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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 […] -
Why Employees Are Afraid to Speak
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleIn a word--self-preservation. And they're just as afraid to share innovative ideas as to blow the whistle. -
Don't Integrate Your Acquisitions, Partner with Them
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleA takeover usually signals the demise of one of the two corporations involved in the tussle - no prizes for guessing which one. Breaking with this practice,... -
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 […] -
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 […] -
Lessons from Costco on Sustainable Growth
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleGrowing sustainably means doing the right thing for all your stakeholders. -
Managing the Risks of Generative AI
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleGuidelines for companies as they implement the next generation of AI tools. -
The Founder’s Dilemma
Entrepreneurs and founders Magazine ArticleMost entrepreneurs want to make a lot of money and to run the show. New research shows that it’s tough to do both. If you don’t figure out which matters more to you, you could end up being neither rich nor king. -
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. -
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 […] -
Case Study: Should an Emerging-Market Incubator Help U.S. Businesses?
Entrepreneurship Magazine ArticleA nonprofit that supports emerging-market entrepreneurs considers expanding to the U.S. -
“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 […] -
Only the CEO Can Make the Big Bets
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleThis blog was written with Jay Terwilliger and Mark Sebell, managing partners at Creative Realities, a Boston-based innovation management collaborative.... -
An Innovative Way to Prevent Adversarial Supplier Relationships
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleFormal relational contracts can keep suppliers and buyers from turning on each other when times get tough. -
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. -
How to Have an Honest Conversation About Your Business Strategy (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleToo many organizations descend into underperformance because they can't confront the painful gap between their strategy and the reality of their capabilities,... -
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 […]
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Fairfield Inn (A)
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details The Fairfield Inn, an economy hotel venture by the Marriott Corp., has developed a novel method for selecting and measuring the performance of its hotel... -
Jedi Bank
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Major Insurance Co. is a $15 billion insurance company that is an active, multi-family mortgage leader. This case is part of a negotiation game simulation... -
Wilderness Safaris: Impact Investing and Ecotourism Conservation in Africa
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details In 2018 the majority ownership of publicly owned Wilderness Safaris, the leading high-end ecotourism company in Africa with safari operations in eight... -
Sport-Fresh Gels: Choosing a Path
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The founder and president of Sport-Fresh was in the middle of a four-state road trip to meet his firm's U.S. distributors and sales representatives. ... -
Thomson Financial: Building the Customer-Centric Firm
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In December 1999 Thomson Financial (TF) began a radical transformation from forty-one divisions toward a more integrated firm organized around customer... -
Revamping the Drug Testing System in Punjab: Public Management Challenges in a Multi-Level Governance Framework
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details This case is about the various management challenges faced by Ali Jan, the Secretary of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (P&SHD) of the... -
Infosys' Relationship Scorecard: Measuring Transformational Partnerships
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details This case analyzes Infosys' innovative approach to measuring performance in client relations. Infosys' strategy is evolving to build transformational... -
GACL: Balancing Employee Satisfaction and Productivity
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details Gujarat Automotive Corporation Limited (GACL) was an Indian manufacturing company that made bus bodies. The firm was a subsidiary of Tata Motors Limited,... -
Serious Materials
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details Serious Materials is a start up who is moving into clean tech markets. The company's first product, QuietRock, originated the sound proofing drywall category... -
We've Got Rhythm! Medtronic Corp.'s Cardiac Pacemaker Business
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Illustrates how a new management team at Medtronic's Cardiac Pacemaker business reversed a steep decline in market share by adopting certain management... -
HP-Cisco Alliance (B)
Organizational Development Case Study5.00View Details Supplements the (A) case. -
Raffles Holdings Limited - Valuation of a Divestiture
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details In 2005, CapitaLand announced the sale of the hotel business under its subsidiary Raffles Holdings Limited for US$1.45 billion. This included the sale... -
Taco Bell--1994
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Taco Bell CEO, John Martin, boldly proclaims a growth goal of 200,000 points of access by the year 2000 (the company had approximately 3,600 in 1991).... -
ING Direct: Redefining Direct Banking
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details ING Direct's strategy of focusing on simple products, low cost operations, aggressive pricing and advertising, has enabled it to be highly successful... -
Farm to School of Park County: A Journey from Program to Nonprofit (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details This case series describes the startup of Farm to School of Park County, an emerging nonprofit organization in the US state of Montana. Case (A) describes... -
Avatar: Product Development in Creative Industries
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In 2007, Twentieth Century Fox faced a number of issues in the production of Avatar-a movie that was widely anticipated but had raised concerns in the... -
Transforming Tommy Hilfiger (B)
Strategy & Execution Case Study5.00View Details Supplement for Transforming Tommy Hilfiger (A), 714451. -
Wyoff and China-LuQuan: Negotiating a Joint Venture (B)
Global Business Case Study5.00View Details Through stalled joint venture talks between Pennsylvania-based Wyoff Corp. and Jinan-based China-LuQuan, strategic and cross-cultural negotiation challenges... -
Indian Overseas Bank: Triggering Change
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details Several experts had drawn attention to a peculiar problem existing in public-sector banks in India. There seemed to be two distinct generations: experienced...
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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 […] -
Manage Your Personal Finances with These Timeless Strategies
Communication AdviceYour work skills can come handy. -
Why Employees Are Afraid to Speak
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleIn a word--self-preservation. And they're just as afraid to share innovative ideas as to blow the whistle. -
Don't Integrate Your Acquisitions, Partner with Them
Strategy & Execution Magazine ArticleA takeover usually signals the demise of one of the two corporations involved in the tussle - no prizes for guessing which one. Breaking with this practice,... -
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 […] -
Fairfield Inn (A)
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details The Fairfield Inn, an economy hotel venture by the Marriott Corp., has developed a novel method for selecting and measuring the performance of its hotel... -
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 […] -
Jedi Bank
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Major Insurance Co. is a $15 billion insurance company that is an active, multi-family mortgage leader. This case is part of a negotiation game simulation... -
Wilderness Safaris: Impact Investing and Ecotourism Conservation in Africa
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details In 2018 the majority ownership of publicly owned Wilderness Safaris, the leading high-end ecotourism company in Africa with safari operations in eight...