Core Competencies - Publications - Faculty & Research

12 Mar 2006
Research & Ideas

New Research Explores Multi-Sided Markets

console platforms are vertically integrated into hardware, whereas most operating system vendors for PCs (Microsoft), PDAs (Palm), and mobile phones (Symbian) have preferred to rely on third-party competing hardware makers. The idea is... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Technology

21 Jun 2022
HBS Case

Free Isn’t Always Better: How Slack Holds Its Own Against Microsoft Teams

When COVID-19 forced companies to send employees home two years ago, newly remote workers largely reconnected on two collaboration apps: Slack and Microsoft Teams. The pandemic propelled Slack beyond its core following in the technology... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert; Information Technology; Technology

01 Jun 2024
News

Quantum Leap

“This is the first new kind of computer in 75 years,” says John Levy (MBA 1979), CEO of the quantum computing startup SEEQC. “And we’re building it on a chip!” Strolling through his company’s design and testing facility in Elmsford, New York, Levy looks less like a... View Details

Keywords: Alexander Gelfand; photographed by Chris Sorensen; quantum computing; innovation; leadership; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

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About the Project - U.S. Competitiveness

and improve the competitiveness of the United States—that is, the ability of firms operating in the U.S. to compete successfully in the global economy while supporting high and rising living standards for Americans. The Project focuses... View Details

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Nonprofit Strategy & Governance | Social Enterprise | Harvard Business School

Guide for Social Entrepreneurs By: Cait Brumme & Brian Trelstad June 2023 | Harvard Business Review 101, no. 3 Years ago the line between nonprofit and for-profit enterprises was clear, but that has changed. Nonprofits now offer products that View Details

November 2007
Article

Solve the Succession Crisis by Growing Inside-Outside Leaders

By: Joseph L. Bower

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. In his interviews and data analysis, Harvard Business School professor Bower found... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Leadership Development; Management Practices and Processes; Management Succession; Planning

Citation

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02 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

The Secret of How Microsoft Stays on Top

others. But it got to decide which components to "expose," and which to keep hidden, providing a mechanism through which its core intellectual property could be protected. As the company expanded, Microsoft formalized this... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

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From C-Suite to CEO - Alumni

for you, the next phase is building your core competencies to position yourself for consideration. Specifically, you will need to demonstrate general management and cross-functional leadership skills and... View Details

10 Feb 2016
Blog Post

Combining an Interest in Music and Business

of what I was doing at the time, either high school, college, or working, music has always been a core part of who I am and not just what I do. On that note, I have also spent nineteen years trying to figure out how to fit music in my... View Details

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The Gift of Global Talent

Research Research The Gift of Global Talent: How Migration Shapes Business, Economy & Society By: William R. Kerr By: William R. Kerr The global race for talent is on, with countries and businesses competing for the best and brightest.... View Details

28 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Unilever: Transformation and Tradition

extent to influence how policies were interpreted, in part because of the respect in which the company was held. The corporate reputation for integrity and competence was a major competitive advantage in this respect. A part of the reason... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products

09 Oct 2001
Research & Ideas

Driven: How Human Nature Shapes Organizations

design process. This design rule is easy to state, but it is difficult to follow for two basic reasons. First, some core production technologies are less amenable to applying the rule than others. Second, organizations have a tendency to... View Details

Keywords: by Paul Lawrence & Nitin Nohria

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Openings - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

mini-summaries during transitions can provide takeaways that complement or substitute for elements in the closing. Instructors should consider the connections among these core elements of the class session when preparing teaching plans. A... View Details

01 Oct 1999
News

Eight Among Many: Peter G. Harf

All told, Coty Inc. competes in 80 markets in 29 countries. Harf began working for Coty's German parent company, Joh. A. Benckiser GmbH, in 1981. Ten years later, he became CEO of what is now Coty Inc., a company that he helped to... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

Blog

Leading Successful Digital Transformation

bright young entrepreneurs who are given significant resources and freedom to come up with new ideas. It is not uncommon for these new units to be physically located far away from the headquarters. However, this approach often fails because of the disconnect between... View Details

16 Feb 2010
Research & Ideas

The Outside-In Approach to Customer Service

necessarily lead to a collaborative environment, a hallmark of systemic integration. That requires the lever of cooperation—the alignment of goals. When members of disparate or competing silos cooperate around a common set of goals, they... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Consumer Products

11 Aug 2008
Research & Ideas

Strategy Execution and the Balanced Scorecard

resource-based view and identification of core competencies are effective frameworks for strategy formulation. If the company has a great human capital base, with skilled, experienced, and highly motivated... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

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Strategy Execution Online Course | HBS Online

Stories FAQs Enroll Now Key Concepts Apply frameworks, tools, and goal-setting and tracking exercises to your own strategic initiatives Evaluate and elevate your team’s management of the core tensions of strategy execution, including how... View Details

02 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Not All M&As Are Alike—and That Matters

farther you get from your home base, the harder it is to be confident of that knowledge. Be aware that processes you consider core may turn out to be very different from those used by the target company. Cultural differences and... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph L. Bower

02 Oct 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating in Three Dimensions

is an essential skill, and where the science of negotiation is headed. Negotiation is a core competence for life, "not merely an important skill to be wheeled out for special occasions," they... View Details