by John Macomber - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Oct 2002
News

John R. Davis

In many ways, John Davis is a typical businessman. He works long hours, keeps excellent records, and focuses on using resources wisely. He often brings work home, and his trade is ruled by the laws of supply... View Details

John T. Underwood

Purchasing the rights to the only “visible” typewriter available at the time, Underwood led his company to extreme success. By 1915, he had created the “largest and most complete typewriter factory in the world,” and his company was... View Details

Keywords: Fabricated Goods

John C. Bogle

public by selling directly to them and eliminating load fees or sales charges. Over the course of two decades, Bogle built the second largest fund company in the world. View Details

Keywords: Finance

John L. Collyer

off from its crude rubber sources. Summoned by the nation, Collyer developed and executed a program to provide the armed forces and the country with critical man-made rubber products. View Details

Keywords: Automotive & Aerospace

John G. Sperling

built the University of Phoenix into a vibrant and successful institution. By the end of the century, the firm had reached almost $1 billion in revenues and was providing educational opportunities for over 200,000 students at 100 centers... View Details

Keywords: Services

John D. Nichols

Though not a name brand, Illinois Tool Works, a manufacturer of component industrial parts, has been recognized by Wall Street and Fortune for superior financial and management performance. Much of that credit is due to Nichols. He... View Details

Keywords: Fabricated Goods

Portrait Project

John Paul Andree

teamwork pushes out denial and fear. Thinking the fuel may be freezing, we intentionally overheat the engines in a last-ditch gamble to survive. Our bet pays off and two and half nerve-wracking hours later we limp into Greenland, landing safely. Surrounded View Details

13 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Managing the Family Business: Leadership Roles

Editor's note: This is part of a series of occasional columns on managing the family business written by Senior Lecturer John A. Davis. In this article, Davis discusses leadership roles. Part Two:... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Davis

John W. Marriott

Marriott built the fastest growing, most diversified and most profitable lodging company in the United States. By 1964, it had approximately $85 million in annual sales with 122 units in 14 states. Its business lines included 73... View Details

Keywords: Restaurants & Lodging

John W. Brown

by 2004, and the number of employees increased from 325 to 15,000 during the same time period. Brown steadfastly expanded the company’s product lines and introduced an effective decentralized management structure as the company grew. View Details

Keywords: Healthcare

John M. Hiebert

a period of international expansion, building plants across Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa. When Hiebert became president in 1955, net sales were at a level of $167 million with earnings of $30 million, and had risen to levels of $720 and $69 million,... View Details

Keywords: Healthcare

06 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Cheers to the American Consumer

Editor's Note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge. A recent Economist magazine includes a... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

John F. Dryden

In 1881, Dryden became head of the company he helped found six years prior. He grew the company from less than $4 million in receipts in 1879 to more than $17 million in receipts by 1899, and from 1 million policies in 1885 to 10 million... View Details

Keywords: Finance

John F. Queeny

When base-chemical shipments stopped coming from Germany during World War I, Queeny kept his company afloat by transforming it into its own raw materials producer. By the time of his death, Monsanto had... View Details

Keywords: Chemicals & Industrial

John P. Mackey

Through a series of acquisitions, Mackey transformed Whole Foods from a small, niche player in the grocery retail business into a major enterprise. In many ways, Mackey and Whole Foods have brought organic and natural foods into the mainstream of America through... View Details

Keywords: Retail

27 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

Mattel: Getting a Toy Recall Right

Harvard Business School professor John Quelch is debuting a blog on marketing issues at Harvard Business Online. HBS Working Knowledge is reprinting his first entry, which looks at the Mattel toy recall.Mattel has been criticized heavily... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products

09 Nov 2016
Op-Ed

6 Lessons from Donald Trump's Winning Marketing Manual

marketers, says HBS professor John Quelch. Credit: Gage Skidmore Show the past as prologue. Offering consumers the adventure of voting for an uncertain future never works with the majority, especially if your brand is new to the game.... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch

20 May 2016
Op-Ed

World Health Organization Lacks Leadership to Combat Pandemics

public advisories, and it is regarded as more of a policeman than a partner by national governments. Its many dedicated scientists produce useful reports on the global state of public health, but the WHO's bureaucracy impedes the decisive... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Health

25 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model

information technology to directly match consumer demand to dispersed production by a collection of factories in China. This method of reaching customers should inspire any business that provides products or services that come from many... View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Fashion; Retail; Consumer Products

24 Jun 2016
Op-Ed

Why Brexit is a Big Deal

The consequences of yesterday's vote by the British people to leave the European Union will be far-reaching, but there is no reason for global markets to panic. Brexit is a vote against the European Union. Once heralded as the engine of... View Details