Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(3,761)
- Faculty Publications (1,180)
- August 2019 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
Transforming Hindustan Unilever
By: Krishna G. Palepu and Rachna Tahilyani
In October 2013, when Sanjiv Mehta had taken over the reins of Unilever’s business in India and the larger South Asia region, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) had been going through a difficult time. Caught in the midst of a weakening economy, falling consumer spending, and... View Details
- August 2019 (Revised August 2020)
- Case
Magrabi: Fulfilling the Vision for the Future
By: John Beshears, Alpana Thapar and Boris Tsimerinov
In 2018, Magrabi was the leading retailer of eyeglasses, sunglasses, and other optical products in the Middle East, and it was embarking on a major shift in strategy, transitioning from a brand focused on clinical expertise to a brand that combined technical excellence... View Details
- July 2019
- Case
Four Products: Predicting Diffusion (2019)
By: John Gourville
One job of product managers, marketers, strategic planners, and other corporate executives is to predict what the demand will be for a new product. This task is easier for certain classes of new products than for others. For new consumer package goods, for instance,... View Details
- Article
People Make It So Hard to Ditch Plastic Straws
Rarely has a minor consumer product received more vilification than the plastic straw. As a symbol of human wastefulness and our careless disregard for the environment, straws are the near-perfect villain. You use a plastic straw once and toss it, but it stays with us... View Details
- June 2019 (Revised October 2019)
- Technical Note
Note on the Future of Commerce
By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor and Nathaniel Schwalb
In 2019, the retail and consumer product industries were undergoing a significant transformation. Over the past 50 years, what was once a highly fragmented industry began to consolidate, digitize, and increase convenience while lowering costs. The winning enterprises... View Details
- 2019
- Working Paper
The Effect of Payment Choices on Online Retail: Evidence from the 2016 Indian Demonetization
By: Chaithanya Bandi, Antonio Moreno, Donald Ngwe and Zhiji Xu
The Indian banknote demonetization in 2016 was one of the most significant international events of that year. Overnight, 86% of Indian currency in circulation was declared invalid unless exchanged for new bills. The sudden and unexpected demonetization constituted a... View Details
- June 2019
- Article
Brokers vs. Retail Investors: Conflicting Interests and Dominated Products
By: Mark Egan
I study how brokers distort household investment decisions. Using a novel convertible bond dataset, I find that consumers often purchase dominated bonds—cheap and expensive versions of otherwise identical bonds coexist in the market. The empirical evidence suggests... View Details
- June 2019
- Article
Learning to Become a Taste Expert
By: Kathryn A. Latour and John A. Deighton
Evidence suggests that consumers seek to become more expert about hedonic products to enhance their enjoyment of future consumption occasions. Current approaches to becoming expert center on cultivating an analytic mindset. In the present research the authors explore... View Details
- 2019
- Working Paper
The Road Not Taken: Consumption of Unfamiliar Products Increases Feelings of Self-Discovery and Consumer Engagement
By: Dafna Goor, Grant Donnelly and Michael I. Norton
- April 2019
- Case
GE Appliances: Implementing Haier's Made-In-China Management System
By: Dennis Campbell, Marshall Meyer, Bonnie Yining Cao and Dawn H. Lau
- April 2019
- Case
Afterpay U.S.: The Omnichannel Dilemma
By: Antonio Moreno, Donald Ngwe and George Gonzalez
In 2018, Nick Molnar, the founder of the Australia-based online payment service Afterpay began its expansion to the U.S. market. The service had gained a loyal following in Australia by enabling customers to pay for online purchases through four interest-free... View Details
Keywords: Omnichannel Retail; Multi-sided Platforms; Value Creation; Business Model Innovation; Fintech; Digital Marketing; Disruptive Innovation; Business Startups; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Change Management; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Relationship Management; Customer Satisfaction; Financing and Loans; Microfinance; Global Strategy; Marketing Channels; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Digital Platforms; Product Development; Supply Chain Management; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Networks; Network Effects; Internet and the Web; Financial Services Industry; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; United States; Australia
- April 2019 (Revised October 2020)
- Case
Kraft Heinz: The $8 Billion Brand Write-Down
By: Jill Avery
On Friday, February 22, 2019, following an unexpected and disappointing earnings report, The Kraft Heinz Company’s stock price fell 27%, wiping out $16 billion in market value. CEO Bernardo Hees had announced that the company had taken a $15.4 billion asset write-down,... View Details
Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Value; Brand Equity; Marketing ROI; Brand Storytelling; Intangible Assets; Brand Valuation; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Management; Corporate Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Food; Marketing Communications; Advertising; Private Equity; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; North America
- April 2019
- Article
Internalizing Global Value Chains: A Firm-Level Analysis
By: Laura Alfaro, Pol Antràs, Davin Chor and Paola Conconi
In recent decades, advances in information and communication technology and falling trade barriers have led firms to retain within their boundaries and in their domestic economies only a subset of their production stages. A key decision facing firms worldwide is the... View Details
- April 2019
- Teaching Note
The a2 Milk Company
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Daniel Fisher
The a2 Milk Company (a2MC) became the most valuable company listed on the New Zealand stock exchange in 2018 by capitalizing on a biochemical discovery related to the protein composition of cow's milk. Because many people find the A1 protein difficult to digest, and... View Details
Keywords: Judo Economics; Market Entry; Innovation; Barriers To Response; Industry Attractiveness; Advantage Horizon; Sustainability; First-mover Advantage; Scope; Strategy Execution; Strategic Evolution; Biochemistry; Genetics; Branding; Commodity; Milk; Dairy; Infant Formula; Farming; Porter's Five Forces; Market Entry and Exit; Disruption; Innovation and Invention; Competitive Advantage; Corporate Strategy; Value Creation; Competition; Brands and Branding; Five Forces Framework; Consumer Products Industry; New Zealand; Australia; China
- March 2019 (Revised April 2021)
- Case
The DivaCup: Navigating Distribution and Growth
By: Ayelet Israeli
When the mother-daughter founders of DivaCup set out with a mission to disrupt the menstrual care industry with an innovative product form, they initially struggled to gain legitimacy and convince retailers to carry their unique product. Fifteen years later, the... View Details
Keywords: Female; Female Ceo; Female Entrepreneur; Female Protagonist; Health ＆ Wellness; Healthcare; Price Policies; Minimum Advertised Price; Differentiation; Positioning; Growth; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Price; Disruption; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Competitive Strategy; Competition; Growth Management; Mission and Purpose; Product Development; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Advertising; Business Startups; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Social Entrepreneurship; Social Issues; Social Enterprise; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Canada; United States; United Kingdom
- March 2019 (Revised June 2019)
- Case
Global Sourcing at Nike
By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Michael W. Toffel and Olivia Hull
This case explores the evolution of Nike’s global product sourcing strategy, in particular ongoing efforts to improve working conditions at its suppliers’ factories. When the case opens in July 2018, Vice President of Sourcing Amanda Tucker and her colleagues in Nike’s... View Details
Keywords: Sourcing; Factory Conditions; Trade; Geography; Geographic Scope; Globalized Firms and Management; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Governance Compliance; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation Strategy; Labor; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Supply Chain Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Labor and Management Relations; Complexity; Sports Industry; Fashion Industry; Oregon; Portland; Asia; North and Central America
- March 2019
- Case
DayTwo: Going to Market with Gut Microbiome
By: Ayelet Israeli and David Lane
DayTwo is a young Israeli startup that applies research on the gut microbiome and machine learning algorithms to deliver personalized nutritional recommendations to its users in order to minimize blood sugar spikes after meals. After a first year of trial rollout in... View Details
Keywords: Start-up Growth; Startup; Positioning; Targeting; Go To Market Strategy; B2B2C; B2B Vs. B2C; Health ＆ Wellness; AI; Machine Learning; Female Ceo; Female Protagonist; Science-based; Science And Technology Studies; Ecommerce; Applications; DTC; Direct To Consumer Marketing; US Health Care; ＂USA,＂; Innovation; Pricing; Business Growth; Segmentation; Distribution Channels; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Startups; Science-Based Business; Health; Innovation and Invention; Marketing; Information Technology; Business Growth and Maturation; E-commerce; Applications and Software; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Insurance Industry; Information Technology Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Israel; United States
- 2020
- Working Paper
Overcoming the Cold Start Problem of CRM Using a Probabilistic Machine Learning Approach
By: Eva Ascarza
The success of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs ultimately depends on the firm's ability to understand consumers' preferences and precisely capture how these preferences may differ across customers. Only by understanding customer heterogeneity, firms can... View Details
- February 2019 (Revised January 2021)
- Case
Quiksilver Inc. and Oaktree Capital Management
By: Kristin Mugford and Mike Harmon
Sports lifestyle company Quiksilver filed for bankruptcy in September 2015. Oaktree is considering an additional investment in the company to facilitate the restructuring.
Students must consider whether Oaktree should invest given the risks of the turnaround... View Details
Keywords: Bankruptcy; Bankruptcy Reorganization; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Acquisition; Restructuring; Debt Securities; Transformation; Decision Making; Borrowing and Debt; Investment Return; Crisis Management; Negotiation; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; France; United States
- February 2019
- Teaching Note
Haier in the U.S.: Transforming GE Appliances
By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen
Chinese appliance company Haier's 2016 acquisition of iconic GE Appliances ushered in strategic and structural changes to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship at the U.S. company, and to help it grow. Haier, which had a model designed to bring the company closer... View Details