Growth and Development Strategy →
- 05 Sep 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Structural Transformation: A Competitiveness-based View
A critical challenge for many economies is how to accelerate structural change when market forces alone seem insufficient. This paper explores the relationship between two approaches. The Structural Transformation framework argues for identifying and supporting target sectors in line with ‘latent’ competitive advantages. The competitiveness framework emphasizes the need to systematically strengthen competitive advantages, with new sectors the outcome rather than the driver of competitiveness upgrading.
- 10 Aug 2017
- Cold Call Podcast
Pal's Sudden Service: Taking Fast Food to the Next Level
Pal's Sudden Service hamburger chain has a remarkable operating model and organizational culture unique in the fast food industry. Can Pal's maintain its high quality and happy employees if it expands? Gary Pisano discusses the company’s strategic challenge. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Jun 2017
- Cold Call Podcast
ShotSpotter: A Gunfire Detection Business Looks for a New Market
ShotSpotter sells its gunfire detection services to cities, but is thinking of branching out to private institutions like shopping malls and schools. This podcast with Mitch Weiss discusses his case study around ShotSpotter's options. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 20 Feb 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Where Should We Build a Mall? The Formation of Market Structure and Its Effect on Sales
In spite of the recent surge in e-commerce, brick-and-mortar retail, specifically in the form of large-scale shopping malls, is still the dominant venue for consumer purchases in the developed world. The construction of mass-scale shopping malls has also experienced tremendous growth in newly industrialized countries such as China. This research provides a rigorous, yet practical, framework to understand and evaluate why retail stores join a shopping mall and how their decisions affect mall revenue. The model can be extended and applied to a number of settings where a decision maker must choose among alternative sites to construct a market, for example, for transportation hubs such as airports or train stations.
- 16 Nov 2016
- Research & Ideas
Turning One Thousand Customers into One Million
In the second part of a series on growing startups, Thales S. Teixeira explains how Uber, Etsy, and Airbnb climbed from one thousand customers to one million. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Sep 2016
- Cold Call Podcast
Innovation Under Constraint: Constructing a Turnaround at Lego
In this podcast, Jan Rivkin takes us behind Lego's iconic building "bricks" and into the minds of its leaders as they tackle digital disruption, staying true to the brand, and engineering an impressive turnaround. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 18 Feb 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Urbanization with Chinese Characteristics? China’s Gamble for Modernization
If the Chinese Communist Party has its way in the coming decades, it will urbanize hundreds of millions of people, transform agriculture, and sustain economic growth--all without political instability. This paper details the risks and opportunities of China’s new-style urbanization reforms, arguing that proposals for urbanization and economic transformation are not a radical departure from the institutions that have structured Chinese society for the last 30 years.
- 09 May 2012
- Research & Ideas
Clayton Christensen’s “How Will You Measure Your Life?”
World-renowned innovation expert Clayton M. Christensen explores the personal benefits of business research in the forthcoming book How Will You Measure Your Life? Coauthored with James Allworth and Karen Dillon, the book explains how well-tested academic theories can help us find meaning and happiness not just at work, but in life. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Nov 2011
- Lessons from the Classroom
The New Challenge of Leading Financial Firms
Running a financial organization, never easy to begin with, has quickly become one of the most difficult leadership challenges that an executive can undertake, requiring mastery of talent management, change management, and ethics. An interview with Professor Boris Groysberg, who teaches a new HBS Executive Education program on the subject with Professor Paul M. Healy. Key concepts include: Leading a financial firm is very different from leading any other kind of institution, requiring deep skills in a multitude of areas. Financial firms make expensive bets on top talent, but often make hiring decisions without enough deliberation. Risk management, strategy for growth, and competing in emerging markets are especially critical for financial firms to get right. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Nov 2010
- Lessons from the Classroom
Connecting Goals and Go-To-Market Initiatives
In some respects, developing strategy is the easy part. Executing that strategy in alignment with strategic priorities is where real mastery of management takes place. Harvard Business School senior lecturer Frank V. Cespedes shows how it is done. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 29 Jun 2009
- Sharpening Your Skills
Sharpening Your Skills: Leading Change
Nothing like a global recession to test your change-management skills. We dig deep into the Working Knowledge vault to learn about building a business in a down economy, motivating the troops, and other current topics. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 24 Jun 2009
- Working Paper Summaries
Don’t Just Survive—Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad
The financial crisis provides a sobering reminder of what happens when innovation fails to drive productive economic growth. For over a decade, money from around the world poured into the United States seeking innovation. Despite these massive investments, when adjusted for inflation, U.S. GDP grew slowly with much of the growth coming from government, professional, and business services, including real estate and outsourcing. What's more, inflation adjusted wages stalled for many, even as consumer spending increased. This paper argues that innovation is not a side business to a real business: rather, innovation is the foundation of a successful business. Key concepts include: Entrepreneurs can be found and a culture of entrepreneurship can be developed in companies of any size and age. Entrepreneurial leaders must relentlessly—but not recklessly—pursue opportunity. They must look beyond the resources currently controlled to harness the power, resources, and reach of their organizations and networks. Breakthrough innovations that change people's lives and the very structure and power dynamics of industries cannot be managed as "silos," tucked away in corporate, university, or government research labs, in incubators, or within venture capital funded entrepreneurial start-ups. Access to the marketplace is needed to help speed commercialization and adoption. Emerging opportunities must be nurtured and the transition to high growth must be managed. Once breakthrough innovations catch hold, growth must be funded and managed to exploit the full value of the opportunity. Incremental innovations must ensure that businesses that have passed through the high-growth stage can continue to deliver the resources, capabilities, and platforms needed to fuel the emerging opportunities of the future. Different organizational structures, cultures, governance and risk management systems, and leadership styles are needed to manage the business innovation lifecycle from an initial idea to a sustainable business that leverages entry position and capabilities to exploit the full potential for growth and evolution over time. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 27 Apr 2009
- Research & Ideas
Building Businesses in Turbulent Times
An economic crisis is a charter for business leaders to rewrite and rethink how they do business, says Harvard Business School professor Lynda M. Applegate. The key: Don't think retrenchment; think growth. Key concepts include: Companies that survive the financial crisis by identifying and exploiting innovation will serve as economic growth engines in the future—and will be the industry leaders of tomorrow. This is a time of unprecedented opportunity to rethink offerings, markets, business processes, and organizational structure—and to improve them to achieve growth. Success will depend on leaders who are able to stabilize the company as they identify and exploit opportunities, find new market niches, create innovative new offerings, and restructure and reposition. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 09 Jul 2008
- Research & Ideas
Starbucks’ Lessons for Premium Brands
After building a great franchise offering a unique customer experience, Starbucks diluted its brand when it overexpanded and offered too many new products. John Quelch thinks the trouble began when the company went public. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 Nov 2005
- Research & Ideas
Unilever: Transformation and Tradition
In a new book, professor Geoffrey Jones looks at Unilever's decades-old transformation from fragmented underperformer to focused consumer products giant. This epilogue summarizes the years 1960 to 1990. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
How Economic Clusters Drive Globalization
Historical research by Valeria Giacomin shows that industrial clusters, often cited in explaining local economic growth, have had a much wider impact, especially in developing countries. Open for comment; 0 Comments.