Publications

June 2009
Supplement

Mary Kay Inc.: Asian Market Entry (B)

By: John A. Quelch

By 2008, over half of Mary Kay Cosmetics' $2.8 billion sales were from outside the U.S. Sales from China exceeded $500 million in 2008 through over 450,000 beauty consultants. China was Mary Kay Cosmetics' second most important national market with revenues growing at... View Details

Keywords: Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Brands and Branding; Emerging Markets; Market Entry and Exit; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Asia; China

July 1983 (Revised September 1986)
Case

Johnson Wax: Enhance (B)

After the initial ASSESSOR indicated problems in formulation, product position, and advertising copy, Enhance was modified and retested using ASSESSOR. Compares the new results as well as presenting teaching study data. Enhance is well below predicted share. Is the... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Marketing Strategy; Advertising; Product Development; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry

21 Aug 2019
Blog Post

Leveraging Academic Opportunities to Attain My Post-HBS Job

Plaid’s Head of Corporate Development on our research. By taking advantage of these academic opportunities, I was able to learn about Plaid’s products, their customers, growth vectors, View Details

July 2024
Case

ZEISS: Commercializing Science

By: Maria P. Roche, Carlota Moniz and Daniela Beyersdorfer

Karl Lamprecht, President and CEO of the ZEISS AG Group, mused on how far ZEISS had come in 175 years of being a pioneer in optics, and how the course he had charted since taking the helm of the company could keep it on track. In his role, he oversaw the four core... View Details

13 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Rescuing Products with Stealth Positioning

difference between stealth positioning and deceit. The difference is both ethical and economic. When used thoughtfully, stealth positioning is a legitimate way to diffuse prejudice about a product or... View Details

Keywords: by Youngme Moon

December 2004 (Revised December 2005)
Case

Nectar: Making Loyalty Pay

By: John A. Deighton

Loyalty Management UK (LMUK) manages British supermarket chain Sainsbury's frequent-shopper card program, called Nectar. LMUK uses Sainsbury's sponsorship as the magnet to attract other retailers into a profitable, multisponsor loyalty network. Examines the economics... View Details

Keywords: Customer Focus and Relationships; Business or Company Management; Supply Chain Management; Marketing Strategy; Networks; Marketing Channels; Advertising Campaigns; Outcome or Result; Growth and Development; Retail Industry; Great Britain

Profile

Tuce Zengin Van den Eynde

menu that would help facilitate rapid growth through a drive-in retail model. FIELD 3, Tuce observes, “pushes you to see how entrepreneurs work. It gives you a sense of what it would be like to build a business from scratch, View Details

Keywords: Other Financial Services; Entrepreneurship

August 2017
Supplement

CareMore Health System (B)

By: Robert S. Huckman and Brian W. Powers

This supplement to “CareMore Health System (A)” discusses the company's early experience introducing its managed Medicaid model in the Des Moines, Iowa, market. It also provides an update on the Memphis program discussed in the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Health Care Delivery; Health Insurance; Medicare; Medicaid; Managed Care; Extensivist; Social Determinants Of Health; Health Care and Treatment; Insurance; Business Model; Growth and Development Strategy; Health Industry; United States

February 2014
Case

Interview with Joe Kennedy, Pandora Media

By: Willy C. Shih

Joe Kennedy is the emeritus president of Pandora Media. In this interview, he discusses some of the challenges he faced in leading the company. View Details

Keywords: Pandora; Internet Radio; Pandora Media; Streaming; Music Industry; Music Entertainment; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Growth Management; Internet and the Web; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States; California

14 Apr 2015
First Look

First Look: April 14

In 2013 Ning Tang, who in 2006 founded CreditEase as a broker of P2P loans to unbanked individuals and small businesses in China, confronts the challenges of rapid growth and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 Dec 2009
First Look

First Look: Dec. 8

Turnover in India (revised) Authors: Lakshmi Iyer and Anandi Mani Abstract We develop a framework to empirically examine how politicians with electoral pressures control bureaucrats with career concerns as... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

25 Mar 2014
Research & Ideas

Book Excerpt: ‘Can China Lead?’

book excerpt The Importance Of Being Innovative From Chapter 4, Can China Lead: Reaching the Limits of Power and Growth By Regina M. Abrami, William C. Kirby, and F. Warren... View Details

Keywords: Re: William C. Kirby & F. Warren McFarlan; Education; Technology

19 Feb 2019
Blog Post

The First Five Years: '30 Under 30' Edition

make the strategy stronger, and then having the buy-in that leads to execution.” Pathipati: “I constantly use takeaways from HBS. The investing, finance, and View Details

Keywords: All Industries

November 2019 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Russia: A Drama In Three Acts

By: Rawi Abdelal, Rafael Di Tella, Galit Goldstein, Sogomon Tarontsi and Lavinia Teodorescu

The collapse of central authority in the Soviet Union in 1991 ushered in a period of revolutionary transformations for the states that emerged in its wake. The leaders of Russia, the USSR's successor, struggled to reestablish central authority while also seeking to... View Details

December 2002 (Revised June 2003)
Case

Vignette: The Rebar Dilemma

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner and Ann Leamon

Martin Smith, a new associate at an LBO firm, must respond to a problem posed by his boss, based on an historical deal that suddenly came undone. After months of negotiation, his firm's plan to buy a bankrupt competitor of one of its portfolio companies and close it... View Details

Keywords: Leveraged Buyouts; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Competition; Growth and Development Strategy; Business or Company Management

October 2006
Background Note

China's Financial Markets: 2006

By: F. Warren McFarlan, Li Jin and Tracy Manty

Provides an overview of capital markets in mainland China, evaluating the up-to-date performance of key components of the markets, highlighting concerns as China strives to modernize its financial system to meet global competition and support its fast growing economy. View Details

Keywords: Developing Countries and Economies; Capital Markets; Financial Markets; Financial Strategy; Global Strategy; Markets; Competition; China

Find at Harvard

October 1998 (Revised June 2002)
Case

Austin, Texas: Building a High-Tech Economy

By: Bruce R. Scott and Srinivas Sunder

Members of the community decide to try to diversify the economy of Austin, Texas, by welcoming high-technology firms and by augmenting the electrical engineering faculty at University of Texas--Austin. View Details

Keywords: Development Economics; Diversification; Information Technology; Policy; Government and Politics; Engineering; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Higher Education; Texas