Publications

Read Now

November 2005 (Revised July 2006)
Background Note

A Note on Scenario Planning

By: David A. Garvin and Lynne Levesque

Describes the process, components, and detailed action steps involved in using scenario planning in any organization. Provides detailed examples that use the process. View Details

Keywords: Planning

21 Apr 2023
News

When Scenario Planning Fails

March 2013
Article

The Unintended Consequences of Ownership Transfer Planning

By: Josh Baron and Marion McCollom Hampton

The article discusses the challenges of passing down family businesses across generations, highlighting complexities in executive succession and estate planning. It emphasizes how emotional factors, complicated family dynamics, and unintended consequences influence... View Details

Keywords: Estate Planning; Family Business; Family and Family Relationships; Management Succession; Family Ownership; Manufacturing Industry; Financial Services Industry; Education Industry; Fashion Industry

Find at Harvard

April 2020 (Revised January 2021)
Module Note

Crafting Strategy

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Ashish Nanda and Jan Rivkin

This note provides an introduction to crafting strategy following an options-led approach. It provides an overview of scenario planning, and it prepares students to describe firm strategy with succinct strategy statements. The note also briefly outlines other... View Details

Keywords: Strategy Formulation; Options; Scenario Planning; Scenarios; Strategy Definition; Strategy; Strategic Planning

March 2021
Case

P.F. Chang's

By: Ashish Nanda, Nitin Nohria and Margaret Cross

Excited yet apprehensive after being named CEO of P.F. Chang’s beginning July 1st, 2020, Damola Adamolekun was well aware of the extraordinary challenges facing the firm. The closure of businesses deemed “nonessential” owing to the COVID-19 pandemic had devastated the... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants; COVID-19 Pandemic; Scenario Planning; Scenarios; Health Pandemics; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy

November 2005 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Strategic Planning at United Parcel Service

By: David A. Garvin and Lynne Levesque

In March 2005, CEO Michael Eskew has asked the Corporate Strategy Group to recommend changes to the strategic process to ensure it allows United Parcel Service (UPS) to continue to transform itself over the next several years. Describes the evolution of UPS's strategic... View Details

Keywords: Change; Decisions; Globalization; Growth and Development Strategy; Managerial Roles; Strategic Planning; Creativity; Corporate Strategy

10 Oct 2012
News

Building Innovation into the Business Plan

01 Jun 2011
News

The Best-Laid Plans

glorious failure. I figured we would either turn it into a national chain or drive it into the ground trying,” he reflects. “In reality, the most likely scenario is the one that played out. “The original business View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; contests; Health, Social Assistance; Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services; Professional Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

06 Sep 2004
Research & Ideas

The Innovator’s Battle Plan

interesting scenarios occur when there are asymmetries—important differences of motivation or skills. Asymmetries of motivation occur when one firm wants to do something that another firm specifically does not want to do. Asymmetries of... View Details

Keywords: by Clayton M. Christensen, Scott D. Anthony & Erik A. Roth

January 2014 (Revised March 2014)
Teaching Note

The LEGO Group: Envisioning Risks in Asia (A) and (B)

By: Anette Mikes

Keywords: Enterprise Risk Management; LEGO; LEGO Group; Scenario Planning; Risk Management

18 Aug 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Business Plan Contest: 15 Years of Building Better Entrepreneurs

the Aldrich classrooms on the Harvard Business School campus where other people's ventures are the usual topic of discussion. Judges—a mix of angel investors, VCs, serial entrepreneurs, and industry executives—score the plans on criteria... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Education

Web

Leadership Execution and Action Planning (LEAP) - Course Catalog

architecture. Scaling a business, particularly into new geographical markets or product categories, involves addressing cultural, administrative, and economic tradeoffs. Successful leadership in these scenarios requires managers who are... View Details

September 2021 (Revised March 2024)
Case

Tesla in 2023: 'Electrified' Competition

By: Eric Van den Steen, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Karen Elterman

Over its 17 years in existence, Tesla had redefined people’s view of electric cars, and in 2020, the company saw its stock rise by more than 700% to became the most valuable carmaker in the world. In December 2020, Tesla celebrated its fifth consecutive quarter of... View Details

Keywords: Barrier To Entry; Competitive Advantage; Innovation; Tesla; Automotive Industry; Sustainable Competitive Advantage; Values; Vision; Learning By Doing; Economies Of Scale; Electric Vehicle; Scenario Planning; Batteries; Competitive Strategy; Product Positioning; Profit; Competition; Industry Growth; Auto Industry

December 2013 (Revised March 2014)
Supplement

The LEGO Group: Envisioning Risks in Asia (B)

By: Anette Mikes and Amram Migdal

This brief follow-up complements the case on The LEGO Group: Stepping Up in Asia (9-113-054), and discusses the aftermath of the scenario planning session, in which LEGO managers contemplated the risks of their new Asian strategy. The scenario planning exercise played... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Global Strategy; Planning; Retail Industry; Asia

November 2004 (Revised June 2006)
Case

Hala Madrid: Managing Real Madrid Club de Futbol, the Team of the Century

Florentino Perez, the president of Real Madrid, a leading European soccer team, is preparing for a press conference in which he will be asked about his plans for the coming season. Economic success and some sports mishaps during the prior season represent the scenario... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Strategic Planning; Value Creation; Risk Management; System; Budgets and Budgeting; Sports Industry; Spain

April 1991 (Revised April 1993)
Background Note

Strategic Response to Uncertainty

Managers often ignore uncertainty and plan as if the world were certain. Frequently, strategy is formulated based on an extrapolation of current trends into the future, or the best guess scenario of the manager involved. This note discusses four approaches to shaping... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management

August 1997 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Harassment at Work?

By: Lynn S. Paine and Dale Coxe

Presents three scenarios involving behavior that could arguably be called sexual harassment. The first scenario is set in a medical supply company in an unnamed emerging market region. The second is set in a New York-based securities firm. The third is set in a U.S.... View Details

Keywords: Working Conditions; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Ethics; Moral Sensibility; Groups and Teams; Crime and Corruption; Attitudes; Behavior; Labor and Management Relations; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Financial Services Industry; New York (city, NY); United States

January 2002
Case

Teledesic

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Daniel J. Green and Douglas R Rogers

Management of a satellite-delivered broadband data communications company sets strategy in an uncertain environment, using Michael Porter's scenario planning tools to assess likely outcomes and determine which actions to take. This case draws a distinction between... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business or Company Management; Infrastructure; Strategic Planning; Risk and Uncertainty; Strategy; Internet; Information Technology Industry