Strategy

- January 2025
- Case
Transforming Talent at Teach For Taiwan

By: Juan Alcácer and Chi Kuan
- January 2025
- Case
Transforming Talent at Teach For Taiwan

By: Juan Alcácer and Chi Kuan
- 2025
- Working Paper
CEO-Firm Matches and Productivity in 42 Countries

By: Amanda Dahlstrand, Dávid László, Helena Schweiger, Oriana Bandiera, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

Firms are key to economic development, and CEOs are key to firm productivity. Are firms in countries at varying stages of development led by the right CEOs, and if not, why? We develop a parsimonious measure of CEO time use that allows us to differentiate CEOs into “leaders” and “managers” in a survey of 4,800 manufacturing firms across 42 countries, with income per capita ranging from USD 4,000 to 45,000. We find that poorer countries have fewer leaders and relate this to training opportunities. Even when suitable leaders are available, they often do not lead the firms that would benefit the most, resulting in mismatches that can cause up to a 20% loss in productivity for the mismatched firms. The findings imply that policies that address the causes of mismatch could significantly enhance growth without additional resources. JEL codes: J24, M12, O47
- 2025
- Working Paper
CEO-Firm Matches and Productivity in 42 Countries

By: Amanda Dahlstrand, Dávid László, Helena Schweiger, Oriana Bandiera, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

Firms are key to economic development, and CEOs are key to firm productivity. Are firms in countries at varying stages of development led by the right CEOs, and if not, why? We develop a parsimonious measure of CEO time use that allows us to differentiate CEOs into “leaders” and “managers” in a survey of 4,800 manufacturing firms across 42...
- January 2025
- Case
Less Is More: Will Aldi's Expansion Plans Pay Off in a Crowded U.S. Grocery Market?

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

In 2024, the discount grocery retailer Aldi announced bold U.S. expansion plans. Within five years, the German company would increase its store count by 30% to reach 3,200+ stores across the United States and approach becoming the fifth largest grocery retailer in the country. Aldi had pioneered a unique business model underpinned by frugality, efficiency, and exacting standards to deliver low prices for customers. Several times the chain had reinvented its appeal. Two network-wide renovations a decade apart had drawn an increasingly broad consumer base, while the company had recently shifted its product mix to incorporate 40% more fresh food to address demand for healthy categories. As a lifelong employee, CEO Jason Hart had seen the company's U.S. foothold grow sixfold over three decades to reach an estimated $40 billion in revenue. Yet concerned with recent changes to retailing, Hart faced intense competition from other grocery chains with their own private label products, like Walmart, and online merchants, like Amazon. How should Aldi’s business model, designed for simplicity and with minimal staffing, respond to the competition? Should it offer home delivery? In-store pickup of preordered items? Further cut staff costs by fully switching to self-checkout? The success of the planned expansion might depend on getting such choices correct.
- January 2025
- Case
Less Is More: Will Aldi's Expansion Plans Pay Off in a Crowded U.S. Grocery Market?

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

In 2024, the discount grocery retailer Aldi announced bold U.S. expansion plans. Within five years, the German company would increase its store count by 30% to reach 3,200+ stores across the United States and approach becoming the fifth largest grocery retailer in the country. Aldi had pioneered a unique business model underpinned by frugality,...

About the Unit

The Strategy unit studies firms as competitors in an economic landscape. Key issues include: the development and effectiveness of firm strategy at both a business and corporate level; the analysis of the competitive environment; and the sustainability of strategy over time.

Our research, course development, and teaching draws on multiple disciplines, including economics, sociology, and political science, and focuses on both domestic and global competition. The objective of the work is to generate findings and develop concepts that will help managers improve their strategic decisions while advancing the state of knowledge in the academic study of strategy and related disciplines.

Recent Publications

Transforming Talent at Teach For Taiwan

By: Juan Alcácer and Chi Kuan

January 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

Keywords: Education; Teaching; Education Industry; Taiwan

Citation

Educators

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CEO-Firm Matches and Productivity in 42 Countries

By: Amanda Dahlstrand, Dávid László, Helena Schweiger, Oriana Bandiera, Andrea Prat and Raffaella Sadun

2025 |
Working Paper |
Faculty Research

Firms are key to economic development, and CEOs are key to firm productivity. Are firms in countries at varying stages of development led by the right CEOs, and if not, why? We develop a parsimonious measure of CEO time use that allows us to differentiate CEOs into “leaders” and “managers” in a survey of 4,800 manufacturing firms across 42 countries, with income per capita ranging from USD 4,000 to 45,000. We find that poorer countries have fewer leaders and relate this to training opportunities. Even when suitable leaders are available, they often do not lead the firms that would benefit the most, resulting in mismatches that can cause up to a 20% loss in productivity for the mismatched firms. The findings imply that policies that address the causes of mismatch could significantly enhance growth without additional resources. JEL codes: J24, M12, O47

Citation

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Less Is More: Will Aldi's Expansion Plans Pay Off in a Crowded U.S. Grocery Market?

