Publications

Geoffrey Jones is the Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, and Faculty Chair of the School's Business History Initiative. He holds degrees of BA, MA and PhD from Cambridge University, UK. He has an honorary Doctorate in Economics and Business Administration... View Details

Keywords: consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products

Research Summary

Overview

Christine is interested in how people make decisions about the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others. Her research explores how people use visual cues in a face to infer the inner workings of another's mind. View Details

02 Feb 2015
News

Disruptors Sell What Customers Want and Let Competitors Sell What They Don’t

May 2015 (Revised September 2015)
Case

AIP Healthcare Japan: Investing in Japan's Retirement Home Market

By: John A. Quelch and Qing Xia

The CEO of a health care-based REIT is considering alternative nursing home investment strategies. Students must consider macro-industry trends, scale and scope issues and consumer segmentation data in making their recommendations. View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Health Care Services; REIT; Marketing; Investment; Health Care and Treatment; Segmentation; Accommodations Industry; Health Industry; Real Estate Industry; Japan

18 Nov 2019
Video

Adi Godrej

Adi Godrej, Chair of the India-based Godrej Group, discusses the decision to deploy the cash generated by the group’s businesses to acquire consumer products companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

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January 2008 (Revised January 2009)
Case

The Armstrong Investigation

By: David Moss and Eugene Kintgen

In the early 20th century, public outrage at certain life insurance practices led to an investigation in New York State that threatened to curtail growth in the industry. Charles Evans Hughes guided the four-month-long Armstrong Investigation, which made startling... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Annuities; Insurance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Insurance Industry; New York (state, US)

2022
Working Paper

Stories, Statistics and Memory

By: Thomas Graeber, Christopher Roth and Florian Zimmermann

For most decisions, we rely on information encountered over the course of days, months or years. We consume this information in various forms, including abstract summaries of multiple data points – statistics – and contextualized anecdotes about individual instances... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Information Types; Media; Cognition and Thinking

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Article

The Functional Alibi

By: Anat Keinan, Ran Kivetz and Oded Netzer

Spending money on hedonic luxuries often seems wasteful, irrational, and even immoral. We propose that adding a small utilitarian feature to a luxury product can serve as a functional alibi, justifying the indulgent purchase and reducing indulgence guilt. We... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Product Marketing

April 1990
Case

Nestle Alimentana S.A. -- Infant Formula (Abridged)

By: James E. Austin

The new vice president of infant and dietetic products of Nestle Alimentana S.A. has to make recommendations on the company's marketing programs for its infant formulas in developing countries. The U.S. subsidiary is currently the target of a consumer boycott because... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Emerging Markets; Developing Countries and Economies; Distribution Channels; Marketing Strategy; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Food; Business Subsidiaries; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; Switzerland

Research Summary

When Should Control Be Shared?

The right to participate in control is one of the primary instruments for protecting stakeholder interests in a firm. A basic question is how control should be allocated across a firm's various stakeholders, including investors, employees, customers, and suppliers.... View Details

11 Nov 2014
First Look

First Look: November 11

http://hbr.org/product/hgrm-b-launching-hoxell-a-new-it-venture/an/815057-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 515-026 Cree Inc.: Introducing the LED Light Bulb Cree, a North Carolina-based maker of light emitting diodes (LEDs), has just... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

May 2006 (Revised February 2012)
Case

General Electric's 20th Century CEOs (Abridged)

By: Nitin Nohria, Anthony J. Mayo and Mark Benson

General Electric thrived in every decade of the 20th century. Since its founding in 1892, GE has placed a high value on picking and training the best people. Staff members worked with other scientists in the company's research lab to design and manufacture new and... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Management Style

2023
Working Paper

What Do Impact Investors Do Differently?

By: Shawn Cole, Leslie Jeng, Josh Lerner, Natalia Rigol and Benjamin N. Roth

In recent years, impact investors – private investors who seek to generate simultaneously financial and social returns – have attracted intense interest and controversy. We analyze a novel, comprehensive data set of impact and traditional investors to assess how the... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment Decisions; Public Goods; Impact Investment; Investment; Private Equity; Venture Capital