Publications

11 Apr 2022
Research & Ideas

A World of Difference: What Keeps Companies from Becoming More Inclusive

is often something small, sometimes even costless to fix, but unknowable without talking about it. Gino: What I love about this is that we think that we understand each other, but we don’t. You’re reminding me of a beautiful paper by... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint

18 Feb 2019
Book

What’s Really Disrupting Business? It’s Not Technology

If women wanted to shake up their makeup regimen 10 years ago, Sephora was the place to go. Beauty product junkies loved Sephora’s candy store-like display of sample-size face creams, glittery lip glosses, and eyeshadows in every shade... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics

Portrait Project

Jamie Gong

navigate my future. No matter where my path leads, I vow to meet life with her compassion and selflessness. In my work, I aspire to create innovations that empower and dignify our most vulnerable—the sick, the aging, the memory-impaired. To build things that surprise... View Details

01 Sep 2023
News

3-Minute Briefing: Frances Haugen: (MBA 2011)

I went to a Montessori preschool. My parents were very big on the idea that children are people and treated me with great seriousness. If they asked me to do something, I was allowed to ask why. Debate was a big part of my high school experience. Coaching debate... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; whistle blower; Facebook; leadership; social media

August 2021 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Perfect Diary (完美日记)

By: Shunyuan Zhang and Sunil Gupta

Jinfeng (David) Huang founded Yatsen Holding Limited in 2016 and launched the first direct-to-consumer (DTC) cosmetic brand, Perfect Diary, in 2017. Perfect Diary used social influencers or key opinion leaders (KOL) to successfully build brand awareness and to grow... View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Social Influencers; Marketing; Digital Marketing; Competitive Strategy; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Asia

02 Nov 2022
News

Strong Finish

Heela Yang and Alicia Sontag Four years after its launch in 2015, the Brazilian-inspired beauty brand Sol de Janeiro was already profitable; its skin-tightening Bum Bum Cream had been Sephora’s top-selling skin care product for three... View Details

25 Apr 2024
News

Origin Stories

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Dan Morrell: Hi, this is Dan Morrell, host of Skydeck. Where we come from and how we were raised has a profound effect on who we become. The recipients of this year’s Alumni Achievement Award grew up... View Details

19 Jan 2024
News

The Values and Virtues of a Quick Fix

Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Spotify More Skydeck episodes Hi, this is Dan Morrell, host of Skydeck. Speed has gotten a pretty bad rap, says Anne Morriss (MBA 2004). The Silicon Valley mantra of moving fast and breaking things has led to waves of high-profile... View Details

22 May 2017
Lessons from the Classroom

A Luxury Industry Veteran Teaches the Importance of Aesthetics to Budding Business Leaders

Pauline Brown joined the HBS faculty following a tenure as Chairman of North America at the French luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. (Photo credit: Albert Cheung) To future CEOs who want to succeed in the business of making and marketing... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics; Beauty & Cosmetics

12 Oct 2022
Blog Post

11 Stories from HBS PRIDE for National Coming Out Day

marriage. I struggled to reconcile sermons that emphasized that we were all made in the likeness of God yet only half the population was available for me to fall in love with. My pan identity evolved from my recognition of the beauty in... View Details

09 Dec 2019
Research & Ideas

Identify Great Customers from Their First Purchase

Testing data on 13,000 shoppers To show how the model works, Ascarza and Padilla fed it some customer data supplied by an international retailer that sells its own brand of beauty products exclusively in its stores and on its website.... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz; Retail; Service

25 Sep 2023
Blog Post

HBS Latino Student Association Spotlight: Ana Barrera (MBA 2024)

the LASO leadership team and supporting prospective students. Being Latine at HBS is an extension of hope and love for my culture. When I walk through Schwartz Common’s carefully manicured lawns, I think of the hardworking individuals who maintain our View Details

28 Jun 2021
Blog Post

7 Things HBS Taught Me the Last 2 Years

constraints, with the impact of that decision affecting everything from just their immediate team to billions of dollars of revenue globally. The beauty of the case method is that it breaks down the most complicated problems to small... View Details

26 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

How Paid Promos Take the Shine Off YouTube Stars (and Tips for Better Influencer Marketing)

offering recommendations and reviews. The researchers picked the beauty and lifestyle category because it attracts the highest amount of brand sponsorships on YouTube. The authors attempted to compare the behavior of influencers in... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Technology; Media & Broadcasting

16 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Advice on Advice

even damage relationships. But when advice-giving does go well, it is a beautiful thing, says Margolis, the James Dinan and Elizabeth Miller Professor of Business Administration. "If you've been thinking about a problem in a certain... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

February 2005 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Unilever in India: Hindustan Lever's Project Shakti--Marketing FMCG to the Rural Consumer

By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Rohithari Rajan

With liberalization of India's economy and the opening up of markets to foreign multinationals such as Procter & Gamble, the Indian subsidiary of Unilever--Hindustan Lever Ltd. (HLL)--was under pressure to grow revenues and profits. HLL had a long and stellar record of... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Market Entry and Exit; Business Subsidiaries; Revenue; Profit; Market Participation; Programs; Rural Scope; Poverty; Multinational Firms and Management; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; India

January 1981
Case

Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.

By: John P. Kotter

Introduces the student to Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc., its business, its strategy, and its organization. Provides the necessary background for understanding the contributions of Mary Kay Ash, the company's founder and chairman. View Details

Keywords: Management Teams; Business Strategy; Organizations; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry