Publications

March 2025
Case

Stagwell: AI and the Future of Marketing

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Radhika Kak

In early 2025, Mark Penn, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Stagwell, a global marketing company with a network of over 70+ agencies that served over 4000 blue-chip customers across 40 countries, was looking at ways that marketers should navigate the disruption emanating... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Innovation Strategy; Change Management; AI and Machine Learning; Digital Transformation; Technology Adoption; Marketing Strategy; Service Delivery; Creativity; Business Model; Advertising Industry; Technology Industry

September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
Technical Note

Algorithmic Bias in Marketing

By: Ayelet Israeli and Eva Ascarza

This note focuses on algorithmic bias in marketing. First, it presents a variety of marketing examples in which algorithmic bias may occur. The examples are organized around the 4 P’s of marketing – promotion, price, place and product—characterizing the marketing... View Details

February 2015
Article

Risk, Information, and Incentives in Online Affiliate Marketing

By: Benjamin Edelman and Wesley Brandi

We examine online affiliate marketing programs in which merchants oversee thousands of affiliates they have never met. Some merchants hire outside specialists to set and enforce policies for affiliates, while other merchants ask their ordinary marketing staff to... View Details

Keywords: Affiliate Marketing; Incentives; Fraud; Advertising; Internet and the Web; Marketing Communications; Ethics; Digital Marketing

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August 1998 (Revised July 2002)
Case

Innovation at 3M Corporation (A)

By: Stefan H. Thomke and Ashok Nimgade

Describes how 3M Corp. introduces and learns a new and innovative methodology called Lead User research to understand future customer and market needs. A team from 3M's Medical-Surgical Markets Division applies the Lead User methodology to the field of surgical... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Managerial Roles; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Market Timing; Product Development; Problems and Challenges; Business Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

September–October 2002
Article

Market Power and Power Markets

By: Jurgen Weiss

The paper provides results of a serious of experiments with experienced subjects exploring the relationship between elements of electricity market design and competitive outcomes. The two primary variables examined are a) the price formation (nodal versus uniform with... View Details

Keywords: Energy; Market Design; Competition

Research Summary

Building Bridges: The Social Structure of Interdependent Innovation

Multidivisional firms often fail to take advantage of innovations that involve combining resources from distinct divisions. This failure of cross-line-of-business innovation is a consequence of design choices employed to execute the firm’s strategy: in organizing... View Details

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

How One Center of Innovation Lost its Spark

How do once-thriving centers of innovation slow down, falter, and in some cases all but grind to a halt? That's a question that fascinates HBS professor Donald N. Sull. In a new working paper describing his... View Details

Keywords: by Donald Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation; Auto

August 2000 (Revised July 2002)
Background Note

Economic Evidence on the Globalization of Markets

Presents the systematic evidence in the context of the microeconomic model of market integration. Market integration is just one (economic) aspect of globalization; this is one of the particular interests to business managers. View Details

Keywords: Globalized Markets and Industries

March 2020
Technical Note

Influencer Marketing

By: Jill Avery and Ayelet Israeli

Despite a heavy barrage of advertising, most consumers declare that their purchases are most influenced by the experiences, advice, and recommendations of others, and not by marketers. Interpersonal communication between and among consumers serves as a potent path for... View Details

Keywords: Influencers; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Advertising Industry; Consumer Products Industry

15 Jun 2018
News

The Importance of Purpose in Technology & Innovation

July 2012
Article

The Real Consequences of Market Segmentation

By: Sergey Chernenko and Adi Sunderam

We study the real effects of market segmentation due to credit ratings using a matched sample of firms just above and just below the investment-grade cutoff. These firms have similar observables, including average investment rates. However, flows into high-yield mutual... View Details

Keywords: Segmentation; Credit; Investment; Investment Funds; Quality; Markets; Measurement and Metrics; Business Ventures

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2006
Book

Design-Inspired Innovation

By: James Utterback, Bengt–Arne Vedin, Eduardo Alvarez, Sten Ekman, Susan Walsh Sanderson, Bruce Tether and Roberto Verganti

When an innovation is inspired by design, it transcends technology and utility. The design delights the user, seamlessly integrating the physical object, a service, and its use into something whole. A design-inspired innovation is so simple that it becomes an extension... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Invention; Product Design; Product Development

18 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Innovation Network

Keywords: by Daron Acemoglu, Ufuk Akcigit, and William Kerr; Technology

October 27, 2022
Article

4 Types of Innovators Every Organization Needs

By: Andy Wu, Goran Calic and Min Basadur

Every company strives to be innovative, but most are missing key ingredients. How can you identify which ingredients your organization needs — and which employee styles can fill in the gaps? The authors’ research distills four key innovation styles that can lead to... View Details

Keywords: Innovation Leadership; Innovation and Management

Article

Organizational Culture, Market Orientation, Innovativeness and Firm Performance: An International Research Odyssey

By: Rohit Deshpandé and John U. Farley

Keywords: Markets; Innovation and Invention; Organizational Culture; Performance; Business Ventures; Research