar

This case describes how Ambareen Musa, Founder and CEO of Souqalmal, a Dubai-based online comparison aggregator of banking and insurance products launched her business in 2011 and rapidly grew it over next couple of years. However, by 2017, the Mauritian entrepreneur... View Details

Keywords: Unit Economics; Finance; Accounting; Competitive Strategy; Financial Statements; Insurance Industry; Middle East