Publications

February 2011 (Revised March 2021)
Case

Hindustan Unilever's 'Pureit' Water Purifier

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Mona Sinha

The case asks students to formulate a strategy to respond to various competitive threats to its Pureit Water purifier, launched in 2008, targeted at millions of low-income Indian consumers who did not have access to safe drinking water. The case describes in detail the... View Details

Keywords: Multinational Firms and Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Development; Social Enterprise; Competitive Strategy; India

Career Coach

Erika Beisler

Erika Beisler (Yale School of Management ’99, Dartmouth College ‘93) is part of the CPD team. She is the industry lead for Consumer Products as well as Retail & Luxury Goods and coaches students... View Details

17 Oct 2016
News

The Right (And Wrong) Way To Harness Your Company's Underdog Status

28 Sep 2010
News

Hey Big Spenders: The Trickle-Down Argument

September 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Lifefont: The Case for RetailDriver

Examines how Lifefont (pseudonym), a multidivisional consumer packages goods company, develops a system to manage and measure the impact of promotional events in retail outlets. View Details

Keywords: Framework; Change Management; Compensation and Benefits; Cost vs Benefits; Growth Management; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Customer Relationship Management; Product Marketing; Salesforce Management; Advertising; Management Systems; Information Technology; Retail Industry

June 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Inside Intel Inside

By: Youngme E. Moon and Christina L. Darwall

In early 2002, Pamela Pollace, vice president and director of Intel's worldwide marketing operations, is debating whether the company should extend its "Intel Inside" branding campaign to non-PC product categories, such as cell phones and PDAs. The "Intel Inside"... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Growth and Development; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Sales; Expansion; Competitive Advantage; Semiconductor Industry; Manufacturing Industry; California

November 2006
Case

Competitive Headaches (A): The Analgesic Wars

By: Dennis A. Yao

Addresses the problem of competing with a me-too consumer product. Focuses on Bristol-Meyers' 1975 strategy for introducing a competitor to Tylenol in the analgesic market. View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

18 Nov 2019
Video

Adi Godrej

Adi Godrej, Chair of the India-based consumer products Godrej Group, describes the difficulties... View Details

November 1994 (Revised May 1996)
Case

Walt Disney's Dennis Hightower-- Taking Charge

By: Ashish Nanda

In 1987, Dennis Hightower, was recruited from outside for a newly created position as head of Disney Consumer Products European operations. Hightower has to win initial acceptance of entrenched country managers, integrate the company's diverse subsidiaries closer... View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leadership; Change Management; Corporate Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

February 2000 (Revised April 2001)
Case

CNET 2000

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Pauline M Fischer

CNET's managers explain the strategic analysis that led to their decision to increase their annual marketing budget from $1 million to $100 million. CNET is an online information intermediary that helps consumers make purchase decisions about PC hardware and software,... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Corporate Strategy; Budgets and Budgeting; Financial Strategy; Decisions; Growth and Development; Customer Focus and Relationships; Business Divisions; Marketing Strategy; Distribution Channels; Consumer Behavior; Online Technology; Information Technology Industry

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

Research

Professor Karmarkar's research in consumer behavior develops theory-driven frameworks “from the brain up”. In particular, using a combination of consumer psychology, behavioral economics, and insights from neuroscience, she investigates the factors that consciously... View Details

04 Feb 2020
Video

Savannah Maziya

Savannah Maziya, the founder of South Africa-based Bunengi Holdings, describes the high-risk, high-reward nature of investing in Africa in the areas of agriculture, infrastructure, and consumer goods. View Details

April 3, 2024
Article

How Automakers Can Address Resistance to Self-Driving Cars

By: Stuti Agarwal, Julian De Freitas and Carey K. Morewedge

Research involving multiple experiments found that consumers have biased views of their driving abilities relative to those of other drivers and automated vehicles. These findings have implications for the adoption of partly or fully automated vehicles, which one day... View Details

Keywords: Technology Adoption; Consumer Behavior; Government Legislation; Prejudice and Bias; Auto Industry; Technology Industry

September 2018
Case

ProdEng: Services for Oil & Gas Extraction

By: Frank V. Cespedes, Maria Fernanda Miguel and Mariana Cal

ProdEng is a venture created as part of a PE fund and provides oil field services in Argentina. In 2016, an industry-wide unforeseen oil and gas demand slump drove ProdEng’s average service rates down by more than 37%, with EBITDA margins falling from 50% to 24% in the... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Entrepreneurship; Sales; Marketing; Price; Strategy; Latin America; Argentina

21 Mar 2016
HBS Case

Can Customer Reviews Be 'Managed?'

in 2013. Professor Thales Teixeira discusses TripAdvisor’s staggering success, how the company has forced an entire industry to change the way it considers (and purposefully influences) the online review process, and how View Details

Keywords: by Brian Kenny; Advertising; Travel

Pietro Satriano

Pietro Satriano is a Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School. He sits on the boards of CarMax, the largest omni-channel used car retailer in the U.S. and Metro, a large regional grocery retailer in Canada. Pietro advises a number of food-tech startups and acts... View Details

13 Apr 2017
News

When Shareholders Speak Their Minds

June 2002
Case

Vans: Skating on Air

By: Youngme E. Moon and David Kiron

Vans is best known for selling footwear and apparel to skateboarders, surfers, and other alternative sports athletes. In April 2002, Gary Schoenfeld, the CEO, is facing a number of challenges. With respect to footwear, he must decide what to do about two product lines... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Demand and Consumers; Product Development; Value Creation; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; California