Publications

May 1990
Teaching Note

Xerox Corp.: Executive Support Systems, Teaching Note

By: Lynda M. Applegate

Keywords: Management Teams; System; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

February 2000 (Revised August 2000)
Case

Priceline.com: Name Your Own Price

By: Robert J. Dolan

Priceline.com is a new concept shifting the setting of price from sellers to buyers. The company aspires to use its patented process of advertising units of demand at named prices to suppliers in many categories. This case focuses on its initial use in the airline... View Details

Keywords: Price; Internet and the Web; Marketing; Emerging Markets; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

April 1989
Case

Norton Auto Supply

By: Janice H. Hammond

Describes a multiechelon distribution system for the distribution of automobile spare parts. An analyst has been hired by the Norton Auto Supply Co. to improve the company's inventory planning and control techniques. Includes demand, cost, weight, and supplier lead... View Details

Keywords: Business or Company Management; Operations; Distribution Channels; Management Practices and Processes; Management; Strategy; Industrial Products Industry; Industrial Products Industry

January 1991 (Revised January 1993)
Case

Xerox Corp.: The Customer Satisfaction Program

In August 1990 the president and executive vice president of Xerox are reviewing the progress made on its customer satisfaction program. The emphasis placed on the program, the success of the program to date, and the drive to achieve the corporate goals of customer... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

September 1984
Case

Henkel Corp.: International Sealants Brand SISTA (B)

By: Robert J. Dolan

Describes the outcome of implementation of the standardized plan described in Henkel (A). View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Globalization; Expansion; Profit; Conflict Management; Outcome or Result; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Europe; West Germany

November 1990 (Revised November 1991)
Supplement

Apple Computer (C1): Reorganizing the Human Resource Function

Provides a follow-up to the (C) case. A new organization chosen for the human resource (HR) function is described. Students must compare the design chosen by Apple's HR managers with the one they chose. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Design; Human Resources; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

January 1991 (Revised November 1994)
Case

Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (A)

In 1970 Xerox had a very progressive affirmative action program yet, once hired, black employees faced serious problems, due both to overt discrimination and to their exclusion from the informal networks of support, information and mentoring that the other salespeople... View Details

Keywords: Prejudice and Bias; Alliances; Race Characteristics; Employees; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

29 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Emerging Into Singapore

I arrived to Singapore with little expectations of what the city, office, culture, and people would be like. I was excited to start, but like a cub stepping out for the first time, I was anxious about jumping into the real world in a new unfamiliar place known to be... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail; Consumer Products / Retail

01 Jun 2016
Blog Post

Reflecting and Digesting

Finals just ended, I said some goodbyes, and I am all packed and ready. My first year at HBS has already come to an end, way too quickly, and I just boarded my flight to Singapore. As you can probably imagine, I have not yet reflected on all that has happened over the... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail; Consumer Products / Retail

10 Sep 2014
Blog Post

A Summer Reflection

Looking back on my summer internship at Walmart, I have four main takeaways about the company: Walmart cares A LOT about maintaining the culture that Sam Walton initially put in place. It’s actively and constantly managed- 4 core values, 10 rules of doing business,... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products / Retail; Consumer Products / Retail

David W. Mitchell

Mitchell orchestrated the acquisition of Tiffany’s & Company – expanding Avon to a $3 billion+ operation with over 1 million direct sales representatives. Mitchell produced exceptional financial returns while expanding Avon’s global presence. View Details

Keywords: Personal Care & Home Products

Samuel C. Johnson II

Taking the helm of the family business in 1966, Johnson began a diversification plan to lessen the company’s exposure to the introduction of “no-wax” floors. He aggressively moved the company into the personal care field and developed a new line of recreational... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care & Home Products

King C. Gillette

Gillette invented the safety razor, creating a new U.S. industry. In 1903, Gillette sold 51 of his razors and 168 blades. He increased these numbers dramatically so that by the end of the next year, he had sold 90,000 razors and 12.4 million blades. Gillette grew his... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care & Home Products

Mary Kay Ash

Ash created a successful cosmetics company by and for women by utilizing a direct sales force and creative motivational sales techniques. At the end of its first year, Mary Kay Cosmetics boasted $198,514 in sales and 318 salespeople. By 1977, the company had over... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care & Home Products

Samuel B. Colgate

Despite the fact that Colgate’s term as head of Colgate-Palmolive came at the height of the Depression, Colgate was able to grow the company significantly. When Colgate took over, the company had $62 million in annual sales. Five years later, Colgate had increased... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care & Home Products

Gilbert Colgate

Colgate merged with the Peet Company and B. J. Johnson, maker of Palmolive soap, the largest selling soap brand in America in the early 1900s. Colgate led the newly merged Colgate, Palmolive-Peet Company with assets of $63 million. The company’s volume increased... View Details

Keywords: Personal Care & Home Products

06 Apr 2017
News

From Lobster Traps to Border Fencing

A Massachusetts firm that makes wire mesh for lobster traps says its technology could save millions in building the US-Mexico border wall proposed by President Donald Trump. "It's difficult to climb, it's difficult to cut—I think it just makes more sense than a... View Details

Keywords: Donald Trump; homeland security; Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing; Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing

01 Dec 2010
News

You Are What You Eat

Writing in the magazine Pig Progress (September 23, 2010), Austria-based John Hodges (AMP 52, 1967),an expert on genetics and ethics in agriculture, food, and the environment, warned that the current system of agribusiness is untenable. “Driven by competition alone,... View Details

Keywords: agricultural intensification; Animal Production and Aquaculture; Animal Production and Aquaculture

May 2022
Supplement

Maestro Pizza (B): The Competition Awakens

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell and Fares Khrais

Maestro pizza opened its first store in 2013 after its founder, Khalid Al Omran, recognized an opportunity in Saudi Arabia to offer high quality pizza at affordable prices. The business grew rapidly and under the radar at first, but soon enough caught the attention of... View Details