Publications

17 Aug 2021
Op-Ed

Dispensing Justice: The Case for Legalizing Cannabis Nationally

Insurance Corporation—if they participate in a federal offense. Because cannabis businesses operate in a penumbra of selective state legitimacy, but face federal illegitimacy, banks are extremely chary about extending capital to them.... View Details

Keywords: by Ashish Nanda and Tabatha Robinson

01 Jan 2011
News

Karen Gordon Mills, MBA 1977

working in the public sector to be extremely rewarding and is deeply committed to helping small US manufacturers who operate in large corporate supply chains. "We cannot lose their expertise," she emphasizes. "If we do, we'll lose even... View Details

01 Dec 2022
News

My First Job

Edited by Jen McFarland Flint; illustrations by Ross MacDonald Here’s the humbling truth: no matter how high your career soars, how many awards you win or companies you sell or differences you make in this world, everyone has to start somewhere. And in those first... View Details

Keywords: Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

January 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Arçelik: From a Dealer Network to an Omnichannel Experience

By: Ayelet Israeli and Fares Khrais

Arçelik Turkey, the country’s market leader in household appliances, was at an omnichannel crossroads in January 2020. Arçelik was a B2B player utilizing a dealership network with an umbrella of brands and had one of the largest brick-and-mortar store networks in... View Details

May 1994
Background Note

Designing Channels of Distribution

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Presents a framework and a method for addressing the new product channel choice decision. Offers a six-step method that involves: 1) disaggregating and prioritizing a distribution channel by customers' channel function requirements; 2) obtaining and combining... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Framework; Cost; Customers; Cost vs Benefits; Management

May 2013
Case

Altius Golf and the Fighter Brand

By: Robert J. Dolan and Sunru Yong

Altius Golf is the clear leader in the golf ball market despite a long-term decline in the number of golfers and a drop in sales following the financial crisis. The firm has maintained its position by introducing generations of advanced, super-premium golf balls that... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Competitive Advantage; Decision Choices and Conditions; Distribution Channels; Sports; Financial Crisis; Brands and Branding; Segmentation; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry

10 Jan 2022
Research & Ideas

How to Get Companies to Make Investments That Benefit Everyone

Regulators often punish companies for bad behavior—for instance, by fining them if they pollute the environment. But instead of focusing on what business leaders are doing wrong and constantly slapping their hands, government officials should shift to rewarding firms... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

26 May 2016
News

Mary Callahan Erdoes, MBA 1993

with J.P. Morgan. A member of the firm’s operating committee, she has run the Asset Management division, a global leader in investment management and private banking, since 2009. Her group’s record-setting performance is unheard of in... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young; Monetary Authorities-Central Bank; Finance

Web

Cluster Studies - Institute For Strategy And Competitiveness

may be increasing in the size and “strength” (i.e., relative presence) of related economic sectors. Building on Porter (1998, 2003), we develop a systematic empirical framework to identify the role of regional clusters – groups of closely related and complementary... View Details

July 2017
Case

Magpie: Developing and Using Buyer Personas

By: Frank V. Cespedes

The founders of a start-up platform for publishers have developed preliminary personas of target customers and are evaluating the implications for initial target buyers, messaging, and marketing programs. The case is useful for discussing the process of developing... View Details

Keywords: Buying Process; Marketing; Sales; Distribution Channels; Segmentation; Entrepreneurship; Social Media; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; United States

May 2012
Case

BoldFlash: Cross-Functional Challenges in the Mobile Division

By: Michael Beer and Rachel Shelton

Roger Cahill has spent less than a year as head of the Mobile Division of BoldFlash, a flash memory component maker. On the corporate level, BoldFlash has adapted to an evolving and difficult marketplace, but the Mobile Division is struggling. The four groups within... View Details

Keywords: United States; Massachusetts; Morale; Human Resource Management; Technology; Leadership; Opportunities; Organizational Design; Conflict and Resolution; Product Development; Change Management; Information Infrastructure; Business Processes; Manufacturing Industry; Electronics Industry; Massachusetts

October 2023
Case

Hey Jane: Delivering Abortion Pills to the Doorstep

By: Rembrand Koning, Geraldine Pena-Galea and Sarah Mehta

This case tells the story of Hey Jane, a telehealth clinic founded in 2020 that provides virtual medication abortion services to eligible patients in nine U.S. states. By January 2023, the company had served more than 20,000 patients and raised nearly $10 million in... View Details

Keywords: Operations; Business Startups; Health Care and Treatment; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; Technology Industry; United States

Web

Strategy Execution Online Course | HBS Online

businesses face and create systems for managing and mitigating them. Highlights Your Business's Overall Level of Risk Considering the Balance Between Innovation and Control Operations Risk Show Hide Details Concepts Identifying Sources of... View Details

13 Dec 2021
Research & Ideas

The Unlikely Upside of Mergers: More Diverse Management Teams

equates to roughly 60 percent of the total US workforce. Zhang tracked acquired firms for 10 years, from five years before they were purchased through the five years afterward. He found that companies whose acquirers operated in the same... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

07 Apr 2015
News

Warrior Spirit

products and an environment where customers can connect with the brand. Evolve operates on the same concept. The focus just happens to be martial arts.” Like Starbucks, Evolve charges a premium for that experience, with monthly fees... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries; Arts, Entertainment; Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries; Arts, Entertainment; Technical and Trade Schools; Educational Services

19 Nov 2013
First Look

First Look: November 19

http://ssrn.com/abstract=2350805 Surfacing the Submerged State with Operational Transparency in Government Services By: Buell, Ryan W., and Michael I. Norton Abstract—As Americans' trust in government nears historic lows, frustration with... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 2019 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Wayfair

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Susie L. Ma and Matthew G. Preble

In 2016 Niraj Shah and Steve Conine, founders of online home goods retailer Wayfair, are faced with a decision about how to improve user experience on their e-commerce sites. A key driver of consumer interest and conversion to purchase in the home category is visual... View Details

Keywords: Visual Assets; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Business or Company Management; Growth Management; Innovation and Invention; Operations; Strategy; Technology; Retail Industry; Service Industry; United States; Massachusetts