Publications

July 2020
Teaching Note

Shindigz

By: Frank Cespedes

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 819-010. Shindigz sells party and celebratory items through its branded direct online channel, third-party retail and wholesale channels, and online marketplaces. Shindigz has for decades successfully executed a premium-priced branded... View Details

Keywords: Ecommerce; Pricing; Price; Strategy; Decision Making; Distribution Channels; Brands and Branding; E-commerce; Consumer Products Industry

January 2011
Case

Serious Materials

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Elizabeth A. Kind

Serious Materials is a start up who is moving into clean tech markets. The company's first product, QuietRock, originated the sound proofing drywall category and created a steady stream of revenue. It was now considering how to expand its product line to compete in the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Green Technology Industry

Research Summary

Technological Resources and Corporate Diversification

To what degree do firms' technological resources influence diversification decisions? Silverman is examining how firms enter new markets to exploit existing technological strengths. Recent research includes 1) development of a framework to identify when a firm might... View Details

Rajiv Lal

Rajiv Lal, is the Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of Retailing at Harvard Business School. He is currently teaching an elective MBA course on the Business of Smart Connected Products/IOT. He has been responsible for the retailing curriculum and has served as the course... View Details

September 2024
Exercise

Building an AI First Snack Company: A Hands-on Generative AI Exercise

By: Iavor I. Bojinov

Although the term 'Generative AI' (GenAI) is widely recognized, its practical application in daily workflows has yet to be understood. This exercise introduces students to GenAI tools, demonstrating how they can be seamlessly integrated into professional work practices... View Details

Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Technology Adoption; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Brands and Branding

March 2017 (Revised February 2018)
Case

Tequila Patrón

By: Rohit Deshpandé, Carlos Castellanos Rodríguez, Silvia Cacho-Elizondo, Samantha Rullán and Fernanda Miguel

Tequila Patrón was one of the most successful tequila marketers in the United States. Patrón needed to grow, and in Mexico, the second largest market for tequila, the brand was perceived as American. What portfolio and branding strategy would best serve Patrón to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Growth and Development Strategy; Mexico

October 1991 (Revised June 1996)
Case

Lotus MarketPlace: Households

By: Lynn S. Paine

Managers at Lotus and Equifax must decide what to do about their new jointly developed database and software product Lotus MarketPlace which has been criticized as a threat to individual privacy. The Product, which would allow small businesses to buy targeting mail... View Details

Keywords: Information; Business or Company Management; Rights; Ethics; Marketing Communications; Applications and Software; Product Marketing; Information Technology Industry

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October 1989
Background Note

Managing Major Accounts

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Written as an introduction to a module in the second-year MBA course, Marketing Implementation. Discusses issues encountered in the selling and management of major accounts. The topics covered include: 1) reasons for the increasing importance of major account... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Market Participation; Relationships; Salesforce Management

May 2016 (Revised March 2020)
Case

Fasten: Challenging Uber and Lyft with a New Business Model

By: Feng Zhu and Angela Acocella

Fasten, a new ridesharing start-up in Boston, entered the scene in September 2015 hoping its unique vision of transparency for both driver and passenger and strategy to keep riders' fares low and charge drivers a flat $0.99 fee per ride as opposed to the 20-30%... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Transportation; Business Startups; Business Model; Transportation Industry; Boston

10 Oct 2018
Video

FIELD Global Immersion Locations Revealed

December 2002
Article

Introduction to 'Valuation in Emerging Markets'

By: Robert Bruner, Robert Conroy, Javier Estrada, Mark Kritzman and Wei Li

The purpose of the Batten Institute/Association for Investment Management and Research/Emerging Markets Review conference was to examine the challenges of valuing assets in emerging markets. These challenges are immensely interesting to practitioners and scholars for... View Details

Keywords: Valuation; Emerging Markets

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Read Now

December 2006 (Revised December 2008)
Case

Wireless Generation

Reflecting on an innovative joint venture that his company executed with a public school district in 2004, the CEO of Wireless Generation, a five-year-old, privately held educational technology company, is contemplating the company's product development strategy in... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Education; Government Legislation; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Business and Government Relations; Education Industry

September 2009 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Mercury Athletic: Valuing the Opportunity

By: Timothy A. Luehrman and Joel L. Heilprin

In January 2007, West Coast Fashions, Inc., a large designer and marketer of branded apparel, announced a strategic reorganization that would result in the divestiture of their wholly owned footwear subsidiary, Mercury Athletic. John Liedtke, the head of business... View Details

Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Sensitivity Analysis; Cost of Capital; Restructuring; Valuation; Cash Flow; Mergers and Acquisitions; Corporate Finance; Apparel and Accessories Industry

Career Coach

Christine Van Dae

Christine is the Associate Director, Market Intelligence in the HBS Career & Professional Development (CPD) Office. In her role, Christine oversees the collection and reporting of employment data for... View Details

14 Jul 2023
Video

BiGS Idea: Rethinking Health Equity

October 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Background Note

Evolution of the Drone Industry

By: Rory McDonald, Andy Wu, Emilie Billaud and Ryan Bayer

This note focuses on the development of the drone industry in recent years and provides insights on the drone technology, regulations, applications, market size, top players, and ecosystem. This note was written in conjunction with the case study “Parrot: Navigating... View Details

Keywords: Drones; Information Technology; Disruption; Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Engineering; Product Development; Technology Industry; Asia; Europe; North America; United States

21 Sep 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Android and Competition Law: Exploring and Assessing Google's Practices in Mobile

Keywords: by Benjamin Edelman and Damien Geradin; Telecommunications

March 2003 (Revised September 2004)
Case

Worker Rights and Global Trade: The U.S.-Cambodia Bilateral Textile Trade Agreement

Examines the political and economic dimensions of the campaign to improve workers' rights around the world through the inclusion of labor standards in international trade agreements. The U.S.-Cambodia Textile Trade Agreement was the first agreement of its kind to link... View Details

Keywords: Trade; Agreements and Arrangements; Rights; Working Conditions; Globalization; Consumer Products Industry; Cambodia; United States

January 2007 (Revised October 2007)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Organization 2005 (A)

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Alessandro L. Spadini

In response to a huge crisis in 2000, the new CEO of Procter & Gamble has to decide whether to continue with an unusual organizational design or to revert to the old matrix organization. Describes all the organizational designs used by Procter & Gamble from the 1920s... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure