Publications

05 Sep 2023
Book

Failing Well: How Your ‘Intelligent Failure’ Unlocks Your Full Potential

initiative presents a credible opportunity to advance toward a desired goal. The plan is thoughtful and intentional, offering a significant reward if successful. “If I’m at risk of failure and it’s pointless, why do it?” she says. “You’re... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

13 Jul 2011
Research & Ideas

Experimental Researcher Helps Improve Health Care in Zambia

interest in global health to the realization that an estimated 13 million people die each year for lack of low-cost products that could save their lives. Over the past seven years, she has conducted research projects in Zambia aimed at... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Health

September 2004 (Revised March 2007)
Case

G.I. JOE: Marketing an Icon

In the winter of 2003, Billy Lagor, the Hasbro toy company's brand manager for G.I. JOE, faced a set of decisions that would ultimately determine the 2004 marketing plan for the G.I. JOE brand. Under consideration were three different ways to market the military action... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; United States

January 2021 (Revised May 2023)
Case

Pearson: Efficacy 2.0

By: Elie Ofek, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg and James Weber

Pearson, which billed itself as the "world's learning company," faced a host of critical decisions in mid-2020. Several years prior, it had embarked on a new path that put the learner at the heart of the business and committed to a new strategic orientation. The new... View Details

Keywords: Efficacy; Learning; Outcome or Result; Measurement and Metrics; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Strategic Planning; Education Industry

18 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 18, 2009

volume. The distinguishing operational characteristic of by-product synergy is that quantities of the primary product and by-product are linked, with production of the primary View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 2022
Case

Michelin’s Green Gold Bahia Program: Leaving With Grace

By: Sandra J. Sucher, Shalene Gupta and Susan J. Winterberg

In 2015, the top management of French tire-maker Michelin, was evaluating Michelin’s approach to divesting its rubber plantations ten years after incorporating a novel strategy.
In 2004, Michelin had a Brazilian rubber challenge. Its Bahía plantation had been hit... View Details

Keywords: Divestment; Supply Chain Management; Natural Resources; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Rubber Industry; Auto Industry; Brazil; France

28 Mar 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Manufacturing Matters

After decades of destructive outsourcing, America's ability to innovate and create high-tech products essential for future prosperity is on the decline, argue professors Gary Pisano and Willy Shih. They won the prestigious McKinsey Award... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Manufacturing

August 2015 (Revised October 2017)
Case

Turnaround at Norsk Gjenvinning (A)

By: George Serafeim

Erik Osmundsen, CEO of Norsk Gjenvinning (NG), had initiated a program to strenghten corporate governance, eliminate corruption and improve compliance, and as a result the company had experienced a turnover of almost half of its top 70 line managers and strained... View Details

November 1978 (Revised December 1979)
Case

Federal Express (C)

The Marketing Director for Federal Express, a fast growing freight airline specializing in small packages, must select a strategy to achieve a big sales increase for one of the company's services. First he must decide on the relative emphasis to place between... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Sales; Air Transportation Industry; Service Industry; United States

August 2002 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Gillette Company (B): Leadership for Change

By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and James Weber

Describes the actions and behavior of a new CEO in his first days and weeks as he sets expectations for his top management team and introduces processes and disciplines to begin the turnaround of a global consumer products company. View Details

Keywords: Business Strategy; Policy; Change Management; Leading Change; Motivation and Incentives; Strategic Planning; Retail Industry

21 Mar 2016
HBS Case

Can Customer Reviews Be 'Managed?'

Research says 85 percent of people will make a purchase after reading online reviews about a product or service. This has had huge implications for the hotel industry and helps explain why TripAdvisor, a massive repository of... View Details

Keywords: by Brian Kenny; Advertising; Travel

13 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Diagnosing the Public Health Care Alternative

think the chances of a government plan supplanting private options are slim," he writes. But the existence of both public and private insurance plans might provide enough competition to improve overall value... View Details

Keywords: by Staff; Health

17 Feb 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

How Entrepreneurs Can Find the Right Problem to Solve

discovery work to validate the problem or their target customers. While gut feel or personal experience with a problem can be a strong signal there is a problem to solve, without proper product discovery work you won’t truly know if you... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Austin

June 2017 (Revised May 2018)
Supplement

Hilti Fleet Management Video Supplements

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Oliver Gassmann and Roman Sauer

This case explores the introduction of fleet management in the construction industry by the premium power tools manufacturer Hilti in 2000. Following its customers’ needs, Hilti moved from selling power tools to leasing them as a service. The introduction of the new... View Details

November 2005 (Revised July 2007)
Case

Pine Ridge Winery, LLC (A)

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and Lauren Barley

George Scheppler, president and CEO of Pine Ridge Winery, LLC, (the "Company") sat in his office overlooking the steep hillside vineyards of the Pine Ridge Winery in Napa Valley. It was June 2005, and he was preparing for the upcoming board of managers meeting where he... View Details

Keywords: Governing and Advisory Boards; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Corporate Strategy; Napa Valley

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

04 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: December 4

Business Review 90, no. 12 (December 2012) Abstract An abstract is unavailable at this time. Read the article: http://hbr.org/2012/12/the-microwork-solution/ar/1 Are There Too Many Safe Securities? Securitization and the Incentives for Information View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

November 2016 (Revised November 2016)
Case

Radial Analytics Probes Post-Acute Care

By: Richard G. Hamermesh and Olivia Hull

Thaddeus Fulford-Jones and Eric Weiss, founders of healthcare technology startup Radial Analytics, have been busy developing a software program designed to save hospitals money and improve patient outcomes by producing customized care plans for patients leaving the... View Details

Keywords: Electronic Medical Records; Electronic Health Records; Data Science; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Business Model; Business Startups; Innovation and Invention; Growth Management; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Science-Based Business; Business Strategy; Health Industry; Technology Industry; Cambridge; Massachusetts