Publications

16 Jun 2021
HBS Case

Cruising in Crisis: How Carnival Is Riding Out the COVID-19 Storm

including the massive infusion of liquidity and confidence into capital markets that took place under the Federal Reserve’s and US government’s various COVID-relief programs, a belief in the long-term growth prospects of the cruise industry generally, and View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Travel

06 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

Latest Isn’t Always Greatest: Why Product Updates Capture Consumers

customers.” However, the research team is not suggesting that marketers slap “revised” labels onto products when those products are not in fact substantively different. On the consumer side, the research suggests that buyers should beware the easy shortcut of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Consumer Products; Retail

28 Nov 2005
Research & Ideas

Unilever: Transformation and Tradition

development of new products, but was also indispensable for the constant upgrading and renewal of brands. Unilever's main problem was the time it took to turn scientific knowledge into successful branded products. It entered the 1960s... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones; Consumer Products

22 Feb 2018
Book

The New History of American Capitalism

Since the start of the 2000s, historians have renewed their interest in capitalism, two Harvard professors observe in their new book, American Capitalism: New Histories. One of the primary contributing factors for this, according to Sven... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

January 2024
Case

Sprouts Farmers Market

By: Rajiv Lal, Forest L. Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred

Sprouts Farmers Markets (Sprouts) is a Phoenix, Arizona-based chain of 400-plus natural foods stores in 23 U.S. states and $6.4 billion in sales as of 2022. In its product assortment, brand image, and store environment, Sprouts emphasizes freshness, health, innovation,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Strategic Planning; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Competition; Retail Industry; United States; Arizona

18 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Industrial Decarbonization: Confronting the Hard Challenges of Cement

Cities like Cairo; Chongqing, China; Delhi; and Kinshasa, Congo are experiencing population explosions accompanied by unprecedented demand for homes, offices, factories, and infrastructure. In the United States, the Biden Administration’s policy-driven infrastructure... View Details

Keywords: by by Janelle Conaway; Green Technology; Energy; Industrial Products; Manufacturing

November 2016 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Elon Musk's Big Bets

By: David B. Yoffie, Eric Baldwin and Brandon Kaufmann

Between late 2014 and late 2016, Tesla CEO Elon Musk undertook several major, and risky, initiatives that would dramatically expand the scale and scope of Tesla’s business. In late 2014, Tesla began construction on a $5 billion “gigafactory” that would manufacture... View Details

2020
Chapter

Business, Ethics and Institutions. The Evolution of Turkish Capitalism in a Comparative Perspective

By: Asli M. Colpan and Geoffrey Jones

This chapter offers a survey of the evolution of Turkish capitalism from the 19th century Ottoman Empire until the present day. It shows that Turkish business over the last century and a half was shaped in an institutional context similar to those in many developing... View Details

Keywords: Business Groups; Capitalism; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Government and Politics; History; Religion; Business History; Turkey; Central Asia; Middle East

Find at Harvard

30 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Six Steps for Making Your Threat Credible

threat lack credibility, but you also have no way of changing course if the situation becomes dire. 3. Visibly incur sunk costs Suppose you are negotiating with a consulting firm to renew its contract to provide information technology... View Details

Keywords: by Deepak Malhotra

11 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Branding Sells Cereal, Handbags, and Vacations. Can It Sell a Country?

cheeses won’t resonate with tech entrepreneurs. Enduring. Building a brand around renewable energy might not stick if oil prices fall for a sustained period or a pro-coal leader takes power, but the unique essence of a city never fades... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Tourism

04 Feb 2019
Book

Green Businesses Are Incredibly Difficult to Make Profitable. Try It Anyway

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology; Energy

02 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

6 Strategies for Building Socially Responsible—and Profitable—Companies

A dozen years ago, Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim wondered why some companies operated with an eye toward the greater good, while most did not. Back then, he always got the same response: Corporate leaders thought social and environmental practices... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

July 2019 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Acelerex

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In early 2019, Randell Johnson, Founder and Chief Executive of Acelerex, was reflecting on the company’s first year of rapid growth and the challenges of scaling the business that lay ahead. Acelerex was riding the waves of change taking place in electrical power grids... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Energy Sources; Growth Management; Expansion; Global Strategy; Cash Flow; Energy Industry; Web Services Industry; Consulting Industry