Margins - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Jun 2023
News

Pet Project

optimized for DTC? Even if retail is where most consumer packaged goods are sold, it will mean lower margins and lower LTV. “So why should we launch a less profitable channel? Is retail critical for an exit or to become a household brand?... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade; Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, and Book Stores; Retail Trade

27 Feb 2019
Research & Ideas

The Hidden Cost of a Product Recall

patients. “The extremely high profit margins in medical devices offers a setting in which the risks are often overwhelmed by the potential rewards to innovate, especially when competitors face their own product failures,” according to the... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Manufacturing; Consumer Products; Auto; Medical Devices & Supplies

22 Feb 2018
Book

The New History of American Capitalism

taking the subject as given, they explore it as politically constituted. If “the market” is neither a discrete phenomenon nor marginal to human experience, then basic structures of governance become important. Rather than assuming that... View Details

Keywords: Manufacturing

17 Oct 2019
Research & Ideas

‘Chick Beer’ for Women? Why Gender Marketing Repels More Than Sells

than men because women have long been marginalized by negative stereotypes, so they’re more sensitive to marketing that tries to put them in a box, the research team contends. “These appeals can make consumers feel as if they are being... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products

November 2021
Article

Ratings, Reviews, and the Marketing of New Products

By: Itay P. Fainmesser, Dominique Olié Lauga and Elie Ofek

We study how user-generated content (UGC) about new products impacts a firm's advertising and pricing decisions and the effect on profits and market dynamics. We construct a two-period model where consumers value quality and are heterogeneous in their taste for the new... View Details

Keywords: Online Reviews; Product Ratings; Social Networks; Word Of Mouth; Pricing; User-generated Content; Advertising; Product Marketing; Price; Consumer Behavior; Product Positioning; Social Media

Citation

Find at Harvard

30 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

How Technology Adoption Affects Global Economies

The dynamics of technology adoption are very persistent," Comin says. Extensive Vs. Intensive Margins While those findings were significant, Comin was puzzled by one apparent paradox related to the fact that technology adoption lags have... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

27 Jun 2013
Working Paper Summaries

Social Norms Versus Social Responsibility: Punishing Transgressions Under Conflicting Obligations

Keywords: by Francesca Gino, Celia Moore & Lamar Pierce

Web

Research - Behavioral Finance & Financial Stability

risk and the cost of equity (the beta anomaly): As firms lever up, the overall cost of capital falls as leverage increases equity beta, but as debt becomes riskier the marginal benefit of increasing equity beta declines. They find that... View Details

08 Aug 2005
Research & Ideas

A Balanced Scorecard Approach To Measure Customer Profitability

a fixed cost, had increased even faster than sales. Despite the tripling in sales, margins had declined by one percentage point and the company had just incurred its first loss in decades. Rather than SG&A costs being fixed or even... View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan

January 2024
Case

Sprouts Farmers Market

By: Rajiv Lal, Forest L. Reinhardt and Natalie Kindred

Sprouts Farmers Markets (Sprouts) is a Phoenix, Arizona-based chain of 400-plus natural foods stores in 23 U.S. states and $6.4 billion in sales as of 2022. In its product assortment, brand image, and store environment, Sprouts emphasizes freshness, health, innovation,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Strategic Planning; Sales; Business Strategy; Expansion; Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Competition; Retail Industry; United States; Arizona

Citation

Educators

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01 Dec 2015
HBS Seminar

Nicola Lacetera, University of Toronto

Blog

Leading in Tough Times: HBS Faculty Member Amy C. Edmondson on Psychological Safety

and inclusion, but inclusion itself is more elusive. To be genuinely inclusive, the work environment must be psychologically safe for everyone—including people in historically marginalized or underrepresented groups. Organizations and... View Details

22 Jul 2002
Research & Ideas

Is Performance-Based Pricing the Right Price for You?

individuals responsible for the actual purchase decision do not want to absorb the career risk of overpaying. In our personal lives, if we overpay for a product, we suffer some marginal consequence. In business, it can literally end the... View Details

Keywords: by Benson Shapiro; Manufacturing

Web

Diversity and Inclusion - Christensen Center for Teaching & Learning

sensitive topics, you may wish to call more than once on students showing passion. It may be, for example, that during discussions of race, you may wish to call more than once on students of color who have their hands up multiple times. Unintentionally View Details

Web

Harvard Environmental Centers - Business & Environment

justice—particularly the disproportionate effects on marginalized communities locally and globally. Impact Weighted Accounts The mission of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Project is to drive the creation of financial accounts that reflect a... View Details

Web

Beth Clark | About

HarvardWIT+, a community dedicated to advancing marginalized genders in IT across Harvard. Her commitment extends through her involvement in EDUCAUSE , where she serves on the EDUCAUSE Review Advisory Committee (ERAC) and mentors the next... View Details

Web

Winners & Runners-Up | New Venture Competition

Dias de Barros, HBS Esther Hsu Social Enterprise Track Winner A steady source of income to marginalized communities in China by bringing “Yashmere” (yak wool) yarn and products to the U.S. market. Souktel Jacob Korenblum, HGSE Jarrett... View Details

09 Nov 2021
Research & Ideas

The Simple Secret of Effective Mentoring Programs

need mentoring, they are likely to see, at best, only marginal productivity gains, while broad-based mentoring programs, with no opt-out provision, are likely to generate more impressive results, says Stanton. The companies that stand to... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

01 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Better by the Bundle?

do even better." The Bmw Bundle Although it's difficult to determine without additional research, Kumar says a bundling strategy is likely to find success with a variety of products—especially where one piece of the bundle is produced at very low cost. Digital... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

20 Apr 2021
Book

A Simple Question That Can Guide Companies to Epic Success

methods. That is true value creation. Both the margins of Nike and the margins of the suppliers expanded. If we want to restore faith in the business community, value creation needs to be our first... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

Publications