Publications

17 May 2024
Blog Post

Blending Heritage and Innovation: Lisa Yan (MBA 2025)

May is Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Harvard Business School’s Asian Affinity Business Association (AABA) provides a community for the promotion, understanding, and cross-cultural exchange of Asian and... View Details

February 22, 2023
Article

How to Seed Organic Marketing in a Video-First World

By: Ayelet Israeli, Leonard A. Schlesinger and Matt Higgins

Early direct-to-consumer (DTC) companies relied on plentiful capital and low-cost digital marketing to power growth. But as this sector has matured, capital is more constrained, social media is more cluttered, and customer acquisition costs are rising. DTC companies... View Details

Keywords: Online Business; Ecommerce; E-commerce; E-Commerce Strategy; Omnichannel Retail; Omnichannel Retailing; Influencer Marketing; Consumer; Organic Growth; Video Advertising; Promotion; Celebrities; Online Advertising; Online Channel; Online Communities; Online Community; Go To Market Strategy; Platform; Media; Media Content; Digital; Digital Culture; Digital Influencers; Direct To Consumer Marketing; Direct-to-consumer; Innovation ＆ Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Sales; Digital Platforms; Digital Marketing; Digital Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web; Advertising; Business Model; Growth Management; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Marketing Communications; Communication Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Retail Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Fashion Industry; Advertising Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States; North America

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August 2022
Background Note

Retail Media Networks

By: Eva Ascarza, Ayelet Israeli and Celine Chammas

In 2022, retail media was one of the fastest growing segments in digital advertising. A retail media network (RMN) allows a retailer to use its assets for advertising. Retailers set up an advertising business by allowing marketers to buy advertising space across their... View Details

February 2024 (Revised April 2024)
Case

Uniswap: Fighting a Vampire Attack (A)

By: Shikhar Ghosh, Shweta Bagai and Liang Wu

This is the first of a three-case series that explores the challenges faced by Uniswap, a key player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. Founded by Hayden Adams, the case traces Uniswap's rapid growth from a simple idea inspired by a Reddit post to becoming one... View Details

January 2000
Case

The Dimensions of Brand Equity for Nestlé Crunch Bar: A Research Case

By: Jill Avery and Gerald Zaltman

An in-depth study of consumers' thoughts and feelings about a branded candy bar. View Details

Keywords: Brand Management; Brand Equity; Brand Communication; Brand ＆ Product Management; Brand Building; Brand Positioning; Brand Storytelling; Brand Strategy; Brand Value; Branding; Marketing; Advertising; Customer Satisfaction; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Food and Beverage Industry; Consumer Products Industry

25 Jun 2024
Research & Ideas

Rapport: The Hidden Advantage That Women Managers Bring to Teams

communication and rapport between managers and employees. In this case, the manager may not have scheduled the fast-food stations properly, forcing an overtaxed employee to juggle both packaging meals and taking orders. With an improperly... View Details

Keywords: by Kara Baskin; Food & Beverage

13 Feb 2020
Book

Open Your Organization to Honest Conversations

its profit and growth goals. In working with the company, Beer discovered that HP employees believed a lack of honest communication was a big impediment to surfacing deep underlying problems. As one employee put it, “You read about these... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

08 Feb 2022
Research & Ideas

Silos That Work: How the Pandemic Changed the Way We Collaborate

Employers were so impressed with how smoothly their employees handled remote work during the dramatic lockdowns in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic that many are going permanently remote, ditching expensive office leases and allowing employees to View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

March 2015 (Revised April 2015)
Case

The Heat Is On: Emerging Ecosystems in the Thermostat Industry

By: David Collis and Ashley Hartman

Beth Wozniak, President of Honeywell Environmental and Combustion Controls (ECC) at Honeywell International Inc., spun around in her office chair, reflecting about how the classic, mature thermostat industry was rapidly evolving. In February 2014, Google paid $3.2... View Details

23 Jul 2012
Research & Ideas

The Power of Conversational Leadership

When a company is small, communication among employees is as simple as rolling a desk chair around the room to talk to the president, the admin, or the chief engineer. But as a company grows, communication... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

December 2014
Case

DaVita HealthCare Partners and the Denver Public Schools: Creating Connections

By: John J-H Kim and Christine S. An

In 2011, DaVita HealthCare Partners (DaVita)—a Fortune 500 healthcare services company specializing in kidney dialysis services—and the Denver Public Schools (DPS)—the largest school district in Colorado—forged a plan to incorporate greater intentional focus on culture... View Details