Publications

February 1990 (Revised August 2001)
Case

Merloni Elettrodomestici SpA: The Transit Point Experiment

By: Janice H. Hammond and Maura G Kelly

Merloni Elettrodomestici is a leading Italian manufacturer of domestic appliances. In 1986, an exposition for Merloni customers is scheduled at its Milano regional warehouse. During the two-month period preceding the event, when the warehouse must be free of inventory,... View Details

Keywords: Logistics; Marketing Channels; Planning; Time Management; Distribution Channels; Competitive Advantage; Customer Relationship Management; Information Technology; Consumer Products Industry; Italy

September 2009 (Revised October 2010)
Case

Elkay Plumbing Products Division

By: Robert S. Kaplan

The vice president of sales learns that the most profitable 1% of the division's customers generate 100% of profits, and that two of the division's largest customers lose 50% of profits. The division has just finished a project to install a time-driven activity-based... View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Profit; Management Systems; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

20 Oct 2015
First Look

October 20, 2015

fluctuations. We first exposit that in the presence of Cobb-Douglas production functions and consumer preferences, there is a specific pattern of economic transmission whereby demand-side shocks propagate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

September 1991 (Revised May 1994)
Case

Microsoft's Networking Strategy

By: David B. Yoffie

Keywords: Network Effects; Networks; Business Strategy; Information Technology; Information Technology Industry

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February 1986
Supplement

Kedaung Industrial Ltd., Video

By: Louis T. Wells Jr.

Presents an interview with the Indonesian partner of Corning Glass Works' investment in Indonesia. The first part of the interview sets out the original decisions made by the partners. It serves to introduce the partners to the class and to help them decide whether to... View Details

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Decisions; Investment; Consumer Products Industry; Indonesia

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July 1991 (Revised August 1991)
Case

Philip Morris Companies, Inc. (A)

By: Samuel L. Hayes III

This large tobacco and diversified food processor is seeking to refinance debt funds raised to accomplish a large acquisition. It has filed a large "shelf" registration that authorizes it to issue during the subsequent two years. At the time of the case, the market... View Details

Keywords: Stocks; Initial Public Offering; Consumer Products Industry; United States

July 1996 (Revised June 1998)
Case

Gillette Indonesia

By: John A. Quelch

The country manager of Gillette Indonesia is reviewing his 1996 marketing plan and considering whether the pace of market development and mix of product sales can be impacted by the level and type of Gillette expenditures in the market. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Multinational Firms and Management; Emerging Markets; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Marketing; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Indonesia

28 Jun 2016
First Look

June 28, 2016

"CEO activism" can influence public opinion and consumer attitudes. Our field experiment examines the impact of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s public statements opposing a pending religious freedom law that critics... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 May 2011
Research & Ideas

Moving From Bean Counter to Game Changer

and consumer lending. The researchers chose to study risk-management experts because their role has risen in importance with demands for improved corporate governance View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Banking

21 Dec 2010
First Look

First Look: December 21

insight of that paper, which is that a demand for fairness could lead to different economic systems such as those observed in France versus the U.S. (multiple equilibria). Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-059.pdf A... View Details

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

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

30 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

Do Mergers Hurt Product Quality?

There's a lot of worry afoot whenever companies merge. Wall Street worries about the stock price. Employees worry about potential job cuts. And consumers worry about the fate of their favorite products:... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Consumer Products

06 Sep 2004
What Do You Think?

How Do We Prepare for a World Without Cheap Oil?

Summing Up Is the end of cheap oil a challenge to the world? Yes. Will it affect our standard of living adversely? Not likely. At least that is the verdict of most of the large number of respondents to this month's column who rely on assumed human ingenuity combined... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

February 2023 (Revised February 2024)
Case

Doing Business in Nairobi, Kenya

By: Archie L. Jones, Leonard A. Schlesinger, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Kuria Kamau

This case examines the challenges and opportunities of doing business in Nairobi, Kenya. It highlights Kenya's economic transformation in the decades leading up to 2024 in the context of its history, culture, and politics. The case gives an overview of some of the main... View Details

Keywords: Business History; Business and Government Relations; Technological Innovation; Foreign Direct Investment; Economic Growth; Financial Crisis; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Kenya; Nairobi; Africa