-
How to Penetrate the US Market
Marketing Digital ArticleAccounting for almost 30% of world GDP, the United States is the world’s largest and most demanding market for almost everything from oil to microprocessors to premium coffee. Companies around the world aspire to do business in the US, or at least with US companies in their home markets. By doing so, they learn much […] -
Executive Incentives vs. Corporate Growth
Boards Magazine ArticleBonuses and other forms of incentive compensation are an effective motivator of executives to achieve ever higher earnings per share. The drive to produce short-term results, however, often influences management to forgo investment in capital equipment and R&D that would benefit the corporation several years hence even more than improved earnings next year would. The […] -
Managing Demographic Risk
Economics Magazine ArticleAn aging workforce will compel businesses to change how they operate and could even threaten some companies’ viability. How vulnerable is your business? -
Why Network Neutrality Is Good for Business
Web-based technologies Digital ArticleEditor’s note: For an opposing viewpoint on this topic, see Robert E. Litan’s and Hal J. Singer’s entry “Why Business Should Oppose Net Neutrality.” In business school, where I teach, students are often predisposed to see legal concepts as impenetrable and foreign. I watch the lightbulbs go on as they see that Microsoft’s antitrust woes, […] -
Diversification via Acquisition: Creating Value
Mergers and acquisitions Magazine ArticleDuring the past 25 years an increasing proportion of U.S. companies have seen wisdom in pursuing a strategy of diversification. Between 1950 and 1970, for example, single-business companies comprising the Fortune “500” declined from 30% to 8% of the total. Acquisition has become a standard approach to diversification. In recent years the productivity of capital […] -
Startups, It's Time to Think Like Camels - Not Unicorns
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Digital ArticleThree strategies for surviving in a tough environment. -
The Toxic Handler: Organizational Hero—and Casualty
Organizational culture Magazine ArticleWhen companies cause emotional pain through nasty bosses, layoffs, and change, a certain breed of “healing” manager steps in to keep the gears moving. They are toxic handlers—unsung corporate heroes who save the day, but often pay a high price. -
The Age of Customer Capitalism
Leadership & Managing People Magazine ArticleModern capitalism can be broken down into two major eras. The first, managerial capitalism, began in 1932 and was defined by the then radical notion that... -
Live Life as an Experiment
Managing yourself Digital ArticleIt was an experiment. I was returning an item to the store from which I had bought it. The item was well within the return period, but there would be a 20% restocking fee. Could I evade that fee? What would I have to do or say to persuade them not to charge it to […] -
The Risky Business of Diversification
Innovation Magazine ArticleOn the basis of a sample from the top 200 of the Fortune “500” and data from the PIMS (Profit Impact of Market Strategies) project, this author gives some guidelines for established companies on what to expect from new ventures. He points out that it takes an average of 10 to 12 years before the […] -
You Need an Innovation Strategy
Competitive strategy Magazine ArticleIt’s the only way to make sound trade-off decisions and choose the right practices. -
The Balanced Scorecard: Measures That Drive Performance
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleExecutives know that a company's measurement systems strongly affect employee behaviors. But the traditional financial performance measures that worked... -
“Actually,” She Said, “He Works for Me.”
Consumer behavior Digital ArticleSurprised by a gender stereotype? React calmly, directly, and move on. -
Groupon Doomed by Too Much of a Good Thing
Venture capital Digital Article“Alright, you caught us. We’re actually not making any money. In fact, we are really losing a lot of money.” This is the essence of Groupon’s declaration last week that it will remove the controversial accounting metric called Adjusted Consolidated Segment Operating Income (ACSOI) from its financial statements. ACSOI essentially measures Groupon’s profits before subtracting […] -
Go Downstream: The New Profit Imperative in Manufacturing
Business models Magazine ArticleNow that providing services is more lucrative than making products, the old foundations for success in manufacturing are crumbling. Smart manufacturers are creating new business models to capture profits at the customer’s end of the value chain. -
Companyism and Do More Better
Competitive strategy Magazine ArticleImagine yourself solving an arithmetic problem with the top managers of a leading Japanese automobile company. As a group, Japanese producers already export 2.3 million passenger vehicles a year to the United States. They are also building capacity for an additional 2.5 million vehicles in North America. You remind your friends across the table that […] -
When the Invincible Become "Vincible"
Global Business Digital ArticleThis post is part of HBR's special issue on failure. Gary Wendt, CEO of GE Capital during its heyday, once said to me that the secret of his continuing... -
New Books from the Press in September (Let Us Know What You Think!)
Decision making and problem solving Digital ArticleAs a matter of policy, we don’t review our own books, but we hope you will. Keep an eye out for the following Press titles in September, and let us know what you think of them in the comments. Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business by Josh Bernoff and Ted […] -
The Strategy That Will Fix Health Care
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleIn health care, the days of business as usual are over. Around the world, every health care system is struggling with rising costs and uneven quality,... -
The Right Way to Rally Your Troops
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleLessons from three CEOs facing crises.
-
Ricky Martin: The Role of Reputation in a Celebrity's Career
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Globally acclaimed singer, actor, author, and Grammy Award winner Ricky Martin "decided [on March 29, 2010] to put an end to the hell that was going on... -
Washington Mutual (A): A Very Old Bank Can Grow-A Lot!
