Publications

February 2010 (Revised March 2016)
Background Note

Marketing Analysis Toolkit: Break-even Analysis

By: Thomas J. Steenburgh and Jill Avery

Marketing managers are often called upon to make recommendations for or against programs that cost money to implement. Before expenditures are made, managers want to be sure that they will be getting a return on their investment. One way of assessing this is by... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Investment Return; Spending; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Marketing Strategy; Strategic Planning; Mathematical Methods

08 Dec 2020
News

Uber’s Strategy for Global Success

11 Jan 2010
Research & Ideas

Mixing Open Source and Proprietary Software Strategies

growing new firm with an open source business model. In response, IBM in 2005 bought a small firm called Gluecode that sold products in the same market segment as JBoss. IBM then opened the Gluecode product and adopted a mixed source... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Web Services

2008
Working Paper

Structural Closure and Exposure: Market Reactions to Announcements of Acquisitions and Divestitures

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Nitin Nohria

This paper develops an exchange-network perspective on corporate diversification and proposes two measures of corporate scope: structural closure and structural exposure. Structural closure focuses on exchanges of goods and services inside the firm... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Market Transactions; Diversification; Boundaries; Valuation

September 2022 (Revised February 2023)
Case

EnergyNow: Powering a New Market

By: Alexander MacKay and James Barnett

In August 2022, EnergyNow co-founder and CEO Stuart MacWilliam (MBA 2015) considers the company strategy for building solar panels to provide power in South Africa’s recently deregulated energy market. View Details

Research Summary

Performance Pricing and Business Strategy

By: Frank V. Cespedes

This research focuses on companies that have sustained high willingness-to-pay over diverse market conditions, including economic slumps. It examines how firms identify, articulate, and communicate value to selected customer groups and the organizational implications,... View Details

21 Sep 2023
Blog Post

Hands-on Learning About Global Markets

its primarily word-of-mouth marketing strategies and develop more scalable channels to reach new customers. By increasing Ellie Care’s client base, it would also help the... View Details

January 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Endeavor-Determining A Growth Strategy

By: William A. Sahlman and Michael J. Roberts

Describes the progress of a nonprofit organization, Endeavor, focused on nurturing entrepreneurship in emerging markets. At the time of the case, it has successfully expanded to five Latin American countries and is contemplating the next phase in its growth.... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Nonprofit Organizations; Development Economics; Entrepreneurship; Emerging Markets; Policy; Growth and Development Strategy

June 2011 (Revised May 2012)
Case

Procter & Gamble: Marketing Capabilities

By: Rebecca M. Henderson and Ryan Johnson

P&G had become known and recognized as a marketing machine. It was the largest advertiser in the world, with 2010 spending of $8.68 billion. From the company's early exploitation of broadcast media (radio and television) for its soap products to more recent experiments... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Change Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Innovation Strategy; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry

Program

Strategic Marketing for Driving Growth

marketing principles and strategies that enable you to build and sustain a leading edge in your industry—and catapult your business to the next... View Details

May 1984 (Revised September 1986)
Background Note

Basic Quantitative Analysis for Marketing

By: Robert J. Dolan

Shows how to calculate and use the break-even volume in marketing decision making. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Mathematical Methods

June 2012
Case

Innovating at AT&T: Partnering to Lead the Broadband Revolution

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Phillip Andrews and Kerry Herman

In 2010, the U.S. retail market value for next-generation non-handset wirelessly-enabled devices was just over $1 billion. By 2011 it had grown 1,141% to $13.2 billion and was forecast to reach $24.7 billion in 2015. At the same time, user demand for data was surging... View Details

Keywords: Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Team Leadership; Emerging Technologies; Business Models; Business To Business; Corporate Vision; Growth Strategy; Corporate Culture; Innovation and Invention; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Partners and Partnerships; Leadership; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Globalized Firms and Management; Business Model; Technology Industry; United States

January–February 2019
Article

Cracking Frontier Markets

By: Clayton M. Christensen, Efosa Ojomo and Karen Dillon

Executive Summary:
With emerging-market giants such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China experiencing slowdowns, investors, entrepreneurs, and multinationals are looking elsewhere. They’ve been eyeing frontier economies such as Nigeria and Pakistan with great... View Details

Keywords: Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Growth and Development Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Innovation and Invention; Development Economics

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26 May 2009
Research & Ideas

Improving Market Research in a Recession

often be greater. Brand preferences and consumption levels in emerging markets such as China, India, and Brazil tend to be more fluid. Consumer research is therefore critical View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

24 Apr 2014
News

A wild ride from adventure travel to social media marketing

When Victoria Ransom (MBA 2008) wanted to promote her travel company by giving away a trip on Facebook, she couldn’t find the software to do so. Ransom solved the problem, creating an app, and in the process... View Details

2003
Book

The Slow Pace of Fast Change: Bringing Innovations to Market in a Connected World

By: Bhaskar Chakravorti

Innovation's encounter with the market results in a game of both high risk and high stakes. Often its outcome defies common sense: Superior new products flop, unlikely ideas become runaway hits, and—despite rapid technological advances and intense... View Details

Keywords: Game Theory; Network Effects; Innovation and Invention; Product Marketing; Economics

01 Dec 2002
News

What You Know Depends on Where You Go

and Palepu's research, however, showed that conglomerate-owned firms in these markets often outperformed comparable stand-alones. “These business groups appear to Wall Street as anachronisms, but in the... View Details

03 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Marketing Your Way Through a Recession

furnishings and home entertainment will hold up well, as uncertainty prompts us to stay at home but also stay connected with family and friends. Now may be the time to drop your weaker distributors and... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

December 2010 (Revised March 2011)
Background Note

Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries

By: Anita Elberse

A note for educators describing an elective course for second-year MBA Students at Harvard Business School, "Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries." which focuses on strategic marketing challenges for firms in the creative industries, defined as industries that... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy