Publications

Michael E. Porter

Michael Porter is an economist, researcher, author, advisor, speaker and teacher. Throughout his career at Harvard Business School, he has brought economic theory and strategy concepts to bear on many of the most challenging problems facing corporations, economies... View Details

Keywords: biotechnology; e-commerce industry; health care; information; information technology industry; internet; nonprofit industry; service industry; state government

23 Aug 2016
First Look

August 23, 2016

examine if it can be implemented in different contexts and across academic cultures, structures, and traditions. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51496 Spring 2016 Journal of Applied Corporate Finance ESG View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

The Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage

From HBSP: " In a world of stiffening competition, business strategy is more crucial than ever. Yet most organizations struggle in this area--not with formulating strategy but with executing it, or putting their... View Details

January 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Staples: A Year in the Life of a Start-Up

By: Myra M. Hart

The case provides information on the development of the office superstore concept, building partnerships, creating the business plan, and recruiting a management team. Focuses on the detailed level of decision making required to transform an idea into a viable... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Partners and Partnerships; Business Strategy; Recruitment; Management Teams; Integration; Information Technology; Entrepreneurship; Business Plan; Decision Making

16 Feb 2016
First Look

February 16, 2016

advertising and marketing services is best served through the coordination and integration of resources from both inside and outside the company, rather than assuming that these options are mutually exclusive. A review of advertising... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Faculty & Research

consumer prices using a unique integration of high-frequency retail pricing data, product-level country-of-origin information, and detailed tariff classifications. By linking daily prices from major U.S. retailers to Harmonized System... View Details

24 Sep 2018
Blog Post

Working to Keep Pirates At-Bay: My Summer in Cyber Security

After spending three years working in consulting before coming to HBS, I knew I wanted to use my summer to expand beyond the world of Board of Directors advisory and multi-national company strategic planning and try something completely... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

August 2006 (Revised May 2007)
Case

Management Levels at Staples (A): Company and Organization

By: David A. Garvin and Lynne Levesque

One of six cases that describe the roles and responsibilities of managers at each of the hierarchical levels of management within the U.S. Stores business unit of Staples, the world's largest office supply company. Together, the cases form a complete integrated... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Leadership; Management Practices and Processes; Managerial Roles; Operations; Performance Effectiveness; Strategic Planning; Perspective; Retail Industry

April 1998
Case

Jim Lyons and GenRad

Lyons, currently CEO of Harry Gray Associates, a consulting and investment firm, had just been approached by an executive recruiter representing GenRad, a 78-year-old electronics company headquartered in Concord, MA. The company, which manufactured integrated software... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Management Succession; Personal Development and Career; Consulting Industry; Massachusetts

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

Managing Workplace Reforms and Organization-Wide Transformations

Richard E. Walton is studying (with doctoral candidate Scott Hamlin and research associate Kathleen Scharf) the development and diffusion of new forms of union-management partnership together with other new practices in the steel industry. To test and elaborate... View Details

06 Sep 2018
Blog Post

How to Thrive in an Unstructured Environment

“Perfect is the enemy of done.” No experience has helped me internalize this more than my summer at blueground, an international, vc-backed real estate startup. Before business school, I worked at a large oil & gas company, where structure and process were View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship

November 1996 (Revised August 1997)
Case

Project "Dial-Tone"

By: William A. Sahlman and Andrew S. Janower

Bob Hellman, a partner in a West Coast middle-market buyout firm, is attempting to simultaneously acquire and merge three disparate firms in the rapidly consolidating telemarketing services industry. Hellman must value the individual companies as well as the combined... View Details

Keywords: Complexity; Private Equity; Integration; Mergers and Acquisitions; Negotiation Deal; Strategic Planning; Investment; Opportunities; Valuation; Service Industry

Program

Risk Management for Corporate Leaders—Virtual

expose your company to excessive risk Use the three levels of risk hierarchy to build and integrate processes that anticipate, prioritize, and mitigate threats Learn how to overcome individual and organizational barriers to effective risk... View Details

04 Oct 2016
Blog Post

Why We Recruit: CVS Health

of health. Through its approximately 9,600 retail pharmacies under the CVS, Navarro and Longs Drugs brand names, more than 1,135 walk-in MinuteClinc locations, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with more than 75 million plan members, a... View Details

Keywords: Health Care

June 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Sustainability Reporting at Dollar Tree, Inc.

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Li-Kuan Ni

The cases discusses the ESG strategy of Dollar Tree Inc., a U.S. Fortune 500 company in the deep discount retail industry and the and shareholder pressure faced by the company. In 2022, the company faced a shareholder resolution from a renowned shareholder advocacy... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Sustainability; Shareholder Activism; Dollar Tree; Sustainability Reporting; ESG Reporting; Board Of Directors; Shareholder Engagement; GHG; Environmental Accounting; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Trends; Communication; Announcements; Voting; Environmental Management; Climate Change; Environmental Sustainability; Values and Beliefs; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Disclosure; Corporate Governance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Reports; Business or Company Management; Risk Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Outcome or Result; Strategic Planning; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Situation or Environment; Opportunities; Civil Society or Community; Social Issues; Public Opinion; Strategy; Adaptation; Alignment; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation; Retail Industry; United States; Virginia

February 2023 (Revised March 2025)
Case

Graphic Packaging: Project Cowboy (A)

By: Benjamin C. Esty and E. Scott Mayfield

In July 2019, Graphic Packaging CEO Michael Doss was proposing a $600 million investment in a new machine to produce coated recycled board (CRB), a type of paper packaging used for consumer products (cups, cereal boxes, beverage boxes, etc.) that utilized recycled... View Details

Keywords: Capital Budgeting; Growth Management; Demand and Consumers; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Value Creation; Supply and Industry; Pulp and Paper Industry; Manufacturing Industry; United States; North America

February 2023
Supplement

Graphic Packaging: Project Cowboy (A) Courseware

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Scott Mayfield