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Describes the ways in which Washington Mutual preserved and reinforced its brand through two phases of expansion, the first based on acquisition and the... -
Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In August 2013, an intern at Slatestone Group, an Arizona-based boutique investment bank, was working on a targeted sell-side deal. Paterson Publishing,... -
MIT Mystery Hunt: The Answer is Secondary
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The MIT Mystery Hunt is an annual puzzle-based scavenger hunt at MIT. It is run every year by a different team, and every year is slightly different as... -
The Circle Chart: A Negotiation Framework for Problem-Solving in Tough Communication Environments
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details The Circle Chart is a simple framework that offers users a system to think through complex, multi-party or cross-cultural negotiations, as well as written... -
United Airlines 232
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details The cases are used to introduce the concept of collective responsibility and leadership in team situations by applying the concept of Crew Resource Management... -
Organizational Reinvention
Leadership & Managing People Case Study8.95View Details This note is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of leading innovation in established organizations. Reinvention is a process whereby... -
Alaska Airlines: Navigating Change
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details Alaska Airlines has recently recovered from a period of operational instability, yet its executives worry the airline is draining its reserves of customer... -
Huntington Hospital (B): Empowering Staff
Leadership & Managing People Case Study5.00View Details The B case begins with the consultants' proposal to Kim Markey, executive director of revenue cycle at Huntington Hospital (HH). The proposal is untraditional... -
State Bank of India: Transforming a State Owned Giant
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details February 2011: O.P. Bhatt reflected contentedly on his five-year term as Chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), India's largest commercial bank. He had... -
The Elcer Products Transaction: Confidential Information for US Industrial ElectroCeramics (US-IND)
Strategy & Execution Case Study8.95View Details In a six-party negotiation exercise, the TNDA Corp. plans to sell the Elcer Products Division to one of four potential buyers (industrial, financial,... -
Polyphonic HMI: Mixing Music and Math
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details In 2003, Mike McCready, CEO of Barcelona-based Polyphonic HMI, was preparing to launch an artificial intelligence tool that could create significant value... -
Crestor
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details AstraZeneca is preparing for the launch of Crestor, the company's first entrant in the enormous and fast-growing statin category. The team responsible... -
Brannigan Foods: Strategic Marketing Planning
Sales & Marketing Case Study8.95View Details The soup division at Brannigan Foods contributes over 40% of the firm's revenue. The general manager is concerned that the soup industry is declining... -
Alltech
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Alltech was a Lexington, Kentucky-based producer of supplements for animal feed, with revenues of over $2 billion (projected to reach $3 billion in 2018),... -
Black & Decker Corp. (C): "Operation Sudden Impact" Results--1992-94
Sales & Marketing Case Study5.00View Details Describes the initial results of Black & Decker's strategy in the United States. -
HKT eSmartHealth
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Hong Kong Telecommunications Limited (HKT) is a member firm of the PCCW conglomerate and Hong Kong's largest telecommunications company. With its core... -
Project Impact: The Affordable Hearing Aid Project
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Introduces David Green, a social entrepreneur with the mission of making advanced medical technology affordable and available to those in developing countries.... -
Sales Force Management at Nobel Ilac
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Nobel Ilac was a Turkish generic pharmaceutical company marketing more than 100 drugs in 20 countries and, as of 2017, had over 2,500 employees worldwide.... -
Global Blue Hydros: Business Model Evolution
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details In 2004, Carlos Fernando Mayorga and a partner founded a company to "reinvent a car washing system in Colombia," by designing and manufacturing a machine...
-
Why Extraordinary People Create Their "Category of One"
And why they play to stay in the game. -
How to Make Decisions Amid Chaos (HBR Special Issue)
Leadership & Managing People Magazine Issue19.95View Details Harvard Business Review Special Issues are timely, single-theme collections of HBR articles written by some of the world's leading management scholars... -
How to Penetrate the US Market
Marketing Digital ArticleAccounting for almost 30% of world GDP, the United States is the world’s largest and most demanding market for almost everything from oil to microprocessors to premium coffee. Companies around the world aspire to do business in the US, or at least with US companies in their home markets. By doing so, they learn much […] -
Ricky Martin: The Role of Reputation in a Celebrity's Career
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Globally acclaimed singer, actor, author, and Grammy Award winner Ricky Martin "decided [on March 29, 2010] to put an end to the hell that was going on... -
Executive Incentives vs. Corporate Growth
Boards Magazine ArticleBonuses and other forms of incentive compensation are an effective motivator of executives to achieve ever higher earnings per share. The drive to produce short-term results, however, often influences management to forgo investment in capital equipment and R&D that would benefit the corporation several years hence even more than improved earnings next year would. The […] -
Washington Mutual (A): A Very Old Bank Can Grow-A Lot!
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Describes the ways in which Washington Mutual preserved and reinforced its brand through two phases of expansion, the first based on acquisition and the... -
Managing Demographic Risk
Economics Magazine ArticleAn aging workforce will compel businesses to change how they operate and could even threaten some companies’ viability. How vulnerable is your business? -
Why Network Neutrality Is Good for Business
Web-based technologies Digital ArticleEditor’s note: For an opposing viewpoint on this topic, see Robert E. Litan’s and Hal J. Singer’s entry “Why Business Should Oppose Net Neutrality.” In business school, where I teach, students are often predisposed to see legal concepts as impenetrable and foreign. I watch the lightbulbs go on as they see that Microsoft’s antitrust woes, […] -
Diversification via Acquisition: Creating Value
Mergers and acquisitions Magazine ArticleDuring the past 25 years an increasing proportion of U.S. companies have seen wisdom in pursuing a strategy of diversification. Between 1950 and 1970, for example, single-business companies comprising the Fortune “500” declined from 30% to 8% of the total. Acquisition has become a standard approach to diversification. In recent years the productivity of capital […] -
Bluntly Media: A Private Company Valuation
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In August 2013, an intern at Slatestone Group, an Arizona-based boutique investment bank, was working on a targeted sell-side deal. Paterson Publishing,...