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Show Results For
-
All HBS Web
(3,724)
- People (4)
- News (698)
- Research (2,387)
- Events (18)
- Multimedia (37)
- Faculty Publications (1,458)
- 2013
- Chapter
Market Imperfections and Sustainable Competitive Advantage
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Dennis Yao
This chapter reviews the main theories in strategic management that seek to explain persistent differences in profitability across companies. We argue that these differences are ultimately explained by market imperfections. Studying differences in financial performance...
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Keywords:
Strategic Management;
Market Imperfections;
Five Forces Framework;
Competitive Advantage;
Profit
Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, and Dennis Yao. "Market Imperfections and Sustainable Competitive Advantage." Chap. 12 in Oxford Handbook of Managerial Economics, by Christopher R. Thomas and William F. Shughart II, 262–277. Oxford University Press, 2013.
- December 2016 (Revised May 2018)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 15: Using the Levers of Control to Implement Strategy
By: Robert Simons
This module reading pulls together key concepts and techniques from the Strategy Execution series into an integrated model—the levers of control. The four levers are: (1) belief systems, (2) boundary systems, (3) diagnostic control systems, and (4) interactive control...
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Keywords:
Management Control Systems;
Implementing Strategy;
Execution;
Levers Of Control;
Balancing Innovation And Control;
Managing Growing Businesses;
Turn Around Management;
Human Behavior;
Organizational Life Cycle;
Strategy;
Management Systems;
Performance;
Measurement and Metrics;
Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques;
Behavior
Simons, Robert. "Strategy Execution Module 15: Using the Levers of Control to Implement Strategy." Harvard Business School Module Note 117-115, December 2016. (Revised May 2018.)
- May 2017
- Teaching Note
Promontory, Inc. (Brief Case)
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Amy Handlin
Teaching Note for HBS No. 917-535. The Promontory teaching note covers a) how and why buying processes in Promontory’s market generate the array of selling approaches illustrated in the case; b) the impact of incremental sales increases on the firm’s cost structure and...
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- October 2009
- Case
Don Soderquist: Negotiating the Wal-Mart-P&G Relationship (A)
By: James K. Sebenius and Ellen Knebel
This case describes the negotiations and strategic choices of Don Soderquist, who as Chief Operating Officer of Wal-Mart, helped to forge a major partnership with P&G in the 1980s and 1990s. The case chronicles the challenging barriers to success along with several of...
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- November 10, 2022
- Article
5 Ways Startups Can Prepare for a Recession
By: Lou Shipley
Startups face unique challenges during economic downturns. They typically aren’t yet profitable and so are reliant on outside funding—and therefore are especially exposed when macroeconomic conditions change. To make it through a recession, startup CEOs should hit the...
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Keywords:
Entrepreneurship;
Organizational Culture;
Sales;
Customer Focus and Relationships;
Decisions;
Inflation and Deflation;
Financial Crisis;
Employee Relationship Management;
Business Startups;
Credit
Shipley, Lou. "5 Ways Startups Can Prepare for a Recession." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (November 10, 2022).
- May 2007 (Revised March 2008)
- Background Note
Basic Techniques for the Analysis of Customer Information Using Excel 2003: A Step-by-Step Approach
By: Francisco de Asis Martinez-Jerez
Provides a set of easy, step-by-step guides for some analytical techniques that are useful in the analysis of cases discussed in the course "Competing and Winning Through Customer Information (CWCI)". The instructions that follow use datasets from three of the cases in...
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Martinez-Jerez, Francisco de Asis. "Basic Techniques for the Analysis of Customer Information Using Excel 2003: A Step-by-Step Approach." Harvard Business School Background Note 107-073, May 2007. (Revised March 2008.)
- October 2000 (Revised March 2004)
- Case
Software Associates
By: Robert S. Kaplan
The president of a small consulting firm has just seen his second-quarter profit and loss statement, showing an increase in revenues but a substantial decline in profits. He asks his chief financial officer to explain the results. The CFO works hard to accumulate...
