Publications

November 2008 (Revised March 2023)
Module Note

Understanding Brands

By: Anat Keinan and Jill Avery

For many firms, the brands associated with their products and/or services are their most valuable assets, and, hence, much management attention is given to designing, communicating, nurturing, and protecting them. This note is designed to provide an understanding of... View Details

Keywords: Brand Equity; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Management; Marketing Strategy; Value

October 2009 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Ingrid Johnson and Nedbank Business Banking

By: Michael Tushman and David Kiron

This case discusses the issue of leading change at the business banking division of Nedbank, a prominent South African bank, between 2005 and 2009. (This timeframe, beginning just 11 years after Apartheid's end, covers Ingrid Johnson's leadership of this division... View Details

Keywords: Leadership And Change Management; Leadership; Leading Change; Banks and Banking; Organizational Culture; Organizational Structure; Change Management; Leadership Style; Banking Industry; South Africa

February 2022 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Aleph Farms: A New Culture of Meat

By: Elie Ofek and Jeff Huizinga

Aleph Farms, an Israeli food-tech start-up, was hoping to play a major role in disrupting the conventional meat sector. Compared to intensive agricultural practices, Aleph’s cultured (or lab-grown) meat solution held the promise of considerably reducing greenhouse gas... View Details

May 2012
Article

Adding Bricks to Clicks: Predicting the Patterns of Cross-Channel Elasticities over Time

By: Jill Avery, Thomas J. Steenburgh, John Deighton and Mary Caravella

The authors propose a conceptual framework to explain whether and when the introduction of a new retail store channel helps or hurts sales in existing direct channels. A conceptual framework separates short- and long-term effects by analyzing the capabilities of a... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Channels; Channels Of Distribution; Distribution; Retailing; Channel Management; Channel Migration; Multichannel Retailing; Framework; Customers; Marketing Channels; Sales; Internet and the Web; Demand and Consumers; Competency and Skills; Distribution Channels; E-commerce; Retail Industry; United States

SSRN

Find at Harvard

January 2013 (Revised October 2014)
Case

Barclays and the LIBOR Scandal

By: Clayton S. Rose and Aldo Sesia

In June of 2012, Barclays plc admitted that it had manipulated LIBOR—a benchmark interest rate that was fundamental to the operation of international financial markets and that was the basis for trillions of dollars of financial transactions. Between 2005 and 2009... View Details

Keywords: Financial Systems; Financial Services; Corruption; Regulation; General Management; Management; Leadership; Economic Systems; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Culture; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

September 2021 (Revised November 2022)
Case

MAYA Capital

By: Robert F. White, Carla Larangeira and Pedro Levindo

MAYA Capital co-founders Lara Lemann and Monica Saggioro raised $41.5 million through a series of closings for their early-stage Latin American venture capital fund. The two women had met for the first time in mid-2016 when Lemann was contemplating scaling her angel... View Details

Keywords: Early Stage; Portfolio Construction; Fund Management; Investment; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment Portfolio; Strategy; Business Startups; Management; Investment Funds; Latin America

April 2015
Supplement

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp: Redefining Success in the U.S. (B)

By: Gautam Mukunda, Thomas DeLong and Aldo Sesia

This (B) case describes the actions André Wyss, president of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, took in early 2012 to transform the company's General Medicines group and build its specialty medications, marketing the selling capabilities in the face of falling... View Details

Keywords: LEAD; Leadership And Change Management; Talent Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Change Management; Talent and Talent Management; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

07 Oct 2002
Research & Ideas

What Leaders Need to Do To Restore Investor Confidence

Were equity markets highly efficient, these actions would be recognized; an immediate decline in share price would occur; and, anticipating this, managers would not be tempted toward misconduct or... View Details

Keywords: by Harvard Management Update

June 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Case

Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Growing from One Thousand to One Million Customers

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Morgan Brown

By 2016, two-sided online platforms (or marketplaces) were pervasive among the highest growing internet startups around. These marketplaces sought to match suppliers of assets for rent, physical products or services with customers demanding them. Among the most notable... View Details

