Publications

October 1987 (Revised October 1992)
Case

Black & Decker Corp.: Household Products Group, Brand Transition

This rewritten version differs from Black & Decker Corp.: Household Products Group (A1) in two ways: 1) It has an explicit decision focus. Homa must decide on a program to transfer the Black & Decker name to GE small appliances; and 2) The detailed information... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry

07 May 2016
News

Harvard’s Anita Elberse Teaches Entertainment Ropes To Execs (And Celebrities)

February 1980 (Revised April 1981)
Case

Poland Spring Bottling Corp.

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Poland Spring is a small domestic bottler of mineral water trying to compete in a rapidly expanding market against Perrier, the dominant brand, and 20 other foreign and domestic waters. Company management must decide how to position and promote its product with limited... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Product Positioning; Competition; Globalized Markets and Industries; Food and Beverage Industry; Distribution Industry; United States

2016
Chapter

User-Generated Content and Social Media

By: Michael Luca

This paper documents what economists have learned about user-generated content (UGC) and social media. A growing body of evidence suggests that UGC on platforms ranging from Yelp to Facebook has a large causal impact on economic and social outcomes ranging from... View Details

Keywords: User-generated Content; Crowdsourcing; Design Economics; Internet and the Web; Marketing; Economics; Media; Social Media

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January 1980 (Revised August 1985)
Case

Cumberland Metal Industries: Engineered Products Division--1980

By: Benson P. Shapiro

Cumberland Metal Industries has developed a new product to help contractors drive piles faster. They are trying to decide how to price it. Provides substantial information on the industry, competition, etc. Students must decide what factors are relevant in making an... View Details

Keywords: Price; Information; Marketing Channels; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Consumer Products Industry

May 2000
Supplement

Bain & Co., Inc.: Phyllis Yale in Conversation with MBA students

By: Ashish Nanda

Phyllis Yale, chairman of Bain's Compensation and Promotion Committee (CPC), discusses how the CPC decided on four promotion cases. She reflects on the impact of the promotion decision-making process on the firm. View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Compensation and Benefits; Service Industry

January 2025
Case

Uncovering Questionable Behavior

By: David Fubini, Patrick Sanguineti, Amy Chambers and William Fubini

In this short vignette on the boundaries of professionalism, Alex Harding, recently promoted to Team Leader, faces a difficult decision regarding his client. While serving the CFO of the client company in preparation for an upcoming merger, he and his team uncover... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Decision Choices and Conditions

Research Summary

"I Read Playboy for the Articles": Justifying and Rationalizing Questionable Preferences

When people behave in ways that might appear selfish, prejudiced or perverted, they engage a host of strategies designed to justify questionable behavior with rational excuses: “I hired my son because he’s more qualified.” “I promoted Ashley... View Details

11 Sep 2013
News

Employers’ blind spot that causes hiring mistakes

January 2009 (Revised March 2013)
Case

Live Nation Faces the Music

By: Stephen P. Bradley, Frank Cespedes and Kerry Herman

In 2008, concert producer and promoter Live Nation faces a decision about its strategy in light of the tumultuous changes in the music industry and the increasing power of the major artists. As the music business once again recreates itself in response to new... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Music Entertainment; Five Forces Framework; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Strategy; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Music Industry; Service Industry

January 2016 (Revised March 2016)
Case

Whither the Weather (Company): Forecasting 2016

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Jonathan Cohen

CEO David Kenny led the transformation of the Weather Company from a television business to a Big Data technology company from 2012 until 2016, when IBM acquired its digital assets. This case discusses major decisions taken by Kenny starting in 2014 as he sought to... View Details

Keywords: Weather Company; IBM; Digital; Technology; David Kenny; Television; Weather Channel; Legacy Business; Mainstream; Newstream; Reorganization; Acquisitions; Transformation; Information Technology; Television Entertainment; Acquisition; Consolidation; Change; Leadership

2008
Chapter

I Read Playboy for the Articles: Justifying and Rationalizing Questionable Preferences

By: Zoe Chance and Michael I. Norton

When people behave in ways that might appear selfish, prejudiced or perverted, they engage in a host of strategies designed to justify questionable behavior with rational excuses: “I hired my son because he's more qualified”; “I promoted Ashley because she does a... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Ethics; Behavior; Strategy

May 2013
Case

Wendy Peterson

By: Linda A. Hill and Alisa Zalosh

Wendy Peterson was recently promoted to Vice President of Sales at the Plano, Texas, office of AccountBack, an accounting software and services company. To penetrate a perceived market niche, Peterson hires Fred (Xing) Wu, whose familiarity with and access to Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Leadership; Conflict Management; Salesforce Management; Rank and Position; Performance Evaluation; Management Teams; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Accounting Industry; Texas

2012
Chapter

Structuring Consulting Firms

By: Tim Morris, Heidi K. Gardner and N. Anand

This chapter presents a model of the way in which consulting and other professional-service firms organize themselves and grow. We will argue that the fundamental structural-design challenge for consulting firms, like other professional firms, is to adapt appropriately... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Management Practices and Processes; Demand and Consumers; Service Operations; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Projects; Groups and Teams; Consulting Industry; Service Industry

2018
Book

Escaping the Build Trap: How Effective Product Management Creates Real Value

By: Melissa Perri

This book is a guide to getting out of the build trap with great product management. We look at what it means to become and be a product-led organization, which involves four key components: creating a product manager role with the right responsibilities and structure;... View Details

Keywords: Product And Process Development; Product Management; Customer Focus and Relationships; Value Creation

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This book is a guide to getting out of the build trap with great product management. We look at what it means to become and be a product-led organization, which involves four key components:

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July 2011 (Revised October 2011)
Case

Lady Gaga (A)

By: Anita Elberse and Michael Christensen

In September 2009, Troy Carter, manager of up-and-coming pop star Lady Gaga, has to decide on a new course of action now that his artist's planned co-headlining arena tour with hip-hop superstar Kanye West has been cancelled. Carter knows that continuing the tour, but... View Details

Keywords: Employee Relationship Management; Marketing Strategy; Product; Product Development; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Creativity; Music Industry