Unit Demand - Publications - Faculty & Research

23 Apr 2014
HBS Case

Are Electronic Cigarettes a Public Good or Health Hazard?

other sectors of the economy including health care." In the case of electronic cigarettes, existing evidence indicates that they have led to a net decrease in smoking. Of the 43.8 million smokers in the United States in 2012, 3.5... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage; Advertising

28 Jun 2016
First Look

June 28, 2016

businesses that scale undergo a graduation process in which they meet the varying expectations of multiple organizational resource providers. At the unit level, they convince established core units that the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

12 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers be Trusted with Their Own Health Care?

Consumers today have more control than ever over the way they choose goods and services—from browsing freely at grocery stores to managing their own financial assets. Perhaps consumers should also have a greater sense of empowerment when it comes to their health care.... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health

26 Feb 2018
Research & Ideas

The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms for Travelers, Less Revenue for Hotels

and less than 1 percent of total housing units across all cities. And Airbnb didn't have much effect on hotel occupancy rates overall. Since Airbnb bookings occurred especially when hotels were already near full capacity, a large share of... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Travel

05 Jan 2011
Op-Ed

Funding Unpredictability Around Stem-Cell Research Inflicts Heavy Cost on Scientific Progress

field. A typical grant proposal is 25 single-spaced pages and takes months to prepare. The NIH responds in approximately nine months. Because the demand for money exceeds the supply, only 20 percent of the proposals get NIH funding. A... View Details

Keywords: by William Sahlman; Biotechnology; Health; Pharmaceutical

12 Jul 2010
Research & Ideas

Rocket Science Retailing: A Practical Guide

unite partners' objectives for creating a flexible supply chain; benchmark performance against other retailers; and evaluate and manage new technologies. Raman and Fisher provide specific, detailed metrics and techniques that can be used... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Retail; Auto

19 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

China’s Complicated Relationship With Mother Nature

Despite its name, the Great Wall of China began as a series of smaller, isolated defensive fortifications. Those structures grew and were later unified into the imposing structure that exists today. The Great Wall is a great metaphor for the Chinese economy. By... View Details

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby; Manufacturing

24 Jul 2000
Research & Ideas

Something Ventured, Something Gained: A European View of Venture Capital

economy of the '90s brought a golden age and aura to VC firms in the United States. In 1999, venture capitalists controlled more than $46 billion, with skyrocketing returns to match the risks of their early-stage investments. Europe,... View Details

Keywords: by James E. Aisner; Financial Services

28 Jul 2006
Research & Ideas

Meeting China’s Need for Management Education

apply across the region. Let me just highlight a handful of those: Demand for management and management education is growing rapidly. Management (and business) is seen as a major force for change, growth, and prosperity. All of these... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Education

03 Mar 2014
HBS Case

Decommoditizing the Canned Tomato

for error. "I'm still scratching my head" about the practice, says Shelman, wondering if Mutti wouldn't be better off just putting the tomatoes in unlabeled cans so they could be shifted around as market demand developed or dropped. "If... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish; Agriculture & Agribusiness; Food & Beverage; Retail

06 Nov 2013
What Do You Think?

Is Top-Down Resource Allocation on the Rise?

under fire. Among the reasons were lack of demand from existing customers (not always the best ones to ask) for disruptive technologies and the kiss of death for new ideas in large organizations; the fear among business View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

02 May 2008
What Do You Think?

What is the Future of State Capitalism?

from investment opportunities in developed countries. Nari Kannan suggests that it is a product of "thoughtless consumerism ... (the thirst for cheap Chinese goods) ... and dependence on foreign oil," particularly in the United... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

15 Jan 2019
First Look

New Research and Ideas, January 15, 2019

find that increases in demand for entrepreneurial capital—as proxied for by patenting, IPOs, and stock market valuations—led to a higher likelihood of the introduction of second-tier exchanges. We find no evidence that new second-tier... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

17 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

Advertising Symbiosis: The Key to Viral Videos

helps the advertiser, then the ad might go viral. The stakes are high for advertisers. eMarketer estimates that online video advertising in the United States will increase from $1.1 billion in 2009 to $4.1 billion in 2013—an overall... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

27 May 2020
Research & Ideas

What South Korea Teaches the World About Fighting COVID

world (South Korea: 2 percent vs. world: 7 percent). Even taking into account the country’s population, South Korea’s number of cases per capita is substantially lower than those of other countries. The United States (with more than 1.7... View Details

Keywords: by Doug J. Chung; Health

July 2025
Case

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

Citation

Educators

February 2021
Teaching Plan

Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Amy Klopfenstein

This teaching plan serves as a supplement to the case “Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?” HBS 820-098. The case explores the tension between two different financing and expansion plans for a startup, and explores issues related to business model pivots and industry... View Details

Citation

Purchase

19 Jun 2007
First Look

First Look: June 19, 2007

demand for auditing by the licensor. We characterize the optimal royalty contract, accounting system choice by the licensee, and audit strategy choice by the licensor. We show when the owner prefers to license the property in exchange for... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

31 Aug 2020
Research & Ideas

State and Local Governments Peer Into the Pandemic Abyss

can explain over 660,000 of the state and local government jobs lost in April, about two-thirds of the total observed declines.” In their research, Green, an assistant professor in the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School, and... View Details

Keywords: by Kristen Senz

01 Oct 2008
Research & Ideas

How Much Time Should CEOs Devote to Customers?

there are two reasons why CEOs should be cautious about overdoing the percentage of time interfacing with customers. First, marketing and selling should be a prime task of the CEO's direct reports, the individual business unit leaders.... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

Publications