Publications

12 Dec 2023
Cold Call Podcast

Can Sustainability Drive Innovation at Ferrari?

Keywords: Re: Raffaella Sadun; Auto

07 Jun 2016
First Look

June 7, 2016

closed question–based surveys. Publisher's link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=50727 June 2016 Journal of Finance Local Currency Sovereign Risk By: Du, Wenxin, and Jesse Schreger Abstract—We introduce a new measure of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

15 May 2007
First Look

First Look: May 15, 2007

Working PapersI'll Have the Ice Cream Soon and the Vegetables Later: Decreasing Impatience over Time in Online Grocery Orders Authors:Todd Rogers, Katherine L. Milkman, and Max H. Bazerman Abstract How do decisions for the near future... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

August 2014 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Showrooming at Best Buy

By: Thales Teixeira and Elizabeth Anne Watkins

Best Buy is a consumer electronics retailer with nearly 2,000 stores worldwide. In 2012, the rising popularity of price-matching apps for mobile phones made price differences between retailers transparent, online and offline. Shoppers' desire to test electronics... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Price; Consumer Behavior; Applications and Software; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Retail Industry; Electronics Industry

June 2020 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Majid Al Futtaim Retail Geographic Expansion: Brick or Click?

By: Juan Alcácer and Alpana Thapar

This case illustrates the challenges that retailers face when they aggressively pursue geographical growth by expanding both their physical store network and their online presence. It features Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Retail, a franchisee of Carrefour hypermarkets in the... View Details

Keywords: Stores; Ecommerce; Strategy; Expansion; Geographic Location; Decision Making; Internet and the Web; Digital Transformation; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Middle East

June 2022
Case

Zalando: Becoming the Starting Point for Fashion

By: Antonio Moreno, Leela Nageswaran, Emilie Billaud and Federica Gabrieli

Born in 2008 as a small startup selling flip flops, by mid-2021 Zalando had turned into an online fashion company with an assortment of more than 4,500 international brands, 45 million active customers, and a presence in 23 European markets. An essential component in... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Customer Value and Value Chain; Digital Platforms; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Service Operations; Strategy; Business Strategy; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Distribution Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Europe

01 Jun 2007
What Do You Think?

How Should Pay Be Linked to Performance?

another subject as important as this one about which we assume so much and know so little? How do you explain this? What do you think? To read more: Ira T. Kay and Steven Van Putten, Myths and Realities of Executive Pay (Cambridge University Press, due out summer... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

June 2015 (Revised August 2016)
Case

Apple's Future: Apple Watch, Apple TV, and/or Apple Car?

By: David B. Yoffie and Eric Baldwin

In 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook knew that Apple, despite its phenomenal success, needed to continue to innovate in new product areas in order to continue its momentum into the future. This case explores three new (actual or potential) product offerings from Apple: the... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Electronics; Innovation; Technology; Technological Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Computer Industry; Retail Industry; Electronics Industry

March 2017 (Revised October 2018)
Case

Catalant: The Future of Work?

By: Thomas Eisenmann, Jeffrey F. Rayport and Christine Snively

Catalant, founded in 2013 as an online marketplace where MBAs could bid on consulting projects posted by small- to medium-sized businesses, had expanded by 2016 to provide Fortune 1000 companies with access to over 35,000 independent experts. The founders envisioned... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Human Resources; Recruitment; Labor; Market Platforms; Growth and Development Strategy; Employment Industry; Consulting Industry; United States

March 2015 (Revised September 2016)
Technical Note

Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent: The Three Kingdoms of the Chinese Internet

By: Feng Zhu and Aaron Smith

This note provides an overview of the Chinese Internet by describing its leading three companies: Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (BAT). While BAT had previously focused their respective businesses on distinct sectors of the online economy—Baidu for search, Alibaba for... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Internet; Information Technology Industry; China

30 Nov 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is Management’s Role in Innovation?

practices of management require innovation as well." But what kind of innovation in management are we thinking about? There were many suggestions. Nearly all began with the call for a new kind of leadership. Umesh Gupta stated,... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

05 Sep 2008
What Do You Think?

Is Case Method Instruction Due for an Overhaul?

were nevertheless raised for our further consideration. For example, Joe Violette left us with the assertion that "The Case Method ... develops a structured management approach ... not ... leaders." Others, such as Jacoline Loewen, asked about how compatible... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Education

04 Feb 2014
First Look

First Look: February 4

recent years, we have learned that applying standard formulae to corporate transformations is, at best, ineffective and, at worst, dangerous. What's needed is a new approach that enables executives to transform organizations proactively... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthlorne

10 Dec 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Competition: Betfair and the U.K. Market for Sports Betting

Keywords: by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Neil Campbell; Entertainment & Recreation

05 Mar 2008
What Do You Think?

Where Will Management Innovation Take Us?

Summing Up Will management innovation be "pushed" or "pulled"? Competitive organizations in the future will be managed differently. This will require new roles for managers. But according to respondents to this month's... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

October 1999 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Autobytel.com

By: Youngme E. Moon

Autobytel enjoys first-mover advantage in the Internet new car buying space. According to a number of metrics, it is the online leader in this category. However, a number of competitors have sprung up, raising questions about the long-term viability of Autobytel's... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Internet and the Web; Marketing Channels; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Competition; Business Model; Service Operations; Budgets and Budgeting; Growth and Development; Auto Industry

January 2025
Case

Driving Efficiency and Sustainability at P&G China

By: Feng Zhu, Philip Kuai and Billy Chan

P&G China’s business had reached new heights thanks to the explosive growth of e-commerce in the country, but the rapidly increasing volume of shipments to customers had created operational and environmental challenges in terms of packaging waste, shipping damage, and... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Customer Value and Value Chain; Environmental Sustainability; E-commerce; Logistics; Product Design; Value Creation; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Supply Chain Management; Consumer Products Industry; China

17 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

Advertising Symbiosis: The Key to Viral Videos

brands in the advertisements they watch," says Teixeira, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School who has spent the last four years figuring out the factors that make or break online ads. "In the past, when a company launched a... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

January 2009 (Revised March 2009)
Case

A Chinese Start-up's Midlife Crisis: 99Sushe.com

By: William C. Kirby, F. Warren McFarlan and Tracy Manty

Now into their third year at the helm of an Internet start-up in China, Ken Pao and Bill Li were managing a totally different company (with a new name) from the one they first founded in 2006. Having changed their business model from a social networking site to an... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Entrepreneurship; Venture Capital; Investment Funds; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; China