Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(3,771)
- Faculty Publications (1,171)
- January 2018
- Supplement
OldTown Berhad
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Greg Saldutte
In December 2017, Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE, a Dutch coffee company) made an offer to acquire OldTown Berhad (OTB), a Malaysian coffee company. Three large shareholders, representing more than half of the outstanding shares, have agreed to tender their shares and... View Details
Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Discounted Cash Flow (DCF); Malaysia; Coffee; Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG); Free Cash Flow (FCF); Multiples; Bidding Premia; Netherlands; Tender Offer; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Value Creation; Food; Investment Return; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Malaysia; Netherlands; Singapore; Asia
- January 2018
- Teaching Note
Suominen Wipes the Slate Clean
By: Boris Groysberg, Kalle Heikkinen, Michael Norris and James Barnett
In 2016, after successfully turning around Finnish nonwovens manufacturer Suominen, CEO Nina Kopola faces a decision on the company’s strategy moving forward. View Details
- January 2018 (Revised May 2019)
- Case
Adeo Health Science: Turning a Product into a Brand
By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Jill Avery
For decades, American parents were warned to avoid introducing potential allergens to their babies prior to their first birthday. But two influential clinical studies caused the medical establishment to radically reverse its position. Parents were now warned that... View Details
Keywords: Startup; Health Care; Consumer; Consumer Products; Branding; Distribution; Retailing; Go To Market Strategy; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; North America
- January 2018
- Case
Trian Partners' Proxy Contest at Procter & Gamble
By: Suraj Srinivasan and Quinn Pitcher
In July 2017, activist hedge fund Trian Partners announced that it was launching a proxy fight at U.S. consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble. P&G would be the largest company ever subjected to a proxy fight, as Trian sought to have its CEO, Nelson Peltz, elected to the... View Details
- January 2018
- Case
Kids & Company: Entering the U.S.
By: Boris Groysberg, Matthew G. Preble and Katherine Connolly Baden
In April 2017, Victoria Sopik and Jennifer Nashmi, CEO and CFO (respectively) of Kids & Company, a Canadian childcare provider that they had co-founded in the early 2000s and developed into a nearly 100-unit enterprise, are discussing how the company should proceed... View Details
Keywords: Child Care; Childcare; Day Care; Daycare; Early Childhood Education; Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Expansion; Leadership; Marketing; Product Marketing; Brands and Branding; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Product Design; Product Development; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Selection and Staffing; Customer Focus and Relationships; Entrepreneurship; Service Industry; Education Industry; United States; Canada
- Article
Brand (In)fidelity: When Flirting with the Competition Strengthens Brand Relationships
By: Irene Consiglio, Daniella Kupor, Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton
We document the existence and consequences of brand flirting: a short-lived experience in which a consumer engages with and/or indulges in the alluring qualities of a brand without committing to it. We propose that brand flirting is exciting and that when consumers... View Details
- December 2017 (Revised January 2018)
- Teaching Note
Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home
By: Benjamin C. Esty, Lauren G. Pickle and Greg Saldutte
In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese—the Australian dairy company—was considering a bid for Mondelēz International’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business which included several leading consumer brands such as Vegemite, the iconic Australian... View Details
Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Value Drivers; Discounted Cash Flow (DCF); Dairy Industry; Corporate Scope; Diversification; Consumer Goods; Iconic Brands; Australia; Corporate Finance; Bidding Strategy; Cross Border; Financing; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Value Creation; Business Divisions; Capital Structure; Food; Bids and Bidding; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Australia; United States
- December 2017 (Revised March 2018)
- Case
Kellogg Company/eighteen94 capital
By: David Bell, Damien McLoughlin and Natalie Kindred
With 33,000 employees and revenues of $13 billion in 2016, Kellogg Company was the world’s largest producer of branded packaged cereal and a leader in branded convenience foods. Founded in 1906 and based in Michigan, the company had a proud history of product and... View Details
Keywords: CPG; Consumer Packaged Goods; Cereal; Battle Creek; Michigan; Breakfast; Snack; Agribusiness; Change Management; Growth Strategy; Corporate Venture Capital; Innovation; Startup; Brand; Brand ＆ Product Management; Advertising; Demand and Consumers; Innovation and Invention; Venture Capital; Food; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Michigan; North America
- December 2017 (Revised January 2022)
- Supplement
Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese—the Australian dairy company—was considering a bid for Mondelēz International’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business which included several leading consumer brands including Vegemite, the iconic Australian... View Details
Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Value Drivers; Discounted Cash Flow (DCF); Dairy Industry; Corporate Scope; Consumer Goods; Iconic Brands; Bidding Strategy; Cross Border; Financing; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Value Creation; Business Divisions; Capital Structure; Food; Bids and Bidding; Diversification; Brands and Branding; Corporate Finance; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Australia; United States
- December 2017
- Supplement
Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese—the Australian dairy company—was considering a bid for Mondelēz International’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business which included several leading consumer brands (Vegemite—the iconic Australian spread,... View Details
Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Value Drivers; Discounted Cash Flow (DCF); Dairy Industry; Corporate Scope; Diversification; Consumer Goods; Iconic Brands; Australia; Corporate Finance; Bidding Strategy; Cross Border; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Value Creation; Business Divisions; Capital Structure; Food; Bids and Bidding; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Australia; United States
