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- All HBS Web
(3,751)
- Faculty Publications (1,168)
- September 2019
- Article
Technology Reemergence: Creating New Value for Old Technologies in Swiss Mechanical Watchmaking, 1970-2008
By: Ryan Raffaelli
In 1983, 14 years after the introduction of the battery-powered quartz watch, mechanical watches and the Swiss watchmakers who built them were predicted to be obsolete (Landes, 1983). Unexpectedly, however, by 2008 the Swiss mechanical watchmaking industry had... View Details
Keywords: Technology Reemergence; Technology Cycles; Cognition And Market Redefinition; Legacy Technology Trajectories; Information Technology; Demand and Consumers; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Identity; Change; Consumer Products Industry; Switzerland
Raffaelli, Ryan. "Technology Reemergence: Creating New Value for Old Technologies in Swiss Mechanical Watchmaking, 1970-2008." Administrative Science Quarterly 64, no. 3 (September 2019): 576–618.
- August 2019 (Revised February 2020)
- Case
New Hope Liuhe: Building an Integrated Agri-Food Business
By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Shu Lin, Natalie Kindred and Nancy Hua Dai
In October 2018, LIU Chang (Angela), chairman of Beijing-based New Hope Liuhe (NHL), was considering the strategy of the firm. With $9 billion in sales and a presence in nearly 20 countries, NHL was China’s largest animal feed producer and a major pork and poultry... View Details
Keywords: Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Food; Agribusiness; Expansion; Diversification; Growth Management; Consumer Behavior; Change Management; Entrepreneurship; Organizational Structure; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Government and Politics; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Transformation; Volatility; Business Cycles; Goods and Commodities; Supply Chain; Product; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China; Asia
Reinhardt, Forest L., Shu Lin, Natalie Kindred, and Nancy Hua Dai. "New Hope Liuhe: Building an Integrated Agri-Food Business." Harvard Business School Case 720-009, August 2019. (Revised February 2020.)
- August 2019 (Revised January 2020)
- Case
Essential Explorations at MUJI
By: Tomomichi Amano, Das Narayandas, Naoko Jinjo and Akiko Kanno
Launched as a private brand in 1980 to counter the increasingly brand-conscious consumer in Japan, MUJI offered beautifully designed, fairly priced, no-frills quality goods. The once modest private label brand with 40 products had expanded significantly by 2019 to more... View Details
Keywords: Product Portfolio Management; Brands and Branding; Product; Management; Change Management; Mission and Purpose; Retail Industry; Japan
Amano, Tomomichi, Das Narayandas, Naoko Jinjo, and Akiko Kanno. "Essential Explorations at MUJI." Harvard Business School Case 520-024, August 2019. (Revised January 2020.)
- August 2019 (Revised March 2022)
- Case
Lemonade: Disrupting Insurance with Instant Everything, Killer Prices, and a Big Heart
By: Elie Ofek and Danielle Golan
Launching its first products in the fall of 2016 in New York, insurtech startup Lemonade was on a mission to disrupt the insurance market by using AI and behavioral economics principles. The company offered renters, homeowners, and condo insurance and mainly targeted... View Details
Keywords: AI; Business Startups; Insurance; Technological Innovation; Business Model; Disruption; Brands and Branding; Growth and Development Strategy; Global Strategy; Decision Making; Insurance Industry; Technology Industry
Ofek, Elie, and Danielle Golan. "Lemonade: Disrupting Insurance with Instant Everything, Killer Prices, and a Big Heart." Harvard Business School Case 520-020, August 2019. (Revised March 2022.)
- August 2019 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
Transforming Hindustan Unilever
By: Krishna G. Palepu and Rachna Tahilyani
In October 2013, when Sanjiv Mehta had taken over the reins of Unilever’s business in India and the larger South Asia region, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) had been going through a difficult time. Caught in the midst of a weakening economy, falling consumer spending, and... View Details
Keywords: Change Management; Transformation; Leading Change; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry; India
Palepu, Krishna G., and Rachna Tahilyani. "Transforming Hindustan Unilever." Harvard Business School Case 120-022, August 2019. (Revised April 2020.)
- August 2019 (Revised August 2020)
- Case
Magrabi: Fulfilling the Vision for the Future
By: John Beshears, Alpana Thapar and Boris Tsimerinov
In 2018, Magrabi was the leading retailer of eyeglasses, sunglasses, and other optical products in the Middle East, and it was embarking on a major shift in strategy, transitioning from a brand focused on clinical expertise to a brand that combined technical excellence... View Details
Keywords: Brands and Branding; Transition; Luxury; Sales; Service Delivery; Strategy; Employees; Recruitment; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Middle East
Beshears, John, Alpana Thapar, and Boris Tsimerinov. "Magrabi: Fulfilling the Vision for the Future." Harvard Business School Case 920-009, August 2019. (Revised August 2020.)
