Publications

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26 Sep 2011
HBS Case

HBS Cases: Lady Gaga

Celebrated for both her outré style and musical prowess, the recording artist known as Lady Gaga is not only one of the world's biggest pop stars, but also one of the most recognized brands. She's garnered five Grammys, holds two spots in... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Entertainment & Recreation; Music

07 Jun 2023
Blog Post

My One Case: MBA Class of 2023 Looks Back

How many cases do MBA students read over their two years at Harvard Business School (HBS)? 500. Ranging in topics from finance to entertainment to sustainability, cases share the story of a business leader (the case protagonist) making a... View Details

18 Nov 2014
HBS Seminar

Steve Tadelis, University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business

Research Summary

Research

By: Michael I. Norton

Professor Norton's research can be grouped into two broad areas. First, he explores the effects of social norms on people’s attitudes and behavior, addressing the key role that social factors play in shaping the preferences of individuals. This work has a particular... View Details

April 2012 (Revised October 2013)
Case

eBay, Inc. and Amazon.com (A)

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Anant Thaker

This case has been designed to explore strategic interactions among organizations with different business models. The case considers how a competitor successfully challenged the incumbent in a platform market defined by strong network effects and high switching costs.... View Details

February 2024 (Revised July 2024)
Case

Korea Venture Investment Corporation

By: Paul A. Gompers and Billy Chan

Financial service sector Korea Venture Investment Corporation (KVIC) is the venture capital arm of the Korean government with a founding mission to build a domestic startup ecosystem that would be as competitive as Silicon Valley. KVIC manages a basket of... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Society; Investment; Venture Capital; Mission and Purpose; State Ownership; Financial Services Industry; Asia; South Korea

December 2011
Case

Bergerac Systems: The Challenge of Backward Integration

By: David A. Garvin and Sunru Yong

Bergerac Systems is a small, rapidly growing manufacturer of diagnostic instruments used in veterinary practices. The company introduced the OmniVue chemistry analyzer, which enables veterinarians to run a wide range of blood and blood chemistry tests on their animal... View Details

Keywords: Financial Analysis; Manufacturing Strategy; Strategy; Production; Supply Chain Management; Vertical Integration; Performance Capacity; Financial Strategy; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry

Research Summary

The Appropriability of Reputation in Franchises Selling Brands

We develop a multi-market model in which there are two kinds of firms: brands and small firms (or agents). Firms interact with short lived clients in the market for goods (or services) and with each other in the market for franchises. The model is one of adverse... View Details

2005
Book

Multinationals and Global Capitalism: From the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Century

By: Geoffrey Jones

This book provides an essential framework for understanding global business. It shows how entrepreneurs built a global economy in the nineteenth century by creating firms that pursued resources and markets across borders. It demonstrates how firms shifted strategies as... View Details

Keywords: Capitalism; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalization; History; Economy; Trade; Strategy

Find at Harvard

11 Dec 2015
News

The many lives of a watch

Research Summary

Dynamics of Platform Competition: Exploring the Role of Installed Base, Platform Quality and Consumer Expectations

Researchers debate the role of installed base, platform quality and consumer expectations in driving the success of platforms. We analyze these three factors in a dynamic model where a new entrant with superior quality competes with an incumbent platform, and... View Details

August 2024 (Revised December 2024)
Case

Influencer-Led Brand Building: Hairitage and the McKnights

By: William R. Kerr, Daniel O'Connor and James Palano

Longtime hairstyle influencer Mindy McKnight had been building her “Cute Girls Hairstyles” audience across numerous online platforms for nearly two decades. Brand incubator Maesa took an innovative approach to producing successful brands: identifying white space in the... View Details

2019
Working Paper

Collusive Investments in Technological Compatibility: Lessons from U.S. Railroads in the Late 19th Century

By: Daniel P. Gross

Collusion is widely condemned for its negative effects on consumer welfare and market efficiency. In this paper, I show that collusion may also in some cases facilitate the creation of unexpected new sources of value. I bring this possibility into focus through the... View Details

Keywords: Collusion; Compatibility; Railroads; Rail Transportation; Standards; Integration; Trade; History; United States

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2017
Working Paper

Firm Selection and Corporate Cash Holdings

By: Juliane Begenau and Berardino Palazzo

Among stock market entrants, more firms over time are R&D intensive with initially lower profitability but higher growth potential. This sample-selection effect determines the secular trend in U.S. public firms’ cash holdings. A stylized firm industry model allows us... View Details

Keywords: Initial Public Offering; Market Entry and Exit; Supply and Industry; Research and Development

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July 2015
Case

Vita: Cosmetics in the Nordics

By: Das Narayandas, Krishna Palepu and Kerry Herman

Vita is a Norwegian cosmetics retailer owned by FSN Capital, a Scandinavian private equity company. The company has a strong market position in Norway. The case focuses on two strategic issues: how to develop an e-commerce strategy to supplement the company's... View Details

Keywords: E-Commerce Strategy; Norway; Cosmetics; Managing Under Private Equity Ownership; Strategy; Private Equity; Internet and the Web; Growth and Development Strategy; E-commerce; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Retail Industry; Norway

Stephen A. Greyser is Richard P. Chapman Professor (Marketing/Communications) Emeritus, of the Harvard Business School, specializes in brand marketing, advertising, corporate communications, the business of sports, and nonprofit management. A... View Details

Keywords: sports

November 2007 (Revised April 2008)
Case

Russian Standard

By: Rohit Deshpande and Seth Schulman

In September 2006, Russian billionaire Roustam Tariko, founder and owner of Russian Standard, needed to develop a strategy for introducing Russia's most popular brand of premium vodka (RSO) to American consumers. In the past year, he had introduced Imperia, the firm's... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Food and Beverage Industry; Russia; United States

2023
Other Unpublished Work

If 3 Was 9

By: Randolph B. Cohen

One determinant of where economies and markets are headed is how well we handle the climate crisis. Headlines on the climate tend to emphasize two points. First, average global temps are rising, with it being the hottest summer in 1,000 centuries per some estimates.... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Measurement and Metrics