Publications

August 2002
Teaching Note

Sa Sa Cosmetics, TN

By: David E. Bell

Teaching Note for (9-502-085). View Details

Keywords: Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

12 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Entrepreneurship and Multinationals Drive Globalization

In a new book on the origins and impacts of globalization, Harvard Business School's Geoffrey Jones focuses on the role played by a vital but often ignored actor in this conversation: business entrepreneurs and the multinational enterprises they create. "There has... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics

April 2021
Supplement

Exercise for Revlon: Surviving Covid-19

By: Kristin Mugford and Sarah Gulick

Exercise for Revlon: Surviving Covid-19 View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Financial Liquidity; Bonds; Corporate Finance; Borrowing and Debt; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

September 1990 (Revised January 1992)
Case

Procter & Gamble Japan (A)

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Ten years after entering Japan, P&G had accumulated over $250 million in operating losses on declining annual sales of $120 million by 1983. The decision facing the president of P&G International: exit, retrench or rebuild the operation? Ironically, the initial entry... View Details

Keywords: Restructuring; Change Management; Profit; Market Entry and Exit; Market Participation; Sales; Competition; Technology; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Japan

February 2006
Case

Bumble and bumble: Building a Successful Business in Beauty and Fashion

By: Nancy F. Koehn and Erica Helms

Explores the creation and subsequent rise of Bumble and bumble, a trend-setting hair-care company. Analyzes the vision and achievements of the founding entrepreneur, Michael Gordon, and charts the evolution of the company within the $230 billion global beauty industry.... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Strategy; Financial Condition; Business Growth and Maturation; Success; Distribution; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

June 1995
Supplement

Dow Corning and the Breast Implant Controversy (B)

By: Willis M. Emmons III, Monica Brand and Greg Keller

Provides an update to the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

28 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

Brick-and-Mortar Stores Are Making a Comeback

the more traditional, siloed approach. Avery: I would give the example of Glossier, which is a digitally native, direct-to-consumer cosmetics company. They have one permanent showroom in New York, but everything else that they’ve done,... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint; Retail

07 Jan 2025
Blog Post

Revolutionizing Wellness: Kate Twist (MBA 2008) Shapes the Future of Consumer Health Brands

exists at the intersection of the healthcare and beauty industries, educating consumers on the modern way to take care of their skin. It's designed to be a more inviting and accessible experience for minimally invasive cosmetic... View Details

04 May 2009
Research & Ideas

What’s Next for the Big Financial Brands

(Editor's note: Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge.) Recent news coverage of the cosmetic name change... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Banking; Financial Services

04 Sep 2019
News

Clicks and Mortar

complementary channels has opened up possibilities that would not have been imaginable with the more traditional, siloed approach. JA: I would give the example of Glossier, which is a digitally native, direct-to-consumer cosmetics... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

February 1985 (Revised July 1993)
Case

Puritan Drug Co.

David Thomas takes his first sales management assignment and is faced with a sales rep revolt because of a possible territory reorganization. In addition, his sales division is performing well below the national average. Rewritten version of a case by R.Z. Sorenson. View Details

Keywords: Salesforce Management; Conflict and Resolution; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

03 Nov 2015
First Look

November 3, 2015

516-013 Vita: Cosmetics in the Nordics Vita is a Norwegian cosmetics retailer owned by FSN Capital, a Scandinavian private equity company. The company has a strong market position in Norway. The case focuses... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2021
Case

A Close Shave at Squire

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Zoë B. Cullen, William R. Kerr, Benjamin N. Roth and Michael Norris

In 2020, just after closing a $34 million Series B financing round, Dave Salvant and Songe LaRon consider how to adjust their business, Squire Technologies, to the new realities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their barbershop technology, including tools to run a shop... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Private Equity; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Applications and Software; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Pandemics; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; New York (city, NY); San Francisco

January 2005 (Revised July 2005)
Case

Gretta Enterprises

Describes Gretchen ("Gretta") Monahan's founding and management of Gretta Enterprises, which has grown to five outlets--salons, day spas, and fashion boutiques--and $10 million in annual revenue in 10 years. Monahan's role as a television host on TLC's A Makeover Story... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

Find at Harvard

October 1997
Case

L'Oreal of Paris: Bringing 'Class to Mass' with Plenitude

By: Robert J. Dolan

L'Oreal's strategy is to "trickle down" technology over time from high-end outlets like department stores to mass-markets, such as drugstores. The mass market brand Plenitude has become the market leader in France, but even eight years after introduction in the United... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Globalization; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; France; United States

December 2018 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Shiseido: Reinvesting in Brand

By: Jill Avery and Nobuo Sato

Shiseido was in the midst of a six year corporate turnaround, trying to reverse the effects of decades of under-investment in R&D and marketing which had led to a cycle of declining customer support and brand value. Would the CEO’s VISION 2020 plan, centered on four... View Details