Publications

2015
Chapter

Framing the Game: How Brands' Relationships with Their Competitors Affect Consumer Preference

By: Neeru Paharia, Jill Avery and Anat Keinan

In this chapter, we explore how brands' relationships with their competitors affect consumers' preferences. Through a series of experiments, we show that the competitive context in which a brand operates can affect consumers' purchase interest and purchase frequency.... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; CRM; Customer Relationship Management; Marketing Strategy; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Customer Focus and Relationships; Competition; Consumer Products Industry

Find at Harvard

The authors explore the effects of having a large dominant competitor and show conditions under which focusing on a competitive threat, rather than hiding it, can actually help a brand. Through lab and field studies, the authors demonstrate that highlighting a large... View Details

December 2019 (Revised December 2022)
Case

TXU (A): Powering the Largest Leveraged Buyout in History

By: Trevor Fetter, Erik Snowberg and Rebecca M. Henderson

This case is designed to support a lively discussion about the relative merits of shareholder vs. stakeholder perspectives in the context of a company that provides a vital public service that has important environmental implications. The 2007 purchase of TXU, the... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Transformation; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Environmental Sustainability; Business and Shareholder Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Energy Generation; Non-Renewable Energy; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Utilities Industry; Energy Industry; Texas

09 Apr 2020
News

Managing Through Crisis: Who Needs Capitalism Anyway?

10 May 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Consumer Inertia and Market Power

Keywords: by Alexander MacKay and Marc Remer

October 1981 (Revised August 2010)
Case

Quabbin Cablevision Company

By: Henry B. Reiling

Several entrepreneurs are considering the purchase of an existing cable TV business with the financial assistance of several investors. They must decide whether to establish the company as a partnership or a corporation, and how to capitalize the company for an optimal... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Organization; Television Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Capital Structure; Taxation; Telecommunications Industry; Massachusetts

Research Summary

Overview

Grant uses a combination of laboratory and field experiments to harness consumers' cognitive and affective resources to increase their well-being. Consumers make countless daily decisions in the pursuit of happiness -- whether and how to spend or save their money, what... View Details

Keywords: Well-being; Judgment And Decision Making; Health; Prosocial Behavior

February 2010 (Revised June 2022)
Case

Dollarama Inc.

By: Andre F. Perold

Dollarama is the leading operator of dollar stores in Canada. The firm performed extraordinarily well after a leveraged buyout in 2004 and recently executed a highly successful IPO. The company sources its goods primarily from Asia. It has strong brand recognition and... View Details

Keywords: Price; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Supply Chain; Competitive Advantage; Valuation; Consumer Products Industry; Retail Industry; Canada

August 2016 (Revised November 2019)
Case

Baskits Inc.

By: Richard S. Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

Soon after Robin Kovitz (MBA 2007) acquired Baskits Inc., the largest gift basket company in Canada, she became convinced that the business needed to make significant operational improvements. In her first year as CEO, she introduced an ERP system to help with sales... View Details

Keywords: Production; Supply Chain; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry; Canada

March 1993
Case

Clarion Optical Co.

By: Michael J. Roberts and Howard H. Stevenson

Focuses on two individuals' attempts to purchase Clarion Optical Co. Forces students to consider alternative proposals for financing the purchase; generate pro forma cash flows to assess the feasibility of these proposals; estimate the sources and magnitude of... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Financing and Loans; Investment Return; Cash Flow; Forecasting and Prediction

16 Sep 2021
News

OpenSea, Amid Insider Trading Controversy, Rolls Out NFT Marketplace App

23 Aug 2018
News

Why recent stock market gains might not benefit the economy

March 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

MAC Development Corporation

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Colleen McCaffrey

Deals with MAC Development's efforts to develop a 41-acre site near Chicago. Reviews two years of efforts and highlights the remaining issues of: 1) gaining town approval for development and tax reductions, 2) meeting the bank's debt covenants, including finding a... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Taxation; Financial Instruments; Borrowing and Debt; Asset Pricing; Construction Industry; Chicago

August 1995 (Revised January 2007)
Case

The Schneider Building

By: William J. Poorvu and John H. Vogel Jr.

In May 1995, Jonathan Schneider, the president of the Schneider Co., is faced with several related problems. First, he needs to find a new facility that can accommodate his expanding business. Second, he needs to decide whether to lease or purchase this new facility.... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Property; Leasing; Expansion; Real Estate Industry

December 2022
Technical Note

Risks and Opportunities from the Transition to a Low Carbon Economy: A Business Analysis Framework

By: George Serafeim

The transition to a low carbon economy introduces many risks and opportunities for businesses. Risks emerge from regulatory actions, such as carbon taxes and cap and trade systems, technological innovation that develop alternatives for customers making existing... View Details

Keywords: Risk Assessment; Opportunities; Environmental Sustainability; Carbon Footprint; Risk Management; Competitive Dynamics; Business Analysis; Climate Change; Accounting; Finance; Valuation; Business and Shareholder Relations; Technological Innovation; Transition; Product Positioning; Renewable Energy; Analysis

Research Summary

Utilizing Display, Feature and Price Promotions: Getting the Biggest Bang for the Buck

Firms are continuously looking for more efficient ways to influence consumers to purchase their brand. Professor Lemon is conducting research to understand what motivates consumers' purchases of products and services. Her research suggests new strategies for category... View Details

March 2011 (Revised November 2011)
Case

Harmonic Hearing Co.

By: Howard H. Stevenson and Craig H. Stephenson

Harmonic is a small, privately held manufacturer of hearing aids. Harriet Burns and Marc Davis, two employees at Harmonic, have an opportunity to purchase the company from the founder. As well-informed insiders who understand the industry, Burns and Davis believe the... View Details

Keywords: Debts; Quantitative Analysis; Financing; Entrepreneurial Finance; Development Stage Enterprises; Small ＆ Medium-sized Enterprises; Small Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Cash Flow; Mathematical Methods; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Borrowing and Debt; Equity; Manufacturing Industry

August 2010 (Revised November 2020)
Module Note

Integrating Around the Job to Be Done

By: Clayton Christensen, Rory McDonald, Laura E Day and Shaye Roseman

Unlike traditional market segmentations that are based on a correlation of product sales or service with the attributes of the purchaser (such as age, gender, income level, and education level), jobs-based segmentation seeks to understand the causal roots of... View Details

Keywords: Integration Planning; Jobs; Market Segmentation; Customer Satisfaction; Marketing; Jobs and Positions; Marketing Strategy; Segmentation; Integration; Planning