Publications

December 2012 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Rodan + Fields Dermatologists

By: Das Narayandas, Michael Roberts and Liz Kind

The case focuses on issues involved in managing the direct multilevel marketing sales consultants who sell R+F skin care products. The company is trying to better manage the inconsistent and highly variable recruitment behavior of the sales force i.e., the degree to... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Salesforce Management; Recruitment; Compensation and Benefits; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; California

11 Apr 2024
News

Mission Control

around me was like freaking out a little bit. I had friends, I remember, you know, Paul, he's like, oh, Peter, I want to sit down with you. And so we sit down in New York, we had a beer, and he's normally like a very gregarious, he's a... View Details

28 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Supply Chain Risk: Deal With It

the right times. They'd done it by implementing techniques and technologies at an unprecedented pace; among them, the lean production method introduced by W. Edwards Deming, just-in-time manufacturing, single-source suppliers, and global... View Details

Keywords: by David Stauffer

Profile

Ahmed Alimi

better communicator and a better on-the-spot thinker." "HBS teaches new skills, inspires confidence, and opens your mind. If you immerse yourself in the experience, you will discover new... View Details

Keywords: Consulting; Financial Services

17 Oct 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Quiet Quitters Need More Than Money to Re-Engage

There’s a scene in the drama series Mad Men when junior ad exec Peggy Olson complains to her mercurial boss Don Draper, “You never say thank you.” Don peevishly replies: “That’s what the money is for!” Harvard Business School Professors Rawi E. Abdelal and Thomas J.... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

01 Jan 2013
News

Thai Lee, MBA 1985

grown into a top-ranked provider of IT products and services. With an industry-high of 99 percent in customer retention, SHI is one of the largest privately held firms in its field. The company employs more than 2,300 people at its... View Details

Keywords: Susan Young

04 Apr 2023
Blog Post

Maersk’s Journey to Decarbonize Shipping

In January 2023, Professors Willy Shih and Mike Toffel led more than 40 HBS MBA students on site visits to witness the energy transition and innovative sustainable production activities throughout Denmark and the Netherlands, in their... View Details

October 2023
Case

Shredder Setups or Straightlining into Risk?: Investing in What You Love

By: Lauren Cohen and Grace Headinger

Bob Hall, President of Green Gables Partners, evaluated whether to angel invest into an up-and-coming ski brand. As the son-in-law of the founder of Vera Bradley and having retired from a lengthy career on Wall Street, Hall was well-versed in both direct investing and... View Details

Keywords: Family Office; Angel Investors; Direct Investment; Family Business; Business Growth and Maturation; Small Business; Financial Strategy; Personal Finance; Investment Portfolio; Private Equity; Decision Choices and Conditions; Risk and Uncertainty; Consumer Products Industry; Montana; United States

2012
Article

Wider dem sauren Mund. Beiersdorfs U.S.-Geschaeft mit der Zahnpastamarke Pebeco

By: G. Jones and Christina Lubinski

This article examines the growth and ultimate demise of the toothpaste brand Pebeco, which was created by the German personal care company Beiersdorf in 1903. The brand was an enormous international success, becoming for a time the largest toothpaste brand in the... View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development; Market Entry and Exit; Problems and Challenges; Marketing Strategy; Markets; Change; Customers; Social Psychology; Science; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; United States; Germany

Find at Harvard

September 2019
Case

Teaming Up to Win the Rail Deal at GE (A)

By: Amy Edmondson, Ranjay Gulati and Rachna Tahilyani

In 2012, Nalin Jain, then head of GE aviation for South Asia, was given the added responsibility for GE’s transportation business in India, including bidding for a $2.5 billion contract to manufacture, service and maintain 1,000 diesel locomotives for state owned... View Details

Keywords: Recruitment; Selection and Staffing; Human Capital; Groups and Teams; Leadership Style; Leading Change; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; United States; India

10 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

The Little Understood Problem Confronting Diverse Workplaces

Knitting together a workforce with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and other demographic differences is challenging even for experienced managers, who must socialize those employees into the organization and also help them form new work... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

26 Jun 2017
Research & Ideas

How Cellophane Changed the Way We Shop for Food

considering cellophane. It’s deliberately transparent, after all. You’re meant to consider whatever it’s wrapping instead. Yet, it turns out that cellophane has a story worth telling. A new research paper exposes the historical... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Food & Beverage; Retail; Advertising

22 Mar 2010
Research & Ideas

One Strategy: Aligning Planning and Execution

realities of the project. Q: The One Strategy approach is mirrored in your discussion of the "innovator's reality." The reality is that in designing new products innovators can't ignore the... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Video Game; Web Services

16 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: October 16, 2007

distribution of sales and profits across products. By enabling an analysis of the book acquisition, development, and marketing process from the perspective of the publisher, author, and agent, serves as a vehicle for contrasting different approaches to the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

06 Jan 2020
Research & Ideas

Motivate Your High Performers to Share Their Knowledge

couldn’t separate out features. “Just correcting these mistakes and providing another way of doing things seemed to explain a lot of that productivity improvement,” says Stanton. On the other hand, he says, there is no evidence that the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

February 2017
Supplement

JCDecaux, 2016: Global Leader ... Again

By: John R. Wells and Gabriel Ellsworth

In 2016, JCDecaux was number one in the world in outdoor advertising. This was a far cry from the situation in 2003; at that time, JCDecaux had been unseated by Clear Channel from the number-one spot that it had held for decades, and it was fighting for second place... View Details

Keywords: JCDecaux; Clear Channel Outdoor; OUTFRONT Media; Lamar Advertising Company; Jean-François Decaux; Jean-Charles Decaux; Outdoor Advertising; Street Furniture; Airports; Billboards; Bicycles; Digital Devices; Digital Marketing; Bidding; Advertising; Advertising Campaigns; Acquisition; Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Business Organization; Family Business; For-Profit Firms; Joint Ventures; Design; Price; Profit; Revenue; Geographic Location; Geographic Scope; Global Range; Globalization; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Government Legislation; Business History; Human Resources; Laws and Statutes; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Demand and Consumers; Supply and Industry; Operations; Distribution; Infrastructure; Logistics; Product; Product Design; Production; Organizational Structure; Property; Public Ownership; Renting or Rental; Problems and Challenges; Business and Community Relations; Business and Government Relations; Family and Family Relationships; Sales; Situation or Environment; Luxury; Strategy; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Consolidation; Corporate Strategy; Customization and Personalization; Expansion; Segmentation; Mobile Technology; Wireless Technology; Air Transportation; Bicycle Transportation; Rail Transportation; Transportation Networks; Advertising Industry; France; Paris

11 Aug 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Decision Making Under Information Asymmetry: Experimental Evidence on Belief Refinements

Keywords: by William Schmidt & Ryan W. Buell

July 2024
Case

Living up to Purpose and Performance at Parker Hannifin

By: Hubert Joly, Alicia Dadlani and Martha Hostetter

In 2019, Parker Hannifin, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of motion and control technologies, did something unusual for an industrial company: it created a purpose statement. Even though it already had a clear business strategy and longstanding culture of... View Details

Keywords: Mission and Purpose; Health Pandemics; Leadership; Business or Company Management; Organizational Culture; Business Strategy; Communication Strategy; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry; Cleveland; Ohio; United States