Publications

January 1989 (Revised December 1991)
Case

British Airways: ""Go for It, America!"" Promotion (A)

By: Stephen A. Greyser

Senior marketing executives of a major international airline are deciding on a strategy to address a crisis situation precipitated by a series of terrorist acts. The company is experiencing the worst downturn ever in its U.S.-U.K. travel business due to media reports... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Crime and Corruption; Crisis Management; Management Teams; Time Management; Marketing Strategy; Perception; Value Creation; Travel Industry; United Kingdom; United States

April 2019 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Clear Link Technologies, LLC: Driving Sales with Peer Effects

By: Christopher Stanton, Richard Saouma and Olivia Hull

The importance of a good peer or coworker is widely discussed, but understanding the glue that makes coworkers valuable is less understood. This case sheds light on the importance of peers and the practices and environments that make a group greater than the sum of its... View Details

2008
Simulation

Pricing Simulation: Universal Car Rental

By: John T. Gourville

This web-based simulation presents an engaging context in which students develop their knowledge of pricing by managing a rental car operation (Universal) in Florida and improve regional performance by developing a pricing strategy. The simulation involves three... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Consumer Behavior; Price; Profit; Renting or Rental; Auto Industry; Service Industry; Miami; Orlando; Tampa

February 2003 (Revised April 2003)
Background Note

Note on Staffing in Professional Service Firms

By: Ashish Nanda

This case discusses the problem of balancing demand and supply of professionals within a professional services firm (PSF). It emphasizes how human resources management policies impact supply conditions and how market opportunities determine demand conditions. The case... View Details

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Balance and Stability; Supply and Industry; Employees; Service Industry

Find at Harvard

Research Summary

Searching for a Corporate Savior: The Irrational Quest for Charismatic CEOs ( Princeton University Press, October 2002)

By: Rakesh Khurana

In this book, I argue that the external CEO labor market was born in a burst of rhetoric about wresting control of corporations away from a group of self-interested insiders, as senior managers in the era of managerial capitalism had come to be portrayed. The rationale... View Details

11 Dec 2012
First Look

First Look: Dec. 11

and Efficiency in the Market for IP Addresses Authors:Edelman, Benjamin, and Michael Schwarz Abstract We consider market rules for the transfer... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2021 (Revised March 2022)
Case

Marvin: A Personalized Telehealth Approach to Mental Health

By: Regina E. Herzlinger, Eshani Sharma, Andrew Nguyen, Thomas Arsenault, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Julia Kelley

More than one third of Americans were said to suffer some type of behavioral health ailment at some point in their lifetime, with many people requiring chronic therapy or intervention. Despite significant clinical needs, access to reliable treatment has been difficult... View Details

Keywords: Mental Health; Applications; Startup Management; Telehealth; Health Care Entrepreneurship; Health ＆ Wellness; Health Care; Health Care and Treatment; Customization and Personalization; Internet and the Web; Entrepreneurship; Growth and Development Strategy; Applications and Software

27 Jun 2014
News

The Value of Luxury Poseurs

February 2018 (Revised September 2018)
Case

Huawei: How Can We Lead the Way?

By: Elie Ofek, Tian Tao, Eden Yin and Nancy Hua Dai

On September 12, 2017, just as Apple’s Tim Cook was unveiling the iPhone X, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group (CBG), and Glory Cheung, his Chief Marketing Officer, were discussing some key strategic issues regarding Huawei’s smartphone business.... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Product Positioning; Marketing Communications; Price; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy

November 1978 (Revised June 1985)
Case

Hanson Industries (B)

By: William J. Bruns Jr. and Julie H. Hertenstein

Provides a complete description of the processes used in preparing a budget (annual operating plan). Starting with basic product line decisions, management prepares a budget that integrates production and marketing within constraints of financial feasibility. The... View Details

Keywords: Production; Negotiation; Marketing; Financing and Loans; Budgets and Budgeting; Planning

November 1985 (Revised April 1990)
Case

Signode Industries, Inc. (A)

Signode Industries' packaging division manufactures steel and plastic strapping. In 1981 the company underwent the largest leveraged buyout in U.S. corporate history. The case focuses on the packaging division's need to maintain high profitability in a declining market... View Details

Keywords: Price; Marketing Strategy; Manufacturing Industry; Steel Industry

Research Summary

The Jobs-Based Approach

This research, in colloboration with Clay Christensen, explores the notion that demogrpahics serve as a weak and limiting proxy for market demand. This work has resulted in a case and teaching note on Intuit's QuickBase. View Details

Tomás Hudson

Keywords: Chemicals

Samuel G. Hanson

Samuel G. Hanson is the William L. White Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Harvard Economics department. He teaches Finance 1... View Details

Keywords: asset management; banking; brokerage; federal government; financial services; investment banking industry

July 1992 (Revised May 1996)
Background Note

Note on Commodity Futures

By: Kenneth A. Froot, Jay O. Light and Nancy Donohue

Describes how commodity futures work, what products and exchanges are available, and who the players in the commodity markets are. Also presents a careful discussion of the pricing of futures in commodity markets, focusing on cost of carry and risk premium approaches,... View Details

Keywords: Futures and Commodity Futures

December 2011 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Branding Yoga

By: Rohit Deshpande, Kerry Herman and Annelena Lobb

Yoga, an ancient discipline, has become popular worldwide. The marketing of yoga and dispute over its origins have led to debate as to whether yoga should be branded at all. Some yoga instructors have gone so far as to copyright their varieties of yoga; others in the... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing

26 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Why Great Ideas Get Stuck in Universities

commercial hindrance. A recent study of more than 500 biomedical startups suggests that ventures rooted in the core research of their founders have a more challenging time reaching key measures of success, such as raising capital or attracting a buyer. “You decide to... View Details

Keywords: by Ben Rand; Biotechnology; Health

March 1999
Case

Eastman Kodak Company

By: Robert J. Dolan

Eastman Kodak has suffered significant declines in film market share at the hands of lower-priced branded producers and private label products. The case presents Kodak's proposal to launch a new economy brand of film to combat these rivals. A rewritten version of an... View Details

Keywords: Segmentation; Product Positioning; Price; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Consumer Products Industry

February 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Hewlett-Packard Imaging Systems Division: Sonos 100 C/F Introduction

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Marie Bell

The marketing manager for the Imaging Systems business unit (ISY) at Hewlett-Packard Medical Products Group is considering channel strategy and channel management issues raised by the upcoming introduction of a new cardiac imaging product. Product marketing's plans... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Channels; Product Marketing; Product Launch; Market Entry and Exit; Distribution Channels; Sales; Competitive Strategy