Industry Transformation

Michael E. Porter; Jan W. Rivkin

Background Note | HBS Case Collection | July 2000

Industry Transformation

Abstract

One of the steepest challenges a strategist faces is to navigate his or her company through a period of industry transformation--an era of rapid and wholesale changes in industry structure. This note considers how periods of transformation typically unfold. It then examines how the core tools of the strategist can be deployed during such periods and how new tools come to the fore. Periods of industry transformation pose grave threats and tremendous opportunities to companies. Industry leaders are often unseated during such times, replaced by underdogs and entrants. Perhaps most importantly, periods of transformation give companies unusual latitude to influence future industry structure. Teaching purpose: Designed to support course modules that consider strategy-making under uncertainty or the intersection of competitive strategy and technology.

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Consulting Industry; Service Industry;

Format: Print

14 pages

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Citation:

Porter, Michael E., and Jan W. Rivkin. "Industry Transformation." Harvard Business School Background Note 701-008, July 2000.

Since its establishment in 2005, Hamburg’s Martini Klinik had single-mindedly focused on prostate cancer care with a commitment to measure long term health outcomes for every patient. A wholly owned subsidiary of the University Hospital Hamburg, Martini Klinik was a “hospital in a hospital” in close proximity to other medical departments and services. By 2019, Martini Klinik had become the largest prostate cancer treatment program in the world with 8,000 outpatient cases and more than 2,500 surgical cases annually. Patients came from all over Germany and from around the world. A new and expanded facility was under construction to have the capacity to manage more patients with prostate cancer.

Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2009 (Revised June 2019)

Cleveland Clinic: Transformation and Growth 2015

Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth O. Teisberg

The Cleveland Clinic's health care services are internationally renowned for quality. In 2008, The Clinic began to restructure the organization into teams defined around patient needs, rather than traditional medical specialties. "Patients First!" takes shape as the teams measure and report outcomes, coordinate care, and develop to support improving value for patients. In addition to restructuring care delivery in the hospitals and throughout northeastern Ohio, The Clinic has investments, facilities, and staff in several other states in the U.S. as well as in Canada and Abu Dhabi. Now in 2015, as the Clinic's domestic and international footprint continues to expand, its leadership is also focused in maintaining the Cleveland Clinic brand and providing optimal clinical care. Students can explore strategy transformation, geographic expansion, the process of introducing new measurement approaches, alignment of activities with strategic goals, and issues in leading change both within a company and across an economic sector.

Keywords: health; health care operations; health care quality; health care; strategy and leadership; strategy development; Health Care and Treatment; Leading Change; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Measurement and Metrics; Service Delivery; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Outcome or Result; Health Industry; Cleveland;

Citation:

Porter, Michael E., and Elizabeth O. Teisberg. "Cleveland Clinic: Transformation and Growth 2015." Harvard Business School Case 709-473, February 2009. (Revised June 2019.) View Details

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Amazon’s initial request for proposals for a second headquarters (HQ2), released in September 2017, attracted great attention and, ultimately, proposals from 238 cities and regions in North America. This case discusses the company's decision to split its HQ2 between two locations, and the ensuing response from local politicians and the public.

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Industry Transformation

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