Consumer Safety - Publications - Faculty & Research

17 Apr 2022
Book

How to Avoid the 'Ethical Slide' That Leads Companies Astray

while the book was in process. Today, strong ethics are a central issue for business leaders, knowing consumers are drawn to companies that do the right thing while steering clear of businesses that break ethical boundaries, Nelson says.... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

May 2018 (Revised February 2019)
Case

The Powers That Be (Internet Edition): Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Julia Kelley and Nathaniel Schwalb

As of early 2018, five U.S. technology companies—Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft—were among the largest companies in the world. Similarly, three Chinese technology firms—Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, or BAT—had emerged as global players due in part to the... View Details

Keywords: Internet and the Web; Business Ventures; Customers; Analytics and Data Science; Safety; Corporate Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Technology Industry

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31 Aug 2021
Book

Feeling Powerless at Work? Time to Agitate, Innovate, and Orchestrate

supplies in the 1980s. "As the rise and fall of De Beers exemplifies, while a diamond may be forever, power is not." But in recent years, competition from other diamond sellers has increased, providing customers with many more alternatives to DeBeers, plus many View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald

07 May 2020
Research & Ideas

The One Good Thing Caused by COVID-19: Innovation

distancing. New patterns of consumer and worker behavior and expectations have emerged during the first weeks of the crisis. COVID-19 represents a tremendous economic shock and burden. In recent weeks, the focus has begun to shift towards... View Details

Keywords: by Hong Luo and Alberto Galasso

09 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

Industry Self-Regulation: What’s Working (and What’s Not)?

suppliers' production processes—whether it be their pollution emissions, the human rights of their workers, or the pay and safety conditions under which their workers operate. Wal-Mart's recent initiatives that have been so widely... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

06 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

18 Tips Managers Can Use to Lead Through COVID's Rising Waters

(virtually) talked with more than 50 “resilient” businesses across a variety of countries and sectors. The results of this exploration show that managers are trying to ensure safety and maintain profitability with tremendous energy and... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

15 Nov 2018
Book

Can the Global Food Industry Overcome Public Distrust?

JamesBrey Food is the largest segment of the global economy. It is also widely recognized as more critical for human health than any pharmaceutical drug on the planet. But significant changes in the industry are making people lose trust in many institutions involved in... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Agriculture & Agribusiness

07 Apr 2020
Research & Ideas

What Customers Need to Hear from You During the COVID Crisis

responding more quickly and effectively to the pandemic than their government was, demonstrating the faith that consumers have in their brands and the companies that stand behind them. 86 percent of surveyed View Details

Keywords: by Jill Avery and Richard Edelman

10 Apr 2018
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 10, 2018

consumer tastes, increased competition, and evolving advertising trends and sales channels. Seeing innovation as a key to future success, in 2016 the company established eighteen94 capital, its corporate venture capital arm, which had... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Nov 2020
Research & Ideas

COVID Was Supposed to Increase Bankruptcies. Instead, They've Gone Down.

potentially shuts out consumers and small businesses when they need debt relief the most. Another could be difficulty in accessing the court system itself as the pandemic worsened and most courts moved proceedings online as a public View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

16 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

How the Coronavirus Is Already Rewriting the Future of Business

consumer brands that rely on traditional retailing for the bulk of their sales—have already been demonstrably affected. So will industries that revolve around large gatherings, such as many forms of popular entertainment—sports, cinema,... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

25 Apr 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research, April 25

Economics & Management Strategy Measuring Consumer Preferences for Video Content Provision via Cord-Cutting Behavior By: Prince, Jeffrey, and Shane Greenstein Abstract—The television industry is undergoing a generational shift in... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Aug 2022
Research & Ideas

6 Strategies for Building Socially Responsible—and Profitable—Companies

A dozen years ago, Harvard Business School Professor George Serafeim wondered why some companies operated with an eye toward the greater good, while most did not. Back then, he always got the same response: Corporate leaders thought social and environmental practices... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

04 Sep 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, September 4, 2018

thermostat business, and it was essential that Honeywell determine the best way to respond. In addition to selling thermostats, Nest had ambitious plans to facilitate connections between Nest and other companies, making it easier for View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

November 2013 (Revised June 2014)
Case

E-Cigarettes: Marketing Versus Public Health

By: John A. Quelch and Margaret L. Rodriguez

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) were heralded by some as a healthcare game changer, enabling smokers to switch to a new product which carried lower risk of cancer. However, there were concerns about the public health risk of e-cigarettes, particularly the chance... View Details

Keywords: Public Health; Tobacco; Smoking; Cigarettes; Electronic Cigarettes; Cancer; Lung; Lorillard; Philip Morris; Safety; Technological Innovation; Conflict of Interests; Market Entry and Exit; Marketing; Health; Advertising; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

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27 Nov 2000
Research & Ideas

The Dynamics of Standing Still: Firestone Tire & Rubber and the Radial Revolution

rest of the tire.18 Although other companies also experienced quality problems with their radials, Firestones' were the most severe, and the company came under heavy pressure from consumer groups and the National Highway View Details

Keywords: by Donald N. Sull; Manufacturing; Transportation

19 Sep 2016
Research & Ideas

Why Isn't Business Research More Relevant to Business Practitioners?

challenging, is achievable. Take HBS colleague Benjamin G. Edelman, an expert in online markets whose research focuses on consumer protection related to online businesses. “My research is made better by choosing questions that are... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Education

23 Mar 2020
Research & Ideas

Product Disasters Can Be Fertile Ground for Innovation

technological complexity only magnifies the challenge. Many companies, meanwhile, are apt to see investment in safety as the cost of fulfilling regulatory requirements or protecting against lawsuits, rather than as an opportunity to... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health; Medical Devices & Supplies

07 Nov 2007
Op-Ed

How Marketing Hype Hurt Boeing and Apple

production delays (the Airbus 380 is two years behind schedule) and customers know this when they place their orders. They will simply operate their existing 747s and 777s a little longer. In addition, no airline manufacturer ever wants to be seen to be compromising... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

March 1980 (Revised July 1985)
Case

Parker Brothers (A)

Focuses on the decision required of Parker Brothers regarding the necessity and advisability of recalling a new product that may have been related to the death of two children. View Details

Keywords: Safety; Risk Management; Product; Consumer Products Industry

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