Publications

February 2018 (Revised May 2018)
Case

Haier: Incubating Entrepreneurs in a Chinese Giant

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Nancy Hua Dai

CEO Zhang Ruimin must plan how to accelerate the growth of self-managed microenterprises. Platforms were Haier’s business platforms operating in five major sectors: white goods transformation, investment and incubation, financial holdings, real estate, and cultural... View Details

Keywords: China; Microenterprise; Appliances; Platform; Change; Innovation; Opportunities; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Transformation; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; China

May 2016
Case

OPET: Precision Marketing in Uncertain Times

By: Rajiv Lal, Esel Çekin and Eren Kuzucu

During Timucin Guler’s decade at OPET, a prominent fuel distributor in Turkey, he transformed the definition of marketing in the company. Under Guler’s lead, OPET, once a local player in the downstream distribution market, became the second largest fuel distributor in... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Customer Service; Emerging Market; Focusing On Customers; Competition; Turkey; Loyalty Program; Marketing Strategy; Downstream Distribution; Customer Relationship Management; Energy Industry; Turkey

April 2012
Case

Man Group (A)

By: Robert C. Pozen and Thomas M. Clay

The Man Group was a huge and successful UK-based hedge fund and fund of funds manager. Through acquisitions, the company had consciously diversified its portfolio of investment products. In 2007 Man had to decide whether or not to spin off its brokerage business. Man... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Financial Crisis; Decisions; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Diversification; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Strategy; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom; Europe

22 Aug 2016
Research & Ideas

Master the One-on-One Meeting

But how we treat them as individuals can determine the way their DNA will impact the fabric of your organization. What are you doing, as their manager, to make sure they are satisfied and making the best contribution to your organization? I have View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

28 Aug 2023
Research & Ideas

How Workplace Wellness Programs Can Give Employees the Energy Boost They Need

employees—and which ones have a higher return on investment. Continue investing in the programs that are working and cut the ones that aren’t. By prioritizing energy management and View Details

Keywords: by Hise Gibson

2012
Working Paper

Is India's Manufacturing Sector Moving Away from Cities?

By: Ejaz Ghani, Arti Grover Goswami and William R. Kerr

This paper investigates the urbanization of the Indian manufacturing sector by combining enterprise data from formal and informal sectors. We find that plants in the formal sector are moving away from urban and into rural locations, while the informal sector is moving... View Details

Keywords: Urban Development; Policy; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Geographic Location; Education; Infrastructure; Manufacturing Industry; India

Web

CSV Explained - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

powerful force for positive change. There are numerous ways in which addressing societal concerns can yield productivity benefits to a firm. Consider, for example, what happens when a firm invests in a wellness program. Society benefits... View Details

February 2017
Case

GE Digital

By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson

Known for manufacturing industrial equipment, GE has decided to invest in software and analytics capabilities to become a digital industrial company. They have also created a software platform that they hope will power the Industrial Internet. GE executives forecasted... View Details

Keywords: GE; General Electric; Manufacturing; Industrial Internet; Wind Power; Digital Manufacturing; Renewable Energy; Energy; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Transformation; Green Technology Industry; Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; North America

Fourth Quarter 2008
Article

Do Funds-of-Funds Deserve Their Extra Fees?

By: Andrew Ang, Matthew Rhodes-Kropf and Rui Zhao

Since the after-fee returns of funds-of-funds are, on average, lower than hedge fund returns, it is easy to conclude that funds-of-funds do not add value compared to hedge funds. However, funds-of-funds should not be evaluated relative to hedge fund returns in publicly... View Details

Keywords: Investment Funds; Investment Return; Value; Assets; Resource Allocation

2008
Book

On Competition

By: M. E. Porter

Competition is one of society's most powerful forces for making things better in many ﬁelds of human endeavor. The study of competition and the creation of value, in their full richness, have preoccupied me for several decades. Competition is pervasive, whether it... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Practice; Competitive Strategy; Theory; Value Creation

August 2022
Case

Meaningful Gigs

By: Brian Trelstad and Rachel Philbin

In October 2020, just a year after founding their company Meaningful Gigs, founders Ronnie Kwesi Coleman and Stephanie Nachemja-Burton prepared for a vital investment meeting with Rethink Education. They had already reached $400,000 in annually recurring revenue (ARR)... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Growth and Development Strategy; Revenue; Education Industry; Technology Industry; Africa; United States

January 2013 (Revised April 2017)
Supplement

Maxum Petroleum, Inc.

By: W. Carl Kester

Maxum seeks an oil-price hedging strategy that yields substantial cash during oil price spikes, is affordable under ordinary circumstances, and is easily managed. It is striving to avoid a repeat of the challenging situation encountered in 2008 when spiking oil prices... View Details

Keywords: Hedging; Options; Commodities; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Risk Management; Futures and Commodity Futures; Financial Strategy; Volatility

January 2010
Case

Five and Six Dulles Station

By: Arthur I Segel

Cricket Real Estate Advisors needs to decide if they should invest in a proposed joint venture development with Buddy Holly & Associates. Holly is a successful northern Virginia office developer who plans to develop two buildings containing 232,750 rentable square... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Joint Ventures; Markets; Accounting Audits; International Finance; Agreements and Arrangements; Change; Strategic Planning; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Financial Management; Real Estate Industry

13 Dec 2018
Blog Post

Working at the Intersection of Business and Environment

the recent Climate Change Challenge assignment in Technology & Operations Management, a required first-year course taught by Mike Toffel, Senator John Heinz Professor of Environmental Management and BEI faculty chair. More than 900... View Details

Web

Great American Business Leaders of the 20th Century - Leadership

Industries, 1955–1993 Mark H. McCormack International Management Group, 1960–2003 Cyrus H. McCormick, Jr. International Harvester Corporation, 1902–1918 Fowler McCormick International Harvester Corporation, 1941–1951 Robert R. McCormick... View Details

October 2008
Article

The Small World of Investing: Board Connections and Mutual Fund Returns

By: Lauren Cohen, Andrea Frazzini and Christopher J. Malloy

This paper uses social networks to identify information transfer in security markets. We focus on connections between mutual fund managers and corporate board members via shared education networks. We find that portfolio managers place larger bets on firms they are... View Details

Keywords: Financial Markets; Information Management; Social and Collaborative Networks; Announcements; Investment Portfolio; Investment Return; Investment Funds; Asset Pricing; Governing and Advisory Boards

Web

Strategy Explained - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

Strategically Competing to be the Best vs. Competing to be Unique Strategy starts with thinking the right way about competition. Many managers compete to be “the best”—but this is a dangerous mindset that leads to a destructive, zero-sum... View Details

Article

Surviving Radical Technological Change through Dynamic Capability: Evidence from the Typesetter Industry

Recent work in the field of management has focused on "dynamic capability," the ability of a firm to develop new capabilities in response to shifts in its external environment, as a significant source of competitive advantage. This paper enhances our understanding of... View Details

Keywords: Management; Technology; History; Competition; Competency and Skills; Investment; Technological Innovation; Business Ventures; Geographic Location; Knowledge Acquisition; Competitive Advantage; Change