Publications

August 1996 (Revised October 2003)
Case

NutraSweet in China (A)

By: Michael Y. Yoshino and Carin-Isabel Knoop

Eve Stacey, a recent Harvard MBA, has the challenging task of evaluating the market opportunity for NutraSweet in China. She must decide how best to develop the market for the product in China. May be used with NutraSweet in China (B). View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product; Familiarity; Commercialization; China

2014
Teaching Note

Bluestar's Acquisition of Adisseo (B) (TN)

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Donghong Li and Lei Li

This case describes the post-M&A integration of Adisseo of France in 2006 by Bluestar Group, the largest subsidiary of ChemChina (a Fortune 500 company) until 2013. Adisseo was mainly engaged in production of methionine, a feed additive, while China had no methionine... View Details

Keywords: Internationalization; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Postmerger Integration; Strategy; China; France; Chemicals; China; France

April 1997
Case

Display Technologies, Inc.

By: Jonathan West, H. Kent Bowen and Ryota Matsui

Display Technologies, Inc. (DTI) is a new joint venture between Toshiba and IBM Japan that is manufacturing the most advanced form of flat panel displays. With success in achieving significant production volumes, DTI has been asked to double its output as quickly as... View Details

Keywords: Joint Ventures; Decision Choices and Conditions; Technological Innovation; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Development; Production; Performance Expectations; Electronics Industry

2004
Article

Sources of Structural Inequality in Managerial Labor Markets

By: Rakesh Khurana and Mikolaj Jan Piskorski

This article proposes two mechanisms that allow actors to obtain unearned advantages in labor markets. The ﬁrst mechanism is consistent with collusive closure arguments. However, it questions the assumption that those who seek to beneﬁt from collusive closure will... View Details

Keywords: Management; Labor; Markets

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Winter 2013
Article

How to Identify the Best Customers for Your Business

By: Frank V. Cespedes, James P. Dougherty and Ben S. Skinner III

How can businesses achieve profitable growth so that their costs don’t grow faster than sales? This article focuses on scaling a venture’s sales process and provides a methodology for identifying core customers and some implications for governance criteria and... View Details

Keywords: Customer Relationship Management; Growth Management; Sales

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December 2013
Case

Yara International

By: Forest Reinhardt and James Weber

This case examines world fertilizer markets from the perspective of a large Norwegian producer. The global fertilizer industry is critical to food production and to food security, and hence is the object of numerous forms of government intervention. The case analyzes... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Regulation; Strategy; Business-government Relations; International Trade; International Strategy; Agribusiness; Food; Growth and Development; Government and Politics

27 Jan 2010
News

Harvard Business School Faculty on the New Apple Tablet

19 Mar 2013
News

Will a Kinder, Gentler CEO Be More Effective?

Video

Lillete Dubey

Lillete Dubey, Director of India-based Primetime Theatre Company, describes the financial challenges her group has faced while relating the importance she places on compensating actors and technicians fairly to maintain high production quality. View Details

07 Jul 2015
First Look

First Look: July 7, 2015

Successful Products for Emerging Markets By: Winter, Amos, and Vijay Govindarajan Abstract—Multinationals are starting to catch on to the logic of reverse innovation, in which View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 1996 (Revised January 1998)
Case

Sony Corporation: Car Navigation Systems

By: John A. Quelch

In the summer of 1996, Masao Morita, president of Sony Personal Mobile Communication Co., contemplated how to formulate its multinational marketing strategy for the fast-changing car navigation systems market. Morita needed to resolve the conflicting views within his... View Details

Keywords: Geographic Location; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Standards; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Conflict and Resolution; Auto Industry; Electronics Industry; Japan

June 1977 (Revised September 1992)
Case

Sorenson Research Co. (Abridged)

By: Steven C. Wheelwright

Presents the issues facing a high volume, high margin (but lightweight) medical products business. The company is trying to improve its inventory control to reduce inventory investment and improve service. The present multi-site inventory system is described and major... View Details

Keywords: Business Earnings; Investment; Volume; Service Delivery; Supply Chain; Performance Improvement; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Career Coach

Veni Arora

Veni worked in private equity and management consulting before HBS and spent her summer at eBay working with the Product team. While looking for her summer internship, she... View Details

September 2020 (Revised December 2020)
Case

Hot Wheels at Mattel: Reinventing the Wheel

By: Elie Ofek, Andres Terech and Nicole Tempest Keller

In 2017, Chris Down, Global Brand General Manager for Hot Wheels, and his team from the Advanced Play Group within Mattel, Inc., were considering which innovation path to pursue in order to "future proof" the Hot Wheels franchise going forward. Hot Wheels was the... View Details

Keywords: Toys; Industry Evolution; Innovation Strategy; Product Development; Growth and Development Strategy; Technological Innovation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Decision Making; Digital Transformation

03 Jan 2007
First Look

First Look: January 3, 2007

Working PapersCan Higher Prices Stimulate Product Use? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Zambia Authors:Nava Ashraf, James Berry, and Jesse M. Shapiro Abstract The pricing of health View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2008
Working Paper

Contracting for Servicizing

By: Michael W. Toffel

Servicizing, a novel business practice that sells product functionality rather than products, has been touted as an environmentally beneficial business practice. This paper describes how servicizing transactions mitigate some problems associated with sales... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Contracts; Market Transactions; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Sales

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June 1994 (Revised June 1995)
Case

Chandler Home Products: European Rationalization

By: Michael Y. Yoshino

Chandler, a large U.S. consumer products firm, is rationalizing its European operations. Tony Pesci, protagonist, is deciding which plants to close for maximum efficiency. The manufacturing/marketing relationship is strained as efficiency is being weighed against... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Labor; Contracts; Operations; Performance Efficiency; Relationships; Consumer Products Industry; United States

December 2006
Case

Vipp A/S

By: Robert D. Austin and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Rapidly growing Vipp sells highly differentiated (and expensive) "designer" versions of a product that most buyers think about in purely functional terms: Trash bins. Examines how the company successfully produces and positions a trash bin so that it is regarded as an... View Details

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Creativity; Product Design; Luxury; Brands and Branding