Publications

16 Apr 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, April 16, 2019

Recommendations are based on analyses of individuals’ career histories in the professional services sector and other settings, such as appliance manufacturing, oil and gas, health care, and education. The article proposes strategies on... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

16 Apr 2018
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers Be Saved From Their Misguided Decisions?

generics like ibuprofen. A middle-aged man needs heart medication to avoid another attack. He’s more likely to take his pills regularly if his plan doesn’t have a copay for the prescription. Yet, even with a copay, he’s arguably much better off taking the pills. An... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Consulting; Retail

October 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

GoPro: Becoming a Subscription Hero

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2021, Nick Woodman, founder and CEO of GoPro, was reviewing the company’s subscription offering, considering whether to extend it beyond benefits that were directly related to the company’s iconic camera. Founded in 2002, GoPro had gained renown for its innovative... View Details

Keywords: Subscription Model; Pricing; Lifestyle Brands; Value Proposition; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; California

March 30, 2020
Article

Why Is the U.S. Behind on Coronavirus Testing?

By: Stefan Thomke

Coronavirus testing is needed to address the uncertainty in making decisions about patient treatment, resource allocation, policy, and so much more. Answers to questions such as “When should we relax social distancing measures—and for whom?” or “How many ventilators... View Details

Keywords: Testing; Coronavirus; Culture; Trump; Data; Experiments; Health Pandemics; Health Testing and Trials; Government and Politics; United States

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February 10, 2015
Article

Nonprice incentives and Energy Conservation

By: Omar Isaac Asensio and Magali A Delmas

We investigate the effectiveness of nonprice incentives to motivate conservation behavior. We test whether tailored information about environmental and health damages produces behavior change in the residential electricity sector. In a randomized controlled trial with... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Energy Conservation; Environmental Sustainability; Pollutants; Health Disorders; Knowledge Dissemination; Behavior

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Research Summary

Motivation and Incentive Design

Professor Ashraf's research in motivation and incentives focuses on how to design incentives in sectors where it is important that individuals are motivated by service, such as healthcare or environmental conservation. An important lever is the... View Details

October 2020 (Revised April 2022)
Case

When Institutions Fail: HIV/AIDS in the 1980s

By: Tom Nicholas and Christian Godwin

During the early 1980s, young gay men in urban centers such as San Francisco and New York City began contracting a mysterious illness that would come to be known as HIV/AIDS. A diagnosis meant almost certain death, with a less than 1% survival rate. Conflicting... View Details

May 2015 (Revised May 2017)
Case

Colgate-Palmolive Company: Marketing Anti-Cavity Toothpaste

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

In October 2013, Colgate-Palmolive Company, the world's leading oral care company, was about to launch its new Colgate® Maximum Cavity Protection™ plus Sugar Acid Neutralizer™ toothpaste in Brazil. Oral care category accounted for 46 percent of Colgate's $17.4 billion... View Details

Keywords: New Product Management; Consumer Segmentation; Global Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility; Healthcare; Sustainability; Health Care and Treatment; Environmental Sustainability; Marketing; Segmentation; Product Development; Product Launch; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Product Positioning; Consumer Products Industry; Brazil; United States

September 2019 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Dove and Real Beauty: Building a Brand with Purpose

By: Mark R. Kramer, Myriam Sidibe and Gunjan Veda

Unilever subsidiary Dove soap became a "brand with a purpose" and created shared value when the company decided to launch a Campaign for Real Beauty to combat the artificial media-driven stereotype of female beauty that causes appearance anxiety in women and girls... View Details

Keywords: Stereotype; Body Image; Female; Self-Esteem; Brands and Branding; Mission and Purpose; Advertising Campaigns; Gender; Resource Allocation

Research Summary

Overview

The Information Age has introduced well-received opportunities to track performance. Fitbits and Fuelbands allow individuals to track their own performance; companies like Uber and leading hospitals help you choose a driver or a doctor based on how others rated... View Details

Keywords: Management Accounting; Disclosure; Performance Measurement; Incentives; Control; Education; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry; Health Industry; United States; Japan; India

2 Dec 2021
Interview

How To Make Healthcare Innovation Happen

By: Regina E. Herzlinger

Regina Herzlinger has been called “the godmother of consumer-driven healthcare” because of her groundbreaking scholarly articles and books on the subject. As a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School for nearly 50 years, her focus has supported... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Innovation and Invention

January 2011 (Revised April 2014)
Case

Uptake of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests

By: Nava Ashraf, Natalie Kindred and Richard Sedlmayr

This case describes barriers to adoption of malaria rapid diagnostic tests in Zambia and highlights the importance of understanding end users in promoting product adoption. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are simple, easy-to-use tools that provide a relatively reliable,... View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Health Pandemics; Technology; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Behavior; Prejudice and Bias; Health Industry; Zambia

May 2020
Case

Big Boom Beverages: Fight or Flight?

By: Stephen A. Greyser and William Ellet

Four college friends market a beverage that combines ingredients like those in a drink they consumed in college bars. It includes a caffeinated energy drink, malt liquor, and a soft drink flavoring. They launch the business, Big Boom Beverages (BBB), with their own... View Details

Keywords: Alcoholic Beverages; Energy Drinks; Regulation; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Marketing Communications; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Reputation; Communication Strategy; Decision Making

December 2004 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Cutlass Capital, L.P.

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Brian DeLacey

David Hetz and Jon Osgood are forming a new venture capital fund in 2001 to invest in health care start-ups. Describes their fundraising activities at a time when venture capital investing has reached an all-time high. Although their background skills and experiences... View Details

Keywords: Venture Capital; Negotiation Process; Entrepreneurship; Investment Funds; Health Care and Treatment; Business Startups; Health Industry; United States

January 2023
Case

Thomas Buberl: Refounding AXA

By: Hubert Joly, Mihir Desai and Amram Migdal

In 2022, AXA and its CEO Thomas Buberl faced new types of challenges, including systemic risks such as climate change, geopolitical instability, public health crises, and social tensions caused by economic risks. AXA was one of the world’s largest insurers. Since... View Details

Article

Policies to Influence Perceptions about COVID-19 Risk: The Case of Maps

By: Claudia Engel, Jonathan Rodden and Marco Tabellini

Choropleth disease maps have become an important tool for informing the public about the risks posed by COVID-19. In a survey conducted in the U.S. state of Georgia in June 2020, we randomly assigned respondents to view either of two maps. The first one reported... View Details

Keywords: Disease Surveillance; Health Pandemics; Risk and Uncertainty; Perception; Policy

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09 Mar 2015
Research & Ideas

Why Entrepreneurs Should Go Work for Government

School who has created a new MBA course, Public Entrepreneurship. "The course allows students to consider the alternative that government can work—or they can help make it work." “We have many talented people in government, but... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

2018
Book

Food Citizenship: Food System Advocates in an Era of Distrust

By: Ray A. Goldberg

The global food system is the largest segment of the world's economy. As agribusiness-studies pioneer Ray Goldberg suggests, it is also the largest health system on the planet. And it is changing fast. Its size and importance to human, environmental, and economic... View Details

Keywords: Food; System; Global Range; Health; Environmental Sustainability; Development Economics; Partners and Partnerships; Public Opinion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

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