Publications

July 2002 (Revised April 2004)
Supplement

GE's Digital Revolution

By: Christopher A. Bartlett

Presents interviews with Gerry Podesta, VP of GE Plastics Component of General Electric Co., and Gary Reiner, senior VP and CIO of General Electric Co. A revised version of an earlier video. View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Corporate Strategy; Management Teams; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

November 2024
Case

Innovation at Master Kong Beverages

By: David E. Bell and Shu Lin

Hong-Chen Wei (HBS MBA 2014), Chairman of KSF Beverage Holding Co., Ltd. (KSFB), was steering the company toward the premium segment with the launch of “InheriTea,” a premium, sugar-free tea product. Traditionally, KSFB’s flagship brand, Master Kong, catered to the... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Trends; Behavior; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Product Launch; Product Development; Segmentation; Organizational Culture; Product Positioning; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Asia; China

July 1996 (Revised June 2001)
Case

Atlantic Corporation-Abridged

By: Thomas R. Piper

A major paper company is considering acquiring the assets of a company that is threatened by a hostile takeover. The acquisition can be evaluated in terms of industry attractiveness, comparative advantage, and cash-flow analysis. View Details

Keywords: Projects; Cash Flow; Interest Rates; Valuation; Mathematical Methods; Horizontal Integration; Acquisition; Competitive Advantage; Aerospace Industry

2021
Working Paper

Closing Costs, Refinancing, and Inefficiencies in the Mortgage Market

By: David Hao Zhang

In the US, borrowers often finance the price of mortgage origination by agreeing to higher mortgage rates for a given principal amount. I show that for standard fixed-rate, prepayable mortgages this contractual feature has two consequences. First, it leads to increased... View Details

Keywords: Mortgage Market; Refinancing; Mortgages; Consumer Behavior

September 2013
Article

Do Short Sellers Front-Run Insider Sales?

By: Mozaffar N. Khan and Hai Lu

We study the behavior of short sellers as informed market participants and examine potential sources of their information. Using a newly available dataset with high-frequency short sales data, we find evidence of significant increases in short sales immediately prior... View Details

Keywords: Information; Consumer Behavior; Accounting; Financial Services Industry

03 Sep 2020
Op-Ed

Why American Health Care Needs Its Own SEC

Employers, insurers, taxpayers, and individual consumers pay widely varying prices for treatments, medical technology, and for digital information of fluctuating quality. One patient may receive a small... View Details

Keywords: by Regina E. Herzlinger; Health

March 1997
Background Note

Copper and Zinc Markets 1996

By: Peter Tufano

Provides background information on copper and zinc markets as of mid-1996. Discusses supply and demand conditions, forecasts of the spot prices of the metals, and contracts for future delivery (forwards, futures, and options). View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Metals and Minerals; Supply and Industry; Mining Industry

12 Oct 1999
Research & Ideas

Rapid Response: Inside the Retailing Revolution

Once upon a time, suppliers held all the cards. Henry Ford's dictum that consumers could have any color car they wanted as long as it was black proved wrong in the extreme, but for years manufacturers in this country kept their hands... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

2011
Book

Accelerating Energy Innovation: Insights from Multiple Sectors

By: Rebecca Henderson and Richard G. Newell

Accelerating energy innovation could be an important part of an effective response to the threat of climate change. Written by a stellar group of experts in the field, this book complements existing research on the subject with an exploration of the role that public... View Details

Keywords: Energy Sources; Innovation and Invention; Climate Change; Policy; Competition; Demand and Consumers; Finance; Energy Industry

Read Now

April 2018
Supplement

$19B 4 txt app WhatsApp...omg! (B)

By: David B. Yoffie and Aakash Mehta

This case provides a brief update on Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp. View Details

Keywords: Technology; Strategy; Network Effects; Technology Industry

2019
Working Paper

Managing Churn to Maximize Profits

By: Aurelie Lemmens and Sunil Gupta

Customer defection threatens many industries, prompting companies to deploy targeted, proactive customer retention programs and offers. A conventional approach has been to target customers either based on their predicted churn probability, or their responsiveness to a... View Details

Keywords: Churn Management; Defection Prediction; Loss Function; Stochastic Gradient Boosting; Customer Relationship Management; Consumer Behavior; Profit

SSRN

Read Now

April 1999 (Revised August 2004)
Case

Tarnished Rings? Olympic Games Sponsorship Issues

By: John A. Clendenin and Stephen A. Greyser

Focuses on the impacts for Olympic sponsor companies of the bribery allegations related to the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee's successful bid for the 2002 Winter Games. The spread of the scandal to the International Olympic Committee board members and the recent... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Crisis Management; Marketing Channels; Consumer Behavior; Value Creation; Sports Industry

October 1989 (Revised October 1992)
Case

Smoke Wars: The Case for and Against the Cigarette Industry

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Describes the arguments for and against the tobacco industry. With the per capita demand for cigarettes steadily declining by 2% to 3% every year, the tobacco companies have been using various approaches to stem the tide. Many such moves, however, have come under... View Details

Keywords: Debates; Marketing Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Performance; Social Issues; Consumer Products Industry

02 Feb 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Last Place Aversion in Queues

Keywords: by Ryan W. Buell; Retail

December 1970 (Revised September 2006)
Case

Harmon Foods, Inc.

Prediction and shipment has been a scheduling and budgetary problem. Multiple regression is suggested as a solution. Evaluation of regression coefficients leads to better understanding of trend, seasonality, and promotion effectiveness. View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Production; Forecasting and Prediction; Budgets and Budgeting; Manufacturing Industry; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

How Much Time Should CEOs Devote to Customers?

must get out and meet customers on their home turf—in their homes, on job sites, in their offices. Here the CEO has to set an example. AG Lafley, CEO of Procter & Gamble, reinstituted consumer home... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

September 2003 (Revised February 2005)
Case

Analyst Conflicts (A): Resolved?

By: Ashish Nanda

This case tracks the events leading to the April 2003 industry settlement on equity research in financial services companies. View Details

Keywords: Conflict of Interests; Law; Negotiation Deal; Financial Services Industry