Publications

17 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

Can China Maintain Its Economic Power?

engineers—they love to build things, and they are very good at it. Their progress on infrastructure projects in the last couple of decades is remarkable, but in keeping with their natural strength and the... View Details

Keywords: by Deborah Blagg

July 1994 (Revised March 1995)
Case

Microsoft: Multimedia Publications (B)

By: Marco Iansiti and Ellen Stein

Microsoft is about to release an apparently successful CD-ROM baseball product. The company is trying to determine what product(s) should be developed next, how it should organize itself, and what role it should play in the development of such products. View Details

Keywords: Product Development; Applications and Software; Product Design; Organizational Structure; Product Launch; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Washington (state, US)

08 Jan 2018
Research & Ideas

The Startling Percentage of Financial Advisors with Misconduct Records

iStock Even as President Donald Trump and Republican leaders seem set on a course to weaken Obama-administration consumer protection regulations, a soon-to-be-published study reports that 7.3 percent of... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Financial Services

November 1998 (Revised December 1998)
Case

Asea Brown Boveri (Condensed)

By: Robert L. Simons

The merger of Asea AB and BBC Brown Boveri required a restructuring of operations and a change in organizational cultures. Competitive success also necessitated the benefits of scale while remaining "local" for political and customer-responsiveness reasons. The case... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Restructuring; Cost vs Benefits; Competitive Strategy; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Growth and Development; Performance Effectiveness; 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

November 1985 (Revised December 1994)
Background Note

Major Home Appliance Industry in 1984 (Revised)

By: John R. Wells

Analyzes the major home appliance industry in the U.S. in 1984 and gives a profile of the key competitors. May be used with Major Home Appliance Industry in 1988 and Maytag in 1984. View Details

Keywords: Competition; Consumer Products Industry; United States

May 1986 (Revised January 1989)
Case

Gillette Co.: Dry Idea Advertising (A), The Creative Problem

Presents the first of two cases describing the struggle to solve creative problems on the Dry Idea antiperspirant brand introduced in 1978 by the Gillette Co. and its advertising agency (Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborne). Provides company and industry background plus... View Details

Keywords: Creativity; Advertising; Product Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; United States

01 Jan 2011
News

Peter Harf, MBA 1974

focusing the company on consumer goods. "We had a lot of marginal pieces in our portfolio," explains Harf. In those early years, Harf acquired around 25 companies. "I'm not afraid of taking risks. I'm not afraid of losing. I'm not afraid... View Details

31 Oct 2004
Research & Ideas

Bypass Marketing: Are Docs Influenced?

Until the close of the last decade, health consumers received much of their knowledge and advice about prescription drugs from their physicians or other health care professionals. Today, pharmaceutical... View Details

Keywords: by Manda Salls

11 Jun 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching the Next Generation of Energy Executives

You may think that being an energy executive—especially a manager in a leading oil company—might be the easiest job around. Just flip the production switch, and watch gas prices head toward $4 a gallon. But students enrolled in Harvard Business School professor Forest... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Utilities

02 Jul 2014
Blog Post

Connecting Fashion & Technology at Kate Spade

development, design and marketing teams. I also participated in consumer electronic trade shows for the first time to discover new products on the markets and look out for... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail; Consumer Products / Retail

2001
Case

Crown Point Cabinetry

By: Vijay Govindarajan, David VanderSchee and Julie Lang

In 1993, Brian Stowell, CEO of a family-owned cabinet manufacturing business, created a vision for his 85 employees that focused on high quality products with less rework and wasted material. Eliminating production line managers and adopting a team-based management... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Production; Groups and Teams; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

04 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

Is E-commerce at Risk in Apple's Security Dispute with the FBI?

sales each year? Sunil Gupta, the Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, recently wrote a case on Apple Pay and the company’s ambitions of convincing consumers to... View Details

Keywords: Re: Sunil Gupta; Technology

April 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Kodak (A)

By: Giovanni M. Gavetti, Rebecca Henderson and Simona Giorgi

The introduction of digital imaging in the late 1980s had a disruptive effect on Kodak's traditional business model. Examines Kodak's strategic efforts and challenges as the photography industry evolves. After discussing Kodak's history and its past strategic moves in... View Details

Keywords: History; Business Model; Leadership; Disruption; Industry Growth; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

Career Coach

Hillary Mann

Hillary Mann (MBA, Babson ’15; University of Michigan ’04) is a Corporate Relations Director who manages relationships with organizations in Consumer Products, Retail & Luxury Goods, Hospitality, Agribusiness, View Details

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

January 1996
Teaching Note

Masco Corporation (A) & (B) TN

By: Cynthia A. Montgomery and Michael E. Porter

Teaching Note for (9-389-186) and (9-389-187). View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products Industry