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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(2,992)
- People (5)
- News (393)
- Research (2,358)
- Events (6)
- Multimedia (3)
- Faculty Publications (1,588)
- August 2015 (Revised June 2021)
- Case
Amazon.com, 2021
By: John R. Wells, Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth and Galen Danskin
In February 2021, Amazon announced 2020 operating profits of $22,899 million, up from $2,233 million in 2015, on sales of $386 billion, up from $107 billion five years earlier (see Exhibit 1). The shareholders expressed their satisfaction (see Exhibit 2), but not all... View Details
Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Internet; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Digital Platforms; Competition; Internet and the Web; Corporate Strategy; Digital Marketing; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Price; Applications and Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle
Wells, John R., Benjamin Weinstock, Gabriel Ellsworth, and Galen Danskin. "Amazon.com, 2021." Harvard Business School Case 716-402, August 2015. (Revised June 2021.)
- 2013
- Working Paper
Networks as Covers: Evidence from an On-Line Social Network
By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski
This paper proposes that networks give actors a cover by giving them the excuse of sociability to engage in normatively prohibited market behaviors. I apply this hypothesis to actors in long-term exclusive relationships who are surreptitiously seeking new relationships... View Details
Piskorski, Mikolaj Jan. "Networks as Covers: Evidence from an On-Line Social Network." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-083, March 2013.
- September 2015 (Revised March 2025)
- Technical Note
FIELD Global Capstone: Developing Customer Empathy
By: Jill Avery
The Design Thinking process begins with empathizing with potential customers. Empathizing, being aware of, interpreting, and understanding the thoughts of others, as well as being able to vicariously experience them oneself, requires the careful and deliberate study of... View Details
Keywords: Market Research; Design Thinking; Customer Behavior; Ethnography; Interviews; Surveys; A/B Testing; Experimentation; Marketing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers
Avery, Jill. "FIELD Global Capstone: Developing Customer Empathy." Harvard Business School Technical Note 316-082, September 2015. (Revised March 2025.)
- November 2016 (Revised March 2018)
- Case
Brexit
By: Laura Alfaro, Jesse Schreger and Haviland Sheldahl-Thomason
After more than 40 years of membership in the European Union, the United Kingdom voted via referendum to separate from the EU on June 23, 2016. Following the surprise verdict (termed Brexit), a political upheaval followed, with many ministers, including Prime Minister... View Details
Das Narayandas
Das Narayandas is the Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Technology degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB), a Post-Graduate... View Details
Keywords: marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry; marketing industry
- February 2001 (Revised September 2005)
- Case
Howard Schultz and Starbucks Coffee Company
By: Nancy F. Koehn
Investigates the entrepreneur's strategic initiatives to develop a mass market for specialty coffee in the 1980s and 1990s. These initiatives included the development of premium products, rapid expansion of company-owned stores--each with attractive retail environments... View Details
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Groups and Teams; Brands and Branding; Growth Management; Employee Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Organizational Design; Leadership Style; Customer Relationship Management; Competitive Advantage; Vertical Integration; Food and Beverage Industry
Koehn, Nancy F. "Howard Schultz and Starbucks Coffee Company." Harvard Business School Case 801-361, February 2001. (Revised September 2005.)
- June 1981 (Revised August 1985)
- Case
Shopfair Supermarkets (A)
By: John A. Quelch
The marketing vice president of the leading supermarket chain in a major metropolitan area has to plan his 1981 strategy in light of increasing warehouse store competition. Considers relationships with major manufacturers who are supplying warehouse stores with deal... View Details
Quelch, John A. "Shopfair Supermarkets (A)." Harvard Business School Case 581-158, June 1981. (Revised August 1985.)
