Research News
Strategic Management
Businesses Can Win the Competition Against
Open-Source Technology
Commercial vendors can compete successfully against open-source products says Professor Haim Mendelson. To do so they must be first to market, judiciously improve product features, keep the product closed so the open source competitors cannot tap into the commercial network, and segment the market.
Firms Survive by Recognizing Fundamental Industry Changes
Enduring companies survive because employees throughout the firm, not just those in the executive suite, learn to keep an eye on how related industries are evolving, say Robert Burgelman and Andrew Grove. Strong firms don't just match the competition, they also recognize fundamental changes in their industries and stay strategically ahead.
Netflix Broke the Rules and Won
The video rental service broke new ground with a patented consumer model that had no deadlines or penalties and charged a set monthly fee. “Netflix got it right,” said Professor Sunil Kumar.
Compaq and HP: Ultimately, the Urge to Merge Was Right
The controversial merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq ultimately was a good idea, but failure to focus on long-term corporate strategy actions meant it wasn’t smooth sailing to the finish line. (June 2007)
Specializing Can Mean Bigger Sales
Customers like to feel they’re buying goods and services from businesses that are leaders in a specific category or two. Being a jack of all trades in too many categories may reduce profits say researchers. The research is co-authored by Business School Professor Michael Hannan.
Startups Need a Special Learning Curve for Sales
Before a young company can sell its product successfully, the entire
organization needs to learn how customers will acquire and use the product. This
requires a special learning curve for sales and marketing before the product is
ready for a major push, say researchers Charles Holloway and Mark Leslie.
(September 2006)
Consumer Boycotts Work—Just Ask French Winemakers
Calls to boycott French products in 2003 may have cost French winemakers
$112 million from sales in the United States, say researchers Larry Chavis and Phillip Leslie. Based on their study of scanner data from
supermarkets and large stores, the pair conclude boycotts really do work. (April
2006)
Consumers Feast on Restaurant Ratings
When Los Angeles started rating restaurant hygiene a few years ago, the
information was snapped up by consumers and by the restaurants themselves,
who worked to improve quality. Prof. Phillip Leslie says a rating system
wouldn't work in all industries, but when consumers and merchants agree on
quality standards, it can produce impressive results. (October 2005)
Strategies for Getting Users to Adopt Computer Software Security Patches
Malicious hackers have cost businesses millions of dollars, yet many users continue to take chances by not downloading programs to stave off intruders. The best way to get consumers on board in the war against computer viruses is for software producers to create reliable, easy-to-use programs and make them easily accessible to users.
(September 2005)
Co-Financing
Doesn’t
Make Movies More Profitable
Co-financing major motion picture production is supposed to benefit movie
studios by lowering the risk on films that aren’t guaranteed blockbusters, but
research by Phillip Leslie of the Stanford Business School shows no difference
in return on investment. (September 2005)
Valuing Bestselling Books
Making the New York Times Bestsellers list is an honor, but it
really doesn't boost sales substantially for most of the big name
authors who make the list, according to research by Prof. Alan Sorensen.
(July 2004)
When is it Smart to Sell the Factory and Outsource?
Should your company keep control of its supply chain and manufacturing
facilities when it needs to expand — and risk getting stuck with
expensive capacity it can't use? Or should it outsource — and if so,
to whom and for how much? Researchers take on the build vs. buy dilemma.
(June 2003)
A Strategic Look at Business Change
Andy Grove, who led Intel through one of the biggest strategic decisions
in the technology industry, outlines what can happen to a business when it
faces a major transformation point altering its environment and possibly
the business itself. Grove outlines the concepts he and Robert Burgelman
have developed during a decade of teaching Strategy and Action in the
Information Processing Industry. (April 2003)
Video
File, 50:11 minutes
Q
& A Video
File, 11:30 minutes
Strategy is Destiny: How Strategy-Making Shapes a Company's Future
Robert Burgelman and Andrew Grove, Free Press,
2002
Intel CEO Craig Barrett's frustration with some of the spoils of success
is told by Robert Burgelman, the Edmund W. Littlefield Professor of Management
at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, in a new book about how Intel
has built business strategies, sometimes from the bottom up, sometimes
from the top down, or from all parts of the hierarchy simultaneously.
(July 2002)
Intel Inside
Strategic dissonance is common in the fast paced technology industry.
Business School faculty Robert Burgelman and Andrew Grove use the term to
describe what happens when a firm's stated strategy differs dramatically
from what it actually does, such as the 1994 situation when a flaw was
discovered in Intel's Pentium processor. (June 1996)