Keywords: Airbnb; Etsy; Uber; Growth Hacking; Two Sided Markets; Digital Platforms; Marketing; Digital Marketing; Growth Management; Service Industry

February 2017
Teaching Note

Paez

By: Jill Avery

Paez, an Argentine start-up fashion brand, sold traditional alpargatas, a sleepy category that suddenly woke up when TOMS, a U.S. company, appropriated the traditional alpargata design, covered it with fashionable colors and prints, and tied it to a social cause.... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Competitive Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Retailing; Go To Market Strategy; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Argentina; Latin America; South America; Europe

December 2022 (Revised January 2023)
Case

Cann: High Hopes for Cannabis Infused Beverages

By: Ayelet Israeli and Anne V. Wilson

Founded in 2018 by Jake Bullock and Luke Anderson, Cann sold “social tonics,” or cannabis-infused beverages. By 2022, the company had several notable celebrity investors and talent partners, had sold over 10 million beverages to consumers, was distributing in six... View Details

October 2015 (Revised October 2016)
Case

Paez

By: Jill Avery, Maria Fernanda Miguel and Laura Urdapilleta

Paez, an Argentine start-up fashion brand, sold traditional alpargatas, a sleepy shoe category that suddenly woke up when U.S. company TOMS borrowed the traditional alpargata design, covered it with fashionable colors and prints, and tied it to a social cause. Paez's... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Entrepreneurship In Emerging Markets; Retailing; Fashion; Competitive Strategy; Marketing; Advertising; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Competition; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Argentina; Spain

January 2011
Case

AIC Netbooks: Optimizing Product Assembly

By: Steven C. Wheelwright and Sunru Yong

AIC Systems, located in Taichung, Taiwan, is a manufacturer of printed circuit boards, primarily for motherboards and video cards for personal computers. The firm is considered an original design manufacturer (ODM) and takes an active role in innovating and designing... View Details

Keywords: Performance Management; Quantitative Analysis; Manufacturing; Production Planning; Production Management; Diversification; Production; Performance Efficiency; Product Design; Performance Improvement; Mobile Technology; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Taiwan

January 2019
Supplement

Understanding the Brand Equity of Nestlé Crunch Bar (B): Data Analysis

By: Jill Avery and Gerald Zaltman

In early 2018, Nestlé announced the sale of its U.S. candy-making division and a select collection of 20 of its confectionery brands, including the Nestlé Crunch Bar, to Ferrero SpA for $2.8 billion. Luckily, an old consumer research study on the Nestlé Crunch Bar... View Details

March 2016 (Revised June 2017)
Case

Transition at DataCo?

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Carin-Isabel Knoop

The founder of a data analytics company, Stefan Brecht, has several issues with his key business developer and head of marketing and sales, Tamara Smithson. Smithson, an early hire who had been instrumental in building the firm; operates as an individual contributor;... View Details

Keywords: Sales Management; Selling; Entrepreneurial Ventures; Performance Management; Professional Services; Salesforce Management; Sales; Marketing; Performance; Consulting Industry; United States; France

October 2016
Case

Turkasset: Bringing Customer-Centricity to Debt Collection

By: Dennis Campbell and Gamze Yucaoglu

In December 2014, in preparation for the year-end board presentation, Hilmi Guvenal (PMD 1993), shareholder and CEO of Turkasset, and Ilker Yoney, COO, sat down to discuss Turkasset’s five- and ten-year strategic plans. Since taking leadership of the company in 2009,... View Details

February 2020
Teaching Note

Essential Explorations at MUJI

By: Tomomichi Amano and Das Narayandas

Launched as a private brand in 1980 to counter the increasingly brand-conscious consumer in Japan, MUJI offered beautifully designed, fairly priced, no-frills quality goods. The once modest private label brand with 40 products had expanded significantly by 2019 to more... View Details

Keywords: Product Portfolio Management; Brands and Branding; Product; Management; Change Management; Mission and Purpose; Retail Industry; Japan