Publications

2005
Working Paper

Measuring Consumer and Competitive Impact with Elasticity Decompositions

SSRN

April 2006
Case

Finance Leadership in Novartis Consumer Health Businesses

By: Boris Groysberg and Ingrid Vargas

Describes and contrasts the roles and challenges of three high-performing finance heads at Novartis Consumer Health businesses in Australia, Japan, and Venezuela. All three faced tremendous pressures in terms of managing time and limited resources, but the particular... View Details

Keywords: Finance; Financial Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Leadership Style; Health Industry; Japan; Australia; Venezuela

December 1994 (Revised March 1996)
Case

Ciba Consumer Pharmaceuticals' Acutrim: Challenges and Opportunities in Today's Diet Industry

By: Nancy F. Koehn and Rebecca Voorheis

Since its introduction in 1983, Acutrim has been a major player in the U.S. appetite suppressant market and in the broader diet industry. This case focuses on the strategic, regulatory, marketing, and financial challenges this product and the rapidly changing diet... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Market Design; Industry Structures; Public Ownership; Problems and Challenges; Opportunities; Food and Beverage Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

June 2021
Case

Mobileye 2021: Robotaxi and/or Consumer AV?

By: David B. Yoffie, Danielle Golan and Nicole Tempest Keller

In March 2021, Amnon Shashua, co-founder and CEO of Israel-based Mobileye, was preparing to meet with Intel’s new CEO, Pat Gelsinger, to review plans for the future. Mobileye had been acquired by California-based Intel in 2017, but still operated independently.... View Details

Keywords: Technology Companies; Robotics; Autonomous Vehicles; Strategy; Decision Making; Transportation; Technological Innovation; Technology Industry; Auto Industry; Transportation Industry; Israel

April 1999 (Revised September 1999)
Case

Compaq Computer: Consumer Notebook Group

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

Presents the background for a video of a focus group on Compaq Computer's new consumer notebook. Engineers, manufacturers, and retailers had collaborated on the product design, which has been approved by the executive committee. A launch is scheduled for nine months... View Details

Keywords: Human Resources; Product Launch; Product Design; Outcome or Result; Social and Collaborative Networks; Corporate Strategy; Computer Industry

Research Summary

Supply Chain Coordination for Products with Uncertain Demand

By: Ananth Raman

Ananth Raman has been investigating supply chain coordination for products with uncertain demand in industries as diverse as apparel, power tools, computers, and footwear. Most recently he has been exploring the role of intermediaries, particularly in supply chains... View Details

2020
Working Paper

Accounting for Product Impact in the Consumer Finance Industry

By: George Serafeim and Katie Trinh

We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor credit card providers within the consumer finance industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates... View Details

SSRN

May 2020 (Revised August 2022)
Teaching Note

Direct to Consumer Brands

By: Sunil Gupta

In recent years, we have seen a dramatic rise of direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. Many of these brands, such as Dollar Shave Club, Harry’s, Glossier, and Allbirds, entered mature markets dominated by established companies, and yet they grew rapidly to attain valuations... View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Digital Marketing; Industry Evolution; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Change; Consumer Behavior

16 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers Be Saved From Their Misguided Decisions?

insurance plan. They are likely to choose a low-deductible plan with a high premium even when there is an option to choose a higher-deductible plan that is ultimately less expensive and fits their medical needs just as well. In fact,... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Consulting; Retail

November 2020
Article

Accelerator or Brake? Cash for Clunkers, Household Liquidity, and Aggregate Demand

By: Daniel Green, Brian Melzer, Jonathan Parker and Arcenis Rojas

This paper evaluates the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) by comparing the vehicle purchases and disposals of households with eligible "clunkers" to those of households with similar, but ineligible, vehicles. CARS caused roughly 500,000 purchases during the program... View Details

Keywords: Automobiles; Purchasing; Government Incentives; Household; Financial Liquidity; Income; Behavior

10 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Technology and COVID Upended Tipping Norms. Will Consumers Keep Paying?

prevalent in all kinds of businesses, and the use of non-cash methods, such as paying on tablets or apps, became more prevalent. That has led to situations in which “price framing” can nudge consumers into... View Details

Keywords: by Anna Lamb, Harvard Gazette

March 2023
Technical Note

Companion to: Demand Simulator Spreadsheet Supplement

By: Elie Ofek and Olivier Toubia

summer 1983
Journal Article

Dynamic Factor Demands Under Rational Expectations

By: J. J. Rotemberg and Robert Pindyck

Article

Consumer Promotions and the Acceleration of Product Purchases

By: Scott A. Neslin, Caroline Henderson and John A. Quelch

13 Sep 2010
Research & Ideas

The Consumer Appeal of Underdog Branding

attractive. Why? The reason might be an increasing willingness on the part of consumers to identify with the underdog. In today's economically difficult times, it appears, underdog brands are gaining psychological, View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

December 1992
Article

Oligopolistic Pricing and the Effects of Aggregate Demand on Economic Activity

By: J. J. Rotemberg and Michael Woodford

Keywords: Duopoly and Oligopoly; Price; Economics

02 Feb 2015
Working Paper Summaries

Mobile Money: The Effect of Service Quality and Competition on Demand

Keywords: by Karthik Balasubramanian & David F. Drake; Banking

February 2018
Case

Health Savings Accounts: Enabling Consumer Participation

By: Regina E. Herzlinger and James Wallace

Health savings accounts (HSAs), a creation of the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act, had become an integral part of the drive toward consumer-driven health care. Coupled with high-deductible health plans, HSAs allowed consumers to directly control a significant part of... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Healthcare Costs; Health Insurance; Health Care and Treatment; Cost; Insurance; Innovation and Invention; Health Industry; United States