Publications

04 Jun 2007
Research & Ideas

Is Health Care Making You Better—or Dead?

think in any of these cases I launched a revolution, but I think I was helpful. But the pace was so slow, and people were saying that these high deductibles represented consumer-driven health care. It's ridiculous. View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Health

August 1971 (Revised August 1984)
Supplement

Dansk Designs Ltd., Video Supplement

By: Hugo Uyterhoeven

Introduces the students to the principals of Dansk Design. View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products Industry

June 2009
Supplement

Sun Hydraulics: Leading in Tough Times (C) - Video

By: Linda A. Hill

Video of Tricia Fulton, Sun Hydraulic's CFO, visiting Linda hill's executive education class in March of 2009 View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Machinery and Machining; Consumer Products Industry; Florida

July 2025
Teaching Note

Designed for Purpose: “Never a Failure. Always a Lesson”

By: James Riley and Andrea Dorbu

In 2017, Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty under LVMH, disrupting the cosmetics industry with an inclusive 'Beauty for All' strategy that emphasized accessibility across skin tones. The brand’s success was followed by the launch of Savage X Fenty, a lingerie line upholding... View Details

Keywords: Cultural Entrepreneurship; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Consumer Behavior; Market Entry and Exit; United States

August 2005 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Leitax (A)

By: Noel H. Watson, Rogelio Oliva and Laura Winig

Leitax, a young digital camera manufacturer selling its cameras mainly through retailers, experienced poor matching of inventory availability with demand for new and existing products in 2002. Describes the implementation and details of a consensus forecasting... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Supply Chain Management; Forecasting and Prediction; Supply and Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Retail 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

November 2006 (Revised August 2007)
Case

Chongqing Tiandi

By: Arthur I Segel, Nicolas P. Retsinas, Joshua A. Katzin, Nadeem Meghji and Cindy Yan

In late 2000, Vincent Lo, a prominent Hong Kong developer was invited by the Deputy Mayor of Chongqing, China to undertake a major redevelopment of the urban core. Lo had previously successfully developed the landmark Xintiandi retail and entertainment district in... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Emerging Markets; Business and Government Relations; Urban Development; Real Estate Industry; Chongqing (municipality, China); Hong Kong

September 2003
Case

Executive Compensation at Reckitt Benckiser plc

By: V.G. Narayanan, Krishna G. Palepu and Lisa Brem

Investors felt betrayed by the increasingly lucrative pay packages awarded to CEOs and other top executives at multinational companies. Yet, board members charged with adequately rewarding executives were forced to compete with rising packages of salaries and stock... View Details

Keywords: Design; Stock Options; Investment Activism; Corporate Accountability; Compensation and Benefits; Employee Stock Ownership Plan; Management Teams; Business and Shareholder Relations; Consumer Products Industry; Netherlands; United States

December 2016 (Revised April 2017)
Case

BASF: Co-Creating Innovation (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan, Emilie Billaud and Vincent Dessain

In 2016, BASF's chief executive officer and chief technology officer reflected on the co-creation innovation program started almost 18 months ago as part of BASF's 150th anniversary celebration. Five hundred project ideas had been created, of which 100 had already... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Knowledge Sharing; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Chemicals; Environmental Sustainability; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Consumer Products Industry; Europe

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

February 1998 (Revised February 1999)
Case

Amway Japan Limited

In April 1997, the president of Amway Japan (AJL, Tokyo, Japan), pondered how to reverse the first performance decline the company has experienced since entering the Japanese direct selling market in 1979. Established as the tenth overseas subsidiary of Amway Corp. of... View Details

Keywords: Strategic Planning; Motivation and Incentives; Business Subsidiaries; Distribution Channels; Customer Satisfaction; Consumer Products Industry; Michigan; Tokyo

16 Feb 2004
Research & Ideas

HBS Center Focuses on Europe

Q: Tell us about a few cases that the ERC has been working on. What company challenges have you found to be the most interesting and strike you as unique to Europe? Sjöman: The Alessi case series, which we worked on in early 2003,... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

15 Nov 2020
News

Podcasts Engage New Audiences with HBS

real cold call, but rather an episode of HBS’s “Cold Call” podcast. The School is harnessing this fast-growing medium to disseminated faculty research and ideas and to engage many more people with the work and activities View Details

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 objectives for career transition in... View Details

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

24 Apr 2014
News

Betting big on star power can be a winning strategy in business—not just show business

Researching the entertainment industry, Anita Elberse, the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration, has found that blockbuster strategies work. Content producers who pursue these strategies make huge investments in a small... View Details

October 2015 (Revised January 2017)
Case

P&G Canada: Old Company, New Tricks

By: Brian J. Hall, Tiffany Y. Chang and Theresa Morin Hall

P&G Canada faces ongoing global pressure to increase productivity and reduce spending. Thom Lachman, president of P&G Canada, is seemingly out of options that will make a large enough impact without harming the business, until the idea of a radical space reduction... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Leading Change; Human Resources; Change Management; Transition; Consumer Products Industry; Canada

28 May 2019
News

In My Humble Opinion: Family Dynamic

diversified the company’s interests by adding investments in energy and infrastructure to supplement Sintesa’s holdings in consumer and industrial products as well as property and development. Ten years on,... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Offices of Other Holding Companies; Offices of Other Holding Companies

March 2006
Background Note

Influencing Customer Behavior in Service Operations

By: Frances X. Frei and Amy C. Edmondson

Explores ways in which service firms can influence the behavior of their customers. Drawing from research on employee motivation and applying it to customer motivation, the note describes two levels of managerial control: instrumental control, which shapes behavior... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Governance Controls; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence; Service Industry