Publications

19 Apr 2018
Video

Aday Final Pitch New Venture Competition 2018 Business Track

12 Dec 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Clocky, the Runaway Alarm Clock

boutiques? (Nanda stuck with small museum shops and specialty catalogs at first, in spite of all the advance publicity.) Is it better to partner with an American product design firm and risk prohibitive... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products

April 1988 (Revised March 1991)
Case

Tektronix: Portable Instruments Division (A)

Tektronix's Portable Instruments Division has recently converted to a JIT production process. The existing cost system was designed for conventional manufacturing and is obsolete. The case describes the new material-burdening system the firm implemented. This system... View Details

Keywords: Cost Accounting; Production; Management Systems; Manufacturing Industry

August 2016 (Revised July 2017)
Background Note

Brand Portfolio Strategy and Brand Architecture

By: Jill Avery

While companies choose to brand their products and services in many different ways, there are some central tenets that help define an optimal brand portfolio and associated brand architecture. Brand portfolio strategy involves the design, deployment, and management of... View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Portfolio; Brand Extension; Brand Portfolio Strategy; Brand Architecture; Consumer Behavior; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy

June 2015 (Revised April 2018)
Case

WeChat: A Global Platform?

By: Willy Shih, Howard Yu and Feng Liu

WeChat was developed by Tencent Holdings as a lightweight messaging platform. As it grew quickly to become the most popular messaging app in China, it added a range of products and services that sat on top that were designed to appeal to a broad range of consumers and... View Details

Keywords: Online Platforms; China; WeChat; Tencent Holdings; Globalization; Internet and the Web; Applications and Software; Digital Platforms; Telecommunications Industry; Information Industry; China

January 1978 (Revised February 1983)
Case

Polaroid-Kodak (B1)

By: Michael E. Porter

Describes additional events in battle between Polaroid and Kodak outlined in Polaroid-Kodak. Includes the competitive actions taken by the companies such as the introduction of customer rebates and bonus plans with dealers. Details the new products of each company and... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Product; Competitive Strategy; Electronics Industry

February 1992 (Revised January 2002)
Case

BMW: The 7-Series Project (A)

By: Gary P. Pisano

Explores BMW's decision about how to manufacture prototype vehicles. Historically, BMW's prototypes were handcrafted by highly skilled artisans in the company's shop. A proposal has been made to alter the process so that prototypes are made in a way that can better... View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Research and Development; Design; Production; Strategy; Quality; Decision Making; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Germany

September 2015
Teaching Note

Sustainability at IKEA Group

By: Michael W. Toffel

Can IKEA Group double its global sales within a decade by expending in emerging markets while implementing on its ambitious sustainability strategy that included focusing on raw material sourcing and suppliers’ production processes? The case focuses on IKEA Group’s... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Emerging Markets; Environmental Sustainability; Globalized Markets and Industries; Consumer Products Industry

02 Oct 2020
News

Computer Simulations Are Better — and More Affordable — than Ever

March 1981 (Revised February 1993)
Case

Hank Kolb, Director, Quality Assurance

By: Frank S. Leonard and W. Earl Sasser

Designed to introduce the systemic nature of product quality and the complexity of quality problems. Uses a new director, quality assurance, and the discovery of a quality problem. The new director has to decide if it is a real problem, what to do about it, and how to... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Product; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Attitudes; Complexity

October 1991 (Revised September 1998)
Case

Maxwell Appliance Controls

By: Robert S. Kaplan

A profitable manufacturing division of a large company is looking for new ways to identify sources of productivity improvements. Led by its senior finance officer, an activity-based cost system is developed to identify activities performed for its highly varied product... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Management Teams; Quality; Performance Improvement; Organizational Culture; Problems and Challenges; Production; Manufacturing Industry

June 1994 (Revised September 1994)
Background Note

Commercializing Technology: Imaginative Understanding of User Needs

By: Dorothy A. Leonard

The transformation of technology into commercially successful products is a process fraught with risk and uncertainty, and increasing pressure on time to market is exacerbating the difficulties. This note first describes a study conducted by Hewlett-Packard to improve... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Communication Strategy; Customers; Design; Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Product Development; Research; Risk and Uncertainty; Commercialization; Technology Adoption

11 Apr 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching a ‘Lean Startup’ Strategy

spend years burning through venture capital while they figured out their strategy. These are the days of the lean startup. "Most startups fail not because they can't build the product they set out to build, but because they build the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology; Computer

May 1987 (Revised June 1987)
Background Note

Note on Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II)

By: David A. Garvin

Describes Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II), a production technique designed to couple business and financial plans with manufacturing plans. It is an important tool for aligning manufacturing with a company's overall strategy and goals. Describes MRPII,... View Details

Keywords: Design; Finance; Surveys; Goals and Objectives; Resource Allocation; Production; Mission and Purpose; Strategic Planning; Business Strategy

March 2006
Module Note

Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World

By: Alan D. MacCormack

Describes the second module of the 30-session Harvard Business School elective course Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World. The course helps students understand the challenges that uncertainty implies for innovation and how to overcome these challenges. The course... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Problems and Challenges; Business Processes; Perspective; Opportunities; Risk and Uncertainty; Managerial Roles; Product Design; Business Startups; Organizational Design

November 2008 (Revised March 2023)
Module Note

Understanding Brands

By: Anat Keinan and Jill Avery

For many firms, the brands associated with their products and/or services are their most valuable assets, and, hence, much management attention is given to designing, communicating, nurturing, and protecting them. This note is designed to provide an understanding of... View Details

Keywords: Brand Equity; Brand Management; Brands and Branding; Management; Marketing Strategy; Value

Srikant M. Datar became the eleventh dean of Harvard Business School on 1 January 2021. During his tenure as a faculty member, he served as Senior Associate Dean for University Affairs (including Faculty Chair of the Harvard Innovation Lab), for Research, for... View Details

Keywords: consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products

Research Summary

Overview

By: Natalia Rigol

My research focuses primarily on how to design, target, and deliver financial products to the poor, and, in particular, how financial inclusion can improve the socio-economic position of women. My projects have analyzed how the design and delivery of microfinance... View Details

October 2000
Article

BanCrecen

By: S. Dario, E.L. Montiel and Tatiana Sandino

This case describes the aggressive entry of BanCrecen, an affiliate of the Mexican bank BanCrecer, in Costa Rica in 1994. Its strategy, like that of the Mexican home office, was to focus on personal banking, with the rapid expansion of neighborhood branches and strong... View Details

Keywords: Expansion; Globalization; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry; Costa Rica; Mexico