Publications

20 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How Small Businesses Can Survive the Coronavirus Outbreak

worse than the financial crisis,” says Mills, who led the United States Small Business Administration from 2009 to 2013. “Many small businesses will not survive more than a month.” Small businesses have been scaling down and temporarily... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Service; Food & Beverage

Fall 2011
Article

A Brief Postwar History of U.S. Consumer Finance

By: Gunnar Trumbull and Peter Tufano

In this brief history of U.S. consumer finance since World War II, the sector is defined based on the functions delivered by firms in the form of payments, savings and investing, borrowing, managing risk, and providing advice. Evidence of major trends in consumption,... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Finance; Consumer Credit; U.s. History; Consumer Behavior; Personal Finance; Credit; Trends; History; United States

Find at Harvard

December 2017 (Revised March 2019)
Case

Armarium: Luxury Fashion Brands for Rent

By: Jill Avery, David Fubini, Natasha Dossa and Devon Stewart

Armarium, a two-sided online platform that offered consumers the opportunity to rent the most coveted, current season high fashion clothing and accessories from the top global luxury brands, had emerged from its first sales season with two distinct customer segments:... View Details

24 Sep 2007
Research & Ideas

The FDA: What Will the Next 100 Years Bring?

agency is also feeling growing pains. Its 9,000 employees and $1.95 billion budget are straining to meet the demands of technological and global change. It has lost key senior managers, and low morale is a growing problem. Can the FDA... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Biotechnology; Consumer Products; Food & Beverage; Health

05 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

What Companies Should Not Do in the Next Banking Crisis

involved with the policy response to the crisis in Spain. As hard-hit as the United States was by the Great Recession, Spain was damaged far worse: Years after the recession, growth was at a standstill and a quarter of the workforce... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Banking

March – April 2010
Article

The Need for Ideological Consciousness

By: George C. Lodge

Every so often in American history a crisis comes along that requires Americans to inspect cherished assumptions and to act in a way that many find ideologically repulsive. Although our leaders insist that such actions are pragmatic-the only sensible way to deal with... View Details

Keywords: History; Leadership; Competition; Framework; Consumer Behavior; Business and Community Relations; Government and Politics; Financial Crisis; Planning; United States

Find at Harvard

20 Jan 2015
First Look

First Look: January 20

been systematically implemented and evaluated. This article describes early time-driven activity-based costing work at several leading healthcare organizations in the United States and Europe. It identifies the opportunities they found to... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

08 May 2012
First Look

First Look: May 8

thought (versus conscious thought) would reduce frequency of intrusions from an analogue trauma film. Participants viewed a distressing film and were subsequently instructed to think about the film deliberately (conscious thought), to perform a View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

29 Jan 2008
First Look

First Look: January 29, 2008

which works well in uncomplicated business environments. However, today's managing directors must balance conflicting roles, more demanding clients, tougher competitors, and associates with higher expectations of partners at all levels.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

10 Jun 2014
First Look

First Look: June 10

growing evidence of pollution and resulting political pressures. The variety of capitalism literature has suggested that the German coordinated market economy model was more conducive to green corporate strategies than liberal market economies such as the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Jul 2024
Research & Ideas

Chance Encounters: What's at Stake in Return-to-Office Decisions

Late one day in the fall of 2021, as she was packing up to head home, Assistant Professor Maria Roche bumped into Andy Wu, a colleague in the Strategy Unit whose office is next to hers. Roche asked how his research was going, and in the... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint, HBS Alumni Bulletin

16 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 16, 2008

estate firms' decisions to provide investment property fair values prior to the required disclosure of this information under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). We find evidence that investor demand for fair value... View Details

10 Oct 2018
Research & Ideas

The Legacy of Boaty McBoatface: Beware of Customers Who Vote

stevanovicigor In 2016, the National Environmental Research Council (NERC), a quasi-governmental agency in the United Kingdom, decided it would be fun to let the public vote online to name the country’s newest research vessel. The agency... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

April 2008 (Revised March 2014)
Case

Flying J (A)

By: Rohit Deshpande and Lauren Barley

The largest retailer of diesel fuel in the U.S., Flying J, is rethinking its growth strategy as the economy goes into a recession. Its major customer base, owner-operated truck drivers, are facing increasing costs of doing business. Yet Flying J is considering whether... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Growth and Development Strategy; Price; Consumer Behavior; Non-Renewable Energy; Energy Industry; United States

14 Jun 2011
First Look

First Look: June 14

conflict between the old and the new. Successful CEOs first develop a broad, forward-looking strategic aspiration that sets ambitious targets both for innovation and core business growth. They then hold the tension between innovation unit... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

09 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Come Fly with Me: A History of Airline Leadership

competitive threats Changing consumer demands Low barriers to entry Many niche opportunities As I've noted above, leaders who are successful in industries over a long period of time have become skilled at either adapting to or influencing... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Air Transportation

January 2019
Case

Understanding the Brand Equity of Nestlé Crunch Bar: A Market Research Case

By: Jill Avery and Gerald Zaltman

In early 2018, Nestlé announced the sale of its U.S. candy-making division and a select collection of 20 of its confectionery brands, including the Nestlé Crunch Bar, to Ferrero SpA for $2.8 billion. Under the terms of the Nestlé acquisition, each of the purchased... View Details

Keywords: Brand Equity; Marketing; Market Research; Qualitative Research; Marketing Communication; Customer Satisfaction; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States; North America; Italy

September 1995 (Revised August 1996)
Case

Land Rover North America, Inc.

Charles Hughes, president and CEO of Land Rover North America, Inc., is debating product positioning options for the new Land Rover Discovery. The positioning decision must consider the role of the Discovery vis-`a-vis other vehicles in the LRNA line, the brand's... View Details

Keywords: Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Brands and Branding; Auto Industry; Retail Industry; North and Central America; United Kingdom