Consumer Goods - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Jul 2009
Working Paper Summaries

File-Sharing and Copyright

Keywords: by Felix Oberholzer-Gee & Koleman Strumpf; Technology; Entertainment & Recreation

October 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Cape Wind has proposed placing a 170-tower wind farm, with each tower more than 400-feet tall, in Nantucket Sound. Not surprisingly, public reaction is mixed. Some view the wind farm as clean, renewable energy. Others view it as an eyesore and a desecration of a valued... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Renewable Energy; Consumer Behavior; Problems and Challenges; Natural Environment; Behavior; United States

Citation

Educators

Purchase

19 Jun 2014
Blog Post

Exploring the World of Retail as an Intern at Walmart

marketing would be fun, while other days I wanted to stay closer to my strategy background. I knew I wanted some blend of strategic thinking and quantitative analysis. As a result, I opted to apply to a variety of roles at large retailers and View Details

23 Aug 2019
Blog Post

A Summer of Peaks and Swells: Interning at Patagonia

its two thousand employees have the means and the will to prove to the rest of the business world that doing the right thing makes for a good and profitable business.” There was meaningful work to be a part of at Patagonia. In discovering... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail; Consumer Products / Retail

Rajiv Lal

Rajiv Lal, is the Stanley Roth, Sr. Professor of Retailing at Harvard Business School. He is currently teaching an elective MBA course on the Business of Smart Connected Products/IOT. He has been responsible for the retailing curriculum and has served as the course... View Details

28 Nov 2007
Research & Ideas

B2B Branding: Does it Work?

Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes a blog on marketing issues, called Marketing Know: How, for Harvard Business Online. It is reprinted on HBS Working Knowledge.Many business-to-business (B2B) CEOs view marketing as the domain of View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products

February 1999 (Revised May 1999)
Case

Onsale, Inc.

By: Youngme E. Moon

Onsale has been a pioneer in electronic commerce, offering excess and refurbished goods using an online auction format. The company is now planning to become a player in the highly competitive world of first-run computer merchandise as well. However, unlike other... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Transformation; Customers; Brands and Branding; Auctions; Network Effects; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; Retail Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

October 2023
Case

CornerUp: Digitizing the Corner Store

By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui, Stacy Straaberg and Diego Zainos De La Sota Riva

In July 2023, Jason Diaz, co-founder and CEO of CornerUp, assessed the progress of his business-to-business e-procurement software application (app) startup, founded in January 2022. CornerUp began as a fast-moving consumer packaged goods (FMCG) distributor in New York... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Startups; Small Business; Transition; Decisions; Social Entrepreneurship; Geographic Location; Disruptive Innovation; Market Participation; Digital Platforms; Trust; Business Strategy; Expansion; Information Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Technology Adoption; Value Creation; Technology Industry; United States

Citation

Educators

10 Jul 2023
In Practice

The Harvard Business School Faculty Summer Reader 2023

books I consume for the pleasure of good stories and engaging writing, which help improve my own writing. These include legal thrillers with ensemble characters by John Lescroart, such as The Rule of Law;... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

17 May 2016
First Look

May 17, 2016

expectation that private profit not come at the expense of consumer welfare. Consumers, Corporations, and Public Health assembles 17 case studies at the intersection of business and public health to illustrate how each side can inform and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 30

Henderson and Ryan JohnsonHarvard Business School Case 311-116 Since its 1999 merger Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a global consumer goods company, led by its CEO Bart Becht, developed a reputation for rapid... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

March 13, 2023
Article

Sales Teams Need to Stop Focusing on the Customer Funnel

By: Frank V. Cespedes

Understanding where customers are, how they navigate streams in your market, and how to interact with them in a given stream is now central to crafting a good customer experience, and that has implications. Among other things, companies need to shift from thinking... View Details

Keywords: Customer Experience; Customer Value and Value Chain; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior

Citation

Register to Read

December 2020 (Revised April 2021)
Case

Arcos Dorados: A QSR Recovery Plan

By: Forest Reinhardt, José B. Alvarez, Jenyfeer Martinez Buitrago and Mariana Cal

Arcos Dorados—McDonald’s largest independent franchisee, covering Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)—faced a pandemic that was disrupting the entire consumer foodservice business in 2020. With the exclusive right to own, operate, and sub-franchise McDonald’s... View Details

Citation

Educators

Purchase

11 Sep 2006
Research & Ideas

Negotiating When the Rules Suddenly Change

other clubs would be likely to pay him. They also had to weigh what sort of precedent, good or bad, that deal would set for the other players they were trying to sign. Finally, they had to anticipate how their moves would affect the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Wheeler; Sports

Web

Browse All Articles, Research, & Case Studies - HBS Working Knowledge

2024 The Parlor Room Anthony Mayo on What Makes an Effective Leader Chris Linnane Harvard Business School Professor Anthony Mayo joins host Chris Linnane to explore what distinguishes good leaders from great ones, emphasizing how... View Details

06 Feb 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas: February 6, 2018

including a monopolist, two competing multichannel retailers, as well as a mixed duopoly. Though self-matching can negatively impact a retailer when consumers pay the lower price, we uncover two novel mechanisms that can make... View Details

30 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Tracks of My Tears: Reconstructing Digital Music

At the dawn of the digital music era, record labels went along with a pricing scheme devised by Apple that they are still paying for today. The idea to "unbundle" albums into separate tracks sold for 99 cents each suddenly allowed View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Music

29 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

Why Do Outlet Stores Exist?

consumers than it did about the companies. "Companies must know something about the way we behave that causes them to adopt these retailing strategies," he says. "I look at retailing as a way to study View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Apparel & Accessories; Fashion; Retail