Publications

03 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Marketing Your Way Through a Recession

Must-have features of yesterday are today's can-live-withouts. Trusted brands are especially valued and they can still launch new products successfully, but interest in new brands and new categories fades.... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

September 2020 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Hot Wheels: Launching The Mixed Play Experience

By: Elie Ofek, Andres Terech and Nicole Tempest Keller

Chris Down, Global Brand General Manager for Hot Wheels, and his team from the Advanced Play Group within Mattel, Inc., had developed an entirely new “mixed play” product experience that blended familiar Hot Wheels play in the physical world with breakthrough play in... View Details

Keywords: Toys; Go-to-market Strategy; Product Development; Technological Innovation; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Decision Making; Marketing; Strategy; Los Angeles

June 1982 (Revised May 1995)
Case

Ellis Manufacturing Co.

By: Roy D. Shapiro

Ellis finds itself in a weakening competitive position largely due to the lack of rationalization in its plants. Driven by a strong traditionally decentralized sales organization, Ellis finds that all plants want control over all product lines. As a result, overall... View Details

Keywords: Factories, Labs, and Plants; Cost; Analytics and Data Science; Brands and Branding; Performance Capacity; Competitive Strategy; Construction Industry

February 2022 (Revised July 2022)
Supplement

InstaDeep: AI Innovation Born in Africa (B)

By: Shikhar Ghosh and Esel Çekin

Karim Beguir and Zohra Slim were the co-founders of InstaDeep, a deep tech startup focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Instadeep was one of the few companies globally that were partnering with DeepMind, an AI subsidiary of Google [Alphabet Inc.].... View Details

Keywords: AI; Artificial Intelligence; Entrepreneurship; Operations; Business Subsidiaries; Brands and Branding; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry; Africa

Web

Resumes & Cover Letters - Alumni

what you want them to know. It should be 3-4 sentences in paragraph form following your contact information. Be careful not to load up on overused resume jargon and avoid listing previous jobs/education as it is redundant. Instead, focus on your View Details

Web

Faculty & Advisors | MBA

Fund, an impact investment fund he co-founded in 2016 that has used a venture philanthropic model to catalyze over $700 million of private capital investment in type one diabetes (T1D) cure therapeutics. Sean has held a range of volunteer leadership View Details

December 2018
Case

Choosy

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Julia Kelley

Founded in 2017, Choosy is a data-driven fashion startup that uses algorithms to identify styles trending on social media. After manufacturing similar items using a China-based supply chain, Choosy sells them to consumers through its website and social media pages.... View Details

November 2009 (Revised December 2009)
Case

DaChan Food (Asia) in China

By: Ray A. Goldberg and David Lane

DaChan Food in China is providing leadership in the quality, health, and environmental needs of the Chinese consumer as poultry consumption increases there. Continuing to provide that leadership as global and national competition increase becomes more and more... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Food; Leadership Development; Demand and Consumers; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China

03 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 3, 2007

out less-intensive users of the product. High prices do not cause greater product use than low prices for a given buyer, but there is some evidence that the act of paying increases use. Our estimates imply that positive prices may be... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

21 May 2018
Blog Post

Harnessing The Power of Collaboration to Create Opportunity in Chicago

Operating Officer of Accion Chicago, a nonprofit that helps communities grow by providing capital, coaching and connections to aspiring entrepreneurs who build businesses and generate jobs in their neighborhoods. I spent most of my career harnessing the power of... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit / Government

19 Jan 2011
First Look

First Look: Jan. 18

New Zealand grown kiwifruit outside of Australia and New Zealand. Facing growing international competition, Zespri invested in consumer branding and innovation, which has led to new types of kiwifruit that taste better and are protected... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2020 (Revised September 2020)
Case

Property Finder's Strategy for Online Classifieds in the MENA Region

By: Krishna G. Palepu, Gamze Yucaoglu and Fares Khrais

The case opens in 2020 as Michael Lahyani, founder and CEO of Property Finder, Dubai’s leading online real estate classifieds portal, contemplates the company’s five-year growth strategy.
Since its founding in 2005 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Property... View Details

Keywords: General Business; Real Estate; Entrepreneurship; Property; Strategy; Emerging Markets; Growth Management; Online Technology; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; United Arab Emirates; Saudi Arabia; Egypt; Turkey

November 2022
Background Note

The Future of E-Commerce: Lessons from the Livestream Wars in China

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jeremy Yang and Billy Chan

This note explores the emerging multi-billion dollar commerce trend of livestream commerce. Livestream commerce is the sale of goods or services directly to consumers via live shows on digital platforms (such as social media or e-commerce platforms). It is a form of... View Details

November 2015
Case

Upwork: Reimagining the Future of Work

By: Feng Zhu, Rory McDonald, Marco Iansiti and Aaron Smith

Upwork, the world's largest freelance talent platform, was the result of a merger between the two leading online freelancing companies in 2014, Elance and oDesk. After the merger, the company operated as Elance-oDesk and continued to manage two online... View Details

Keywords: Platforms; Employment; Digital Platforms; Market Transactions; Business Processes; Information Technology; Internet and the Web; Job Search

14 Mar 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, March 14

considerably over time. While it was slightly positive on average in the period 1953–2009, it was unusually high in the early 1980s and negative in the 2000s, particularly in the downturns of 2000–2002 and 2007–2009. This paper specifies... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Beyond Goals: David Beckham's Playbook for Mobilizing Star Talent

ends? Anita Elberse, the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, got a behind-the-scenes look from Beckham’s team at how the organization considered an offer from Authentic Brands Management for a... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

December 2010
Article

Why You Aren't Buying Venezuelan Chocolate

By: Rohit Deshpandé

The article discusses the "provenance paradox," wherein consumers are unwilling to buy high-quality products from regions not commonly associated with excellence in certain product categories. Venezuelan chocolate maker Chocolates El Rey does little international... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Global Strategy; Globalized Markets and Industries; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Emerging Markets; Food and Beverage Industry; Venezuela

Find at Harvard

14 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

Clay Christensen’s Milkshake Marketing

Updated to clarify a failure rate figure included in an earlier version. When planning new products, companies often start by segmenting their markets and positioning their merchandise accordingly. This segmentation involves either... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail; Service; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage

September 2012 (Revised November 2014)
Case

Cialis Lifecycle Management: Lilly's BPH Dilemma

By: Elie Ofek and Natalie Kindred

How should Eli Lilly further develop and market a new indication of its highly successful erectile-dysfunction (ED) drug, Cialis, without confusing Cialis's hard-won brand equity with physicians and patients? With the final stages of clinical trials for the new... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Attitudes; Brands and Branding; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States