Publications

2007
Working Paper

Innovation through Global Collaboration: A New Source of Competitive Advantage

By: Alan MacCormack, Theodore Forbath, Peter Brooks and Patrick Kalaher

Many recent studies highlight the need to rethink the way we manage innovation. Traditional approaches, based on the assumption that the creation and pursuit of new ideas is best accomplished by a centralized and collocated R&D team, are rapidly becoming outdated.... View Details

Keywords: Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Groups and Teams; Research and Development; Performance Improvement; Management Practices and Processes; Partners and Partnerships; Competency and Skills; Framework; Competitive Advantage; Global Strategy; Opportunities; Cost

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February 2024
Case

Continuity & Change at Boston Consulting Group

By: David G. Fubini, Suraj Srinivasan and David Lane

As the new CEO of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) since autumn 2021, Christoph Schweizer had big shoes to fill—his predecessor, Rich Lesser, had tripled the partnership’s total revenues and created digital initiatives that contributed 40+% of 2021 revenues, more than... View Details

Keywords: Business Organization; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Governance; AI and Machine Learning; Environmental Sustainability; Leading Change; Risk Management; Organizational Culture; Partners and Partnerships; Revenue; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Succession; Consulting Industry

September 2003 (Revised March 2004)
Case

Yale University Investments Office: June 2003

By: Josh Lerner

The Yale Investments Office must decide whether to continue to allocate the bulk of the university's endowment to illiquid investments--hedge funds, private equity, real estate, and so forth. Considers the risks and benefits of a different asset allocation strategy.... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Assets; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Investment Funds; Resource Allocation; Partners and Partnerships; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy; Education Industry

April 2010
Teaching Note

IBM: The Corporate Service Corps (TN)

By: Christopher Marquis, Alison Comings and Bobbi Thomason

Teaching Note for [409106]. View Details

Keywords: Service Operations; Employees; Partners and Partnerships; Non-Governmental Organizations; Developing Countries and Economies; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Programs; Global Strategy; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry; Ghana; Tanzania; Romania; Philippines; Viet Nam

17 Nov 2020
In Practice

How Retailers Can Thrive in a Shopping Season Like No Other

Leonard A. Schlesinger is the Baker Foundation Professor and chair of Practice-based faculty. Andy Wu: Innovate digitally and find strength in partnerships The pandemic continues to accelerate ongoing trends in retailing away from... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Retail

16 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

Reintroducing Intellectual Ambition to the Study of Business History

well, a group of scholars has highlighted the importance of partnerships and limited partnerships in promoting entrepreneurship in Europe, the United States, and, more recently, in China and Latin America.... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones & Walter Friedman

15 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 15, 2007

chains. They enter upstream partnerships with public sector research institutions, and later form commercialization alliances with established, downstream firms. We examine the alliance activity in a large sample of biotechnology firms... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

19 May 2003
Lessons from the Classroom

Business Plan Winner Targets India Dropouts

education from Classes VI - VIII, a second phase of two years of vocational training, and a third phase of asking the children to pay back any loans with accrued interest. We intend to offer the product through a series of partnerships... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler; Financial Services

19 Aug 2002
Research & Ideas

Here Comes Internet2—Time to Shed Dot Vertigo

through—from government-sponsored research and only later to partnerships and business applications—but it will develop much faster that Internet 1 has, he said. "Sixty percent of the traffic on Internet2 is predicted to be between... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

17 Dec 2021
Blog Post

Student Conference: Climate Symposium 2021

Beyond the expected bias towards business, however, what really struck me was the important role all businesses and their leaders have to play in the climate change space right now. While most climate solutions at scale will require a public-private View Details

01 Mar 2023
News

Case Study: Power Nappy

hiring an experienced sales rep will go a long way to increasing your chances of success here. Do not use retail as a “test-and-learn” experiment but approach it with the same seriousness with which you build your DTC website. I’d also investigate strategic View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing

01 Dec 2019
News

The Race Against Resistance

might need them?” Apart from everything that small pharma is doing to get drugs to patients, there are a number of initiatives to support their efforts. One such effort is CARB-X (Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria), a Boston University–based public-private View Details

Keywords: Lisa Scanlon Mogolov

01 Jun 2018
News

Case Study: Tip the Scale

last year—led to a partnership with a bank, which has since helped them acquire two more locations. Where they are today: The growth trajectory was slower than Kimmel may have wanted, but it’s still pointing upward. “We had $2 million in... View Details

01 Dec 2016
News

Case Study: Sweat the Technique

are more performance and training related. Next, make sure there is good patent protection. And finally, develop a strategy for longer-term digital partnerships and begin the search. Find partners that will license the technology and... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

March 2009 (Revised August 2010)
Case

The Posse Foundation: Implementing a Growth Strategy

The Posse Foundation selected high-potential, non-traditional students to attend selective colleges as part of a group of 10 from the same city. The organization had developed an ambitious growth plan, but because it focused on the most selective colleges, the pool of... View Details

Keywords: Diversity; Higher Education; Social Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Personal Development and Career; Partners and Partnerships; Nonprofit Organizations; Education Industry

Find at Harvard

February 2003 (Revised May 2003)
Case

Accel Partners' European Launch

By: G. Felda Hardymon and Josh Lerner

In spring 2001, with the venture market crashing all around, the London office of Accel Partners, a major west coast venture capital firm, needs to make a decision about investing in an Irish software company. As the first investment of the new European operation, the... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Growth and Development Strategy; Venture Capital; Global Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Expansion; Management Practices and Processes; Partners and Partnerships; Financial Services Industry; London; United States

July 2000 (Revised October 2000)
Case

Petstore.com

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann

Petstore.com is one of four contenders for leadership in the highly competitive online pet supply business. Petstore.com faces decisions regarding potential merger partners and how to brand its service within the website managed by its ultimate merger partner,... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet and the Web; Mergers and Acquisitions; Partners and Partnerships; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry

April 2010
Teaching Note

Swire Beverages: Implementing CSR in China

By: Christopher Marquis, Alison Comings and Bobbi Thomason

Teaching Note for [410021]. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Community Relations; Health; Organizational Design; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Business Strategy; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Safety; Natural Environment; Brands and Branding; Interests; Partners and Partnerships; Food and Beverage Industry; China