Publications

28 Nov 2018
HBS Case

On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website

jimkruger In the mid-1990s, Target was a discount superstore behemoth. The retailer had set itself apart from chief rival Walmart with a focus on more upscale but wallet-friendly fashion and lifestyle lines, spurring double-digit growth by double-digits each year for... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

20 Oct 2023
News

Highlights from the Fall 2023 Alumni Board Meeting

Executive Education offered updates on his two organizations, beginning by noting their ongoing integration. He then led a breakdown of macro trends that have impacted the organizations, starting with HBS Online. The pandemic, Mullane noted, led to a more crowded View Details

Web

Our Curriculum - Business History

government in the country’s economy are investigated as well. In addition, the course examines the relation between capital market innovation and economic development and surveys the long-term impact of entrepreneurship, technological... View Details

May 1994
Background Note

Reorienting Channels of Distribution

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Traditionally, distribution channels have been viewed as vertical marketing systems where responsibility was transferred from one layer to the next, like passing a baton in a relay race. Distribution channels in the future are likely to look more like horizontal... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Customers; Supply and Industry; Alliances; Performance Efficiency; Performance Effectiveness; Change; Distribution Industry

September 2004 (Revised February 2010)
Case

The Passion of the Christ (A)

By: John A. Quelch, Anita Elberse and Anna Harrington

Bob Berney, president of Newmarket Films, must decide on a distribution and marketing strategy for Mel Gibson's controversial new movie, The Passion of the Christ. Fueled by Gibson's star power as well as an extensive prescreening campaign among Christian leaders and... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Film Entertainment; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Product Positioning; Distribution Channels; Religion; Motion Pictures and Video Industry

April 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Computer Power Group: Designing Brand Architecture

Computer Power Group (CPG), an Australian-based consulting, education, and staffing placement firm in the IT industry, is contemplating a brand architecture capable of structuring its eight branded business units. CEO Peter James is particularly curious about whether a... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Employment Industry; Education Industry; Consulting Industry; Australia

2006
Article

Measuring the Effect of Multimarket Contact on Competition: Evidence from Mergers Following Radio Broadcast Ownership Deregulation

By: Joel Waldfogel and Julie Wulf

This paper examines the effects of multimarket contact on advertising prices in the U.S. radio broadcasting industry. While it is in general difficult to measure the effect of multimarket contact on competition, the 1996 Telecommunications Act substantially relaxed... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Communications; Markets; Geographic Location; Advertising; Ownership; Price; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

Find at Harvard

Read Now

April 2019 (Revised August 2020)
Case

Raksul

By: Scott Duke Kominers, Masahiro Kotosaka, Nobuo Sato and Akiko Kanno

Raksul, 2018 Forbes Japan "Startup of the Year," ran an e-commerce platform drawing upon thousands of individual suppliers. Launched as a business-to-business printing services marketplace, Raksul had recently expanded to operate both a logistics/delivery marketplace... View Details

Keywords: Marketplace Design; B2B; Platform Strategy; Printing; Entrepreneurship; Digital Platforms; Logistics; Advertising; Growth and Development Strategy; Industry Structures; E-commerce; Web Services Industry; Japan

February 2001
Case

BarnesandNoble.com (C)

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Dickson Louie and William A. Sahlman

At the end of 1999, Steve Riggio, the vice chairman and acting CEO of barnesandnoble.com, wonders what his company should do next against Amazon.com, the online retailer who is the leading online book seller in the United States. While barnesandnoble.com has been... View Details

Keywords: Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Internet and the Web; Diversification; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry

01 Jan 2007
News

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, MBA 1987

trouble letting go, he gave us freedom to sink or swim." The brothers have pursued a strategy of maintaining Ayala's core strength—extensive, large-scale, high-end real estate development in and around Manila—while expanding their investments in the middle View Details

Web

5.1 Information Technology - MBA

limited to, classrooms, dormitories, Spangler Center, Baker Library, Morgan, Baker Hall, McArthur, the Chapel, and Chao — by third parties is not allowed unless permission is obtained from the HBS Marketing & Communications Office. For... View Details

21 Nov 2011
Lessons from the Classroom

The New Challenge of Leading Financial Firms

London, and Tokyo, but in the emerging markets of India, China, and Brazil as well. "I think many companies are realizing that their track record of going outside their home country isn't great, because, to be completely honest, not... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Financial Services

April 2016 (Revised June 2019)
Case

The Walt Disney Studios

By: Anita Elberse

In December 2015, Alan Horn, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, celebrates the world premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens—only the latest in a string of big bets that he has overseen. Disney pursues a “tentpole strategy” that revolves around at least eight... View Details

March 1991 (Revised April 1995)
Case

Bundling

Recent developments in the software business point to some of the reasons why companies offer their products or services in bundles. One is the opportunity to leverage market power, as Microsoft arguably has done by bundling applications software with its operating... View Details

Keywords: Software; Product Marketing; Information Technology Industry

August 2024
Case

Barbie: Reviving a Cultural Icon at Mattel

By: Elie Ofek, Ryann Noe and Sarah Mehta

The 2023 release of live-action film Barbie, and its accompanying marketing blitz, incited a worldwide Barbie craze. Suddenly Barbie was everywhere, a celebrated icon reinstated at the forefront of cultural conversation. This goodwill stood in contrast to decades of... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Media; Intellectual Property; Business Strategy; Entertainment; Gender; Public Opinion; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Retail Industry; United States