Competitive Strategy
Exploring Alternative Futures
Professor Paul Bracken has spent a lifetime studying the complex systems like international business, technology, and the military. A pioneer of scenario planning, he looks at how organizations really work and how they both drive and are shaped by major trends in order to predict possible futures.
What Went Wrong in Afghanistan?
We asked Prof. Paul Bracken, an expert in business and military strategy, how the U.S. could have avoided a chaotic exit from Afghanistan, and what comes next for the region.
![Afghans outside the Kabul airport on August 20, 2021.]()
Traditional Firms Get More Room to Innovate
A study of the Champagne market co-authored by Yale SOM’s Amandine Ody-Brasier suggests that other industry players are more likely to accept unconventional practices when they come from established firms.
![Champagne bottles on an automated assembly line]()
The Practical Game Theorist
Prof. Barry Nalebuff extracts pragmatic insights from game theory to improve the practice of innovation, strategy, and negotiation.
![Barry Nalebuff]()
In the Second Nuclear Age, Information Advantage Defines the Balance of Power
More than a massive nuclear arsenal, says Yale SOM strategy expert Paul Bracken, information technology and shifting alliances drive post-Cold War military advantage in an unpredictable, multipolar world.
![A computer-generated image of a missile flying over a landscape]()
Facebook’s Dominance Is Built on Anti-Competitive Behavior
In a new paper, Yale SOM’s Fiona Scott Morton writes that the company took control of the social media industry by misleading consumers and buying up rivals.
![An illustration of a Facebook logo as Pac-Man eating Instagram and WhatsApp logos]()
The Antitrust Case against Google
State and federal authorities are reportedly preparing to bring antitrust charges against Google. We talked to Yale SOM’s Fiona Scott Morton about the company's dominant role in online advertising and how it limits competition.
![A one way sign next to a Google sign]()
Contrary to Conventional Wisdom, Margins Don’t Rise as a Company Grows
Nearly every business plan contains the assumption that as the company grows, its average costs will fall and profit margins will rise. But that isn’t borne out by the numbers.
![A photo of corporate headquarters campus reflected in water]()
How Should Companies Fuel Word of Mouth?
New research finds that offering a free tier or giving existing customers bonuses for making referrals—or a combination—can be effective, depending on the size of the audience and whether the project has a social aspect.
![A vintage illustration of women talking through a tube]()
When Corporate Acquisitions Affect Healthcare
Companies often purchase competitors, not to acquire their ideas and products, but to shut them down. A recent report raised questions about whether such an acquisition may be partially responsible for a shortage of ventilators in the United States.
![A nurse standing next to a hospital bed and ventilator]()
Economic Competition in a Time of Crisis
What will the sudden economic shock mean for competition and antitrust policy? We asked Yale SOM’s Fiona Scott Morton, an economist who served in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, for her perspective.
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