Publications

April 1995 (Revised January 2003)
Case

Anasazi Exclusive Salon Products, Inc.

By: William A. Sahlman and Jason Green

Anasazi, a hair-care products start-up based in the Midwest, is having growing pains as it tries to develop a new distribution model for the professional hair salon industry. The company has completed several rounds of venture financing but, to continue, needs to raise... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financial Condition; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Expansion; Planning; Fashion Industry; Iowa

April 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Liz Claiborne China

By: Joseph L. Bower, Sonja Ellingson Hout and Fred Young

A new country manager builds the Shanghai office of Liz Claiborne into a powerful sourcing organization using local talent. She explains the nuts and bolts of transforming the office. View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Transformation; Selection and Staffing; Leadership; Managerial Roles; Market Entry and Exit; Fashion Industry; China

23 Sep 2020
Blog Post

Jo Tan (MBA 2021) Draws on Experience

it to Section E.” Jo is frequently inspired to create and to share by a quote from American radio personality Ira Glass, in which he observes that people start doing creative work because they have good... View Details

Web

Advice on Switching Careers While at HBS - MBA

Blog Blog MBA Voices Filter Results Arrow Down Arrow Up Read posts from Author Alumni Author Career and Professional Development Staff Author HBS Community Author HBS Faculty Author MBA Admissions Author MBA Students Topics Topics 1st Year (RC) 2+2 Program 2nd Year... View Details

December 2014 (Revised May 2015)
Case

Growth Hacking at Bazaart (A)

By: Jeffrey Bussgang and Matthew G. Preble

The four founding members of Bazaart—a young Israeli company whose sole product was its eponymous mobile application (app) which allowed users to create collages from photographs and other images—face an important strategic decision in June 2014. Since its founding... View Details

Keywords: Growth Hacking; Customer Acquisition; Startup Marketing; Startup; Startup Nation; Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Customers; Marketing; Social Marketing; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry; Israel

November 2014
Case

Taryn Rose Launches Dresr: Street Marketing a Luxury Brand

By: Lena G. Goldberg, Marcel Saucet and Christine Snively

Serial entrepreneur and shoe designer Taryn Rose, M.D., prepared to launch a new e-commerce platform, Dresr, which would connect shoppers with tastemakers online. Dresr would bring the service element found in brick and mortar luxury stores into the online shopping... View Details

Keywords: E-commerce; Online Platforms; Online Marketing; Footwear; Legal Aspects Of Business; Street Marketing; Entrepreneurship; Internet and the Web; Luxury; Marketing Strategy; Digital Platforms; Legal Liability; Fashion Industry; Fashion Industry

15 Aug 2016
Blog Post

Prepare for Your Interview with Research

industries from apparel, textiles & fashions to manufacturing and robotics. These reports will help to educate you quickly on an industry by... View Details

January 2014
Case

Maricopa, Inc.: Finding the Right Treatment for Growth

By: William A. Sahlman, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Joseph B. Fuller and Shikhar Ghosh

The founders of Maricopa, Inc., a startup that sold proprietary hair-care products directly to salons, were preparing a board presentation to address the young company's inability to meet financial projections. While the products had caught on with customers, the... View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Financial Condition; Venture Capital; Financial Strategy; Financing and Loans; Expansion; Planning; Fashion Industry; Iowa

26 Feb 2007
Research & Ideas

The Power of the Noncompete Clause

his noncompete and avoid similar entanglements. Q: How did you frame and carry out this study, and why in Michigan? A: Other studies had looked at rates of firm foundings, but... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

16 Sep 2022
Blog Post

Climate Stories Episode #9: Shelly Xu (MBA 2021) Reducing Waste Through Beautiful Design

report, Axios.com recently reported that garment production continues to grow annually by 2.7%, while 25% of garments remain unsold and less than 1% are recycled into new garments. Estimates are that the View Details

September 2003 (Revised November 2005)
Case

Best Buy Co., Inc. (A): An Innovator's Journey

By: Dorothy A. Leonard and Brian DeLacey

The CEO of Best Buy, a hugely successful retailing company, has hired consulting firm Strategos to imbue the company with an improved innovative capability. The six-month program of experimental learning yields new business ideas and also trains Best Buy employees as... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Management Teams; Creativity; Adoption; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Employees; Learning; Training; Programs; Retail Industry; United States

August 1974 (Revised March 1986)
Case

Architects Collaborative, Inc.

Although internationally recognized for quality design, the collaborative's billings have been on a plateau for four years and they are losing jobs to architects with sophisticated marketing practices. The main issue is how marketing can be integrated into a design... View Details

Keywords: Design; Marketing Strategy; Creativity; Service Industry