Publications

June 2007 (Revised January 2008)
Case

BBC Worldwide: Global Strategy

By: John A. Quelch and Carin-Isabel Knoop

In January 2007, John Smith, chief executive officer of BBC Worldwide (BBC WW), the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), was preparing to meet with his senior managers to discuss BBC WW's global strategy options. BBC WW exploited and exported... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Expansion; Internet; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Great Britain

June 2005
Case

CarMax

By: Rajiv Lal and David Kiron

Carmax is the largest multi-market used car dealer in the U.S., and has no format-to-format competitor in the $375 billion used car market. CarMax is trying to do what some analysts believed to be impossible: sell used cars profitably on a national scale, and at the... View Details

Keywords: Profit; Brands and Branding; Digital Platforms; Segmentation; Auto Industry

01 Mar 2023
News

Case Study: Power Nappy

to landfill waste. What’s worse, each of the 27 million diapers that are tossed every year will take four or five centuries to decompose, due to their petroleum-based materials. Between the lack of performance in the sustainable brands... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing

June 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

Blue Man Group: Creativity, Life and Surviving an Economic Meltdown

In 2008, Blue Man Group's three co-founders are facing the prospect of losing not just a business but a way of life they have built together. The case follows the story of Chris Wink, Matt Goldman, and Phil Stanton as they pursue their creative passion and build the... View Details

Keywords: Arts; Financial Crisis; Entrepreneurship; Crisis Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Personal Development and Career; Creativity; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

April 2005 (Revised March 2006)
Case

Change at Whirlpool Corporation (A)

By: Jan W. Rivkin, Dorothy A. Leonard and Gary Hamel

In 1998, the CEO of Whirlpool Corp. decides to change the company's strategy significantly to escape an increasingly unattractive "stalemate" in the appliance industry. The change he proposes involves a fundamental shift in the company's focus--from manufacturing to... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Change Management; Competitive Advantage; Strategic Planning; Production; Brands and Branding; Management Teams; Consumer Products Industry; United States

December 1997 (Revised February 2000)
Case

Hewlett Packard: Creating, Running, and Growing an Enduring Company

By: H. Kent Bowen and Courtney Purrington

Traces the development of Hewlett-Packard Co. from a small start-up company in 1938 to a world-class manufacturer of electronic instruments and computer products. Examines the challenges of starting and running a small company, including financing, human resources... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Product Positioning; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Brands and Branding; Computer Industry; Electronics Industry

03 Mar 2014
HBS Case

Decommoditizing the Canned Tomato

of the Case Research and Writing Group. “No one believed that you could create a brand in tomatoes—a commodity!” The case details how, during an economic downturn, a small business in its fourth generation of family ownership became one... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Food & Beverage; Retail

Career Coach

Lauren Murphy

responsibility at the Proctor & Gamble company where she was a Brand Manager and a Regional Marketing Manager. She began her business career in the buying office as an Area Manager at Macy's Stores (formerly Joske's of Houston). Work... View Details

01 Sep 2018
News

The True Value of a Tweet

media’s impact on the bottom line. You and your colleagues have taken a critical look at the assumption that social media works by attracting followers, which exposes the brand and in turn leads to sales. What’s wrong with that line of... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

Bowman Gray, Jr.

In 1954, Gray introduced Winston cigarettes, the company’s first filter-type cigarettes, and the Salem brand in 1956. By 1965, Winston had emerged as the nation’s #1 selling cigarette brand, replacing Camel, with Salem not far behind.... View Details

Keywords: Food & Tobacco

January 2006 (Revised December 2006)
Case

Toyota Motor Corporation: Launching Prius

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Dennis A. Yao and Masako Egawa

In 1995, Hiroshi Okuda, president of Toyota Motor Corp., considers whether to push for a more aggressive launch of the Toyota Prius--an automobile that incorporates Toyota's new and technically advanced hybrid power train. This launch decision allows discussion of the... View Details

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Product Launch; Transportation; Brands and Branding; Manufacturing Industry; Green Technology Industry; Auto Industry; Japan

April 2004
Teaching Note

Marks & Spencer: The Phoenix Rises (Multi-Media Case)

By: Joseph L. Bower

Teaching Note to (9-304-034). View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Brands and Branding; Perspective; Segmentation; Management Teams

November 2003
Supplement

P&G Japan: The SK-II Globalization Project

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Paolo de Cesare and A.G. Lafley review the strategic and organizational challenges they face in deciding whether to make the prestigious Japanese beauty product, SK-II, a global brand. In a three-part videotaped interview, they discuss the challenges, reveal the... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Brands and Branding; Organizational Structure; Strategy; Decision Choices and Conditions; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Japan

September 1981 (Revised September 1986)
Case

Steinway & Sons

By: David A. Garvin

Considers whether Steinway should reintroduce a long-discontinued product line to meet competition from the Japanese. Raises the issue of just how quality is defined in this market. Looks closely at a production process relying on craft skills. Students have the... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Brands and Branding; Production; Quality; Competition