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Keywords:
Budgets and Budgeting;
Cost;
Financial Statements;
Production;
Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques;
Information Technology Industry;
Consulting Industry
Kaplan, Robert S. "Software Associates." Harvard Business School Case 101-038, October 2000. (Revised March 2004.)
- Fall 2016
- Article
How Do Customers Respond to Increased Service Quality Competition?
When does increased service quality competition lead to customer defection, and which customers are most likely to defect? Our empirical analysis of 82,235 customers exploits the varying competitive dynamics in 644 geographically isolated markets in which a nationwide...
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Keywords:
Service Quality Competition;
Retail Banks;
Empirical Operations;
Retention;
Service Operations;
Quality;
Competition;
Banking Industry;
United States
Buell, Ryan W., Dennis Campbell, and Frances X. Frei. "How Do Customers Respond to Increased Service Quality Competition?" Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 18, no. 4 (Fall 2016): 585–607.
- March 2015
- Article
Business Model Evaluation: Quantifying Walmart's Sources of Advantage
By: Humberto Brea-Solís, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Emili Grifell-Tatjé
We develop an analytical framework on the basis of the economics of business performance to provide quantitative insight into the link between a firm's business model choices and its profit consequences. The method is applied to Walmart by building a qualitative...
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Keywords:
Business Models;
Quantitative Analysis;
Walmart;
Production Theory;
Business Model;
Competitive Advantage;
Profit
Brea-Solís, Humberto, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, and Emili Grifell-Tatjé. "Business Model Evaluation: Quantifying Walmart's Sources of Advantage." Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 9, no. 1 (March 2015): 12–33.
- March 2020
- Case
Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community
By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery
Thingtesting, a brand discovery and testing digital community devoted to uncovering and exploring direct-to-consumer brands, had just received seed funding and was contemplating a second year of growth. The new year brought many challenges, as founder Jenny Gyllander...
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Keywords:
Influencer Marketing;
Monetization;
Female Ceo;
Female Entrepreneur;
Female Protagonist;
Influencers;
Influencer;
Direct-to-consumer;
Marketing;
Brands and Branding;
Marketing Strategy;
Venture Capital;
Entrepreneurship;
Marketing Communications;
Consumer Products Industry;
Financial Services Industry;
Advertising Industry;
London;
United Kingdom;
United States;
Europe;
North America
Israeli, Ayelet, and Jill Avery. "Thingtesting: Launching a Brand Discovery and Testing Digital Community." Harvard Business School Case 520-086, March 2020.
- 09 Dec 2014
- First Look
First Look: December 9
emissions cap-and-trade regulation on a firm's technology choice and capacity decisions. We show that emissions price uncertainty under cap-and-trade results in greater expected profit than a constant emissions price under an emissions...
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Keywords:
Sean Silverthorne
- June 2009 (Revised February 2010)
- Case
Cirque du Soleil -- The High-Wire Act of Building Sustainable Partnerships
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Maxime Aucoin
The case describes the history and business model of Cirque du Soleil (CdS). The case allows for a rich discussion and analysis of Cirque du Soleil's business model with an emphasis on how it interacts with that of MGM Mirage. Le Cirque and MGM's business models...
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Keywords:
Business Model;
Investment;
Profit;
Globalized Markets and Industries;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Market Entry and Exit;
Partners and Partnerships;
Trust;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry
Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, and Maxime Aucoin. "Cirque du Soleil -- The High-Wire Act of Building Sustainable Partnerships." Harvard Business School Case 709-411, June 2009. (Revised February 2010.)
- March 2011
- Case
MorphoSys AG: The Evolution of a Biotechnology Business Model
By: Gary P. Pisano, Ryan Johnson and Carin-Isabel Knoop
In the biotech world, the 18-year-old Munich-based company MorphoSys was a rarity: it was profitable. The company achieved this profitability not by developing and selling its own drugs, but by licensing access to its proprietary library of human antibodies. Recently,...
