Description

Welcome to HBS RC Strategy, a podcast series where Harvard Business School students unpack the key ideas, cases, and frameworks from the Required Curriculum Strategy course — one of HBS’s defining first-year experiences.

Each episode features a candid conversation between two students exploring one of the course’s six modules, reflecting on how strategy is taught, debated, and lived inside the classroom:

1. Industry Attractiveness – Why are some industries more profitable than others? Students apply economic and competitive frameworks to cases like Cola Wars and AI Wars in 2025 to understand how structure shapes outcomes.
2. Competitive Advantage – How do firms outperform their rivals? Through Walmart, Royal Opera House, Hurtigruten, and Hilti students examine how firms align activities to create lasting value.
3. Strategic Interaction – What happens when rivals fight back? From Ryanair to Keroche, this module explores competitive dynamics and game theory in action.
4. Crafting Strategy – How do leaders make big, interconnected choices? Students discuss LEGO, KITEA, and P.F. Chang’s to explore creativity, judgment, and alignment in strategy making.
5. Corporate Strategy – What happens when firms compete across multiple businesses? Disney and Pixar anchor this module on diversification and synergy.
6. Strategy Across the S-Curve – How do firms adapt as industries evolve? Cases like Thinx, Tesla, and Netflix reveal how leaders navigate technological and market shifts.

Engaging, insightful, and grounded in the HBS classroom experience, HBS RC Strategy brings the study of competition, advantage, and growth to life — one conversation at a time.