By: David Collis and Haisley Wert

January 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

In 2024, the discount grocery retailer Aldi announced bold U.S. expansion plans. Within five years, the German company would increase its store count by 30% to reach 3,200+ stores across the United States and approach becoming the fifth largest grocery retailer in the country. Aldi had pioneered a unique business model underpinned by frugality, efficiency, and exacting standards to deliver low prices for customers. Several times the chain had reinvented its appeal. Two network-wide renovations a decade apart had drawn an increasingly broad consumer base, while the company had recently shifted its product mix to incorporate 40% more fresh food to address demand for healthy categories. As a lifelong employee, CEO Jason Hart had seen the company's U.S. foothold grow sixfold over three decades to reach an estimated $40 billion in revenue. Yet concerned with recent changes to retailing, Hart faced intense competition from other grocery chains with their own private label products, like Walmart, and online merchants, like Amazon. How should Aldi’s business model, designed for simplicity and with minimal staffing, respond to the competition? Should it offer home delivery? In-store pickup of preordered items? Further cut staff costs by fully switching to self-checkout? The success of the planned expansion might depend on getting such choices correct.

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Scope; Grocery; Strategy; United States

Citation

Educators

A Winning Strategy (B): Innovation in Olympic Speed Skating

By: Rebecca Karp, Maria Roche, Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon and Tom Quinn

January 2025 |
Supplement |
Faculty Research

This case describes the aftermath of decisions made by two innovators in the Olympic sport of speed skating: the U.S. Men’s team, which devised a new approach to the team pursuit event; and Nils van der Poel, a Swedish skater who created a new training plan that defied conventional wisdom. The U.S. Men’s Team decided to race with the new technique in competitions leading up to the 2022 Winter Olympics, which allowed other teams to imitate the technique; Norway and the Russian Olympic Committee both surpassed them on the medal stand. Van der Poel released a detailed account of his training plan after earning gold and setting world records in both his events.

Keywords: Sports; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Sports Industry; United States; Sweden; Netherlands; Norway

Citation

A Winning Strategy (A): Innovation in Olympic Speed Skating

By: Rebecca Karp, Maria Roche, Maisie Wiltshire-Gordon and Tom Quinn

January 2025 |
Case |
Faculty Research

This case describes two innovators in the Olympic sport of speed skating: the U.S. Men’s team, which devised a new approach to the team pursuit event following their disappointing performance in the 2018 Winter Olympics; and Nils van der Poel, a Swedish skater who responded to his own disappointing showing in 2018 with a new training plan that defied conventional wisdom. Both van der Poel and the U.S. Men’s Team saw promising initial results from their innovations. But they faced a decision: whether to reveal their new techniques. The U.S. Team’s strategy was easily imitated if competitors witnessed it in a race, but it was a risk not to test it in competition before the Olympics. If van der Poel shared his training plan, other athletes might use it to surpass him, but it also could enrich the sport as a whole. Should they share their techniques, and if so, when?

Keywords: Sports; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Sports Industry; United States; Sweden; Netherlands; Norway

Citation

Educators

KLog.co – Charting the Course of its Future

By: Juan Alcacer, Jorge Tirado and Thomas Occhipinti

December 2024 |
Case |
Faculty Research

Keywords: Freighting; Logistics; Trade; Latin America; Chile

Citation

Educators

Tencent Games

By: Rebecca Karp, Billy Chan and Nancy Hua Dai

December 2024 |
Case |
Faculty Research

For years, Tencent Games, a division of China’s largest internet company, had taken the lion’s share of revenue in the global gaming market with blockbuster titles such as “League of Legends” and “PUBG: Battlegrounds.” These games defined the game genres that they belonged to with unique, innovative gameplays, and Tencent Games was able to seek out and partner with the creators behind these games because of successful execution of its investment strategy. But the competitive landscape of the gaming industry had changed, and the company was at a crossroads deciding whether to pursue an opportunity in a new, unproven game genre.

Keywords: Decisions; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Video Game Industry; Europe; China

Citation

Educators

Combining for Unconventionality: When Resource Constraints May Promote Innovation Capabilities

By: Harsh Ketkar and Maria Roche

2024 |
Working Paper |
Faculty Research

The availability of financial resources significantly shapes firm innovation outcomes, especially for early-stage, innovation-focused technology startups. However, prior research has provided conflicting findings about this relationship: on the one hand, resource availability may boost innovation outcomes, but on the other hand, resource constraints may also do so. We hypothesize that the timing and size of resource availability in the early life stages of a startup may predict its propensity to generate more unique innovation compared to their competitors in terms of technological recombinations. Using a novel data set constructed from PitchBook and BuiltWith consisting of nearly 800,000 observations covering 11,853 firms founded and funded within 2010-2019, we find that early-stage startups that take longer to obtain first funding are more likely to use unique technological combinations to build their product after the funding event. However, startups that receive larger first funding experience a decline in uniqueness of their technology stack following the funding event. Thus, by focusing on timing and size of first funding, we offer a way to reconcile conflicting findings from prior literature.

Keywords: Startups; Technology Strategy; Novelty; Unconventionality; Resource Constraints; Business Startups; Technological Innovation; Entrepreneurial Finance

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