Publications

Read Now

Web

Topics - HBS Working Knowledge

Browse All topics Accounting Audits (3) Accounting (119) Acquisition (20) Activity Based Costing and Management (2) Adaptation (7) Adoption (3) Advertising Campaigns (6) Advertising (77) Agency Theory (3)... View Details

Web

Standards of Conduct - Recruiting

Thursday, October 2, 2025: Direct outreach and event advertising may begin. Monday, October 6, 2025: Recruiting events may begin. Monday, January 5, 2026: Organizations may begin interviewing students. Interviews for international... View Details

26 Aug 2019
Research & Ideas

Lipstick Tips: How Influencers Are Making Over Beauty Marketing

by third-party product reviews at 59 percent, and beauty professionals at 55 percent. Company advertisements ranked much lower at 44 percent, and public figures and celebrities garnered only 34 percent. In evaluating beauty products, the... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Consumer Products; Beauty & Cosmetics

October 2013 (Revised January 2016)
Case

J.C. Penney's 'Fair and Square' Strategy (Abridged)

By: Elie Ofek and Jill Avery

As he gets ready to release 2nd quarter 2012 results, Ron Johnson, the new CEO of department store J.C. Penney, is reconsidering the dramatic changes he initiated for the business model and brand image of his company. A new pricing scheme he put in place in February,... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Change Management; Marketing Strategy; Price; Consumer Behavior; Decision Making; Management Teams; Brands and Branding; Retail Industry; United States

28 Feb 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, February 28

2017 Advancing Organizational Theory in a Complex World Getting Started with Ambidexterity By: Binns, Andrew, and Michael Tushman Abstract—This paper demonstrates the value of thinking about ambidexterity as having three distinct moments—ideation, incubation, and... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2024
Working Paper

Immodest Victims: Victims Who Broadcast Their Victimization Are Seen as Less Morally Virtuous

By: Nathan Dhaliwal, Jillian J. Jordan, Anoushka Kiyawat and Pat Barclay

How do people evaluate victims who advertise their victim status? Because such broadcasting can elicit sympathy and support, we propose that declining to broadcast serves as a costly act of modesty: one is withholding a fact about oneself that could garner resources... View Details

Keywords: Public Opinion; Communication; Perception; Reputation

Read Now

2023
Working Paper

Personalized Game Design for Improved User Retention and Monetization in Freemium Games

By: Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer and Julian Runge

One of the most crucial aspects and significant levers that gaming companies possess in designing digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in... View Details

Keywords: Freemium; Retention/churn; Field Experiment; Field Experiments; Gaming; Gaming Industry; Mobile App; Mobile App Industry; Monetization; Monetization Strategy; Games, Gaming, and Gambling; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Customers; Retention; Product Design; Strategy

Read Now

June 2007 (Revised March 2011)
Case

The CW: Launching a Television Network

By: Anita Elberse and S. Mark Young

In May 2006, Dawn Ostroff, president of entertainment of the newly formed CW Television Network, was faced with the task of choosing the final set of programs for the 2006 fall schedule, which she would present to advertisers at the annual "upfront" market in New York... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Customer Relationship Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Television Entertainment; Brands and Branding; Product Launch; Strategic Planning; Networks; Media and Broadcasting Industry

02 Mar 2007
What Do You Think?

What Is the Government’s Role in US Health Care?

various free market mechanisms for addressing these issues. Where to start? Paul Jackson suggests that "The only thing the government should be involved with is controlling the drug, insurance, and medical industry advertising spending... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett; Health

25 Jan 2021
Book

In a Nutshell, Why American Capitalism Succeeded

How did the United States become the world’s center of business growth following its founding in 1776? Surely a number of nations had powerful natural resources, stable financial and legal institutions, and dynamic entrepreneurs over that same span. Why was American... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Manufacturing

19 Oct 2010
First Look

First Look: October 19, 2010

give more, that giving indeed causes increased happiness, and that these two relationships may operate in a circular fashion. Second, we consider whether advertising these benefits of charitable giving—asking people to give in order to be... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2019 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Theranos: Who Has Blood on Their Hands? (A)

By: Nien-hê Hsieh, Christina R. Wing, Emilie Fournier and Anna Resman

This case covers the rise and fall of Theranos, the company founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2004 to revolutionize the blood testing industry by creating a device that could provide from a small finger prick the same results and accuracy as intravenous blood draws. As... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Corporate Accountability; Organizational Culture; Misleading and Fraudulent Advertising; Crime and Corruption; Ethics; Entrepreneurship; Lawsuits and Litigation

Web

Recruiting Calendars - Recruiting

Academic 03 Sep Recruiting Events may begin 2nd Year Policy 05 Sep Open Day (no classes) 2nd Year Academic 15 Sep HBS-Coordinated Full-Time Interviews may begin 2nd Year Policy Oct 2025 + – 02 Oct Open Day (no classes) 1st Year Academic 02 Oct View Details

29 Nov 2010
HBS Case

United Breaks Guitars

are. You can't hope to project an idealized version of the truth." The old rules of marketing and advertising still apply, too: "The genius is not in the choice of medium: in the simple idea of using social media to fight social... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

September 2023
Case

The Meteoric Rise of Skims

By: Ayelet Israeli, Jill Avery and Leonard A. Schlesinger

Since its founding in 2019 by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, Skims, a solutions-oriented brand creating the next generation of underwear, loungewear, and shapewear with an eye toward body-type and skin-tone inclusivity, has experienced a meteoric rise. Kardashian, who... View Details