Publications

May 1990 (Revised July 1991)
Case

Workbench Pricing Strategy

An abridged version of Workbench, most notably the results of two customer surveys, given in their complete form in Workbench. Focuses on the pricing decision for a small contemporary furniture retailer. Should Workbench continue its highly promotional pricing policy... View Details

Keywords: Price; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

Point Foundation mentor, and a Harvard Business School Entrepreneur-in-Residence. He earned his AB and MBA from Harvard University and lives in Brooklyn and Boston with his husband, Michael. Jon can be particularly helpful with: - Brick-and-mortar businesses -... View Details

April 1979 (Revised April 1981)
Case

Chaircraft Corp. (B)

Discusses the purchase and installation of automated cutting equipment in a medium-sized furniture factory. The equipment has so far failed to cut costs as expected and the management is attempting to discover what the problems are and what can be done to remedy them. View Details

Keywords: Production; Cost Management; Consumer Products Industry

24 Apr 2014
News

Dreaming big for Africa’s future

demonstrate that, in Africa, we're no different from anybody else in any fundamental way,” Lawani explains. “We're just at a different point in our development.” With over $2 billion invested in more than 30 countries, mostly sub-Saharan, Helios focuses on financial... View Details

November 2000 (Revised May 2002)
Case

FleetBoston Financial: Online Banking

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

As the ninth largest bank holding company in the United States in 2000, FleetBoston Financial Corp. provided a myriad of financial services, including retail banking, loan origination, and brokerage accounts. This case explores how FleetBoston responded to the Internet... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Borrowing and Debt; Cost Management; Banks and Banking; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Competition; Online Technology; Banking Industry; United States

10 Sep 2020
News

Jane Fraser Named CEO of Citi, Breaking Wall Street’s Glass Ceiling

“I have worked with Jane for many years and am proud to have her succeed me,” Corbat said in a statement. “With her leadership, experience and values, I know she will make an outstanding CEO.” Fraser is currently in charge of the Citi’s View Details

Arjun Chopra

computing company, where he launched and led their cloud strategy, products and services. He was a member of the board and executive team that raised multiple rounds of financing and spun out smartShift Inc. He led 350+ people, on-boarded... View Details

Web

Buy Now, Pay Later: The Usurer's Grip (1912)

HBS Quick Links MBA Executive Education Doctoral Programs Faculty and Research Alumni HBS Publishing Site Index HBS Home Contact Us Map/Directions Introduction Credit in Pre-Industrial Society Credit and the Market Economy: The Rise of Credit Reporting Credit in a... View Details

13 May 2015
Blog Post

Former Engineer Gives Consulting a Test Drive

engaging with clients and directing the trajectory of two very cool projects in the consumer goods space. How did your RC year shape what you wanted to do last summer? My RC year exposed me to a world outside of engineering. I really... View Details

01 Aug 2002
News

Marilynn Davis (MBA '82)

in the middle of a recession, and we have seen a lot of changes,” noted Davis, who is now EVP and manager of the consumer banking segment at FleetBoston Financial Corporation. “We've spent our careers in a climate of heightened... View Details

March 1997 (Revised July 1999)
Case

S1 Corporation

S1 is a fast growing subsidiary of the Samsung Group in South Korea that sells business security products. S1 has implemented a number of marketing initiatives that the company president would like to have evaluated. View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Price; Salesforce Management; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; South Korea

July 2016 (Revised July 2019)
Teaching Plan

Doctor My Eyes: The Acquisition of Bausch & Lomb by Warburg Pincus (A)

By: Nori Gerardo Lietz and Ricardo Andrade

In early 2010, senior partners at Warburg Pincus met to review a report on Bausch & Lomb Incorporated, the firm's largest investment at the time. Warburg Pincus had led a group of investors in acquiring Bauch & Lomb on October 26, 2007, taking the company private and... View Details

Keywords: Health Care; Mergers ＆ Acquisitions; Governance; Buyout; Private Equity; Finance; Mergers and Acquisitions; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

01 Mar 2009
News

Faculty Responds to Financial Crisis

and Global Financial Turmoil,” dealing with the U.S. system of financing homes; “Executive Pay and the Credit Crisis of 2008,” examining the impact of the financial crisis on executive pay; and “The Future of Financial Reporting,” a video... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

12 Jun 2017
News

Jeff Immelt to Retire as GE CEO

Immelt has been busy disassembling significant elements of the conglomerate that he began leading four days before the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Immelt’s goal was to make GE more streamlined, stripping away finance and View Details

01 Sep 2013
News

Three Decades of Change and Counting

accepted to HBS. I also received a fellowship and internship offer from a leading finance firm and had plans to return to Wall Street. Shortly after arriving on campus, however, I realized that I wanted to take the opportunity to explore... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services; Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services; Professional Services

02 Jan 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, January 3, 2018

business. In addition to the valuation and financing issues, the leadership team must decide whether shifting from the firm's current B2B business model (manufacturing and processing dairy products) to a more B2C business model (a... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

03 Jun 2014
First Look

First Look: June 3

http://hbr.org/product/experience-the-finger-lakes-the-groupon-partnership-decision/an/814010-PDF-ENG Harvard Business School Case 314-086 Learning From Extreme Consumers Traditional market research methods focus on understanding the... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

April 1999 (Revised March 2002)
Background Note

Aluminum Industry in 1994, The

After reaching all-time highs in excess of $2,500 per ton in 1988 and 1989, aluminum prices fall dramatically in the early 1990s as the former Soviet Union begins exporting far larger quantities of metal. By the beginning of 1994, the price has hit all-time lows (in... View Details

Keywords: Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Price; Supply and Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Soviet Union