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Activist Hedge Funds Aren't Good for Companies or Investors, So Why Do They Exist?
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleDespite underwhelming returns, investors keep giving them money. -
Strategies for Low Market Share Businesses
Marketing Magazine ArticleWhat do the Burroughs Corporation, Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc., and the Union Camp Corporation have in common? Although none of them enjoys a dominant market share, all three earn quite respectable returns on their equity, have healthy profit margins, and continue to maintain strong sales growth year after year. In this article, the […] -
Why We Shouldn't Worry About the Declining Number of Public Companies
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleIt's primarily due to digital business models, and it's not causing economic harm. -
AI Can Help You Ask Better Questions - and Solve Bigger Problems
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleLeaders should focus less on automation and more on innovation. -
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. -
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 […] -
The Five Rules Every New CEO Should Follow
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleA few moves to make immediately after taking the reins. -
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 […] -
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. -
A 5-Day Plan to Keep Your Company Afloat
Organizational Development Digital ArticleCEOs experiencing negative cash flow need to act fast. -
Connecting HR with Competitive Advantage
Human resource management Digital ArticleA recent piece in the Wall Street Journal — “HR Departments Get New Star Power at Some Firms” — noted that some forward-thinking companies are dramatically increasing the weight, importance, and strategic role of their HR departments. One way in which they are doing this is by putting business leaders, or non-HR professionals in the […] -
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. -
Collaborate with Your Competitors—and Win
Joint ventures Magazine ArticleCollaboration between competitors is in fashion. General Motors and Toyota assemble automobiles, Siemens and Philips develop semiconductors, Canon supplies photocopiers to Kodak, France’s Thomson and Japan’s JVC manufacture videocassette recorders. But the spread of what we call “competitive collaboration”—joint ventures, outsourcing agreements, product licensings, cooperative research—has triggered unease about the long-term consequences. A strategic alliance […] -
MarketBusting: Strategies for Exceptional Business Growth
Finance and investing Magazine ArticleA company can’t outperform its rivals if it competes the same way they do. Reconceive your business’s profit drivers, and you can change from copycat to king of the jungle.
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Quabbin Cablevision Co.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Several entrepreneurs are considering the purchase of an existing cable TV business with the financial assistance of several investors. They must decide... -
J.C. Penney's 'Fair and Square' Strategy (C): Back to the Future
Sales & Marketing Case Study5.00View Details Rehired in April 2013, Myron E. "Mike" Ullman III was brought back to stabilize the retailer's business. Under Ron Johnson's "Fair and Square" program,... -
Corporate Transformation at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details When Stefan Oschmann became CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in 2016, the company had started its transformation... -
Schlitterbahn: Tragedy at the Waterpark
Management Case Study11.95View Details Jeff Henry, owner of and creative visionary behind Schlitterbahn Waterparks & Resorts, created one of the most sought-after water park companies in the... -
Profamilia: Planning to Survive
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The Association for the Wellbeing of the Colombian Family, Profamilia, is a private, nonprofit organization founded in September 1965 by Dr. Fernando... -
The Independent Adviser for Vanguard Investors
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details The director of marketing and operations for a financial newsletter must deal with a host of issues that surround the practice of renting mailing lists... -
BRAC in 2014
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details In the early 1970s BRAC was a startup nongovernmental organization (NGO) working in Bangladesh. By 2014, it was the world's largest NGO. It had a strong... -
Maxco, Inc. and The Gambit Co.
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details Maxco and Gambit are bidding for an oil lease. Gambit will soon know the value of the lease with some precision. Maxco is bidding with no such precise... -
Fixing the Payment System at Alvalade XXI
Technology & Operations Case Study11.95View Details Outlines the situation at the Alvalade XXI football stadium in Lisbon with the planned introduction of an electronic payment system in the restaurant... -
ABB: Accountability Times Two (A)
Finance & Accounting Case Study5.00View Details Describes the complexity of setting and reconciling performance targets in a global, matrix company. The president of the Finnish industry and rail transport... -
Juice Guys (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details The case explores who the customers are for a new beverage product, their desires as customers for this product, and their desires when ordering this... -
P.N. Gadgil Jewellers: Managing a Family Brand
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details P. N. Gadgil Jewellers Private Limited, based in India, was formed from the most recent separation of the original Gadgil family business, whose origins... -
Peak Games: Hiring Priorities in Times of Rapid Growth (A)
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details Sidar Şahin, founder and CEO of Peak Games, a Turkey-based global mobile gaming company, must decide on the final list of candidates for the critical... -
Hemisphere Development LLC: Betting on a Brownfield
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Study11.95View Details The case puts students in the shoes of Todd Davis, founder and CEO of a boutique brownfield redevelopment firm, Hemisphere Development, in 2010. Davis... -
Fiji versus FIJI: Negotiating Over Water
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details This case examines negotiations between a company and government over natural resources. The Fijian government proposed a substantial increase in its... -
Italtel: Searching for a Future (A)
Strategy & Execution Case Study11.95View Details The case series illustrates the decision-making process and the negotiation complexities of a leveraged buy-out proposal made by Italtel management to... -
The AmeriCorps Budget Crisis of 2003 (A): Why the National Service Movement Faced Cutbacks and How it Responded
Leadership & Managing People Case Study11.95View Details The (A) case (1739.0) focuses on the early years of the program in the 1990s, providing a definitive account--based on interviews with those who drafted... -
Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (A)
Sales & Marketing Case Study11.95View Details In 2019, members of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (WNT) filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation. The case describes... -
Liquor Tax Reform in Thailand: Competing Interests and Objectives
Global Business Case Study11.95View Details Income tax cuts for individuals and businesses, ambitious government spending plans, financial assistance for citizens affected by the December 2004 tsunami,...
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Activist Hedge Funds Aren't Good for Companies or Investors, So Why Do They Exist?
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleDespite underwhelming returns, investors keep giving them money. -
Strategies for Low Market Share Businesses
Marketing Magazine ArticleWhat do the Burroughs Corporation, Crown Cork & Seal Co., Inc., and the Union Camp Corporation have in common? Although none of them enjoys a dominant market share, all three earn quite respectable returns on their equity, have healthy profit margins, and continue to maintain strong sales growth year after year. In this article, the […] -
Why We Shouldn't Worry About the Declining Number of Public Companies
Finance & Accounting Digital ArticleIt's primarily due to digital business models, and it's not causing economic harm. -
AI Can Help You Ask Better Questions - and Solve Bigger Problems
Technology & Operations Digital ArticleLeaders should focus less on automation and more on innovation. -
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. -
Quabbin Cablevision Co.
Finance & Accounting Case Study11.95View Details Several entrepreneurs are considering the purchase of an existing cable TV business with the financial assistance of several investors. They must decide... -
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 […] -
Improving Analytics Capabilities Through Crowdsourcing
Leadership & Managing People Digital ArticleFor centuries, plant breeding has been a labor-intensive process that depended largely on trial and error. To find the most successful variety of corn,...