- December 1986 (Revised November 1989)
- Case
Hewlett-Packard: Manufacturing Productivity Division (A)
By: Benson P. Shapiro and Lawrence B. Levine
In late summer 1986, the management of the Manufacturing Productivity Division (MPD) of Hewlett-Packard (HP) was in the process of making major market selection and product policy decisions. MPD is a small division which develops and markets manufacturing productivity... View Details
Keywords: Business Divisions; Marketing; Product Marketing; Market Entry and Exit; Production; Research and Development; Manufacturing Industry
Shapiro, Benson P., and Lawrence B. Levine. "Hewlett-Packard: Manufacturing Productivity Division (A)." Harvard Business School Case 587-101, December 1986. (Revised November 1989.)
- September 1993 (Revised December 1993)
- Background Note
Note on Pricing and Public Policy
Surveys a number of essential issues related to pricing and public policy in market economies. Begins with a brief review of the price-determination process in competitive markets, then examines a range of topics involving pricing and public policy in monopoly and... View Details
Keywords: Price; Business Strategy; Policy; Valuation; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Competition; Economic Systems; Monopoly; Duopoly and Oligopoly; Cost
Emmons, Willis M., III. "Note on Pricing and Public Policy." Harvard Business School Background Note 794-027, September 1993. (Revised December 1993.)
- 13 Oct 2021
- News
Apple's China Problem
- January 1996 (Revised February 1997)
- Case
Exploring Brand-Person Relationships: Three Life Histories
The idea that "relationships" exist between consumers and products has implicitly occupied a central place in brand marketing thought and practice. Now as relational (one-on-one) marketing is said to be replacing transactional (mass) marketing as the dominant paradigm... View Details
Fournier, Susan M. "Exploring Brand-Person Relationships: Three Life Histories." Harvard Business School Case 596-093, January 1996. (Revised February 1997.)
- Article
Trust and Incentives in Agency
By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Daniel F Spulber
Contracts between a principal and an agent are not formed in a vacuum. Although formal contracts between a principal and an agent contain explicit incentives for performance, the relationship between a principal and an agent also involves implicit incentives. Three... View Details
Keywords: Trust; Motivation and Incentives; Agency Theory; Contracts; Market Transactions; Performance; Relationships; Societal Protocols; Legal Liability; Cost
Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, and Daniel F Spulber. "Trust and Incentives in Agency." Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal 15, no. 1 (Fall 2005): 45–104.
- 2020
- Chapter
The Relational Roles of Brands
By: Jill Avery
In contemporary culture, brands play important relational roles, linking consumers to others and serving as relational partners. This chapter provides an understanding of the relational roles of brands to illuminate why and how consumers connect with brands and how... View Details
Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customers; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Marketing
Avery, Jill. "The Relational Roles of Brands." Chap. 8 in Marketing Management: A Cultural Perspective. 2nd edition, edited by Luca M. Visconti, Lisa Penaloza, and Nil Toulouse, 121–137. Routledge, 2020.
- May 1996 (Revised November 2018)
- Case
Ecolab, Inc.
By: Ashish Nanda
By 1993, Ecolab has established a dominant market position in the institutional cleaning industry. As the company’s principal competitor, Diversify, drives sales aggressively, Ecolab president Al Schuman faces a choice about how best to market Ecolab’s offerings.... View Details
Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Employees; Retention; Marketing Strategy; Risk Management; Service Industry
Nanda, Ashish. "Ecolab, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 396-371, May 1996. (Revised November 2018.)
- November 2017
- Teaching Note
Amazon.com, 2016
By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth
Teaching Note for HBS No. 716-402.
