Publications

24 Apr 2014
News

A taste of home leads to jobs creation and community improvements

General Foods, oversees a company that produces 35 varieties of cheeses, providing a welcome taste of home for immigrants from Central and South America, India, and the Middle East. (Published April 2014) View Details

08 Jul 2024
News

I Just Got a Taste of Our Nation’s Caregiver Crisis. We’re in Trouble.

September 1999
Case

Taste of Frankenmuth, A: A Tourist Town in Michigan Thinks About Word-of-Mouth Referral

A town, "Michigan's little Bavaria," discusses word-of-mouth referral. Enables students to calculate the value of word-of-mouth and understand how to increase it. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Reference Programs; Michigan

Awards

Case Centre Case Awards, Marketing Category

By: Ayelet Israeli

Winner of the 2020 Case Centre Award in the Marketing Category for “Predicting Consumer Tastes with Big Data at Gap” (HBS case 517-115) with Jill Avery. View Details

May 2007
Case

Free the Grapes--Direct-to-Consumer Shipping in the Wine Industry

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis A. Yao, Patricia Wu and Libby Cantrill

While wine tourism in the United States was booming, the majority of consumers who tasted a Cabernet Sauvignon in one of Napa Valley's tasting rooms were not permitted to ship the wine directly to their home. In 2002, direct-to-consumer shipping was either banned or... View Details

Keywords: Business Conglomerates; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Lawsuits and Litigation; Agreements and Arrangements; Business and Government Relations; Corporate Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

May 2014 (Revised January 2015)
Case

Gastón Acurio: A Recipe for Success

By: Anat Keinan, Michael Norton, German Echecopar and Cintra Scott

Gastón Acurio, star chef and restaurateur from Peru, must decide whether and how to adapt his signature Peruvian cuisine to local tastes as he opens restaurants in new countries. View Details

21 Aug 2013
News

Sonic stamps college team logos on burger buns

27 Sep 2012
News

Case Study: What Makes a Partner Equal?

January 2021
Case

Bespoken Spirits: Disrupting Distilling

By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher

On October 7, 2020, Bespoken Spirits publicly announced it had received $2.6 million of seed funding for its “sustainable maturation process,” a process that could produce award-winning whiskeys in just days rather than years using a novel technology and data science. ... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Disruption; Entrepreneurship; Environmental Sustainability; Cash Flow; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Brands and Branding; Business Model; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Service Industry; United States; California

December 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Zespri

By: Jose B. Alvarez and Mary Louise Shelman

Grower-owned Zespri is the sole exporter of New Zealand-grown kiwifruit outside of Australia and New Zealand. Facing growing international competition, Zespri invested in consumer branding and innovation, which has led to new types of kiwifruit that taste better and... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Globalized Firms and Management; Innovation and Invention; Patents; Brands and Branding; Cooperative Ownership; Competition; Corporate Strategy; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; New Zealand

07 May 2024
Cold Call Podcast

Lessons in Business Innovation from Legendary Restaurant elBulli

Keywords: Re: Michael I. Norton; Food & Beverage

August 2009
Case

Global Wine War 2009: New World versus Old

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

The case contrasts the tradition-bound Old World wine industry with the market-oriented New World producers, the battle for the US market, the most desirable export target in 2009 due to its large, fast-growing, high-priced market segments. The case allows analysis of... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Global Strategy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Consumer Behavior; Market Entry and Exit; Competition; Food and Beverage Industry

27 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Judgment Aggregation in Creative Production: Evidence from the Movie Industry

Keywords: by Hong Luo, Jeffrey T. Macher, and Michael Wahlen; Motion Pictures & Video

25 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 25, 2007

advantage of factor cost differences. We find that overwhelmingly, multinationals tend to own the stages of production proximate to their final production giving rise to a class of high-skill intra-industry vertical FDI. Download the paper:... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

October 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Calgene, Inc.

By: Ray A. Goldberg and John T. Gourville

In 1993, Calgene is on the verge of introducing the world's first genetically engineered plant product--a tomato will taste better and stay fresh longer. At the same time, it is using biotechnology to produce improved plant products for the cottonseed and the... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Product Launch; Innovation Strategy; Social Issues; Production; Problems and Challenges; Biotechnology Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

10 Mar 2017
News

What drove Radio Shack into bankruptcy?

July 2000 (Revised September 2005)
Case

BMG Entertainment

By: Jan W. Rivkin and Gerrit Meier

As dramatic changes in technology and customer tastes roil the music industry, the top executives of BMG Entertainment, one of the world's largest record companies, must decide how to organize for digital distribution of music. This case includes a brief history of the... View Details

Keywords: Risk and Uncertainty; Competitive Strategy; Distribution Channels; Organizational Structure; Technological Innovation; Industry Structures; Customer Focus and Relationships; Growth and Development Strategy; Information Technology; Music Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry