Publications

31 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

From SpinPop to SpinBrush: Entrepreneurial Lessons from John Osher

fact the product of a sharp intellect and dozens of lessons learned over the course of a long career. "He's a street-smart guy, and he has this observational power. He had in mind designing the perfect company, which included the... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Consumer Products

04 May 2015
News

‘Lean Startup’ Revolution Sweeps Through Business Schools

November 2011
Case

Four Products: Predicting Diffusion (2011)

By: John T. Gourville

An updated "Four Products" case. This 2011 version includes: sliced peanut butter, artificial dirt for thoroughbred race tracks, interactive tombstones, and stride-changing running shoes. These four products form the basis to assess the drivers of new product adoption.... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Launch; Marketing

October 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Case

Firestone/Ford Tire Controversy, The (A)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Roger Orosman Nieves

Examines the high-profile Firestone/Ford product recall/investigation that took place in the summer of 2000. Focuses on the management of supplier relationships and incentives. View Details

Keywords: Knowledge Sharing; Supply Chain Management; Motivation and Incentives; Crisis Management; Corporate Accountability; Product; Service Operations; Auto Industry

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

October 2005 (Revised October 2008)
Case

Virginia Mason Medical Center

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Erika Ferlins

In 2000, Dr. Gary Kaplan became CEO of the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. The hospital was facing significant challenges: It was losing money for the first time in its history, staff morale had plummeted, and area hospitals presented ardent... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Production; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Competition; Seattle

December 2005 (Revised February 2006)
Case

Migros

By: Forest L. Reinhardt, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman

In October 2005, Urs Riedener, head of marketing at Swiss retailer Migros, is contemplating the company's competitive position. Primarily a retailer for foods and near-foods products, the cooperative Migros, with close to 600 retail outlets in Switzerland (but only... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Corporate Governance; Corporate Strategy; Cooperative Ownership; Supply Chain Management; Product Marketing; Environmental Sustainability; Social Enterprise; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Switzerland

December 2018 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Shiseido: Reinvesting in Brand

By: Jill Avery and Nobuo Sato

Shiseido was in the midst of a six year corporate turnaround, trying to reverse the effects of decades of under-investment in R&D and marketing which had led to a cycle of declining customer support and brand value. Would the CEO’s VISION 2020 plan, centered on four... View Details

14 Jun 2018
News

How Chase Sapphire Made Credit Cool for Millennials

November 2001 (Revised September 2002)
Case

Four Products: Predicting Diffusion

By: John T. Gourville

One of the critical tasks in the marketing of new innovations is predicting demand and rates of diffusion for those products. Focuses on four innovative products from different domains. Although one can speculate on the scope and rate of diffusion for each of these... View Details

Keywords: Forecasting and Prediction; Innovation and Invention; Product Launch; Demand and Consumers; Technology Adoption

Research Summary

Overview

By: Ayelet Israeli

Professor Israeli utilizes econometric methods and field experiments to study data driven decision making in marketing context. Her research focuses on data-driven marketing, with an emphasis on how businesses can leverage their own data, customer data, and market data... View Details

Keywords: Channel Management; Pricing; Pricing Policies; Online Marketing; E-commerce; Analytics; Econometrics; Field Experiments; Data Analytics; Artificial Intelligence; Value Of Data

February 2001 (Revised February 2018)
Case

The iPremier Company (A): Distributed Denial of Service Attack

By: Robert D. Austin, Larry Leibrock and Alan Murray

Describes a new CIO trying to manage a denial of service (DOS) attack against his e-retailing business. The attack and its aftermath provide students an opportunity to discuss the business issues that are interwoven with computer security issues. View Details

Keywords: Safety; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Retail Industry

December 2018 (Revised June 2021)
Supplement

Bulb 2017: Launch

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

On August 21, 2015, Amit Gudka and Hayden Wood, co-founders of Bulb Ltd. (Bulb) launched a new business to supply energy to the United Kingdom’s 27 million residential homes with a promise of 100% renewable electricity at affordable prices. By the end of March 2017,... View Details

October 2015
Case

DRW Technologies

By: Stephen A. Greyser and William Ellet

Ed Claiborne is a newly hired corporate vice president of procurement for DRW Technologies, a company that produces advanced military systems with 21 plants in the United States. Claiborne was hired from another company from within the industry, and the news of his... View Details

Keywords: Announcements; Management Style; Organizational Structure; Leadership Style; Human Resources

Tony Mayo is the Thomas S. Murphy Senior Lecturer of Business Administration and C. Roland Christensen Distinguished Management Educator in the Organizational Behavior Unit of Harvard Business School (HBS). He currently teaches and serves as the course head for... View Details

Keywords: advertising; airline; education industry; nonprofit industry; publishing industry; service industry

January 1996 (Revised March 1998)
Case

Linking Strategy and Innovation: Materials Technology Corporation

By: Clayton M. Christensen

Materials Technology Corp. (MTC), a high-tech materials company, is struggling in its development portfolio and to achieve a better record of delivering new products on time. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Innovation and Invention; Business Strategy; Time Management; Product; Production; Manufacturing Industry; Chemical Industry; Technology Industry; United States