On January 28, 2016, Amazon announced record 2015 operating profits of $2.2 billion on $107 billion of sales, and the markets responded with cautious optimism. For years, founder and CEO Jeffrey Bezos had prioritized growth and... View Details
Keywords: Strategic Analysis; Retail; E-commerce; Amazon; Amazon.com; AmazonFresh; Jeff Bezos; Cloud Computing; Marketplaces; Streaming; E-reader Market; Digital Media; Mobile App; Online Retail; Shipping; Database; Tablet; Kindle; Kindle Fire; Smartphone; Delivery; Market Platforms; Two-Sided Platforms; Competition; Internet; Corporate Strategy; Online Advertising; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; For-Profit Firms; Film Entertainment; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Music Entertainment; Television Entertainment; Profit; Revenue; Global Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Taxation; Business History; Human Resources; Resignation and Termination; Books; Human Capital; Working Conditions; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Management Practices and Processes; Industry Growth; Industry Structures; Media; Distribution; Distribution Channels; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product Development; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Organizational Culture; Public Ownership; Work-Life Balance; Problems and Challenges; Labor and Management Relations; Strategy; Adaptation; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Diversification; Expansion; Integration; Horizontal Integration; Vertical Integration; Hardware; Information Technology; Mobile Technology; Online Technology; Technology Networks; Technology Platform; Web; Web Sites; Price; Software; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Working Capital; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Value and Value Chain; Retail Industry; Advertising Industry; Distribution Industry; Electronics Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Information Technology Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Music Industry; Publishing Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Video Game Industry; Web Services Industry; United States; Washington (state, US); Seattle
- March 2005 (Revised April 2007)
- Case
Comergent Technologies Inc.: Enterprise E-Commerce
By: V. Kasturi Rangan and Marie Bell
Coming out of the 2001 high-tech industry recession, this venture capital start-up has to come up with a marketing plan to break even and grow. Its innovative e-commerce software provides unique customer relationship management solutions, but it has to convince... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Customer Relationship Management; Financial Crisis; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Problems and Challenges; Software; Information Technology Industry
Rangan, V. Kasturi, and Marie Bell. "Comergent Technologies Inc.: Enterprise E-Commerce." Harvard Business School Case 505-016, March 2005. (Revised April 2007.)
Eva Ascarza
Eva Ascarza is the Jakurski Family Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Marketing Unit. She is the co-founder of the Customer Intelligence Lab at the D^3 institute at Harvard Business School. She teaches the Marketing core in the MBA required... View Details
- May 1992 (Revised August 1993)
- Case
Forest Policy in Malaysia
The governments of Malaysia and the Malaysian State of Sarawak need to assess possible changes in forest policy. Environmentalist pressure threatens traditional market relationships and patterns of business-government interaction. Harvest regulations, subsidies, trade... View Details
Keywords: Natural Environment; Policy; Government and Politics; Environmental Sustainability; Trade; Business and Government Relations; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Forestry Industry; Forest Products Industry; Malaysia
Reinhardt, Forest L. "Forest Policy in Malaysia." Harvard Business School Case 792-099, May 1992. (Revised August 1993.)
- June 2011 (Revised August 2011)
- Case
Colgate-Palmolive: Staying Ahead in Oral Care
By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson
In 2011, Colgate-Palmolive (Colgate) was the global leader in oral care, with a dominant market share lead in toothpaste and a growing presence in toothbrushes and mouthwash. However, the firm faced stiff competition with perennial rivals P&G increasing their focus on... View Details
Keywords: Innovation Strategy; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Distribution Channels; Relationships; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Customization and Personalization; Health Industry
Henderson, Rebecca M., and Ryan Johnson. "Colgate-Palmolive: Staying Ahead in Oral Care." Harvard Business School Case 311-120, June 2011. (Revised August 2011.)
- Article
An Exploration of Marketing's Impact on Society: A Perspective Linked to Democracy
By: John A. Quelch and Katherine Jocz
The authors propose a political theory perspective for examining the impact of the modern aggregate marketing system on consumer welfare and society. Specifically, they suggest that the benefits marketing delivers to consumers are similar to the conditions required for... View Details
Quelch, John A., and Katherine Jocz. "An Exploration of Marketing's Impact on Society: A Perspective Linked to Democracy." Journal of Public Policy & Marketing 27, no. 2 (Fall 2008): 202–206.