Publications

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November 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Module Note

The classical branding paradigm assumes that brands should be built to last and that the role of the brand manager is to protect the long-term sustainability of the brand. Outlines the structure and content of an eight-session module that offers a more expansive... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding

Kyle Myers is an assistant professor of business administration in the Technology and Operations Management unit. He teaches the first-year Technology and Operations Management course.

Professor Myers studies the economics of innovation. His research is at... View Details

Keywords: health care; biotechnology; pharmaceuticals; energy; high technology

August 2023
Supplement

Reimagining Hindustan Unilever (B)

By: Sunil Gupta and Rachna Tahilyani

In April 2023, as the CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), India’s largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firm, prepared to hand over the firm’s reins to his successor, he proudly reflected on the last decade. His quest to digitally transform HUL into an... View Details

Keywords: Experimentation; Digital Transformation; Digital Strategy; Leading Change; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Strategy; Marketing; Performance; Competition; E-commerce; Consumer Behavior; Transformation; Distribution; Decisions; Consumer Products Industry; Asia; India

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

January 2019 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Commercial Sales Transformation at Microsoft

By: Doug J. Chung

Industry leaders should adapt to changes in the business context and consider different ways to grow. Advances in technology had shifted software demand to the cloud. As a result, Microsoft announced a strategic shift in direction from its existing ‘Windows first’... View Details

Keywords: Sales; Strategy; Transformation

Career Coach

Amber Wade

Amber is a marketing, brand and creative strategy vet with experiences spanning consumer tech (Microsoft), consumer packaged goods (Unilever) and... View Details

19 Jun 2020
News

Pandemic Prises Open Inflation Information Gap

05 Jul 2006
Working Paper Summaries

The IPS Property

Keywords: by Thomas J. Steenburgh; Financial Services

17 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 17

information content. The theory yields interesting results about the informational role of targeted advertising and its consequences. First, targeting can itself serve as a signal on product attributes. Second, the effectiveness of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2014
Supplement

Financial Policy at Apple, 2013 (B)

By: Mihir Desai and Elizabeth A. Meyer

This case is meant to accompany Financial Policy at Apple, 2013 (A) and details the results of Apple's Q2 2013 earnings call. View Details

Keywords: Apple; Steve Jobs; Forecast; Forecasting; Forecasting And Prediction; Shareholder Activism; Share Repurchase; Dividends; Financial Ratios; Preferred Shares; Cash Distribution; Corporate Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Republic of Ireland

July – August 2010
Article

Are You Ignoring Trends That Could Shake Up Your Business?

By: Elie Ofek and Luc Wathieu

Virtually all managers in consumer businesses recognize major social, economic, and technological trends. But many do not consider the profound ways in which trends--especially those that seem unrelated to their core markets--influence consumers' aspirations,... View Details

Keywords: Trends; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Product Development

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September 2018 (Revised April 2019)
Case

AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (A)

By: Henry McGee and Aldo Sesia

In 2018, the Hollywood film industry is facing tough headwinds. Fewer and fewer Americans are going to movie theaters, opting instead to watch movies on demand in the comfort of their own homes or on portable devices. Adam Aron, the head of the world’s largest movie... View Details

Keywords: Exhibitors; Movies; Film Entertainment; Disruptive Innovation; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Global Range; Business Model; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

19 May 2014
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Should Compete for Your Privacy

competition among firms? In the working paper Competing with Privacy, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Andrés Hervás-Drane "consider a market where firms set prices and disclosure levels for View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products

September 2015
Case

Eco7: Launching a New Motor Oil

By: John Quelch and Sunru Yong

Aaron Jonnerson, vice president of marketing at the automotive division of Avellin, must make marketing mix decisions for the launch of Eco7, a new environmentally-friendly motor oil. The company's performance has been mediocre, shareholder pressure is increasing, and... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Environmental Sustainability; Product Launch; Transportation; Energy Sources; Auto Industry

November 2019 (Revised December 2019)
Case

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

By: Rory McDonald, Samir Junnarkar and David Lane

Five years on from the 2008 financial crisis, Goldman Sachs remained wounded. Revenues at the global investment bank had stagnated below pre-crisis levels, and the firm had yet to rebound from a substantial decline in securities-trading revenues. Marcus by Goldman... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Banks and Banking; Innovation Leadership; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Organizational Culture; Financial Services Industry; United Kingdom

Research Summary

Rooting Marketing Strategy in Human Universals

Localization strategies can be costly to implement while globalization strategies may fail to develop or create demand by stressing readily shared product features rather than shared needs. Thus the question: Is there, somewhere between the extremes of localization... View Details

June 2020
Case

What IKEA Do We Want?

By: Juan Alcácer, Cynthia A. Montgomery, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In 2018, Swedish furniture maker IKEA was undergoing a significant transformation. Challenged by the rise of online shopping and changing consumer behavior, and mourning the death of its founder, the Company's top executives knew they had to step out of their comfort... View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Transformation; Leading Change; Mission and Purpose; Business Model; Emerging Markets; Customer Focus and Relationships; Organizational Culture; Disruption; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; Europe; Netherlands; Sweden; China; India; United States

October 2002
Exercise

Luster Paint Corporation, The

By: Janice H. Hammond

Describes a marketing director about to launch a new process for demand forecasting. Provides data that allow students to do a multivariable regression analysis. A rewritten version of an earlier case. View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Analytics and Data Science; Management Practices and Processes; Demand and Consumers; Mathematical Methods