Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(2,657)
- Faculty Publications (941)
- October 2016 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
ASICS: Chasing a 2020 Vision
By: Elie Ofek, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno
In early 2016, Motoi Oyama, president and CEO of ASICS, a major sports apparel and footwear manufacturer based in Japan, lays out his company’s growth plan for the upcoming 5 years. The new plan set ambitious goals in terms of revenue and profit increases. At the heart... View Details
Keywords: Brand Management; Sports Apparel; Competitive Positioning; Direct To Consumer Marketing; Retail Formats; Lifestyle Brands; Information Technology; Competition; Brands and Branding; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Digital Platforms; Product Positioning; Marketing Channels; Sports; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry
- October 2016 (Revised October 2017)
- Case
Misaki Capital and Sangetsu Corporation
By: Ian Gow, Charles C.Y. Wang, Naoko Jinjo and Nobuo Sato
Japan’s corporate culture has traditionally prioritized the interests of stakeholders such as customers, employees, and suppliers over those of shareholders. After a decades-long economic slump, Japan’s government has revitalized efforts to improve corporate governance... View Details
- October 2016 (Revised October 2020)
- Case
Essent: From a State-Owned Utility to a Commercial Company
By: Ananth Raman and Elena Corsi
Patrick Lammers, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) for the Dutch energy company Essent NV, once a state-owned company, was pleased with the progress Essent’s consumer (“B2C”) business had made: Earnings Before Income Tax (EBIT) for B2C had gone from a loss of €18 million... View Details
- October 2016
- Case
Yili Group: Building a Global Dairy Company
By: William C. Kirby and Nancy Hua Dai
From its humble beginnings as a local Chinese dairy company, the Inner Mongolia Yili Group has become one of the largest dairy companies in the world. To achieve this, Yili has aggressively expanded its footprint overseas including building the world’s largest... View Details
Keywords: Globalized Markets And Industries; Global Supply Chain; Competition; Culture; Agribusiness; Animal-Based Agribusiness; Business Growth and Maturation; Food; Global Range; Local Range; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Global Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Nutrition; Employee Relationship Management; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Brands and Branding; Supply Chain; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; China
- 2016
- Working Paper
Alternative Paths of Green Entrepreneurship: The Environmental Legacies of The North Face's Doug Tompkins and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard
By: Geoffrey Jones and Ben Gettinger
This working paper examines the impact of two entrepreneurs who offered alternative paths to reach their shared goal of a more sustainable world. Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins were respective founders of the prominent outdoor apparel brands Patagonia and The North... View Details
- October 2016 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
JCPenney: Back in Business
By: Elie Ofek, K. Shelette Stewart and Christine Snively
In 2016, JCPenney was in the midst of a multi-year turnaround after coming dangerously close to bankruptcy. Under CEO Marvin Ellison, the company had identified three strategic objectives—a focus on omnichannel, private label goods, and increasing revenue per... View Details
- October 2016 (Revised November 2016)
- Case
DO & CO: Gourmet Entertainment
By: Juan Alcácer and Esel Çekin
This case is about a global catering, restaurant, and hospitality company, DO & CO, growing geographically with its existing businesses while also adding new brands to its portfolio. The company had $1 billion in revenues in 2015 from its three divisions: airline... View Details
Keywords: Strategy; International Expansion; Operational Constraints; Three-dimensional Growth; Value-added Approach; Brand Acquisition; Airline Catering; Airline Industry; Event Catering; Hospitality; Profitable Growth; Team Management; Competition; Talent and Talent Management; Corporate Strategy; Operations; Brands and Branding; Value Creation; Globalized Firms and Management; Expansion; Acquisition; Growth and Development Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; Air Transportation Industry; Service Industry
- October 2016
- Case
Turkasset: Bringing Customer-Centricity to Debt Collection
By: Dennis Campbell and Gamze Yucaoglu
In December 2014, in preparation for the year-end board presentation, Hilmi Guvenal (PMD 1993), shareholder and CEO of Turkasset, and Ilker Yoney, COO, sat down to discuss Turkasset’s five- and ten-year strategic plans. Since taking leadership of the company in 2009,... View Details
Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Customer Experience; Customer Service; Customer-centric; Emerging Market; Customer Focus; Employee Empowerment; Employee Engagement; Employee Training; Staffing; Operations Management; Quality Management; Service Management; Service Quality; Continuous Improvement; Turkasset; Collections Agency; NPL; Call Center; Financial Services; Borrowing and Debt; Customer Focus and Relationships; Organizational Culture; Operations; Management; Service Operations; Quality; Competitive Advantage; Cost vs Benefits; Financial Services Industry; Turkey
- October 2016
- Teaching Note
Longchamp
By: Jill Avery
Teaching Note for HBS No. 316-086. View Details
- October 2016
- Case
La-Z-Boy (A)
By: Joseph B. Fuller and Natalie Kindred
Kurt Darrow, CEO of La-Z-Boy furniture, must decide whether to continue an overhaul of the company's strategy in the face of a collapse in demand during the great recession. Having pared back La-Z-Boy's portfolio of brands and manufacturing network, he intends to... View Details
Keywords: Retail; Manufacturing; Organizational Transformations; Reorganization; Furniture Industry; Corporate Strategy; Home Fashion; Turnaround; Portfolio Rationalization; Globalization Of Supply Chain; Brand Repositioning; Business Growth and Maturation; Brands and Branding; Competitive Strategy; Vertical Integration; Retail Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States
- October 2016 (Revised April 2018)
- Case
DataXu: Selling Ad Tech
By: Frank V. Cespedes, John Deighton, Lisa Cox and Olivia Hull
DataXu served marketers by buying digital advertising for brands using its demand-side platform. It sought a way to build a more predictable revenue stream in the very transactional media marketplace, and hoped that two new marketing analytics products would give it a... View Details
- Article
Competing with a Goliath
By: Jill Avery
A Peruvian apparel company struggles to position itself against a global brand. View Details
- September 2016
- Case
Generali: Paving the Way for CEE Expansion
By: Dante Roscini and Emer Maloney
Generali was one of Italy’s largest companies and one of Europe’s largest insurers and had for decades been at the center of the web of cross-shareholding that has characterized the opaque brand of old Italian capitalism. This bred sub-par returns while serving to... View Details
- September 2016 (Revised April 2020)
- Case
Dwyane Wade
By: Anita Elberse and Jennifer Schoppe
In July 2016, while on his annual China tour to help promote the sportswear brand Li-Ning, basketball superstar Dwyane Wade and his long-time business manager, Lisa Joseph-Metelus, face a decision regarding one of his other business partnerships—that with the American... View Details
Keywords: Branding; Fashion; Superstar; Celebrity Endorsement; Innovation; Creative Industries; Talent; General Management; Sports; Entertainment; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Management; Strategy; Personal Development and Career; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; Sports Industry; China
- Article
What Do Private Equity Firms Say They Do?
By: Paul A. Gompers, Steven N. Kaplan and Vladimir Mukharlyamov
We survey 79 private equity investors with combined assets under management (AUM) of over $750 billion about their practices in firm valuation, capital structure, governance, and value creation. Investors rely primarily on internal rate of return (IRR) and multiples to... View Details
- 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
- August 2016
- Supplement
HEINEKEN—Brewing a Better World (B)
By: Forest L. Reinhardt, José Alvarez and Tonia Junker
This is a follow-up to the “HEINEKEN—Brewing a Better World (A)” case, with updated information on sustainability at HEINEKEN and some new initiatives. View Details
- August 2016
- Case
S'well: The Mass Market Decision
By: Youngme Moon
This case tells the story of how Sarah Kauss, a young female entrepreneur, built a premium water bottle brand from scratch. After having built a high-end brand, the key decision in the case is whether to begin expanding the S'well product portfolio to the mass market. View Details
- July 2016
- Case
Spotify
By: Anita Elberse and Alexandre de Pfyffer
In November 2014, Spotify's chief content officer Ken Parks learns that record label Big Machine Records has requested the immediate removal of superstar artist Taylor Swift's entire catalogue from Spotify's music streaming service. Is it time for Spotify to reconsider... View Details
Keywords: Entertainment; Marketing; Superstar; Music; Entertainment Marketing; Media; Digital Technology; Creative Industries; Product Portfolio Management; General Management; Management; Strategy; Internet and the Web; Open Source Distribution; Creativity; Music Entertainment; Product Marketing; Music Industry
- July 2016 (Revised October 2018)
- Case
Tolaram: Innovating in Africa
By: Derek van Bever and Efosa Ojomo
Tolaram is a Singaporean company that began operations selling textiles in Nigeria in the 1970s. Executives and brothers, Haresh and Sajesh Aswani, however, saw an opportunity to create an instant noodle market in the country. In 1988, they began importing Indomie... View Details