Publications

20 Dec 2004
Research & Ideas

The U.S. Patent Game: How to Change It

lucrative assignments—is likely to have a subtle effect on many practitioners' reactions to proposals for radical change. Moreover, the negative effects of bad patent policy are very diffuse, and very difficult to see View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

September 2019 (Revised May 2020)
Supplement

Keroche (E): Considering Additional Capacity

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Pippa Tubman Armerding

This case describes Keroche’s growth after entering the beer business in 2008. Although the company was operating at full capacity and not able to fulfill all of its orders, Tabitha Karanja had set a goal of growing Keroche’s share of the Kenyan beer market from... View Details

February 2010 (Revised March 2010)
Supplement

Leading Change at Simmons (E)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Susan Thyne

This case updates the “Leading Change at Simmons” series by examining Simmons' increasing debt under the ownership of Thomas H. Lee, a private equity firm. Charlie Eitel, the former CEO, wonders what the company's, and his, legacy will be after declaring bankruptcy... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Private Equity; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Leading Change; Operations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Ownership; Performance Improvement; Consumer Products Industry

April 1980 (Revised September 1985)
Background Note

The Disposable Diaper Industry in 1974

By: Michael E. Porter

Describes the rapidly growing disposable diaper industry in 1974, a period in which Procter and Gamble's industry leadership faced strong challenges from Kimberly Clark, Johnson and Johnson, and Union Carbide. The latter two firms were in the process of entry into the... View Details

Keywords: Market Entry and Exit; Competition; Consumer Products Industry

07 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 7

Course MaterialsDemand Media John Deighton and Leora KornfeldHarvard Business School Case 511-043 Google search had helped Demand Media grow to be a $1.9 billion online publisher. Then, social media View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

July 2025
Case

Toilets for the Underserved: The SURT Commercialization Challenge

By: Maria P. Roche, Anne Marie Knott and Alexander Oettl

In 2021, a breakthrough in sanitation technology developed under the Gates Foundation’s “Reinvent the Toilet” initiative stood ready for commercialization. The Single User Reinvented Toilet (SURT), engineered by Dr. Shannon Yee, offered an off-grid, self-contained... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Commercialization; Social Issues; Social Enterprise; Public Sector; Private Sector; Market Entry and Exit; Strategic Planning; Engineering; Infrastructure; Innovation Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States; South Africa; India; France

2011
Chapter

How Does Simplified Disclosure Affect Individuals' Mutual Fund Choices?

By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian

We use an experiment to estimate the effect of the SEC's Summary Prospectus, which simplifies mutual fund disclosure. Our subjects chose an equity portfolio and a bond portfolio. Subjects received either statutory prospectuses or Summary Prospectuses. We find no... View Details

Keywords: Information; Corporate Disclosure; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Retirement; Personal Finance; Investment Funds; Microeconomics

Career Coach

Rich Schneider

deep experience in new business development, marketing, life sciences/health care, and consumer goods and services. He helps individuals to develop a clear vision of their... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

February 2010 (Revised June 2011)
Case

SEWA Trade Facilitation Center: Changing the Spool

By: Mukti Khaire and Kathleen L. McGinn

The case is about the decision to convert a not-for-profit organization into a for-profit company. SEWA Trade Facilitation Center (STFC), which is part of a larger non-profit organization—the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA)—works to improve the livelihoods of... View Details

Keywords: Cooperative Ownership; For-Profit Firms; Gender; Business Model; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Nonprofit Organizations; Arts; Entrepreneurship; Economic Growth; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; India

September 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Alessi: Evolution of an Italian Design Factory (B)

By: Youngme E. Moon, Vincent Dessain and Anders Sjoman

Since the 1970s, world-renowned architect and designer, Alessandro Mendini, has acted as adviser and counselor to Alessi, the Italian household goods design factory. By discussing Mendini's role as art director, the case introduces the artistic side of Alessi, where... View Details

Keywords: Design; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Leadership Style; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Consumer Products Industry; Italy

March 1998 (Revised July 2001)
Case

Haier Group, The (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine and Robert J. Crawford

Zhang Ruimin, founder and CEO of China's Haier Group, must decide whether to acquire Red Star Electric Appliance Co., an insolvent local manufacturer of washing machines. Although Haier, slated to become one of China's first global brand names, has successfully turned... View Details

Keywords: Acquisition; Business or Company Management; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Culture; Success; Consumer Products Industry; China

09 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

The Manager in Red Sneakers

clothes rather than an elegant outfit to a luxury boutique, or wearing sneakers to a professional event. In The Red Sneakers Effect: Inferring Status and Competence from Signals of Nonconformity—an article appearing in the June 2014... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

2013
Article

Optimizing the Amount of Entertainment in Advertising: What's So Funny about Tracking Reactions to Humor?

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Horst Stipp

Humor and other entertaining content, as opposed to demonstrations of product features and "selling," are increasingly used in advertising, such as TV commercials, to attract and keep consumers' attention. This study uses facial tracking to explore how marketers can... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Content; Entertainment; Face Perception; Advertising; Digital Marketing; Television Entertainment; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

Find at Harvard

March 2006 (Revised December 2009)
Compilation

Skype

By: Peter A. Coles and Thomas R. Eisenmann

Presents eBay's rationale for its $2.6 billion acquisition in late 2005 of Skype, a fast growing voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) provider. Describes Skype's history, technology, business model, and competition, as well as government regulation of VoIP services. View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Business Model; Communication Technology; Growth and Development Strategy; Network Effects; Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; Information Infrastructure; Telecommunications Industry

02 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

Four Companies that Conquered America

Editor's Note: 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.Accounting for almost 30 percent of world GDP, the United States is the... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

26 Jul 2016
First Look

July 26, 2016

beneficent nonprofits exploit such regulatory leniency and exhibit higher mispricing. Drawing on organizational legitimacy theory, we argue that both regulators and beneficent nonprofits seek to protect... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

December 1994 (Revised May 1999)
Case

3M Optical Systems: Managing Corporate Entrepreneurship

By: Christopher A. Bartlett and Afroze A Mohammed

A middle-level division manager must decide whether he should support an investment request for a third attempt at launching a new product developed by a struggling business unit. Describes the long, difficult process by which the unit has developed the product--a... View Details

Keywords: Managerial Roles; Decision Choices and Conditions; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Product Launch; Problems and Challenges; Product Development; Consumer Products Industry

12 Oct 2016
Research & Ideas

Break the Rules of How Business is Done

companies have challenged the standard on how business are “supposed” to run. One could argue that these attempts to be different are distracting and time consuming when the work just needs to get done.... View Details

Keywords: by Julia B. Austin

February 2008 (Revised September 2010)
Case

LeapFrog Enterprises

By: Lynda M. Applegate and Elizabeth Collins

Explores the success factors leading to the company's rise to the number three ranking in the aggressively competitive toy industry. LeapFrog has made the strategic decision to expand beyond the toy industry and enter the educational technology and services industry.... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Expansion; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry