Publications

August 1999 (Revised January 2002)
Case

Brita Products Company, The

By: John A. Deighton

Clorox's Brita skillfully exploits a tide of water safety concerns, growing a home water (filtration) business from inception to a 15% U.S. household penetration in ten years. The dilemma in the case arises as the period of increasing returns seems to be drawing to a... View Details

Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain; Acquisition; Retention; Safety; Natural Environment; Emerging Markets; Investment Return; Equity; Demand and Consumers; United States

Research Summary

Research overview

The growth of consumer review websites over the past decade has revolutionized the way in which consumers learn about product quality. The centrality of information to consumer welfare has also been underscored in public policy debates, where quality disclosure has... View Details

The De Beers Group: Exploring the Diamond Reselling Opportunity

In September 2014, Tom Montgomery (SVP of Strategic Initiatives at the De Beers Group) and his team launched a pilot program in the United States to explore the opportunity to sell pre-owned (recycled) diamonds--current sales were estimated to be approximately $1... View Details

20 Nov 2019
Video

Shinta Widjaja Kamdani

Shinta Kamdani, owner of Indonesian-based consumer products and energy company Sintesa Group, describes the logic of the Group’s diversification strategies which seek to balance consumer industries which... View Details

November 2007
Case

Differences at Work: Allie (A)

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Rachel Gordon

On a business trip, Allie's boss demands that she and a colleague skip planned company meetings and "meet him at the beach in their bikinis." View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Managerial Roles; Ethics; Gender; Diversity; Power and Influence

Find at Harvard

December 2015
Case

The Hain Celestial Group

By: David E. Bell, José B. Alvarez, James Weber and Mary Shelman

Hain Celestial manufactured natural and organic food and personal care products to be sold to retailers of these products. The company had grown successfully and profitably through acquisitions and organically for two decades. In late 2015, Hain faced challenges on... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Strategy; Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; United States

14 May 2013
News

Leslie Perlow: How to Have Your Downtime -- Without Missing a Beat

22 Dec 2022
Blog Post

Climate Stories Episode #13: Democratizing Climate Returns - Nisha Desai (HBS 1997), Founder and CEO of Invest With Intention

With Intention. “We want consumers to sync what they are investing in with their financial assets, with education about decarbonization investment opportunities in their own homes and cars.” She continued,... View Details

14 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

How to Profit from Scarcity

scarcity encourages us to buy sooner and perhaps to buy more than normal. We saw two excellent examples of this effect this summer with the launches of the iPhone and the seventh Harry Potter book. In both... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

2015
Working Paper

'Be Careless with That!' Availability of Product Upgrades Increases Cavalier Behavior Toward Possessions

By: Silvia Bellezza, Joshua M. Ackerman and Francesca Gino

Consumers are often faced with the opportunity to purchase a new, enhanced product (e.g., a new phone), even though the device they currently own is still fully functional. We propose that consumers act more recklessly with their current products and are less concerned... View Details

Keywords: Carelessness; Product Upgrade; Justification; Loss; Consumer Behavior; Attitudes; Product; Ownership

SSRN

06 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Bringing Music to the HBS Classroom: My Journey as a Nontraditional Student in the Summer Venture in Management Program

that my skill set was not aligned with the demands of business school, let alone a highly-acclaimed institution like Harvard. My undergraduate experience was predominantly made up of developing in-depth technical View Details

27 Oct 2009
Working Paper Summaries

Stock Price Fragility

Keywords: by Robin Greenwood & David Thesmar

Research Summary

The Consumer-Direct Channel: "We've Come Full Spiral"

Professor Lemon is currently engaged in a field research project investigating the extent to which new "channels" such as the Internet and home grocery delivery represent a dramatic shift in consumer buying behavior. She is working with a consortium of global... View Details

September 2014 (Revised April 2016)
Case

Cree Inc.: Introducing the LED Light Bulb

By: John Gourville and Michael Norris

Cree, a North Carolina-based maker of light emitting diodes (LEDs), has just introduced its first consumer product—an LED light bulb. It is designed as an energy efficient replacement for the ubiquitous incandescent light bulb. But given that it is an unfamiliar... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Innovation; Product Adoption; Technological Innovation; Technology Adoption; Energy Conservation; Product Launch; Consumer Products Industry; North Carolina

October 2004 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Staffing in Professional Service Firms

By: Ashish Nanda

This case discusses the problem of balancing demand and supply of professionals over time using a fictional scenario. View Details

Keywords: Selection and Staffing; Service Industry

Isamar Troncoso

Isamar Troncoso is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Marketing Unit at HBS. She teaches the Marketing course in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Troncoso studies problems related to digital marketplaces and new technologies. She... View Details

Keywords: e-commerce industry; high technology; retailing

19 Jun 2020
News

Pandemic Prises Open Inflation Information Gap

August 1995 (Revised July 1997)
Case

H.E. Butt Grocery Company: A Leader in ECR Implementation (A) (Abridged)

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Describes the industry context that has resulted in the development of efficient consumer response (ECR) within the grocery industry and its adoption by H.E. Butt Grocery Co. View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Adoption; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry