Product Failures - Publications - Faculty & Research

03 Mar 2003
Research & Ideas

The Basics of Consumer Marketing in Asia

Consumer product makers looking to sell in Asia cannot expect the relative homogeneity they find in the U.S. or European countries, according to the panelists at the "Consumer Marketing in Asia" panel at the HBS Asia Business... View Details

Keywords: by Julie Jette

03 Jun 2008
First Look

First Look: June 3, 2008

association, fair pay practices) and whether these codes have affected their business outcomes (e.g., staff turnover and absenteeism, product defect rates, sales growth). In this paper, we review the existing evaluations of other private... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 May 2017
Research & Ideas

Amazon Web Services Changed the Way VCs Fund Startups

round of funding. They found that failure rates increased after the introduction of cloud computing in 2006, implying that although money was being spread to more firms, many of them were failing before they received a second round of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Banking; Financial Services; Information Technology

21 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research: February 21

Harvard Business School Case 717-403 Videojet In 2005 Craig Purse, the CEO of Videojet, a company recently acquired by the conglomerate Danaher, is dealing with the unexpected failure of a new high-tech printer just launched in the... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

20 Jan 2009
Research & Ideas

Risky Business with Structured Finance

this product was so superior to other channels of financing. We also started hearing the phrase, 'These structures create yield out of thin air.' It implies magic, or a violation of a very standard notion in finance, a Modigliani-Miller... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Banking; Financial Services

02 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Secrets to a Successful Social Media Strategy

us look at profiles of others, without actually letting these people know that their content was viewed." With a better understanding of why we love social media platforms so much, Piskorski wanted to learn how companies that sell View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

16 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 16, 2015

Business Review You Need an Innovation Strategy By: Pisano, Gary P. Abstract—Why is it so hard to build and maintain the capacity to innovate? The reason is not simply a failure to execute but a failure to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 May 2009
What Do You Think?

Do Innovation and Entrepreneurship Have to Be Incompatible with Organization Size?

latitude," and insuring "no negative consequences" associated with failure of innovative ideas. The right kind of leadership—capable of building trust, the willingness to take risk, and establishing a culture tolerant of... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

24 Sep 2001
Research & Ideas

How To Be an Angel Investor

over 100 early-stage deals, we believe that an investment opportunity has four essential elements, that, when brought together in the right form, represent a high-potential opportunity to make money. If only one of the elements is out of sync, View Details

Keywords: by David Amis & Howard Stevenson

28 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

Microfinance: A Way Out for the Poor

5 percent a day to 5 percent a week. The poor are often faced with the market failure of no commercial banking, Chu said. Where capital is so scarce its marginal productivity is enormous, he added. "But... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

31 Oct 2004
Research & Ideas

The New CEO’s Wrong Message

wanted to be consulted and those on which he would fully trust his managers. He created a task force to review some of the company's key management processes—planning, budgeting, performance evaluation, new product rollout, development of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael E. Porter, Jay W. Lorsch & Nitin Nohria

27 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 27

leading cause of failure in startups. This book offers solutions. Purchase the book: http://www.amazon.com/Founders-Dilemmas-Anticipating-Foundation-Entrepreneurship/dp/0691149135/ The Organization of Firms Across Countries... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

15 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

The Lessons of New-Market Disruption

disruptive technology. Trying to please customers in established markets, where performance expectations are high, can drive companies to include features that make a product too expensive to satisfy customers in emerging markets. Because... View Details

Keywords: by Clark Gilbert; Technology

02 Jan 2001
Research & Ideas

Can Japan Compete? [Part One]

of California, Los Angeles. The book examines the inner workings of Japanese successes and failures of the past and present. It also imparts some clear lessons about company strategy and national competitiveness for the future—not only... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace & Hilah Geer

09 Jan 2019
Research & Ideas

The UK Needs a Bold Strategy Around Competition to Survive Brexit

out the costs of leaving the EU, citizens have not heard a forward-looking plan on how the country could leverage EU membership more effectively in the future, if the country would decide to stay. The country needs to get on with taking steps to raise View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

04 Mar 2002
Research & Ideas

Don’t Lose Money With Customers

"Firms today have access to a wealth of information about customers and sales prospects," says Narayandas. "Now more than ever before, companies are able to leverage technology to work more closely and to collaborate in new ways with customers—from... View Details

Keywords: by Peter K. Jacobs

24 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Why Small Businesses Deserve More Credit

substantial growth, because it looks as though they have been foregoing opportunities,” explains Kim. Whether a tech startup or a pet shop, small businesses are a major economic force, contributing 44 percent of gross domestic product in... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Financial Services; Banking

03 Dec 2015
Op-Ed

How "New Nuclear" Power Could Save the Planet—If Regulators Would Allow It

Leaders from some 150 nations have convened in Paris this week for the COP21 conference with a singular goal: to fight the global threat of climate change. Each of them have brought to Paris their own national plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that drive... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Lassiter; Energy

17 Jun 2002
Research & Ideas

A Litmus Test for Entrepreneurs

endorsements of the umbrella organizations. The big contracts did not come as quickly as the founders had expected, and in early 2001, the company was no longer in business. GovWorks's failure is a textbook example of the perils of... View Details

Keywords: by Walter Kuemmerle

12 Aug 2008
First Look

First Look: August 12, 2008

foreknowledge and/or control. Experiment 4 indicates that effects of indirect agency result from a failure to automatically consider the potentially dubious motives of agents who cause harm indirectly. Download the paper:... View Details