Publications

December 1992 (Revised October 1993)
Case

BMW: The Ultimate Driving Machine Seeks to De-Yuppify Itself

By: Stephen A. Greyser and Wendy Smith Schille

Tracks changes in the luxury auto market during the 1980s and early 1990s. Shifts in target consumer behavior--particularly the yuppie lifestyle--serve as the basis for manufacturer modifications of product line, positioning, and advertising. The climax of the case is... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Change Management; Transformation; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Production; Luxury; Segmentation; Auto Industry

28 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 28, 2008

important predictor of product performance, product variety, process flexibility and industry evolution. We explore this relationship in the software industry by use of a technique called Design Structure... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

May 2020 (Revised December 2022)
Case

Soofa: Displaying the Right Path?

By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Amy Klopfenstein and Amram Migdal

In November 2019, Sandra Richter, co-founder and CEO of Soofa, a network of advertising-supported digital bulletin boards, must decide between two different fundraising and expansion plans for her company. One plan entails raising $15 million in a Series A round and... View Details

30 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

New Paths to Success in Asia

selling advertising space on the back of the envelopes. It's one example of how Chinese companies are looking at their own environment and finding interesting opportunities that someone in the United States wouldn't even consider."... View Details

Keywords: by Alejandro Reyes & Deborah Blagg

07 Nov 2006
First Look

First Look: November 7, 2006

industrial lobbies in Germany (and the world), engaged in social politics, and harnessed the local artistic community to beautify their products and transform their advertising to combat the (then)... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

22 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles, Papers of the Decade

disbelieving music industry with their findings that illegal music downloads don't hurt CD sales. Oberholzer discusses what the industry should do next. A Balanced Scorecard Approach to Measure Customer... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

21 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

Don’t Get Buried in Customer Data—Use It

more elusive than ever. A recent McKinsey study reveals that the annual churn in the wireless industry increased from 17 percent in 1995 to 32 percent in 2000. This trend holds true even in industries less... View Details

Keywords: by Jean Ayers

14 Jan 2014
First Look

First Look: January 14

physical assets (such as health records); combining data within and across industries (to, say, coordinate supply chains); trading data (as mobile providers do with information on users' whereabouts); and codifying best-in-class... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

29 Sep 2009
First Look

First Look: September 29

Strategies to Fight Ad-sponsored Rivals Authors:Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Feng Zhu Abstract We analyze the optimal strategy of a high-quality incumbent that faces a low-quality ad-sponsored competitor. In addition to competing through adjustments of tactical... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

08 Jul 2014
First Look

First Look: July 8

retirement crisis in the wake of the dot-com crash, when companies in major industries went bankrupt in large part because of their inability to meet their pension obligations. The result was an acceleration of America's shift away from... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

March 2025 (Revised April 2025)
Case

Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News

By: Vincent Pons, Jesse M. Shapiro, Bharat Anand and Susan Pinckney

The case examines the Dominion Voting Systems and Fox News defamation settlement based upon statements made on air in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. View Details

21 Nov 2016
Research & Ideas

It Matters That Your CEO Doesn't Know Much About Sales

reality, Cespedes says that sales is one of the most contextually determined areas in business, varying dramatically across markets and industries and between companies in the same industry. And his article cites data illustrating how... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

September 2003 (Revised February 2007)
Case

PolyMedica Corporation (A)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

The Securities and Exchange Commission and investors question PolyMedica Corp.'s practice of capitalizing rather than expensing of direct-response advertising. View Details

Keywords: Activity Based Costing and Management; Business Earnings; Advertising; Private Sector; Budgets and Budgeting; Cost Management; Capital Markets; Marketing; Private Equity; Pharmaceutical Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry