Publications

December 1999 (Revised October 2001)
Case

Introducing New Coke

On April 23, 1985, the Coca-Cola Co. announced a decision that would rock the world. The old Coke formula would be taken off the market and replaced with a smoother, sweeter taste. The reaction of the American people was immediate and violent, causing three months of... View Details

Keywords: Failure; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

December 2018
Case

Corporate Transformation at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

By: Joseph B. Fuller, Amy C. Edmondson, Daniela Beyersdorfer and Tonia Labruyere

When Stefan Oschmann became CEO and chairman of the executive board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in 2016, the company had started its transformation from a mid-tier traditional German industry player to a global modern science and technology player. The... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance With Family Ownership; Transformation; Change Management; Restructuring; Corporate Governance; Family Ownership

08 Apr 2016
Blog Post

Working With Organizations That Recruit at HBS: An Interview with Harley Munsell

How long have you been at HBS? I have been working at HBS for almost 4 years, but I’ve been a Recruiting Relations Manager for a year and a half. Before joining Career & Professional Development (CPD), I worked for the HBS Social... View Details

Keywords: Consulting

23 Sep 2022
Research & Ideas

8 Strategies to Sustain Business Innovation

for tailgate redesigns—a response Honda executives and engineers hadn’t anticipated. 5. Keep it simple For McDonald and Bingham, simple practices are key to helping companies manage complexities. Chick-fil-A servers say “My pleasure!”... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

Blog

Leading in Tough Times: HBS Faculty Member Amy C. Edmondson on Psychological Safety

offer ideas. To avoid being branded as negative, we don't criticize the status quo. But every time we withhold our thoughts, we rob ourselves and our colleagues of small moments of learning. This stifles innovation in our teams and... View Details

October 1993 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Michigan Manufacturing Corp.: The Pontiac Plant--1988

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Michigan Manufacturing is a broad-line maker of components for the automotive industry. It has developed a network of nine plants as its product line has grown. Newer, higher-volume products tend to be made in newer, focused, high-volume plants, while older product... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Factories, Labs, and Plants; Profit; Brands and Branding; Mission and Purpose; Networks; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry

July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Property Finder's Strategy for Online Classifieds in the MENA Region

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Gamze Yucaoglu and Fares Khrais

The case opens in 2020 as Michael Lahyani, founder and CEO of Property Finder, Dubai’s leading online real estate classifieds portal, contemplates the company’s five-year growth strategy.
Since its founding in 2005 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Property... View Details

Keywords: General Business; Real Estate; Entrepreneurship; Property; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Growth Management; Online Technology; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; United Arab Emirates; Saudi Arabia; Egypt; Turkey

23 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Are Great Teams Less Productive?

Learning promotes performance—is there any argument? Without learning, organizations, teams, and managers are stuck in yesterday's world. In fact, says Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson, there are built-in tensions between... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert

04 Aug 2020
News

Glossier Built a Cult-Brand and a Digital Community, but What’s Next?

01 Mar 2024
News

Unlocking the Power of Community

wallets, track engagement, and manage tokens via blockchain within its own brand ecosystem. Within six months, trivia participants earned more than 2 million tokens and redeemed more than 1,000 rewards. Even... View Details

Keywords: April White

May 2022
Case

Maestro Pizza: Coming in Hot!

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Fares Khrais

Maestro Pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of... View Details

Web

Marketing Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

Marketing for the article entitled "Defending the Markers of Masculinity: Consumer Resistance to Brand Gender-Bending." Anita Elberse : Received the 2012 Emerald Management Reviews Citation of Excellence... View Details

01 Jun 2023
News

Cultivating Prosperity in Afghanistan

Kimberly Jung, pictured in a field of crocuses, returned to Afghanistan to understand how she and her cofounders could import saffron to the United States. Photo courtesy of Kimberly Jung During their first semester at HBS, former United States Army engineer officers... View Details

Keywords: Jennifer Gillespie

16 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers Be Saved From Their Misguided Decisions?

iStock Consumers make regretable decisions every day, even though easily available information should convince them to do otherwise: Twenty-six percent of consumers choose Advil or other branded headache remedies when they walk into a... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Consulting; Retail

10 Jan 2023
Op-Ed

Time to Move On? Career Advice for Entrepreneurs Preparing for the Next Stage

to individual contributor and in one recent case, a CEO-founder sold their company and is now transitioning to a leader within a very large organization. In each of these cases, these were not overnight changes, but rather they were thoughtful shifts that each View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

July 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Athletic Brewing Company: Crafting the U.S. Non-Alcoholic Beer Category

By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne V. Wilson

Athletic Brewing Company (“Athletic,” for short) was founded by Bill Shufelt and John Walker in 2017. In creating Athletic, Shufelt and Walker opened the first U.S. brewery and taproom fully devoted to the production of non-alcoholic (NA) craft beer. By 2021, Athletic... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Brands and Branding; Product Development; Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Product Launch; Product Design; Product; Competition; Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Cultural Entrepreneurship; Culture; Food and Beverage Industry; United States