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Keywords:
Business Model;
Profit;
Intellectual Property;
Rights;
Risk Management;
Digital Platforms;
Product Development;
Business and Shareholder Relations;
Vertical Integration;
Biotechnology Industry;
Munich
Pisano, Gary P., Ryan Johnson, and Carin-Isabel Knoop. "MorphoSys AG: The Evolution of a Biotechnology Business Model." Harvard Business School Case 611-046, March 2011.
- 2003
- Case
Capston-White's Document Management and Production Services
By: Vijay Govindarajan, Chris Trimble and Julie Lang
The development of multi-function devices that could copy, print, fax, and scan created a convergence in the markets for these devices. Copiers and printers had previously been purchased and managed in very different manners by large organizations. Facing an uncertain...
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Govindarajan, Vijay, Chris Trimble, and Julie Lang. "Capston-White's Document Management and Production Services." 2003. (Case No. 2-0017.)
- September 1998 (Revised July 1999)
- Case
Spyder Active Sports, Inc. and CHB Capital Partners (A)
By: John A. Davis, Louis B. Barnes and Peter K. Botticelli
After establishing a small but profitable skiwear business, an entrepreneur decides to sell a minority stake in the firm to outside investors. His goal is to acquire the capital needed to grow the business, even though this will entail a substantial transformation of...
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Keywords:
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Private Equity;
Family Business;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Entrepreneurship;
Apparel and Accessories Industry;
Sports Industry
Davis, John A., Louis B. Barnes, and Peter K. Botticelli. "Spyder Active Sports, Inc. and CHB Capital Partners (A)." Harvard Business School Case 899-084, September 1998. (Revised July 1999.)
- June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
- Case
Nestlé SA: Nutrition, Health and Wellness Strategy
By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson
In 1997 Nestlé committed to a strategic vision of becoming the leading nutrition, health and wellness (NHW) company in the world. Over the next 13 years, the NHW strategy guided strategic decisions and choices at Nestlé including merger and acquisition choices,...
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Keywords:
Nutrition;
Health;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Goals and Objectives;
Value Creation;
Food and Beverage Industry
Henderson, Rebecca M., and Ryan Johnson. "Nestlé SA: Nutrition, Health and Wellness Strategy." Harvard Business School Case 311-119, June 2011. (Revised May 2012.)
- October 2001 (Revised November 2005)
- Case
eBay, Inc.: Stock Option Plans (A)
The footnote disclosure for eBay, Inc. in 2000 indicates that if the company had accounted for employee stock options under the fair value method, its reported profit of $48 million would have been a loss of $91 million. The protagonist is a prospective member of the...
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Bradshaw, Mark T. "eBay, Inc.: Stock Option Plans (A)." Harvard Business School Case 102-038, October 2001. (Revised November 2005.)
- August 2016 (Revised December 2016)
- Module Note
Strategy Execution Module 2: Building a Successful Strategy
By: Robert Simons
This module reading describes the basics of building a successful strategy. Topics in this module include a discussion of the distinction between corporate and business strategy; how to conduct a SWOT analysis of market dynamics and internal capabilities; the use of...
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Keywords:
Management Control Systems;
Implementing Strategy;
Strategy Execution;
Business Strategy;
Five Forces;
Distinctive Capabilities;
Emergent Strategy;
Mission Statements;
Strategy;
SWOT Analysis;
Competitive Advantage
Simons, Robert. "Strategy Execution Module 2: Building a Successful Strategy." Harvard Business School Module Note 117-102, August 2016. (Revised December 2016.)
- April 1994 (Revised October 2002)
- Case
Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition 1980-1986
Describes the environmental, organizational, and information technology context in the late 1970s that led to the development of the initial vision for change and the actions taken to implement that vision. The case ends with the abrupt departure of the CEO as profits...
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Keywords:
Transition;
Organizational Change and Adaptation;
Information Technology;
Management Succession;
Management Teams;
Business Strategy;
Food and Beverage Industry
Applegate, Lynda M. "Frito-Lay, Inc.: A Strategic Transition 1980-1986." Harvard Business School Case 194-107, April 1994. (Revised October 2002.)