- July 2019
- Case
Four Products: Predicting Diffusion (2019)
By: John Gourville
One job of product managers, marketers, strategic planners, and other corporate executives is to predict what the demand will be for a new product. This task is easier for certain classes of new products than for others. For new consumer package goods, for instance,... View Details
Keywords: Diffusion Processes; Product Adoption; Marketing; Forecasting and Prediction; Demand and Consumers; Product; Adoption; Product Launch
Gourville, John. "Four Products: Predicting Diffusion (2019)." Harvard Business School Case 520-012, July 2019.
- Article
People Make It So Hard to Ditch Plastic Straws
Rarely has a minor consumer product received more vilification than the plastic straw. As a symbol of human wastefulness and our careless disregard for the environment, straws are the near-perfect villain. You use a plastic straw once and toss it, but it stays with us... View Details
Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Consumer Behavior
Kominers, Scott Duke. "People Make It So Hard to Ditch Plastic Straws." Bloomberg Opinion (July 15, 2019).
- June 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Technical Note
Note on the Future of Commerce
By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor and Nathaniel Schwalb
In 2019, the retail and consumer product industries were undergoing a significant transformation. Over the past 50 years, what was once a highly fragmented industry began to consolidate, digitize, and increase convenience while lowering costs. The winning enterprises... View Details
Keywords: Trade; Demand and Consumers; Demographics; Transformation; Global Range; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Model; Leading Change; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry
Kerr, William R., Daniel O'Connor, and Nathaniel Schwalb. "Note on the Future of Commerce." Harvard Business School Technical Note 819-017, June 2019. (Revised October 2019.)
- 2019
- Working Paper
The Effect of Payment Choices on Online Retail: Evidence from the 2016 Indian Demonetization
By: Chaithanya Bandi, Antonio Moreno, Donald Ngwe and Zhiji Xu
The Indian banknote demonetization in 2016 was one of the most significant international events of that year. Overnight, 86% of Indian currency in circulation was declared invalid unless exchanged for new bills. The sudden and unexpected demonetization constituted a... View Details
Keywords: Cash On Delivery; Online Retail; Product Returns; Payment Methods; Digitization; Emerging Markets; Currency; Internet and the Web; Demand and Consumers; Retail Industry; India
Bandi, Chaithanya, Antonio Moreno, Donald Ngwe, and Zhiji Xu. "The Effect of Payment Choices on Online Retail: Evidence from the 2016 Indian Demonetization." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-123, June 2019.
- June 2019
- Article
Brokers vs. Retail Investors: Conflicting Interests and Dominated Products
By: Mark Egan
I study how brokers distort household investment decisions. Using a novel convertible bond dataset, I find that consumers often purchase dominated bonds—cheap and expensive versions of otherwise identical bonds coexist in the market. The empirical evidence suggests... View Details
Keywords: Brokers; Fiduciary Standard; Consumer Finance; Structured Products; Household; Investment; Decisions; Motivation and Incentives; Conflict of Interests
Egan, Mark. "Brokers vs. Retail Investors: Conflicting Interests and Dominated Products." Journal of Finance 74, no. 3 (June 2019): 1217–1260.
- June 2019
- Article
Learning to Become a Taste Expert
By: Kathryn A. Latour and John A. Deighton
Evidence suggests that consumers seek to become more expert about hedonic products to enhance their enjoyment of future consumption occasions. Current approaches to becoming expert center on cultivating an analytic mindset. In the present research the authors explore... View Details
Latour, Kathryn A., and John A. Deighton. "Learning to Become a Taste Expert." Journal of Consumer Research 46, no. 1 (June 2019): 1–19.
- 2019
- Working Paper
The Road Not Taken: Consumption of Unfamiliar Products Increases Feelings of Self-Discovery and Consumer Engagement
By: Dafna Goor, Grant Donnelly and Michael I. Norton
- April 2019
- Case
GE Appliances: Implementing Haier's Made-In-China Management System
By: Dennis Campbell, Marshall Meyer, Bonnie Yining Cao and Dawn H. Lau
Keywords: Business or Company Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; China; United States
Campbell, Dennis, Marshall Meyer, Bonnie Yining Cao, and Dawn H. Lau. "GE Appliances: Implementing Haier's Made-In-China Management System." Harvard Business School Case 119-099, April 2019.