- December 2017 (Revised February 2021)
- Case
Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home
By: Benjamin C. Esty and Lauren G. Pickle
In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese—the Australian dairy company—was considering a bid for Mondelēz International’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business, which included several leading consumer brands such as Vegemite, the iconic Australian... View Details
Keywords: Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Value Drivers; Discounted Cash Flow (DCF); Dairy Industry; Corporate Scope; Consumer Goods; Iconic Brands; Bidding Strategy; Cross Border; Financing; Mergers and Acquisitions; Valuation; Value Creation; Diversification; Business Divisions; Corporate Finance; Capital Structure; Food; Bids and Bidding; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Australia; United States
- November 2017
- Case
iRobot: Moving Beyond the Roomba
By: Rajiv Lal and Scott Johnson
The makers of the Roomba, a robotic vacuum cleaner, connected the latest version of their product to the Internet. This new feature opened up a wealth of new opportunities and challenges for the company. View Details
Keywords: Irobot; Smart Home; Connected Home; Roomba; Vacuum; Mapping; Internet Of Things; Connected Products; Organizational Structure; Organizational Design; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States
- November 2017 (Revised July 2018)
- Case
Royal Philips: Designing Toward Profound Change
By: Srikant M. Datar, Rajiv Lal and Caitlin N. Bowler
This case explores Royal Philips CEO Frans van Houten's bold use of design research to inform a critical strategic decision: Should Philips leave its storied lighting business behind in favor of complete focus on health technology and consumer lifestyle products?... View Details
- November 2017
- Teaching Note
Predicting Consumer Tastes with Big Data at Gap
By: Ayelet Israeli and Jill Avery
CEO Art Peck was eliminating his creative directors for The Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic brands and promoting a collective creative ecosystem fueled by the input of big data. Rather than relying on artistic vision, Peck wanted the company to use the mining of big... View Details
Keywords: Brands; Brand ＆ Product Management; Big Data; ＂Marketing Analytics＂; Consumer Behavior; Predictive Analytics; Forecasting; Preferences; Operation Management; Distribution Channels; Marketing; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Forecasting and Prediction; Data and Data Sets; Retail Industry; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States; North America
- November 2017 (Revised October 2018)
- Case
Brandless: Disrupting Consumer Packaged Goods
By: Jill Avery
Brandless, an online direct-to-consumer seller of upscale private-label consumer packaged goods, offered consumers a limited assortment of values-conscious products delivered directly to their homes with the simplicity of one fixed $3 price point that promised an... View Details
Keywords: Brand; Brand Management; Retailing; Retailing Industry; Private Label; Direct To Consumer Marketing; Ecommerce; Digital Marketing; Consumer Packaged Goods; Startup; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Disruption; Food; Product Marketing; Marketing Channels; Consumer Behavior; Brands and Branding; Venture Capital; E-commerce; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; North America
- November 2017
- Case
The 'Wonder Drug' That Killed Babies
By: Joshua Lev Krieger, Tom Nicholas and Matthew Preble
In the early 1960s, a popular drug taken by patients worldwide for a range of maladies was found to cause severe birth defects and other health problems in babies born to mothers who had taken it during a certain stage of fetal development. As many as 10,000 children... View Details
Keywords: Regulation; Business and Government Relations; Business and Community Relations; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Product Marketing; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business History; Health; Government Legislation; Corporate Accountability; Ethics; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Pharmaceutical Industry; Public Administration Industry; United States; United Kingdom; Australia; Germany; Europe
- October 2017 (Revised August 2020)
- Case
RB
By: Joshua Margolis, Vincent Dessain and Jerome Lenhardt
As 2016 was approaching its end, Rakesh Kapoor, CEO of RB, one of the world’s major fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies, envisioned the prospect of a major acquisition that would add a line of health-related products that promised growth in the developing... View Details
- October 2017 (Revised November 2017)
- Case
Lovepop
By: Robert F. White, Ramana Nanda and Olivia Hull
As they prepare to graduate from Harvard Business School, the co-founders of greeting card company startup Lovepop need capital to cover the company’s operating costs and must choose between two seed financing offers. One offer is from an angel group and the other from... View Details
- October 2017
- Article
'Be Careless with That!' Availability of Product Upgrades Increases Cavalier Behavior Toward Possessions
By: Silvia Bellezza, Joshua M. Ackerman and Francesca Gino
Consumers are often faced with the opportunity to purchase a new, enhanced product, such as a new phone, even though the product they currently own is still fully functional. We propose that consumers act more recklessly with their current products when in the presence... View Details
Keywords: Carelessness; Product Upgrade; Ownership; Justification; Consumer Behavior; Attitudes; Property
- September 2017 (Revised September 2023)
- Case
Chase Sapphire: Creating a Millennial Cult Brand
By: Shelle Santana, Jill Avery and Christine Snively
The launch of the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card was enthusiastically received by millennial consumers, a cohort that had previously eluded JPMorgan Chase and its competitors. With the one-year anniversary of the launch approaching, managers are focused on... View Details
Keywords: Brand ＆ Product Management; Product Strategy; New Product Development; Credit Card; Customer Acquisition; CRM; Millennials; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Credit Cards; Product Development; Product Launch; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Demographics; Financial Services Industry; Service Industry; Banking Industry; United States; North America