Publications

04 Mar 2019
What Do You Think?

What’s the Antidote to Surveillance Capitalism?

Surveillance Capitalism, you are fooling yourself.” David Wittenberg stated the case for the position that the source of the problem is us. “No matter how much businesses know about us, they cannot sell to us unless their products make... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

02 May 2005
Research & Ideas

Four VCs on Evaluating Opportunities

know how to do it." The third thing is team. We look for engineering vision and execution, sales, and entrepreneurship in a team. Typically, it's at least two people; sometimes it's three. In the early stages, I tend to invest behind an entrepreneur, not behind a... View Details

Keywords: by Lauren Barley

Web

Building Iconic Brands and Brighter Futures: Interview with Glossier CEO, Kyle Leahy - Recruiting

Insights & Advice 11 Dec 2023 Building Iconic Brands and Brighter Futures: Interview with Glossier CEO, Kyle Leahy Becca Carnahan Author HBS Team tag Alumni Consumer Products / Retail Student & Alumni Stories Kyle Leahy (MBA 2011) stepped... View Details

2017
Article

Agricultural Insurance and Economic Development

By: Shawn A. Cole and Wentao Xiong

This article provides a review of recent research on agricultural insurance (AI) in developing countries. Agricultural producers face a variety of significant risks; historically, only government-subsidized products have achieved widespread adoption. A recent... View Details

Keywords: Agribusiness; Insurance; Developing Countries and Economies; Adoption; Risk Management; Research; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

Find at Harvard

January 2020 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Salary Finance US

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

In October 2019, Dan Macklin, the newly-appointed chief executive of Salary Finance Inc., was weighing his options for the future of the business. The company’s value proposition was quite simple: partner with employers to offer employees affordable loans that were... View Details

Keywords: Employees; Credit; Financing and Loans; Wages; Innovation and Invention; Expansion; Growth Management; Decision Making; Financial Services Industry; United States

15 Aug 2007
Op-Ed

3 Steps to Reduce Financial System Risk

and, second, a growing threat of politically motivated changes to regulatory regimes. There has been much talk recently about the extent to which the proliferation of derivative products has allowed banks to View Details

Keywords: by Mohamed El-Erian; Financial Services; Banking

07 Jul 2021
Book

Good News for Disgraced Companies: You Can Regain Trust

with customers, employees, and investors by being “the real deal,” creating valuable products and services, acting on good intentions, treating people fairly, and taking responsibility for how an organization impacts business and society,... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

December 2008 (Revised February 2017)
Case

Olam International

By: David E. Bell and Mary Shelman

In 20 years, Sunny Verghese had built Singapore-based Olam International from a small Nigerian export company into a $5 billion global leader in agricultural commodities with a core competence in Africa. Olam's growth had come by pursuing product and geographic... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Trade; Growth and Development Strategy; Supply Chain; Expansion; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Africa; Singapore

October 1976 (Revised April 1983)
Case

Federal Express (A)

Federal Express is a small-package airline operating throughout the United States. After initial heavy losses it is now profitable. Management is examining the services offered by the firm and believes that there is great potential for "Courier Pak", an overnight... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Product Marketing; Sales; Air Transportation Industry; Service Industry; United States

February 2010 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Re-THINK-ing THINK: The Electric Car Company

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

On January 5, 2010, 48-year-old Richard Canny was on his way to meet the governor of Indiana. He was reading his newly issued press release announcing that THINK planned to start automobile production in Elkhart County, Indiana to launch its THINK City battery-operated... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Investment; Global Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Product Development; Production; Pollutants; Environmental Sustainability; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Norway; Indiana

September 1994 (Revised October 2002)
Case

Citibank: Launching the Credit Card in Asia Pacific (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Consumer Bank pondered the possibilities of launching a credit card in the Asia Pacific region. The bank's New York headquarters, and several of its country managers in the region, were not enthusiastic. But others were supportive because of the opportunity to expand... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Service Operations; Value Creation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Trade; Business Strategy; Expansion; Laws and Statutes; Banking Industry; Asia; New York (city, NY)

March 2024
Case

Teamworks: Tackling a Forecasting Fumble (A)

By: N. Louis Shipley and Stacy Straaberg

In late March 2018, Teamworks CEO Zach Maurides learned Q1 2018 sales were at risk for a large forecasting miss. Founded in 2004, Teamworks’s software application assisted support staff in messaging, scheduling, and sharing documents with collegiate and professional... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business Growth and Maturation; Communication Strategy; Decisions; Forecasting and Prediction; Business Cycles; Technological Innovation; Sports; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Marketing; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Sports Industry; Technology Industry; United States; North Carolina

October 1981 (Revised April 1984)
Case

H.J. Heinz Co.: The Administration of Policy (A)

Relates the April 1979 discovery of improper income transferal practices used at the H.J. Heinz Co. Background data on the company is presented, along with a detailed description of the organizational practices, the management incentive system, and the corporate... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Business Processes; Compensation and Benefits; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

19 Oct 2022
Op-Ed

Cofounder Courtship: How to Find the Right Mate—for Your Startup

you are a technologist, but lack management or operating skills (marketing, sales, etc.), you may benefit from a more seasoned business leader as cofounder who has seen the movie before. While many operating skills can be learned,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

26 Apr 2022
Book

What Does Your Business Stand For? Why Building Trust Starts with Purpose

that empowerment and collaboration are not just aspirations but achieved reality. Purpose goes from being a slogan to a set of lived principles. In the video below, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson explains the enormous challenge he faced in 2018 when a View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

28 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

B2B Branding: Does it Work?

company's stakeholders. Efforts are focused on a single, global corporate brand rather than individual product brands. The payback on marketing expenditures is measured rigorously to the satisfaction of the hard-nosed engineers and... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products

January 1989 (Revised April 1991)
Case

General Electric: Valley Forge (A)

By: Robert L. Simons

A series of eight vignette cases designed to be taught in one classroom session. This case describes a potential problem in the way that General Electric has billed the government under a large defense contract. Designed to allow students to discuss what actions top... View Details

Keywords: Government Administration; Contracts; Policy; Accounting; Management Teams; Business and Government Relations; Industrial Products Industry