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The Strategy Puzzle of Subscription-Based Dating Sites
Strategy & Execution ResearchIf they do their job too well, they might put themselves out of business. -
Are You Paying Too Much for That Acquisition?
Mergers and acquisitions Magazine ArticleThe key is knowing what your top price is—and having the discipline to stick to it. -
3 Smart Moves to Make with Your First Paycheck
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleAllocate your money in a way that pays you dividends in the long run. -
Staples’ New Run at Strategic Innovation
Innovation Digital ArticleWhat do you do when the very breakthrough strategy that once made your business uniquely powerful now threatens to turn you into a commodity? That’s the question stationery supplier Staples is facing. I still remember when Staples changed my life. Before its 1986 opening, buying stationery and office supplies was a time-consuming, inconvenient, and expensive […] -
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 […] -
Avoid Decisions, Avoid Life
Decision making and problem solving Digital ArticleI recently moved to a new home. As is typical, my wife and I spent many hours throwing out things that we no longer needed. Old shoes, clothes, electronics, mounds of papers, and old books. It is shocking how much junk one family can accumulate over the years. My 5 year old — our resident […] -
Toward a Theory of High Performance
Organizational culture Magazine ArticleWhat does it mean to be a high-performance company? Twenty-three years after In Search of Excellence, we’re still searching—and, just maybe, getting closer to answers. -
Anatomy of a Failed Launch — The Michelin PAX Tire
Innovation Digital ArticleIt is always instructive to examine how successful firms can go wrong, even in markets that they think they understand well. The market failure of the Michelin run-flat PAX tire illustrates the common mistake of failing to realize that even a groundbreaking product has to create a complete consumption chain. Broken links in the chain […] -
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 […] -
A List of Goals Is Not a Strategy
Strategy & Execution Digital ArticleThree steps for better strategic planning. -
How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy
Competitive strategy Magazine ArticleAwareness of these forces can help a company stake out a position in its industry that is less vulnerable to attack. -
Why the Apple Watch Is a Gift to the Swiss Watch Industry
Competitive strategy Digital ArticleIt’s the new Swatch. -
How Our Hotel Used Data to Make Our Laundry Service Glamorous
Customer service Digital ArticleA source of customer complaints became a source of revenue. -
Creating Breakthroughs at 3M
Innovation Magazine ArticleCompanies say they want breakthrough products, but most are far more adept at making incremental improvements to existing lines. A pioneering division at 3M successfully navigated a process that leads to breakthrough thinking. -
When Failure Isn’t an Option
Corporate governance Magazine ArticleTeams in all kinds of nonbusiness settings—from stock car racing to wedding planning to hostage negotiating—rely on flawless preparation and execution. Here’s how they consistently achieve the highest standards. -
Five Warning Signs Your Innovation Efforts Are Going Off the Rails
Innovation Digital ArticleFor the past ten years, my colleague, Chris Trimble, and I have studied one critical question: What are the best practices for executing an innovation initiative? Execution is the poor stepchild of the innovation challenge. People love to engage in the hunt for the big ideas, but, let’s face it, without execution capability, an idea […] -
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 […] -
When Lean Isn't Mean
Organizational Development Magazine ArticleThe trend is to downsize corporate headquarters--but sometimes a bigger HQ is better. -
Why Open Secrets Exist in Organizations
Leadership & Managing People ResearchAnd how managers can deal with them. -
Why I’m Glad I Got Fired
Managing yourself Digital ArticleThis post is part of HBR’s special issue on failure. I came to be an expert on collaboration because Carol Bartz both hired me and fired me — within 18 months. Here’s what happened. A friend of mine, Godfrey Sullivan, asked me to consider running the operations for the Americas unit at Autodesk. Only sheer […]
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Paradise Bakery & Cafe: The Challenges of Success
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Paradise Bakery and Café: The Challenges of Success traces the journey of entrepreneur Daniel Patterson from the founding of his bakery in Southern California,... -
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... -
NetApp 2017
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Netapp, a fast-growing innovator in the storage and data management market, had become successful both in the U.S. and around the world. By 2017 Netapp... -
Banco de Credito del Peru: Agente BCP - Strategy Channeling or Channel Segmentation?
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The case describes how a 120-year-old, domestic bank in Peru, focusing on A, B and C socio-economic segments and corporate banking, as well as boasting... -
Tegan c.c.c.
