Publications

Web

Employment Data

Starting own business 13% Company sponsored or already employed 3% Other 1% Postponing job search 0% Continuing education 0% No Data Available Median Base Salary $175,000 Median Signing Bonus $30,000 53% Receiving Median Variable Bonus $47,500 65% Receiving Industries... View Details

March 2003
Background Note

Managing a Customer Relationship Over Time

By: Das Narayandas

Describes the different ways in which vendors can sell a portfolio of products to industrial customers. View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Networks; Sales; Manufacturing Industry

April 1995 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Home Shopping Network, Inc. (Abridged)

By: Timothy A. Luehrman

Home Shopping Network invented the video home shopping industry. It had immediate success in both the product and capital markets, which quickly drew imitators. This case describes the situation as of January 1986, when the company must decide how to sustain successes... View Details

Keywords: Capital Markets; Financing and Loans; Supply and Industry; Product; Strategy; Competition; Valuation; Telecommunications Industry

February 1992 (Revised January 2002)
Case

BMW: The 7-Series Project (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano

Explores BMW's decision about how to manufacture prototype vehicles. Historically, BMW's prototypes were handcrafted by highly skilled artisans in the company's shop. A proposal has been made to alter the process so that prototypes are made in a way that can better... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Research and Development; Design; Production; Strategy; Quality; Decision Making; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Germany

November 2022 (Revised June 2023)
Case

UGG Steps into the Metaverse

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Sharon Joseph, Sunil Gupta and Julia Kelley

In the fall of 2022, boot maker UGG and its parent company, Deckers, were working to position the brand in the nascent but fast growing metaverse. The metaverse, the online realm that individual users could navigate as digital avatars, was becoming more commercialized,... View Details

Keywords: Metaverse; Digital Marketing; Innovation and Invention; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Social Marketing; Internet and the Web; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Fashion Industry; Information Technology Industry; United States

28 Aug 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Who Drives Digital Innovation? Evidence from the US Medical Device Industry

Keywords: by Cirrus Foroughi and Ariel Dora Stern; Health; Medical Devices & Supplies

January 1982
Background Note

Sustainable Growth and the Interdependence of Financial Goals and Policies

Demonstrates the interaction of product market and capital market goals. View Details

Keywords: Financial Management

May 1995 (Revised April 1998)
Case

AT&T Paradyne

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A company making data communication devices has adopted a Total Quality philosophy for working with suppliers, employees, and customers. The finance group finds its existing cost system has become obsolete because of a shift from manual to automatic production... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Product; Corporate Accountability; Activity Based Costing and Management; System; Performance Efficiency; Financial Reporting; Operations; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry

April 2006 (Revised September 2009)
Case

BYD Company, Ltd.

By: Robert S. Huckman and Alan D. MacCormack

Considers whether BYD Co., Ltd., the largest Chinese maker of rechargeable batteries, should enter the Chinese automobile industry by acquiring Qinchuan Auto, a state-owned car manufacturer. Set just after BYD's initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Labor; Production; Competitive Advantage; Diversification; Auto Industry; Battery Industry; Manufacturing Industry; China

September 2024
Supplement

Anker Innovations (B)

By: Feng Zhu, Jiangyong Lu and Nancy Hua Dai

An Amazon-native brand, Anker is the world’s No. 1 mobile charging brand and a leading consumer electronics company. Over the years, Anker developed an effective model of proving new products online first by leveraging customer insights from its proprietary Voice of... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Product; Distribution; Product Launch; Business Model; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

06 Mar 2017
Research & Ideas

Why Comparing Apples to Apples Online Leads To More Fruitful Sales

Online, consumers are more likely to buy when a product grouping display contains like items. Source: Mik22 In online retail displays, items pictured next to your product may make or break a decision to buy... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail; Advertising

Career Coach

Saachi Gopal

Saachi is excited to help both career switchers and those coming to school from the tech industry explore opportunities and navigate recruiting. Prior to HBS, Saachi was a product manager on Microsoft’s AI platform team, and she spent the... View Details

David G. Fubini

David G. Fubini is a Senior Lecturer in the Organizational Behavior Unit and leader of the Leading Professional Services Firm and Mergers & Acquisitions Programs for Harvard Business School’s Executive Education. His MBA teaching has concentrated on teaching the... View Details

June 2014
Case

Airgas, Inc.

By: Eric Van den Steen and Jason Karl

In 2013, Airgas was the market leader in packaged industrial gas distribution. Recent acquisitions had made it into a larger player in upstream gas production as well, where it competed with Praxair and Air Products. Should Airgas continue building a position in gas... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Competency and Skills; Value Creation

12 Nov 2015
Blog Post

3 Facts About HBS Discussion Groups

students have a chance to ask questions and evaluate their conclusions in a small group setting (called discussion groups) before heading to class. So what exactly is a discussion group? We checked in with Jay Garg (MBA 2016), a former View Details

September 1998 (Revised July 1999)
Case

Costco Companies, Inc.

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Costco Companies, one of the major players in the wholesale club industry, has developed a new class of membership that offers discounted services--auto, health, and home insurance, business credit card processing, real estate services--in exchange for a higher annual... View Details

Keywords: Cost vs Benefits; Cost Management; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Supply and Industry; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Risk and Uncertainty; Retail Industry