Publications

June 2018
Teaching Note

ALAC International

By: Richard S. Ruback, Royce Yudkoff and Ahron Rosenfeld

ALAC International (ALAC) was awarded the U.S. distributorship of di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) which provided ALAC an opportunity to increase its sales and profits. But the opportunity required a significant additional investment in working capital. The DINP, shipped... View Details

Keywords: Working Capital; Financing and Loans; Growth Management

29 Feb 2024
HBS Case

Beyond Goals: David Beckham's Playbook for Mobilizing Star Talent

within weeks, stronger growth than any other sports team that year. Similarly, sales of Paris Saint-Germain jerseys jumped 40 percent during Messi’s first five months with the team, compared with the... View Details

Keywords: by Avery Forman; Sports

25 Apr 2023
Op-Ed

How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model

under globally recognized brand names, including the private labels of mass merchants such as Walmart, Costco, and Target. Most of those profits accrued to the brands, rather than the Chinese suppliers. E-commerce and the gradual supplanting of the View Details

Keywords: by John Deighton; Fashion; Retail; Consumer Products

06 Mar 2012
First Look

First Look: March 6

disclosures are related to subsequent allegations of corruption and subsequent performance. Firms with abnormally low anticorruption disclosures have higher subsequent media allegations of corruption than firms with abnormally high disclosure. They also report higher... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Jul 2001
Research & Ideas

Sam Walton: Great From the Start

compound annual growth rate in sales of over 28 percent. He was the leading variety store operator in Arkansas, and probably in the adjacent states as well. And then, in a heartbeat, he lost everything. The... View Details

Keywords: by Richard S. Tedlow; Retail

December 2018 (Revised May 2021)
Background Note

Making UK Energy Smarter

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

This case describes the history of the United Kingdom's domestic energy industry and the country's efforts to create a more competitive, greener, and distributed power sector. On July 24, 2017, the United Kingdom government and the industry regulator, the Office of Gas... View Details

December 2018 (Revised October 2020)
Case

Shiseido: Reinvesting in Brand

By: Jill Avery and Nobuo Sato

Shiseido was in the midst of a six year corporate turnaround, trying to reverse the effects of decades of under-investment in R&D and marketing which had led to a cycle of declining customer support and brand value. Would the CEO’s VISION 2020 plan, centered on four... View Details

2009
Other Unpublished Work

Steering Monetary Policy Through Unprecedented Crises

By: David Moss and Cole Bolton

In early April 2008, economic conditions in Europe appeared to be deteriorating on almost all fronts: sales figures were falling, business and consumer confidence were slumping, forecasts for European growth were being revised downward, and inflation was rising. In... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Inflation and Deflation; Central Banking; Interest Rates; International Finance; Policy; Crisis Management; Europe

23 Jul 2021
Blog Post

Trends in Consumer Products

A job search in Consumer Products requires thorough research to understand how Covid has affected a company’s business. Most consumer products companies had very uneven business results—some brands saw enormous growth and others saw... View Details

Web

Marketing - Faculty & Research

Elberse This world-wide Case Centre competition recognizes an excellent practitioner in the case classroom. More Information About the Unit Marketing is critical for organic growth of a business and its central role is in creating,... View Details

September 2022
Case

AllSpice: GitHub for Hardware Engineers

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Mel Martin

AllSpice, a software-as-a-service company that built a GitHub-like revision control tool for hardware engineers, was in the midst of preparing for rapid scale when the 2022 market downturn left them with big decisions to make. Cofounder and CEO Valentina Ratner had to... View Details

Keywords: Scaling; SaaS; Strategy; Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy; Resource Allocation; Customer Focus and Relationships; Technology Industry; Electronics Industry; United States

September 2003 (Revised May 2006)
Case

Eyeblaster: Enabling the Next Generation of Online Advertising

By: Elie Ofek

Eyeblaster management has to decide on the best course of action to sustain its momentum from enabling online rich media advertising. Pressure from competitors is forcing the company to re-evaluate its previous marketing strategy that focused primarily on getting... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Performance Evaluation; Digital Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy