Publications

2013
Chapter

Gender Bender Brand Hijacks and Consumer Revolt: The Porsche Cayenne Story

By: Jill Avery

Throughout history, marketers have created gendered brands, creating their brands and the stories they crafted about them in their advertising to appeal either to men or to women. Gendered brands deliver value to consumers, and therefore, deliver value to marketers.... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Brands; Brand Positioning; Brand Equity; Brand Management; Advertising Campaigns; Customer Focus and Relationships; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Auto Industry; Consumer Products Industry

2016
Working Paper

Designing Online Marketplaces: Trust and Reputation Mechanisms

By: Michael Luca

Online marketplaces have proliferated over the past decade, creating new markets where none existed. By reducing transaction costs, online marketplaces facilitate transactions that otherwise would not have occurred and enable easier entry of small sellers. One central... View Details

Keywords: Trust; E-commerce; Market Design

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August 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Shapiro Global

By: Thomas J. DeLong, Michael Brookshire, Monica Haugen, Michelle Kravetz and Sarah Sommer

Su Yee Goh, a director in a Singapore office, considers a proposal by a pregnant female executive for an alternative work arrangement so that she could both continue to work and spend more time with her family. Goh wants to keep the executive at Shapiro Global, but is... View Details

Keywords: Disruption; Globalized Firms and Management; Employee Relationship Management; Retention; Work-Life Balance; Singapore

December 2014 (Revised November 2015)
Case

Alibaba Goes Public (A)

By: Krishna Palepu, Suraj Srinivasan, Charles C.Y. Wang and David Lane

In 2014 Alibaba debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, creating not only the largest IPO in history but this initial desire to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was denied due to the company's desire to preserve its partner's control over decision rights. Why did... View Details

Keywords: Dual-class Share Structure; Alibaba; IPOs; VIE; Corporate Governance; Financial Services Industry; United States; Hong Kong; China

05 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

Business and the Global Poor

this market at the bottom of the economic pyramid (BOP) must look beyond just selling products—they must find ways to create social and economic value, according to the editors of a new volume, Business... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

18 Nov 2016
Working Paper Summaries

Standardized Color in the Food Industry: The Co-Creation of the Food Coloring Business in the United States, 1870–1940

Keywords: by Ai Hisano; Food & Beverage

January 2009 (Revised March 2010)
Case

LeBron James

By: Anita Elberse and Jeff McCall

In 2005, to the astonishment of many sports industry insiders, superstar basketball player LeBron James fired his agent and established his own firm, LRMR, to handle all aspects of his business ventures and marketing activities and named his childhood friend Maverick... View Details

Keywords: Talent and Talent Management; Compensation and Benefits; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Sports; Sports Industry

2021
Working Paper

Saving for a Dry Day: Coal, Dams, and the Energy Transition

By: Michele Fioretti and Jorge Tamayo

Renewable generation creates a tradeoff between current and future energy production as generators produce energy by releasing previously stored resources. Studying the Colombian market, we find that diversified firms strategically substitute fossil fuels for... View Details

Keywords: Energy Generation; Renewable Energy; Production; Green Technology Industry; Energy Industry; Colombia

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21 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

What Went Wrong at J.C. Penney?

backfire. Sales last year fell 25 percent, resulting in a net loss of $985 million, and the blood-letting continued in quarterly results released this week. In a recent interview, Harvard Business School marketing expert Rajiv Lal, the... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Retail

23 May 2012
Research & Ideas

Five Ways to Make Your Company More Innovative

In a hypercompetitive global economy, creativity has never been more important for success . But how do you create a company that unleashes and capitalizes on innovation? For answers, writers at the HBS Alumni Bulletin turned to five HBS... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons, Julia Hanna & Roger Thompson

January 2011
Case

Serious Materials

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Elizabeth A. Kind

Serious Materials is a start up who is moving into clean tech markets. The company's first product, QuietRock, originated the sound proofing drywall category and created a steady stream of revenue. It was now considering how to expand its product line to compete in the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Market Entry and Exit; Green Technology Industry

January 2024 (Revised May 2024)
Case

Runa

By: Paul Gompers and Carla Larangeira

In early 2022, Courtney McColgan, founder and CEO of Runa, a human resources and payroll Software-as-a-Service platform, faced an unexpected tech market downturn. Founded in 2018, Runa catered to small and medium-sized businesses in Mexico, offering an affordable and... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Volatility; Entrepreneurship; Decision Making; Leadership; Management; Venture Capital; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Business Growth and Maturation; Latin America

22 Nov 2004
Research & Ideas

Side Effects: The Case of Propecia

by the company, Wosinska said. As to the question of whether direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) ultimately works to sell prescription drugs, Wosinska said studies indicate it creates market growth for all... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health; Pharmaceutical

14 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Pay Attention To Your ‘Extreme Consumers’

What do Porsche fanatics, a video game hater, and a person who cooked two weeks' worth of meals in a rice cooker have in common? They are all "extreme consumers"—those whose tastes are so out there that mainstream market researchers tend... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

21 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: Feb. 21

multinational, dispersed shareholder, and private-equity owned firms are typically well managed. Stronger product market competition and higher worker skills are associated with better management practices. Less regulated labor View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 1998 (Revised April 2001)
Case

United Way of Massachusetts Bay

By: David E. Bell and Ann Leamon

The United Way of Massachusetts Bay held the monopoly on workplace giving for 50 years. In the 1990s it has experienced a dramatic change in the workplace itself and in donor attitudes toward giving and toward the United Way organization. This case investigates the... View Details

Keywords: Change; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Monopoly; Relationships; Attitudes; Internet; Massachusetts

March 2001 (Revised September 2005)
Case

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, The

By: Sandra J. Sucher and Stacy McManus

In just seven days, the Ritz-Carlton transforms newly hired employees into "Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen." The case details a new hotel launch, focusing on the unique blend of leadership, quality processes, and values of self-respect and dignity,... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Service Operations; Performance Improvement; Problems and Challenges; Quality; Status and Position; Culture; Value Creation; Accommodations Industry; Service Industry

2019
Chapter

Origins and Development of Global Business

By: Geoffrey Jones

This chapter explores how business enterprises have been powerful actors in the spread of global capitalism between 1840 and the present day. Emerging out of the industrialized Western economies, global firms created and co-created markets and ecosystems through their... View Details

Keywords: Global Business; Multinational; Globalization; Business History; Strategy; Africa; Asia; Europe; Latin America; Middle East; North and Central America; Oceania

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February 2010 (Revised June 2011)
Case

Zotter Living by Chocolate

By: Mukti Khaire, Stefan Aichinger, Monika Maria Elisabeth Hoffmann and Maximilian Georg Manfred Schnoedl

This case is about a boutique chocolate manufacturer's decision to grow. Zotter, an Austrian company that was a pioneer in the organic and Fairtrade chocolate movement, uses the traditional confit technique to make premium hand-scooped chocolates in unusual and... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Entrepreneurship; Global Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Growth and Development Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Austria