Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • October 1976 (Revised February 1987)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Cramer Electronics, Inc.

By: Michael E. Porter
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:19
ShareBar

Abstract

Designed to be the second day of a two-day series on the electronic component distribution industry, following a day spent discussing Note on the Electronic Component Distribution Industry and Raytheon Co.: Diversification. The important teaching themes which this case is designed to highlight are: 1) to practice the diagnosis of the strategic health of an industry leader, with emphasis on applying the tests of consistency for an effective strategy; 2) to provide practice in both qualitative and quantitative diagnosis of a company's resources, and the relating of these to strategic priorities; 3) to examine the strategic difficulties in attempting to be a large firm in a fragmented industry; and 4) to explore the difficulty of limiting growth and turning away opportunity as a strategic alternative. The series can be positioned either early in a course on strategy formulation, highlighting industry analysis and strategic testing, or later in such a course with the focus on strategic reaction to innovation, responding to a changing industry and assessing strategic alternatives.

Keywords

Change Management; Innovation Strategy; Management Style; Resource Allocation; Opportunities; Corporate Strategy; Diversification; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry

Citation

Porter, Michael E. "Cramer Electronics, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 377-063, October 1976. (Revised February 1987.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Michael E. Porter

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • August 2020
    • Faculty Research

    PayPal: The Next Chapter

    By: Michael Porter, Mark Kramer and Annelena Lobb
    • May–June 2020
    • NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery

    The Agenda for the Next Generation of Health Care Information Technology

    By: Thomas W. Feeley, Zachary Landman and Michael E. Porter
    • 2019
    • Faculty Research

    A Recovery Squandered: The State of U.S. Competitiveness 2019

    By: Michael E. Porter, Jan Rivkin, Mihir Desai, Katherine M. Gehl, William R. Kerr and Manjari Raman
More from the Author
  • PayPal: The Next Chapter By: Michael Porter, Mark Kramer and Annelena Lobb
  • The Agenda for the Next Generation of Health Care Information Technology By: Thomas W. Feeley, Zachary Landman and Michael E. Porter
  • A Recovery Squandered: The State of U.S. Competitiveness 2019 By: Michael E. Porter, Jan Rivkin, Mihir Desai, Katherine M. Gehl, William R. Kerr and Manjari Raman
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College