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Examines a struggling IT outsourcing project from the perspective of the customer--Tegan. It should be used in conjunction with Hrad Technika (9-609-039),... -
PFM Devices - Complex Project Initiatives
Organizational Development Case Study11.95View Details In early 2006, it was apparent that PFM Devices was experiencing a significant downturn in consolidated earning among its three international divisions.... -
Twiga Foods: Revolutionizing African Retail (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Twiga is a leading agricultural produce supplier in Kenya offering services to mostly informal retailers. Under Peter Njonjo, a co-founder and Twiga's... -
KITEA (A): Democratizing Furniture in Morocco
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The case opens in 2013 as Amine Benkirane, founder and CEO of the leading Moroccan furniture company KITEA, contemplates the loss his company has incurred... -
OptiGen
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details The case highlights the evolution of a wide-area-network (WAN) optimization company from its founding day to its potential IPO. It explores the various... -
REfficient: Preparing for Growth
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In early 2011, the founder of REfficient, an asset recovery service based in Hamilton, Ontario, was thinking about how she should manage the rapid growth... -
Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Molecular Insight has developed a novel biopharmaceutical to detect heart attacks. The company's unique approach to intellectual property protection uses... -
Banc One Corp.--1989
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Banc One Corp., an innovative and financially successful super-regional bank holding company, has a track record of upgrading performance of acquisitions... -
Marketing Research: An Overview of Research Methods
Sales & Marketing Case Study8.95View Details Broadly describes the scope of marketing research, and describes experiments, non-survey methods, and internal data. -
EssentialMed Foundation: A Stuck Innovator
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Today, 14% of the world's population (US, Japan and Europe) accounts for over 80% of the medical devices market. Lower income countries (aka the Global... -
Lima Museum of Art (MALI): Give and You Shall Receive
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Initially, the dilemma seemed to be centered on how to respond to the bad news about delayed building renovations due to government red tape, which would... -
A Holistic Intervention Towards Sustainable Livelihoods and Coastal Conservation: A DHAN Foundation Case
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details DHAN was a non-government organization with a difference. It was neither a philanthropic organization nor a service organization but a development organization... -
Humanitarian Agility in Action (B): UNICEF's Response to the 2015 Yemen Crisis
Technology & Operations Case Study5.00View Details Agility is often mentioned but seldom defined or clearly illustrated. This case discusses UNICEF's response to the sudden disruption of its aid supply... -
Essential Coffee Group Australia: Valuation of a Potential Acquisition
Management Case Study11.95View Details In July 2020, the chief executive officer and board chair of Essential Coffee Group based on the Gold Coast, Australia, was perusing the company's financials.... -
MSPL Limited: CSR and Sustainability in Mining
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details MSPL Limited was an iron ore mining and processing company in India. Owned by the Baldota Group, it also had interests in shipping, pelleting, and wind...
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The Strategy Puzzle of Subscription-Based Dating Sites
Strategy & Execution ResearchIf they do their job too well, they might put themselves out of business. -
Paradise Bakery & Cafe: The Challenges of Success
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Paradise Bakery and Café: The Challenges of Success traces the journey of entrepreneur Daniel Patterson from the founding of his bakery in Southern California,... -
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... -
Are You Paying Too Much for That Acquisition?
Mergers and acquisitions Magazine ArticleThe key is knowing what your top price is—and having the discipline to stick to it. -
NetApp 2017
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details Netapp, a fast-growing innovator in the storage and data management market, had become successful both in the U.S. and around the world. By 2017 Netapp... -
3 Smart Moves to Make with Your First Paycheck
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleAllocate your money in a way that pays you dividends in the long run. -
Staples’ New Run at Strategic Innovation
Innovation Digital ArticleWhat do you do when the very breakthrough strategy that once made your business uniquely powerful now threatens to turn you into a commodity? That’s the question stationery supplier Staples is facing. I still remember when Staples changed my life. Before its 1986 opening, buying stationery and office supplies was a time-consuming, inconvenient, and expensive […] -
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 […] -
Banco de Credito del Peru: Agente BCP - Strategy Channeling or Channel Segmentation?
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The case describes how a 120-year-old, domestic bank in Peru, focusing on A, B and C socio-economic segments and corporate banking, as well as boasting... -
Avoid Decisions, Avoid Life
Decision making and problem solving Digital ArticleI recently moved to a new home. As is typical, my wife and I spent many hours throwing out things that we no longer needed. Old shoes, clothes, electronics, mounds of papers, and old books. It is shocking how much junk one family can accumulate over the years. My 5 year old — our resident […]