- April 2019
- Case
Afterpay U.S.: The Omnichannel Dilemma
By: Antonio Moreno, Donald Ngwe and George Gonzalez
In 2018, Nick Molnar, the founder of the Australia-based online payment service Afterpay began its expansion to the U.S. market. The service had gained a loyal following in Australia by enabling customers to pay for online purchases through four interest-free... View Details
Keywords: Omnichannel Retail; Multi-sided Platforms; Value Creation; Business Model Innovation; Fintech; Digital Marketing; Disruptive Innovation; Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Change Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Satisfaction; Financing and Loans; Microfinance; Global Strategy; Marketing Channels; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Product Development; Supply Chain Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Networks; Network Effects; Internet and the Web; Financial Services Industry; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Australia
Moreno, Antonio, Donald Ngwe, and George Gonzalez. "Afterpay U.S.: The Omnichannel Dilemma." Harvard Business School Case 519-086, April 2019.
- April 2019 (Revised October 2020)
- Case
Kraft Heinz: The $8 Billion Brand Write-Down
By: Jill Avery
On Friday, February 22, 2019, following an unexpected and disappointing earnings report, The Kraft Heinz Company’s stock price fell 27%, wiping out $16 billion in market value. CEO Bernardo Hees had announced that the company had taken a $15.4 billion asset write-down,... View Details
Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Value; Brand Equity; Marketing ROI; Brand Storytelling; Intangible Assets; Brand Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Management; Corporate Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Food; Marketing Communications; Advertising; Private Equity; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; North America
Avery, Jill. "Kraft Heinz: The $8 Billion Brand Write-Down." Harvard Business School Case 519-076, April 2019. (Revised October 2020.)
- April 2019
- Article
Internalizing Global Value Chains: A Firm-Level Analysis
By: Laura Alfaro, Pol Antràs, Davin Chor and Paola Conconi
In recent decades, advances in information and communication technology and falling trade barriers have led firms to retain within their boundaries and in their domestic economies only a subset of their production stages. A key decision facing firms worldwide is the... View Details
Keywords: Global Value Chains; Sequential Production; Incomplete Contracts; Demand and Consumers; Customer Value and Value Chain; Globalization
Alfaro, Laura, Pol Antràs, Davin Chor, and Paola Conconi. "Internalizing Global Value Chains: A Firm-Level Analysis." Journal of Political Economy 127, no. 2 (April 2019): 508–559. (See Online Appendix. Replications files available here. Also NBER Working Paper 21582.)
- April 2019
- Teaching Note
The a2 Milk Company
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and... View Details
Keywords: Judo Economics; Market Entry; Innovation; Barriers To Response; Industry Attractiveness; Advantage Horizon; Sustainability; First-mover Advantage; Scope; Strategy Execution; Strategic Evolution; Biochemistry; Genetics; Branding; Commodity; Milk; Dairy; Infant Formula; Farming; Porter's Five Forces; Market Entry and Exit; Disruption; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation; Competition; Brands and Branding; Five Forces Framework; Consumer Products Industry; New Zealand; Australia; China
- March 2019 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
The DivaCup: Navigating Distribution and Growth
By: Ayelet Israeli
When the mother-daughter founders of DivaCup set out with a mission to disrupt the menstrual care industry with an innovative product form, they initially struggled to gain legitimacy and convince retailers to carry their unique product. Fifteen years later, the... View Details
Keywords: Female; Female Ceo; Female Entrepreneur; Female Protagonist; Health & Wellness; Healthcare; Price Policies; Minimum Advertised Price; Differentiation; Positioning; Growth; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Price; Disruption; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Competitive Strategy; Competition; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Product Development; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Advertising; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Social Issues; Social Enterprise; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Canada; United States; United Kingdom
Israeli, Ayelet. "The DivaCup: Navigating Distribution and Growth." Harvard Business School Case 519-055, March 2019. (Revised April 2021.)
- March 2019 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
Global Sourcing at Nike
By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Michael W. Toffel and Olivia Hull
This case explores the evolution of Nike’s global product sourcing strategy, in particular ongoing efforts to improve working conditions at its suppliers’ factories. When the case opens in July 2018, Vice President of Sourcing Amanda Tucker and her colleagues in Nike’s... View Details
Keywords: Sourcing; Factory Conditions; Trade; Geography; Geographic Scope; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Governance Compliance; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Labor; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Labor and Management Relations; Complexity; Sports Industry; Fashion Industry; Oregon; Portland; Asia; North and Central America
Hsieh, Nien-hê, Michael W. Toffel, and Olivia Hull. "Global Sourcing at Nike." Harvard Business School Case 619-008, March 2019. (Revised June 2019.)