Publications

Web

Richard P. Melnick | About

Richard P. Melnick Chief Financial Officer Bio Rick joined HBS in 1992 and has been the Chief Financial Officer since 2003. He has overall responsibility for the School’s $1 billion operating budget that includes the MBA, Doctoral and... View Details

January 2013 (Revised June 2018)
Case

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google 2018

By: John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

Four businesses had, by 2012, grown to dominate the infrastructure that all firms rely on to reach online customers. Will the balance of power among the four persist, will one take command at the expense of the other three, or are all four more vulnerable than they... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Competitive Advantage; Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development; Service Industry; Retail Industry; United States

March 2016 (Revised May 2018)
Case

ASOS PLC

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

Launched in 2000, ASOS was one of the world’s largest online fashion specialists in 2018. Focusing on young consumers aged 16–25 years, the company offered over 85,000 items on its websites, many times more than the largest fashion stores, and added several thousand... View Details

Keywords: ASOS; AsSeenOnScreen; Online Fashion; Online Apparel; Nick Beighton; Nick Robertson; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Online Retail; Multichannel Retailing; Omnichannel; Social Media; Marketplaces; Shipping; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Startups; For-Profit Firms; Customer Focus and Relationships; Age; Gender; Currency Exchange Rate; Profit; Revenue; Geography; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Business History; Selection and Staffing; Journals and Magazines; Human Capital; Business or Company Management; Crisis Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Succession; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Social Marketing; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competition; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Expansion; Vertical Integration; Segmentation; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; United Kingdom; England; London

01 Mar 2018
News

Every Trick in the Book

Carolyn Brody (MBA 1983) photo by HollenderX2 BookHampton has been a mainstay of the Long Island, New York, community of East Hampton for more than 40 years. Carolyn Brody (MBA 1983) fondly remembers the cozy, cluttered bookshop from many rainy-day visits when her... View Details

Keywords: April White

July 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Vicky Tsai and Tatcha: Confronting Stereotypes

By: Geoffrey Jones and Veronica Tong

Teaching Plan for HBS Case No. 323-007. This case examines the career of Vicky Tsai, the creator of San Francisco-based TATCHA, a Japanese-themed luxury beauty brand launched in 2009. It explores how Tsai developed the concept, assembled management, and successfully... View Details

Keywords: Cosmetics Industry; Japan; Startup; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development; Product Development; Product Marketing; Acquisition; Identity; Brands and Branding; Ethnicity; Gender; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

01 Mar 2023
News

Step Change

At Consoleya, a coworking space in Cairo’s former French Consulate, multiple levels of meeting rooms and workspaces operate at capacity, from a ground-floor café to a rooftop deck. The scene—coders bent over laptops, concepts scrawled on... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; photographed by Abdelrahman Gabr – Koree; entrepreneurship; women; venture capital; Egypt; developing economies; Finance

09 Aug 2021
Research & Ideas

OneTen: Creating a New Pathway for Black Talent

With OneTen’s backing, Black employees could move up the ranks and become role models for those who follow. Frazier’s efforts to advance women at Merck provide a powerful example. “We got very intentional about putting women in operating... View Details

Keywords: by Rawi E. Abdelal, Katherine Connolly Baden, and Boris Groysberg

26 Mar 2018
Research & Ideas

To Motivate Employees, Give an Unexpected Bonus (or Penalty)

perceptions in a real-world scenario involving an anonymous Chinese company that operates in printing processes. The company, which Cai found while she was home in China on winter break, runs a tournament-style reward scheme for... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Manufacturing

01 Mar 2024
News

Come Sail Away

When Michael Sard (MBA 2018) arrived at HBS, he owned about 50 Hawaiian shirts. “It was one of the few items in a man’s closet that could have a ritual to it around going out, like a tuxedo does,” he says. Purchase options, however, seemed limited to two extremes:... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; entrepreneurship; manufacturing; career path; Apparel Manufacturing; Manufacturing

01 Jun 2024
News

Firm Foundation

at the midsize level or larger.” Orchestrating a turnaround at Pampered Chef gave her valuable insights as an operator that eventually led her to launch Kanbrick: “I saw that most midsize companies struggle with the same things: How to... View Details

Keywords: Janelle Nanos; private equity; Warren Buffett; career path; investment strategy; family business; Finance

March 2007 (Revised February 2010)
Case

Fabindia Overseas Pvt. Ltd.

By: Mukti Khaire and Prabakar (PK) Kothandaraman

Fabindia is a for-profit Indian retail company with the stated mission of providing employment to weavers and traditional handicraft artisans in rural India. Established in 1960 as an exporter of home furnishings, Fabindia has grown as a consumer-facing retailer of... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; For-Profit Firms; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply Chain; Mission and Purpose; Expansion; Retail Industry; India

16 Dec 2021
Blog Post

African American Student Union Spotlight on STEM

into stages and understand what levers can be pulled at each. Afterwards, we analyze how each of those levers affect both the stage at hand and those stages surrounding it. I frequently see parallels to an engineer's approach to problem-solving in our View Details

24 Jun 2021
Blog Post

Celebrating the Past, Crafting the Future Part 2: The First HBS/HKS Class

regulation,” said Gupta. “At the same time, the MBA toolkit of leadership, running a business (interpreting accounts, evaluating investments, hiring, etc.), and decision-making has been really helpful in starting and operating... View Details

01 Dec 2022
News

Action Plan: To the Letter

Ninan Chacko (AMP 158, 2000) was on vacation in Turin, Italy, when he stopped to snap a photo of a street sign. In the picture, all you can see is the name: Via Roma. But for Chacko, the CEO of Monotype, the world’s largest type seller, the classic letters told the... View Details

Keywords: April White; design; typography; change management; leadership; Special Design Services; Professional Services

March 2018
Case

EKOL Logistics: Thinking Outside the Box

By: Willy C. Shih and Esel Çekin

This case describes Ekol, an intermodal transportation and logistics company, and how it manages capacity planning. Its busiest routes linked motor vehicle assemblers in Germany and Turkey with many of their parts suppliers, but it had also developed key links in... View Details