Publications

January 2003 (Revised February 2003)
Case

Office Depot, Inc.: Business Transformation (A)

By: James L. Heskett, Dan Maher, Daniel F. OBrien, Thomas Watson and Jeffrey F. Rayport

The company's management is considering the possibility of launching a rebranding campaign around the promises "What you need. What you need to know." The questions are whether and when to launch the campaign in view of the large number of training efforts and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Advertising Campaigns; Brands and Branding; Business Strategy; Technology Adoption; Transformation; Market Timing; Growth and Development; Training; Retail Industry

01 Jun 2015
News

A World of Support

HBS Fund Supports the School’s Global Interests “No other management school has the global reach of HBS or a similar global brand power.” Gaëtan Hannecart (MBA 1994) Global Understanding is one of four key areas supported by the HBS Fund... View Details

Franklin P. Perdue

Under Perdue’s total-control leadership style, Perdue Farms grew from a small Maryland chicken farm into the United States’ third largest chicken producer with sales of almost $1 billion in the late 1980s. Perdue built his business on quality, becoming the personal... View Details

Keywords: Food & Tobacco

Julio Werthein

Keywords: Diversified

March 2008 (Revised June 2008)
Case

Sirtris Pharmaceuticals: Living Healthier, Longer

Describes a set of key strategic decisions facing the scientific founder and CEO of a promising, early stage bio-pharmaceuticals company. Should the company establish a proposed alliance with a pharmaceutical firm? Should it create a nutraceuticals business in parallel... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Decision Choices and Conditions; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Risk Management; Brands and Branding; Pharmaceutical Industry

November 1994 (Revised February 1997)
Case

Levi Strauss & Co.: Global Sourcing (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Jane Palley Katz

In 1993, senior managers at Levi Strauss & Co., the world's largest brand-name apparel manufacturer, were deciding whether the company should have a business presence in China, given the human rights and other problems there. The China Policy Group has been asked to... View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Decisions; Management Skills; Trade; Brands and Branding; Rights; Ethics; Foreign Direct Investment; Apparel and Accessories Industry; China

Heimbold focused on Bristol-Myers Squibb’s growth and created a scientific-based, world-leading pharmaceutical company with very strong consumer franchises. Sixty-two percent of its sales come from pharmaceuticals (where it holds leadership positions in anticancer... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare

September 2020
Supplement

Commonwealth Joe: January 2020 Update from CEO Robert Peck

By: Alexander J. MacKay

At the end of 2016, the leadership team of Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters—Robert Peck, Chase Damiano, and Jeremy Martin—had begun an ambitious retail expansion strategy in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for their specialty coffee business. That October, they... View Details

Keywords: Cold Brew Coffee; Specialty Coffee; On-premise Coffee Market; Retail Expansion Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Strategy; Decision Making; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

Keywords: Diversified

June 2009
Supplement

F. William McNabb, Chairman, Vanguard Group, Interviewed by Professor John Quelch, April 2008

By: John A. Quelch

Professor John Quelch interviewed F. William McNabb, Chairman, Vanguard Group in April 2008 to review updates since the original case was published in 2004. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Financial Services Industry; United States

Colgate merged with the Peet Company and B. J. Johnson, maker of Palmolive soap, the largest selling soap brand in America in the early 1900s. Colgate led the newly merged Colgate, Palmolive-Peet Company with assets of $63 million. The... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care & Home Products

01 Jun 2016
News

Ask the Expert: Barreling Ahead

president and CEO of San Diego–based Ballast Point Brewing and Spirits, can attest: Last November, Constellation Brands (which owns Corona and Svedka vodka) acquired Ballast Point for approximately $1 billion. We asked Buechler to answer... View Details

December 2022
Case

The Magic of Marks & Spencer Food

By: David E. Bell, Natalie Kindred and Damien McLoughlin

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Food; Consumer Behavior; Product Development; Competition; Price; Inflation and Deflation; Trends; Growth and Development; Strategy; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom

October 2000
Case

Procter & Gamble Italy: The Pringles Launch (A)

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Procter & Gamble's (P&G) Pringles potato chips have been a very successful brand. This case reviews the development and first launch in the United States, then in markets around the world. Italy is one of the last countries where Pringles will be launched. Should P&G... View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Emerging Markets; Product Development; Adoption; Value Creation; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States